Robert Kennedy and David Paddison have won the inaugural NSW/ACT 4BBB Handicap Matchplay final 2&1 at Pennant Hills Golf Club over Dimitrios Papadatos and Michael Smyth.
Kennedy and Paddison made the perfect start on the first hole with Kennedy making a tap in birdie from two feet to take the early lead.
Papadatos’s length off the tee helped the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia champion take advantage of the par-5 third hole, finding the green in two and making birdie to square the match.
Paddison and Kennedy hit back on the par-4 fourth thanks to a birdie from Paddison that restored his team’s lead.
After a win on the seventh hole Kennedy and Paddison found themselves 2UP through nine holes. An additional birdie on the 10th took the pair to 3UP with the Papadatos, Smyth duo fighting to make up the deficit.
On the extremely difficult par-3 13th, however, Smyth made a magnificent shot. The New South Welshman knocked his 5 iron to six feet to make birdie and win the hole, elevating hopes that a win was still within reach.
A crucial 15 foot par from Kennedy to halve the 16th hole kept the game steady for the Paddison, Kennedy duo with two holes to play.
On the par-4 17th both Kennedy and Paddison found the fairway and the green, putting huge pressure on Papadatos and Smith in the closing stages. When Smyth’s chip in for birdie narrowly missed all Kennedy needed to do was two putt for the win and victory was theirs.
“We’ve really enjoyed getting to play some competitive golf and catch up with our fellow PGA Members. It’s been great,” said Kennedy.
The PGA would like to thank all of the clubs that hosted our PGA Members for this event, in particular the Pennant Hills Golf Club for giving the PGA access to their course for the final.