PORT Fairy and Warrnambool will meet in the Western District Golf Association eastern pennant division one grand final.
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The powerhouse coastal clubs booked spots in the May 17 decider with victories in their round five encounters at Port Fairy Golf Club on Sunday.
Warrnambool, which started the day second on the six-team ladder, defeated Terang in a thriller, 4-3.
The result came down to the last contest. Simon Goggin handed Lachlan Meade his first loss for the season on the 20th hole to secure the result.
That outcome meant Port Fairy and Timboon needed to win their clash to likewise progress.
But the grand final rematch had an anticlimactic finish as Port Fairy raced to a 3-0 advantage and prevailed 4½-2½.
Rex Grady beat Justin Gillin 7/6, Aaron Finnegen defeated Darren Smith 8/6 and Shane Gurnett outgunned Wes Hollick 5/4.
Neil Gowland got one back for Timboon, 4/3 against Scott Boschen. But Chris Dunn sealed the win with a birdie on the 18th to beat Rod Gillin 1-up.
“It was always going to be a bit of a challenge to get past Timboon. The boys down the order got us the result we wanted,” Gurnett said.
“We’ve won all our matches. They’ve been tightly contested. We’ve had winners up and down the order. Today Rex and Aaron had good wins at six and seven.
“It’s good to get early wins. It makes it a bit easier for the guys still out there. I wouldn’t say it was a comfortable win.”
Gurnett said taking on Warrnambool on its home course in the grand final would be a tricky assignment.
“Warrnambool are a formidable team to play at home any year,” he said. “They got over the line today when it was a bit of a danger match for them.
“We’ve got enormous respect for those guys, they’re very strong. It’ll be a really keenly contested final.”
He is keen to avenge last year’s grand final defeat to Timboon — a result which handed the WDGA minnow its first top-grade title.
“That was disappointing but they were the better team on the day. We’ll be ready to go in two weeks’ time,” he said.
“As I say to the guys every week, all I can ask is 100 per cent. If that’s good enough to get us over the line, so be it.”
In the other match, Camperdown snatched a thrilling victory against Peterborough 4/3 thanks to Nick Lillie’s 20th-hole win.
The result lifted it off the bottom of the ladder, relegating Peterborough to last.
Ladder: Port Fairy five wins, 22½ contests; Warrnambool 4, 24; Timboon 3, 19½; Terang 1, 15; Camperdown 1, 14; Peterborough 1, 11.