Three of the form players (L-R) WO2 Geoff Skinner, LEUT Andrei Ezergailis and CPOPH Peter Simpson on the 18th. Photos by Michael Weaver.

Navy LEUT Andrei Ezergailis from HMAS Stirling successfully defended his 2000 ADF National Golf Championship during the 2001 national championships at the Federal Golf Course in Canberra during December.

A grand total of 106 keen ADF golfers descended under generally fine skies to contest the 2001 Electroboard ADF National Golf Championships, which also incorporated individual Service and state team championships.

LEUT Ezergailis fired rounds of 73, 77, 72, 74 on the par 73 layout to emerge the winner with a four-over par total of 296.

The ADF runner-up and Navy champion was CPOPH Peter Simpson (HMAS Albatross) with SGT Craig Corrigan (Army WA) taking the Army title in a three-way three-hole stroke playoff from WO2 Geoff Skinner (Army WA) and CPL David Eley (Army BNE).

The RAAF champion was FLTLT Justin Mangan (ALTC Bandiana) who fired a 3-under 70 in the final round to hold out CPL Greg Fraser (RAAF Williamtown) by a shot.

In his acceptance speech, FLTLT Mangan paid tribute to LAC John Bell (ADFPC-Canberra) who was only two shots behind Andrei after three rounds, and holding an 11-shot lead for the RAAF title, when he was unexpectedly called away to attend to an urgent personal matter in Adelaide.

By all accounts, John has an assured and solid future in ADF golfing circles.

The runaway winner in the ADF civilian division was Will Semmens (RAAF Williamtown) who fired 307 to place third overall in the event, while FSGT Lainie Thorn (ADFPC-Canberra) emerged as the ADF women's champion.

The ADF nett championship saw a runaway win to WO2 Paul Smith (ADFPC-Canberra) on his home track, with Barbra Postans (Defence Darwin) winning the women's nett title.

The respective Navy, Army and RAAF nett winners were LCDR Tony Deacon (ADFPC-Canberra), SGT Brett Fewson (ADFPC-Canberra) and CPL Derek Brown (RAAF Williamtown).

Now in its second year, the ADF Regional Handicap Championship was won by FLGOFF David Cox (MPLMSQN Edinburgh).

As in past championships, the State and Service championships (top 10s) were watched closely throughout the event with the ACT eventually winning the State title by just one shot (3238) from QLD (3239), followed by NSW (3243), SA/NT/WA (3300) and VIC (3350).

The Service championship was won by Army (3147), from RAAF (3218) and Navy (3243).

This was the first year that all four rounds of the event were played at Federal Golf Club. Nationals Tournament Director, SQNLDR Trevor Owens, said that Federal has been used as a venue for at least two rounds of each championship since 1986 and that it had, by default, become the unofficial home of the ADF National Golf Championship.

"Our players had lobbied for a number of years to play the entire championship there, and we were fortunate enough to have Federal management work closely with us and agree on a five-year contract out to the 2005 event," said SQNLDR Owens.

"This arrangement satisfies our members' wishes while affording the ADFGA committee the benefit of accurate long-term fiscal planning."

The ADFGA is most appreciative of the exceptional sponsorship support provided by Electroboard and acknowledges the additional contributions made by Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, C3I Defence Watch, Ball Solution Group, Kongsberg, LOPAC, ADI, News Limited, Sea Boats Crew (web provider) and Frontline Defence Services.

Although the dust may have only just settled from this event, preliminary planning is already under way for the December 2002 event.