Kooyonga Golf Club beats The Grange to win 32nd Simpson Cup

TWELVE months ago Kooyonga Golf Club's players were ruing a narrow loss in the Simpson Cup final - this week they tasted victory at last.

TWELVE months ago Charles Shaw and his Kooyonga Golf Club teammates were ruing a narrow loss to Tea Tree Gully in the Simpson Cup final.

The decider of the men's teams competition came down to whether Shaw, Kooyonga's leading player, won his match against Gullies' No. 1 Chris Austin.

But Shaw "got outplayed and made a few bad decisions", and the club went down 4&3.

The 22 year old says the disappointment only served to motivate him and his squad this season.

Kooyonga won the Simpson Cup at Glenelg Golf Club on Sunday, beating The Grange five matches to two.

Shaw's triumph over Chris Brown sealed the result.

"(Losing in last year's final) motivates you and makes you want to do better," Shaw, of Seacliff, says.

"It didn't haunt me but it teaches you things about what you do under pressure and so when you're under pressure the next time you do a better job.

"A lot of guys worked really hard this year and we got there in the end.

"We were very relieved to win and very, very happy."

Shaw, ranked 82nd in Australia, has played alongside the majority of his pennant teammates since not long after joining the club six years ago.

The oldest members of the squad are in their early 20s and Shaw says their youthfulness can lead it to challenge for Simpson Cups for years to come.

"I only see us getting stronger."

The cup win, Kooyonga's 32nd in the competition's history, also saw Golf SA look into its archives to uncover the Simpson Cup record of the club's most famous member.

Sir Donald Bradman played eight seasons and 33 matches for Kooyonga in the men's teams competition from 1951-65.

The Don played off scratch at his best and the club won four Simpson Cups during his time on the fairways.

Former SA Golf Association chief executive Peter Howard had the daunting task of playing against Bradman in his first B pennant match as a 14 year old when Grange took on Kooyonga.

"The teams were handed in on the day and I found out I was playing him then half an hour later you're hitting off," Howard says.

"I didn't have much time to think about it.

"He beat me 2&1. He was a pretty fair golfer ... and a good Simpson Cup player."

Howard became a junior member at Kooyonga for three years in the late 1950s and played alongside Bradman a handful of times in Saturday competitions.

"I had an uncle that I played a lot with and he was a mate of Sir Donald's and that's how I got to play with him in a (group of) four."

Bradman was a regular player at Kooyonga into his late 80s.

He died in 2001, aged 92.

Kooyonga also won Golf SA's junior pennant event, beating Glenelg on Sunday.