They have won nine Mount Gambier Golf Club championships between them, but Darren Bilney and Hayden Schroder have surprisingly never met in a final.

That will change this year after the pair won their way through to the 36-hole decider to be contested next Sunday.

But the clash most expected to eventuate almost did not happen.

While Schroder had little trouble getting past Mitch Handford 4 and 3 last Sunday in the quarter-final and John Gosling 6 and 4 in the semis, Bilney had a much tougher time of it.

He took care of Jason Shanks 5 and 4 in the quarters, but needed the full 18 holes to edge out Joel Mann, eventually prevailing 1up in the closest match of the day.

Bilney has won five club championships at Attamurra, taking the title in 2009, 10 and 13 before winning back-to-back in 2019 and 20.

He did not play last year, leaving the door open for Schroder to win for the fourth time after he put his name on the trophy in 1999, 2008 and 12.

Neither player was prepared to predict the winner this year, Bilney simply saying “it’ll be fun”.

Schroder has been putting in some extra practice in recent weeks, and shot an impressive seven-under par 65 off the stick in a Sunday round two weeks ago, admittedly off the white tees.

He did say he had been struggling to get all the elements of his game working at the same time, admitting he would need them to come together to defend his title next Sunday.

“In the quarter-final I hit the ball well, but did not putt that well,” he said.

“Then in the semi-final I putted better.

“I have just got to get all of the bits of my game working at the same time.”

In the other grades the top seeds consigned the top qualifiers’ curse to the waste basket, all winning their way through to the final after the last two years saw the number one qualifiers all bundled out in the quarter-finals.

In A Reserve it will be number one Tony Revill against third seed Bryan Pink, after Revill took care of Moryn Sullivan 2 and 1 and defending champion Josh Knowles 4 and 3, while Pink beat Rob Harkness 7 and 6 and Bryce Whicker 4 and 3.

In B Grade newcomer Matthew McCallum justified his leading qualifier status by beating Darren Keding 1up and then getting past veteran Ian Ewart 3 and 2 in the semis.

McCallum will take on Jon Clayton in the final after Clayton beat Haydn Dow 1up in the quarters and then proved too good for Tony McGregor 3 and 2 in the semis.

And the C Grade final will be a battle of the youngsters with number one qualifier, 14-year-old Zac Shanks, coming against 11-year-old Blake Schroder.

Shanks, who has been in top form in recent weeks, took care of Nic Morony 2 and 1 in the quarters and Peter Emetlis 4 and 3 in the semis, while Schroder was too good for Rob McLellan 6 and 5 before scraping past the big-hitting Asim Cheema 1up in the semi-finals.

While much of the focus has been on the club championships, the regular Thursday and Saturday competitions have also provided some highlights.

In Saturday’s Par Round it was Archy Arch who turned in his best round for some time, topping the leaderboard with an impressive +6.

The 11-handicapper set up the win with a brilliant front nine, making the turn at +5 thanks to birdies on the 1st and 7th, and pars on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 9th, his only blemish being a wipe on the par-four 4th hole.

His back nine was not as good, but +6 was good enough to take out A Grade by two shots from Kent Comley who shot +4 to take second on a countback from Travis Younghusband, Peter Waters and Wayne Elliott.

In B Grade it was Mark Winterfield who finished on +5, one clear of Peter Collie, while C Grade went to Peter Emetlis who signed for a +4, also one clear of visitor Raehana Hokionga from the Ilfracombe Golf Club in Queensland.

Meanwhile last Thursday’s Stableford Competition was taken out by Richard Gosling who compiled 40 points to finish one ahead of Jeff Olafsen.

Playing off a two handicap, Gosling shot an excellent two-under par 70 which included a 34 on the front nine thanks to birdies on the fifth and seventh.

He came home with an even-par 36 on the back, making birdies on the 11th and 14th and bogeys on the 10th and 16th.

OIafsen had a quality one-over par 37 on the front nine despite a double-bogey seven on the first, but could not quite match that on the back nine, shooting a 41 which included a birdie on the 15th and six bogeys.