Benalla sports notes

Weekend Pennant – Round 5

Swanpool hosted Bright at home for Round 5 Weekend Pennant, with extremely windy conditions making it a challenging day on the green. With the wind playing havoc, plenty of shots came down to a bit of luck. Chris’s rink battled hard to come away with a 21-18 win, Shayne’s rink went down narrowly 17-19, while Sarah’s rink had a tough day, finishing 6-27. Lance’s rink was on fire, recording a huge 41-7 victory.

A mixed bag of results across the four rinks, but enough to see Swanpool get the overall win. Final result: Swanpool 85 def Bright 71.

Benalla Golf Club

Ray White November classic a great success

The 2026 Ray White November Classic was the highlight of the week at Benalla Golf Club, with three days of golf, social activities and a successful tournament dinner.

The event commenced on Friday, with a two-person pinehurst competition attracting 48 players. Stacey Emms and Andrew Shearer took first place with 67.25 nett, followed by Daniel Symes and Poppy De Winne on 67.75 and Russell Simmons and Glenn Wittingslow on 68.75.

Saturday’s stroke competition attracted an excellent field of 122 players, including 28 women and 94 men.

In the women’s competition, Bernadette Lang won A-grade with 75 nett, ahead of Angelique Graham on 76. Elizabeth Tallis won B-grade with 72 nett, followed by Jacqueline Smithwick from Mansfield on 73. Stacey Emms recorded the best gross score of 87.

In the men's competition, John Berry won A-grade with 72 nett, Gary O'Brien took B-grade with 70 nett on a countback, Leighton Fischer won C-grade with 72 nett, and Leslie Cairnes claimed D Grade with 69 nett. Jason Moran recorded the best gross score of 75.

The Saturday evening tournament dinner was a wonderful social occasion, bringing members, visitors and supporters together. Congratulations to Stacey Emms, winner of the Marsha Watson Cup, and Jason Moran, winner of the Mackenzie Cup.

Sunday’s 4BBB stableford attracted 81 players and provided a fitting conclusion to the tournament. Ayden Stopps and Maddison Howard were the winners with 47 points, followed by Ian Wise and Chris Keast on 45 points. Russell Osborne and Sarah Blackburn finished third, also on 45 points, with Michael Polwarth and Paul Hossack fourth.

The club sincerely thanks major sponsor Ray White Benalla for its generous support, along with all volunteers, course staff, golf shop, bar and kitchen teams who contributed to the success of the event.

Wednesday Men’s stableford

A field of 75 competed on Wednesday.

A-grade: Ian Wise 41, Wayne Bowd 40. B-grade: Mitch Howe 42 c/b, Leighton Fischer 42. C-grade: James Davey 41, Antonius Mennen 39.

Nearest the pins: Mark Beers (1st), Keith Wrest (8th), Blair Ferguson (12th), Brian Hubble (13th).

Birdie on 17: Bruce Reid and Larry Piscioneri, sponsored by Benalla Secured Storage.

Thursday Women’s stableford

Sixteen players competed on Thursday, with visiting Mansfield golfer Lisa Dingle recording an outstanding 49 points to take first place. Fellow Mansfield golfer Sandra Lording finished second with 39 points.

Ball rundown: Karen McConachy 37, Barbara Carroll 36, Joanne Martin 35.

Nearest the pins: Barbara Carroll (3rd), Lisa Dingle (8th), Lindy Wrest (13th), Joanne Martin (14th).

A successful weekend for Benalla Golf Club.

The November Classic continues to be an important event on the club’s golfing calendar, attracting visitors to Benalla and showcasing the course and clubhouse.

The club thanks everyone who participated and looks forward to another successful tournament in 2027.

Benalla Bowls Club

The A2s ventured over the lake to take on our neighbours Moira and came away with a 83-74 win. Our winning rinks were Lorna Armstrong, Andrew Daws, Paul Chapman and new skipper Jamie Robinson 27-15 along with Ken Ackerman, Bella Hately, Damian O’Connor and Darren Mathers 22-16. The other results were Graeme Pitts 18-22 and Steve Swanwick 16-21.

The A4s were home to Rutherglen in very trying conditions and the visitors handled them so much better with a 57-91 win. Our only rink success was Dale Brooker, Richard Baulch, Tina Neylon and Di Wilson 22-18. Rink results of the three losing were Remo Ascenzo 12-21, Rhonda Kyval 13-21 and Steve Thomas 10-31.

Our B2s were home to St James, and in closely contested games went down 54-55. Wins to Alan Campbell, John Nicholson, Ben Lindsay and Graeme Currie 21-18 as well as Peter Brock, Max Drummond, Trevor Osborne and Brendan Rettke 23-13, and the remaining rink, Brenda Sunderland 10-24.

The B2s were away to Club Mulwala and came away with a 60-43 win. Our rinks were John Dennis, Ray Blyss, Christine Chapman and Vicky Besselaar 24-11, Ian Richards, Daryl Quin, Max Tilbury 22-11 and Kath Nunan 22-11 with Hans Dartmann 14-21 the other result.

Our best rink of the round was John Dennis, Ray Blyss, Christine Chapman and Vicky Besselaar 24-11.

Benalla Bridge Club

We had a quiet Melbourne Cup eve session last Monday, but numbers were back to normal again on Wednesday. Norma and Mick had a clear win on Monday, but results were much closer on Wednesday — Coral and Jenni, and Tige and Marg were our two winning pairs.

On Wednesday, November 11, from 5.30pm to 6.30pm, there is an information session for people thinking about learning how to play Bridge. If you would like to come, please send a text to 0438 625 638 with your name, and come along to the Senior Citizens Community Centre in Fawckner Dve. We are aiming to determine when the new set of lessons will begin, and the best day and time to suit everyone participating.

Monday, November 2

1. Norma Hodgson and Mick Kelly 64.3 per cent

2. Christine and Peter Holmes 54.8 per cent

3. George Wagner and Win Sebire 50.6 per cent

Wednesday, November 4

North-South

1. Coral Day and Jenni Armstrong 60.3 per cent

2. Jenny Baker and Gay Morton 59.5 per cent

3. Helen Peters and David Jamieson 56.4 per cent

East-West

1. David Morton and Marg Richards 61.6 per cent

2. Bill Parris and Geoff Rintala 58.3 per cent

3. Jenny Monger and Win Sebire 57.4 per cent