Our return trip to Hobart was much anticipated and the weather the previous week was horrible, so we were anxious as to what we would get this week.

As it turned out we did not receive a drop of rain, but it was very cold and extremely windy so our team of 17 players knew we were in for some challenging golf over the three games.

Welcome to the three virgins, Gary Ried, Ian Rydstrend and Laurie Dapice, seemed to settle into the Hornibrook culture at the opening dinner and seemed ready to perform well.

DAY 1 Claremont Golf Club

Although there were clear skies, the wind was up and the apparent temperature had dropped to below zero.

Claremont is a very open course situated on a headland in the Derwent River and very exposed to the wind on the river. 

Scoring was very difficult and only three NSW players got to thirty points with our best score of the day being new boy Laurie Dapice with 32 points.

Only one local played to his handicap and a couple of others managed 35 points.

Day 2 Tasmania Golf Club

We awoke to gale force wind and freezing temperatures on the Tuesday so Tasmania GC was never going to play any harder than this day.

When we arrived at the clubhouse some older gentlemen got off the bus and feared being blown away, as the wind was gusting at around 80 kilometers per hour.

Of course this made golf almost impossible and the daily scores certainly reflected this.

The best score of the day was from our own Tim Hooper with a very hard fought 32 points and only half a dozen players from the entire field getting to 30 points. Average score around 20 points.

The team dinner was held at a local Italian restaurant with food, wine and friendship free flowing. Another great night.

Lay Day

We were treated to some wonderful local seafood at the Motor Yacht Club of Tasmania and we all relaxed and contemplated the previous two tough days of golf, most glad for a rest.

Day 4 Royal Hobart Golf Club

The organisers made the sensible decision to move the tee time forward two hours to try and avoid the forecast strong winds after lunch.

This was well received and it was a pleasure to play this great course in relative calm and of course the scores reflected it.

The best of the day was a 40 pointer from a local and the best from NSW was 37 points by Paul Nikitaras.

The dinner and presentation was a rowdy affair with the individual winner, Dean Gray from the Gold Coast rather colourfully expressing his desire for more young people to attend in future.

Tim Hooper was the worthy recipient of the NSW Merv Cross medal with an aggregate score of 94 points, six points clear of our next best Paul Nikitaras with 88 points.

The overall winning team for 2025 were the locals, Tasmania, with an average score of 29.10 points two points clear of fourth placed NSW.

Hornibrook is over for another year and we are all looking forward to Brisbane in 2026.

Stay safe and happy golfing,

Garry Gibson

Captain MB&E Golf Club Sydney