BY ALEX TIGANI
October was a month that Scone’s McEwan Dawson will never forget.
Two club championships divided by a tragedy meant that the vocal golfer was almost lost for words when claiming his first Muswellbrook Club championship on Sunday afternoon.
“I lost my grandmother (Del Burgman) on Monday night and she was one of the main reasons I took up the game,” Dawson explained.
“She was with me for most of it, maybe until the last putt.”
It marked his first Muswellbrook Golf Club championship after two previous attempts, with a score of 154 to become the first man since Nathan Waters in 2013 to claim the Muswellbrook and Scone A-Grade titles in the same year.
Kyle Blinko, who had won the 2010 Scone title, also looked on track to claim the magnificent feat only to finish runner up by a stroke.
Stephen Nicol was also a chance to add to his previous three Muswellbrook crowns from 1989, 1992 and 1993 when climbing to the top of the Day 2 leaderboard.
Unfortunately, he would be unable to hold on. He finished third and first in the senior category. They welcomed Grant Macey (B-Grade), Elie Raad (C-Grade) and Oliver Partridge (Junior) who all claimed their first Muswellbrook championships.
Earlier in the month, Dawson also celebrated his fifth Scone A-Grade title thanks to a one stroke victory over Matt Hobbs.
He now joins 15-time champion Allan Phelps as the second man to win a club championship in three separate decades.
“Only need ten more to catch up to Allan now,” Dawson declared.
MOST SCONE GOLF CLUB A-GRADE CHAMPIONSHIPS
*Since 1938
15 – Allan Phelps (1982-87, 1989-90, 1994-96, 1998-99, 2001)
10 – Alex Keilar (1968-69, 1971-77, 1979)
8 – Tommy Byrnes (1960-67)
5 – McEwan Dawson (2007, 2015-17, 2022)
5 – Nathan Waters (2009, 2011-14)
3 – Lindsay Brockate (1993, 2000, 2002)
