John Wheeler (221 - 70,74,77) from the National is this year's National Masters Champion. He won by three shots ahead of Simon Bracegirdle (74,75,75) from The National, Ian Frost (71,75,78) from Bendigo and Barry Tippett (71,71,82) from 13th Beach.
The win was even tighter than the scores suggest with John in the final group with Ian, Barry and Greg Rhodes (73,74,79) - John was equal leader with 2 holes to play.
John started the event well leading with a 2 under par 70 in round 1 on the Moonah - that score could have been even better as he lost 2 shots to par in the last 3. The weather conditions were probably as good as they come at The National day 1, and were still good for day 2 on The Old when John slipped 2 behind the lead with a fine 74. He played a sound 77 in much tougher conditions on the Ocean to emerge victorious.
John is the 6th winner of the National Masters. This was his first victory in a national ranking event in probably the strongest field of seniors golfers in Australia. The field of 193 players included the top 9 ranked players on the Australian Order of Merit and 17 of the top 20.
Barry Tippett, last year's Masters Champion held the lead after 2 sub par rounds but could not quite hold on against local John Wheeler.
This year Adrian Barr introduced the Lulofs Medals - 3 of them for the best round each day. It was fitting that John Wheeler, a good friend and club mate of Paul Lulofs was the winner of the first Lulofs medal. Barry Tippett won the second and a 3 way tie for the third - Simon Bracegirdle (The National), Ian Mcpherson (Joondalup WA) and Murray Brown (Russley NZ).
The field was cut for the final round on The Ocean. The top 75 players (165 cut) and the next best 25 Nett players made the cut.
Although John Wheeler was 8 shots clear of the field on Nett Andrew Hurwitz (72, 74, 74) from New South Wales won the Nett event by one shot over 3 others - Steven Wallace (The National), Darryl Hearsch (Manly) and Russell Simmons (Spring Valley).
It is hard to believe the event can continue to improve as it was a fantastically staged event year one, but it has continued to improve and the size and quality of the fields are testament to that. The courses were in great condition as expected, the course set up appropriate for the seniors, the hospitality including the the Tournament dinner could not be bettered and the general organisation and management second to none. Adrian Barr has done a great job establishing this event as the premier seniors event in Australia.