GOLF
LADIES GOLF
Last weekend the Forbes Ladies held their annual tournament.
On Saturday there was a 4BBB in Scratch and Handicap and on Sunday a Stroke round for divisions one and two and a stableford for division three.
The tournament attracted 73 players from the local western region as well as players from Hawks Nest, Foster-Tuncurry, Taree, Manilla and Queanbeyan.
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The weather was beautiful and the course was in excellent condition but the scores were not brilliant probably due to the fast greens. There were many comments of trees getting in the way and of course the water led to some anxious moments for some players.
Saturday winners were Anita Medcalf from Parkes and Melissa Russell from Manilla in the scratch with 27 points from Cindy Googh from Taree and Jo Richardson from Foster-Tuncurry with 26 points.
Handicap winners were Jenny Fletcher and Veronica Rebellato both from Forbes with 48 points from Ann Simmons (Forbes) and Veronica Rebellato (swinger) with 46 points.
The Bette Dawson Cup, Scratch Winner, had to be decided in a playoff between Helen Haynes from Hawks Nest, playing off 6 and Bron Rogers from West Wyalong, playing off 8 who both posted 85. The playoff was won by Helen.
Division 1 Handicap Winner was Heather Davidson, with Nett 73, from Brianna Duncan, Nett 75 both from Forbes. Stableford was won by Anita Medcalf from Parkes with 33 points while Kim Robinson from Dubbo was runner-up with 31 points. Front 9 Stableford was won by Eileen Wilson from Cowra with 15 points c/b and Back 9 Stableford winner was Virginia Drogemuller from Grenfell with 18 points.
Division 2 was dominated by the Forbes ladies with Jenny Fletcher winning scratch with 92 from Ev Uphill with 94. Handicap winner was Sally Crosby with Nett 69 from Kerry Stirling Nett 73. Stableford Winner was Lindy Cowhan with 35 points from Robin Lyell with 32 points. Front 9 stableford winner was Jan Myers from Grenfell and back 9 stableford winner was Rosemary Rossiter from West Wyalong.
Division 3 played Stableford only with Forbes players again dominating. Rose Carroll had a great day posting 37 points to win on a countback from Ann-Maree Gaffney also on 37 points, third was Sarah Black with 35 points, fourth was Lindy Pollock also on 35 points, Mary Lee from Duntryleague was fifth with 33 points and Coral Britt from Wentworth sixth also with 33 points. Front 9 stableford winner was Deborah Dingwall with 15 points and Sue Holman from Parkes won the back 9 stableford with 15 points.
The NTP’s were won by Leone Stevenson from Parkes in Division 1, Cookie Dolbel from Cowra in Division 2 and Sarah Black from Forbes in Division 3.
Longest Drive winners were Brianna Duncan (Forbes) division 1, Vicki Turner (Queanbeyan) division 2 and Mary Lee (Duntryleague) division 3.
Drive and Chip went to Cindy Googh (Taree) division 1, Wendy Simmons (Forbes) division 2 and Sarah Black (Forbes) topping off a good day winning division 3.
Stableford Teams went to Rose Carroll, Kerry Stirling and Heather Davidson on a countback.
Congratulations to all the winners. It was a great day thanks to our hard, working committee, Will in the Pro Shop, Stevie G and the Golfie Hotel. A big thankyou to all our sponsors.
Last Wednesday saw the best Wednesday field for the year. Maybe because it was cake day and monthly presentation. The cooks supplied some lovely treats. The sponsors for this Stableford event were Sally Perry and Helen Duff in two divisions.
The greens were still quite quick and the pin placements difficult after the Men’s Open, the Sunday before and this reflected in the scores. Winner of division 1 with 36 points was Heather Davidson while runner-up was Sally Crosby with 30 points. Division 2 went to Colleen Bratton who is getting better each week, with 34 points from Meg Scholefield with 33 points. Balls went to Meg Scholefield, Sarah Black, Rose Carroll, Sally Crosby and Ev Uphill to 30 points. NTP’s went to Colleen Bratton on the 9th and Robin Lyell on the 18th.
Saturday May 10 is a Stroke event, Golf NSW Medal Round sponsored by the Forbes Bakehouse in 1 division. Next Wednesday there will be quite a few ladies at the WDLGA Tournament at West Wyalong but there will still be a Stableford event for those who are here sponsored by Shell. Best of luck to the players travelling to West Wyalong.
MEN'S GOLF
By SHORT PUTT
The sunny outlook beckoned the Forbes Men golfers onto the course to test their skill against the course which still had a few teeth in it after the previous weekend’s Open tournament. But only a handful of players succeeded.
The day’s event was an Individual Stablefield competition, with the 54 players in the field vying for the ‘Wilf Hodges Trophy’. The Trophy is presented to the best score across the field, which this year went to Dave Mylecharane. His 40 points made him a clear winner.
In the Stableford Competition, the Div-1 went to Dave Mylecharane. His opening hole was a bogey but he had a shot to give him 2-points. It was par golf for the front-9 with a blemish on the 6th but a 3-pointer on the 7th. His back-9 was a delight to play alongside for his regular partners. It was again a succession of pars with extra points earned on his shot holes. His 22 points on the back-9 gave him 40 points for his score.
The Div-1 Runner-up was Adrian Matthews who managed 37 points. On the front-9 he offset a few bogeys with more than enough 3-pointers. His back-9 was steady but unremarkable except for a hiccup on the 13th where a double-bogey crept onto his card.
The Div-2 was won by Jake Banks with 37 points. He made a rare but welcome appearance into the winner’s circle. His front-9 set things up with 20 points which included a 4-pointer on the 5th hole. His back-9 was a little untidy with scores ranging from 3-pointers to ‘misses’ but it gave him enough to finish ahead of the runners up.
The Div-2 Runner-up was Paul Pymont, who got there on count back from Brett Woonton by virtue of a better back-9. Paul managed 36 points which was built up with a mediocre front-9 but dynamic back-9. On the front-9 too many 1-pointers pulled down his 3-pointers. The back-9 had a few 3-pointers and good stable of 2-pointers and a lone 1-pointer. Of late Paul has shown a liking for the back-9.
The ball sweep went to 32 points on count back. The lucky ones were: 36 – W Judge, B Woonton; 35 – J Daly, J LeBrocque; 34 – B Tooth, A Rees, P Tisdall; 33 – S Kirkman, C Alley, P Kay, R Murray; 32 – B Ashton, T Griffiths, D Quirk. The lone visitor was John Daly (no, not that John Daly!) from Grafton District GC.
The NTP’s went to: 9th Hole – Reggie Murray; 18th Hole – Stephen Uphill. Both managed to convert for a ‘2’ and be among the ten 2’s scored. The 9th hole bagged the lions share but there were three on the 3rd hole.
The Pro Shop Super-Pin went to Richard Smith with a shot to 190 cm. However, he missed his ‘2’ but it was a good start to his round. Unfortunately, his back-9 was a case of hiccup after hiccup. He had six points after three holes but then things went haywire, and he only managed six points over the last six holes.
The scores were fairly average for what the day promised. The greens did not appear to have lost much pace on them from the Mens Open which may have caused some problems. One player hit the 15th green in two shots then four-putted for a bogey. Oh, don’t you just hate that!
Niel Duncan had a day of challenges. He wasn’t playing badly but could not put any decent points on the card. He found trees on almost every hole blaming the non-existent wind for pushing his ball askew. Despite not having any 3-pointers there was a brief ray of sunshine. He did not encounter any trees on the 12th hole and managed a textbook par for a 2-pointer. This helped for the next few holes but then it was back to his ‘woodsman ways’.
With the mediocre scores there were very few stories to tell. The 7th hole wasn’t overly aggressive yielding only a few 8’s and one ‘miss’ for the Div-1 players. And the Div-2 players escaped with 7’s on their card except for one person who managed an award winning ‘12’. This was by Brett Woonton who would have bagged at least runner-up if he had scored the merest of points.
The 15th was similarly benign with no calamities or exhilarating performances to regale you with.
One happy player out there was Jake LeBrocque. He wiped away the dismal performance from last week where he ‘butchered’ the 6th 7th and 8th holes. This week he managed 9-points on those three holes, helped along by a 4-pointer on the 8th. But the sting in the tail was his miss on the 18th where he played in situations that Doctor Livingston would have found hard to navigate.
There was no Sunday comp due to the playing of the Forbes Ladies Open. That event had a good field with some excellent play across the field of over 90 players. A play-off was needed to decide the Ladies Open Champion. But read the separate report to get all the details.
Here is the news:
The Forbes Vets ‘Week of Golf’ is being held this week. The field is the best that has been seen for a while with around 100 players participating. The fun started on Mon with a 2-Person Ambrose as a warmup event. Tuesday and Thursday have individual honours over 18 and 36 holes with the premier event the Shield to be played on Friday. Full results in next week’s paper.
It is with sadness that the Club records the passing of Ray Taylor on 28 April. Ray was a long time resident of Forbes and a real character around the golf course, be it on the course or around the ‘Golfie’ or in the Pro Shop. He was never short of a response to a question or an ‘encouraging’ piece of advice. His funeral will be held today, Thu 8th May with a wake at the ‘Golfie’.
The Mens Wallace Cup event has begun with a few matches played already. All participants are reminded to be aware of the schedule and to complete their matches in time to ensure the playing schedule is met.
Head Pro Will reminds golfers to clear their accounts before the end of the financial year. He has some good winter stock in and some specials on outgoing summers stock. Or you could merely by some new clubs.
It is crystal ball time:
Sat 10 May has the May Monthly Medal for the Men and a Stroke event for the Ladies. Sunday 11 May is ‘Mother’s Day’ and has a Stableford Medley.
VETS GOLF
Forbes veteran golfers again had the wood on arch rivals Parkes when they almost scooped the prize pool in the twin-towns competition played on their home track.
In what was a warm-up for many for this week's veterans golf week at Forbes (which starts on Monday). Ted Morgan improved on his third placing at Parkes the previous week when he shot a par round of 36 points to win the day.
Hot on his heels was the ever-consistent Ken Walton who took second place with 35 points on a count-back from team mate Bruce Chandler which ensured Forbes won the twin-towns shield by 202 points to Parkes' 174.
The day only got better for the locals with Scott Kirkman on fire on the par three's winning the A grade nearest-to-pins on the ninth and 18th holes, while Bruce Chadler was closest B grader on the 18th.
Ross Williams had the field covered to take home the encouragement award.
John Fowler (B grade NTP on the ninth hole) and Richard Hamilton (ball winner) with 33 points were the only Parkes players to figure in the prizes.
Other ball winners included: 35 points - Bruce Chandler; 32 - Steve Uphill, Alan Rees, Alex McKinnon and Frank Hanns; 31 - Scott Kirkman, Peter Scholefield and Steve Edwards.
The BG scribe showed he is in form for the week of golf returning his best round for months when he blitzed the field of 11 to win last Tuesday’s social 12 holes scoring 31 points.
As Ros Edwards, wife of the popular Steve said after, "He might have gone off a week too early. Hope not." So do we.
The day also saw newcomers Warwick Judge and Trevor Drury welcomed to the ranks of Tuesday golf. Again, the invite is there for all for have hit from 9am any Tuesday.
VETS WEEK OF GOLF
More than 100 veteran golfers from throughout NSW are competing in this week's Week of Golf.
Forbes president Peter Barnes was thrilled with the response.
Amongst the nominations are four NSW Veteran Golfer board members for play which was scheduled to start with a welcome get-together on Sunday evening.
Play commenced with a 2-ball Ambrose medley on Monday followed by individual Stableford events Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is scheduled as a leisure day for visitors to take in the sights of the district.
Golfers can expect the course to be in the best shape it has been in for quite some time after hosting the Men’s Open last weekend followed up by around 22mm of rain during that time.
He also stated it would be appreciated if Forbes members could assist with hospitality for the week by supplying "a plate" for morning tea each day.
All inquiries and post entries can be directed to the tournament office on 0435 585 460 or Forbes Pro Shop on 6851 1554.
