It’s not often that speeches move those at tournament golf days.
But such was the love in the View Room on Friday that the June Gillivour Salver and the inaugural Mary Menzel Open will be fondly remembered by all in attendance.
Club captain Jenny Edmanson gave the background of the two late Portarlington players for whom the events were named, leaving no one in the room in any doubt as to the importance of their respective contributions.
But in successive acceptance speeches, it was clear that the mood was of distinct reverence as glowing and articulate words bound the audience that had gathered from around the SWGA region.
And as it turned out, it was a day on which the local women stood tallest.
Meg Pratt confessed she thought the Gillivour team selectors were trying to reach her partner Michelle when they made contact via email about representing Port.
And even when she came in with her gross score of 86, Meg didn’t factor herself into the speeches, particularly given the course’s spectacular condition and benign weather.
But “lo and behold, here I am”, Meg joked after getting her hands on not only the Mary Menzel Open trophy, but playing the lead role in Port’s Gillivour Salver triumph.
Meg was actually 10 over par for her first nine, having begun on the 10th tee.
“There were probably four holes where I lipped out on the back nine and you sort of look at it and you think, `It's not my day’,” she said.
“I somehow started to play all right on the front nine and was really enjoying my round talking with Ange (Foott), Lyn (Moore of Torquay) and Fiona (Rogers of Clifton Springs) and relaxed a bit and really just pulled it out of my bottom,” Meg joked.
“I made lots of steady pars … but had no idea that it would win the day. Like absolutely no idea at all.”
And that was evidenced when Meg told her Gillivour teammates Kristine Geary and Judy Webber that she hadn’t done enough to help them over the line.
“We sort of compared notes after the round and none of us were too confident, didn’t really give ourselves any hope … in the perfect conditions.
“But Kris just came up and she said, "Don't you ever tell me that you didn't play well again!’ and it was so funny.
“Yeah, we were all shocked and very excited. They are both delighted as well, which is great.”
Meg reiterated the importance of the trophies on to which her name will now be etched, particularly playing for the Mary Menzel silverware for the first time after her husband, Dieter, generously sponsored the day.
“It's an honour. It really is. I didn't know Mary, but Lou (Blomley) speaks so highly of her,” Meg said of Mary, who passed away in 2022.
“Everybody that you talk to tells you how wonderful a lady she was, not only personally, but also for the club and how much she did for the club.
“And unfortunately she was sick when we first joined, so we didn't get to get to meet her and I'm really sad about that.
“But having a trophy named after her, just perpetuates her memory and things like that, which is just lovely. And I really am delighted to have won it.”
Meg’s 35 stableford points combined with Judy’s 30 and Kris’s 29 gave Portarlington a total of 94, two clear of the Sands’ team of Donna Reilly, Di Seehusen and Lisa Reade, with East Geelong third on 91 courtesy of Sue Pearce, Jen Toner and Leanne McIntyre.
In the other individual events, Portarlington’s Lynne Kirby won the A Grade nett event on 75, her clubmate Donna Utt won B Grade on 39 stableford points and Seehusen won C Grade on 34 points.
Port’s Kris Geary, Meg Pratt and Judy Webber salute in the June Gillivour Salver.
