Benalla Burglars bag the 2021 Kelly Gang Shootout

Benalla Burglars bag the 2021 Kelly Gang Shootout!

The 2021 Kelly Gang Shootout was, put simply, like no other KGS in history. Following a two-week Covid-induced lockdown--which required our event to be scheduled, re-scheduled, and re-re-scheduled with teams re-re-rearranged at the 12th hour--our golfers made an epic "Gaolbreak" of Ned Kelly proportions to the magnificent Murray River region.

Here is the full recap of all the action:

FRIDAY: THE ADVANCE

The weekend began (for some) with a short stop at the lovely Shepparton Golf Club for the traditional Friday Warm-up Round (aka "The Advance"). In sunny but slightly windy conditions, our golfers shook off the cobwebs and showed their mettle (or lack thereof), and enjoyed a fine day of golf on a truly glorious golf course.

In the end, a fine round of 35 by Cameron Thompson saw him take the bikkies (and a bottle of wine!).

TOP 5 SCORES

Pos. Player Stableford Points
1 Cameron Thompson 35
2 Drew Hallam 34
3 Brendan Davis 33
4 Jason Pratt 32
5 Ian Steer 32

NTP was captured by Drew Hallam (Hole 12), and the Long Drive went to Jason Pratt (Hole 10).

(Full leaderboard here)

From Shepparton, our rogues then made their way to Yarrawonga, to tackle the notorious (and spectacular) Black Bull GC.

DAY 1 - THE AMBUSH

Following a night of revelry (and rogue-ery) at the Burkes Hotel , competitors teed off at Black Bull in the 2-person Ambrose format. Under partly cloudy skies (with a smattering of rain), the teams battled each other (and their own shabby golf swings) to post some respectable scores, and jockey for position in the overall KGS leaderboard. Round of the day went to The Euroa Removalists' pairing of Bryce Heenan and Matt Moore, with a blistering 9-under-par 63.

TEAM SCORES AFTER DAY 1

PLAYERS 1+2 To Par Total PLAYERS 3+4 To Par Total
The Benalla Burglars
(Brendan Davis + Matty Thomas)
-7 65 The Benalla Burglars
(Ashley Davis + Nick Randone)
-7 65
The Beechworth Boys
(Gavan Doran + Peter Calverley)
-6 66 The Beechworth Boys
(Cameron Thompson + Ian Steer)
+5 77
The Euroa Removalists
(Drew Hallam + Rick Allen)
-5 67 The Euroa Removalists
(Bryce Heenan + Matt Moore)
-9 63
The Stringybark Creek Freaks
(Richard Fellner + Matthew Pitt)
-4 68 The Stringybark Creek Freaks
(Mick David + Stephen Foxwell)
-5 67
The Corowa Borrowers
(Biljana Krunic + John Krunic)
-3 69 The Corowa Borrowers
(Timothy Kuepers + Dianne Kuepers)
-3 69
The Glenrowan Hacks
(Graham Ball + Lisa Saunders)
-2 70 The Glenrowan Hacks
(Darren Hansen + Aileen Armour)
-7 65
The Avenel Gang
(Dean Mitchell + Jadranka Krunic)
+4 76 The Avenel Gang
(Jason Pratt + Steve Stoward)
-1 71

NTP was won by Tim Kuepers (Hole 14), with Long Drive going to Jason Pratt (Hole 13).

DAY 2 - THE ASSAULT

Following heavy rain throughout the night, golfers were greeted with a mostly sunny yet chilly morning. Teeing off from 8am, our competitors battled to the end. (For many of them, however, this battle was short-lived, with many struggling to find any semblance of a golf swing.)

In the end, the Benalla Burglars put together a solid and steady round of 5-under 67 to take home the trophy. For one of the competitors, Matt Thomas, it was his 6th Kelly Gang Shootout Trophy, cementing his title of "the most prolific KGS champion in history".

FINAL SCORES

Pos. Team Total
To Par
T1 T2 T3 Total
1 The Benalla Burglars -19 65 65 67 197
T2 The Glenrowan Hacks -17 70 65 64 199
T2 The Euroa Removalists -17 67 63 69 199
4 The Corowa Borrowers -15 69 69 63 201
5 The Stringybark Creek Freaks -11 68 67 70 205
T6 The Avenel Gang -8 76 71 61 208
T6 The Beechworth Boys -8 66 77 65 208

Sunday's NTP was won by Ian Steer (Hole 16), with Long Drive going to Steve Stoward (Hole 7).

THE 2021 KELLY GANG SHOOTOUT TEAMS

The Glenrowan Hacks
Graham Ball
Aileen Armour
Lisa Saunders
Darren Hansen

The Corowa Borrowers
Biljana Krunic
Dianne Kuepers
John Krunic
Timothy Kuepers
The Beechworth Boys
Gavan Doran
Pete Calverley
Cameron Thompson
Ian Steer

The Benalla Burglars
Nick Randone
Matty Thomas
Ashley Davis
Brendan Davis

The Euroa Removalists
Drew Hallam
Matt Moore
Bryce Heenan
Rick Allen

The Avenel Gang
Jason Pratt
Dean Mitchell
Steve Stoward
Jadranka Krunic

The Stringybark Creek Freaks
Matthew Pitt
Mick David
Stephen Foxwell
Richard Fellner

Kelly Gang Shootout Logo

ABOUT THE KELLY GANG SHOOTOUT

A long-cherished annual event in our popular Bushranger Golf series, The Kelly Gang Shootout is always a HUGE amount of fun. Played on some spectacular Murray River golf courses, this four-person team event is played over 36 holes of Ambrose, and features our unique blend of fun, frivolity and excitement! Golfers enjoy a personally-hosted and professionally-managed competition, on-course accommodation for two nights, Plus, all the usual fun, frivolity and excitement of an amazing golf weekend!

To see upcoming Kelly Gang Shootout events, click here

The 2021 SGA Tasman Classic – Top fun in Tasmania

Golfers at Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm, 2021

Top fun in Tasmania at 2021 Tasman Classic

SGA Golfers tackle Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm

Nearly 70 SGA golfers teed it up over the weekend of April 30-May 2, 2021 for the 2021 Tasman Classic. They enjoyed 54 holes of high-quality golf over three days, with rounds of golf at the breathtaking and world-renowned courses: Barnbougle Dunes and The Lost Farm on Tasmania’s main island.

Apart from a quick bit of fog that seemed to disappear almost as quickly as it arrived, the weather was spectacular - with the "raingear" never making an appearance. Great fun was had by all.
Congratulations to the following 2021 Tasman Classic players who won their respective flights:
A Grade
Michael Freake, winning by 6 points over Raymond Berzins, followed by Nick Sutherland and overnight leader Steve Lambrakakis.
B Grade
Jerry Nguyen, 3 points over Glen McMillan, followed by Adam Sutton & Stan Kommo
C Grade
Rebecca Heng, by ONE POINT over Anh Nguyen, with Simon Lovett & Nilesh Singh rounding out the top-3.

The 2021 Tasman Classic Photo Gallery

Tasman Classic Testimonials

“Once again a great weekend with new friendships and memories made.  Thanks for all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes, everyone I spoke to love the weekend and the courses.  A massive well done.”

SGA Tasman Classic Logo

Mark H
Victoria

“Just wanted to thank you again for a great weekend.  The event was really well organised and as a result was highly enjoyable for us all.”

SGA Tasman Classic Logo

Evan C
Queensland

“Another incredibly run event at one of the greatest golfing destinations in the world.  I’m sure more goes into hosting an event of this size than we see as the customers, but you did an amazing job looking after us all so well for the whole 3 days”

SGA Tasman Classic Logo

Ian S
Victoria

Team North nabs 2021 Trans-Murray Match Play

Trans-Murray Matchplay Champs

2021 Trans-Murray Matchplay a massive hit in Canberra!

trans-murray match play

By all accounts, it was an amazing week of golf for the 2021 Trans-Murray Matchplay, Feb 4-7, 2021. Golfers from both sides of the Murray River descended upon Canberra to represent their region, and battle for victory (and the all-important “bragging rights”).

There was some incredible competition, great sportsmanship, and some truly awesome camaraderie throughout the week (as well as some significant Après-Golf activities, we’re told).

Day 1

The First day's action (Pairs/Ambrose, held at the sublime Royal Canberra GC) saw the teams tied at 9.50 points each at the end of play. This created some serious anticipation (and anxiety), with many competitors undergoing a sleepless night (this could, however, be partly due to the Après Golf activities noted above).

Day 2

For Day 2, (Pairs/Foursomes) at the picturesque Federal Golf Club, it was an “All North” affair, with the northerners capturing a dominant 13 points to the South’s 5. Had a few more putts dropped for South, it would have been a different outcome altogether.

Day 3

All may have seemed lost at that point, but the mighty southerners, and their “NEVER SAY IT’S OVER” rallying cry (mostly shouted at the various pubs during “last drinks” the aforementioned Après Golf activities), battled hard in the Singles matches on Day 3, at the lovely Gungahlin Lakes Golf Course. The scoring was tight, and Team South created a very real possibility of turning the tables completely.

Though while Team South captured Day 3 (18.50 points to 17.50), it was not enough to catch Team North, who seized victory courtesy of an overall margin of 40 to 33. Congratulations to Team North!!

Final leaderboard (Bold denotes team winning the day)

Team R1 R2 R3 Total Points
North 9.50 13.00 17.50 40.00
South 9.50 5.00 18.50 33.00

For day-by-day scores and matches, see the leaderboard on Golf Genius:

https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/6796454802415975378

Special Thanks

We would like to thank all the competitors (and their spouses/partners/plus-ones) for an incredible week. The success of these events is mostly due to the quality of the participants, and we believe that our golfers are of the highest quality anywhere!

A very special thanks to our sponsors Srixon Australia & New Zealand, Garmin and our hotel partner, Mantra on Northbourne.