MEN'S GOLF
By SHORT PUTT
The weekend golf promised to be another epic contest as the conditions looked to not favour the stronger hitters but be beneficial for all.
The frosts made the greens hard but the sunshine kept the players warmed up, which was reflected in the scores.
The Men's Foursomes Championships was played over 36 holes, in conjunction with a Daily Comp, sponsored by FINDEX (Forbes).
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The daily comp had prizes on each day, thus encouraging those who did not perform as well as expected on Day 1 to return on Day 2 for some belated glory.
The results across each day indicate that scoring was not easy, made even more difficult by the need for each pair to ‘click’, but they did improve on Day 2.
Player numbers were good on both days, considering the weather and the format, with 24 pairs on Day 1 and nine pairs on Day 2 participating in a tight battle.
The Foursomes Scratch champions were C Hanrahan/Archie Quirk (148), combining well for their score.
The Scratch runners-up were P Dawson/J Betland (150). Both pairs improved on the second day, but Caleb and Archie held their lead to dominate.
The Foursomes Handicap scores usually throw up some interesting results, but this year it was a demonstration of the dominance by Caleb and Archie who were the Handicap winners with 138 nett, well ahead of Handicap Runners-up P Pymont/A Ruperto on 145 nett.
The Day 1 Scratch winners were the pairing of Caleb Hanrahan and Archie Quirk. Their score of 76 showed the difficulty in developing a combination very quickly.
They had six bogeys and two birdies to finish one shot better than the runners-up, Ecky Dawson and John Betland, who were one shot better on the front-9 but slipped on the back-9.
The Handicap contest was also a tight result.
Early starters Paul Pymont and Adam Ruperto brushed aside the frost and felt comfortable drilling the ball straight at the hole, which seemed to work to give them 72 nett despite a couple of double-bogeys.
Runners-up were Sean Brindle and Ian Coombs with a tidy 73.5 nett.
They were in the last group of the day and started to feel numb fingers in their last few holes but a par on the last brought smiles to their face.
The ball sweep went to 78 nett on count back, going to: 74.5 – P Wells/H Steele-Park, Sallaway/R Murray; 76.5 – K Herbert/J Shaw, N Duncan/S Uphill; 78 – B Tooth/D Bernardi.
The NTP’s went to: 9th – M Walton; 18th – R Murray. The 2’s were very scarce with only three being scored, with two of those by the M Walton/C Byrnes pair.
The winner of the 3rd hole Super Pin is recorded as Matt Walton who did convert for a ’2’.
Day 2 of the daily comp saw a small field with most pairings improving their score, although three pairs went backwards. But there was a big gap in the scores between those in real contention and those that wanted to enjoy the day of golf and had a passable chance at some glory.
The Day 2 Scratch winners were the pairing of Caleb Hanrahan and Archie Quirk, again.
Their score of 72 was a marked improvement on the first day score. And it needed to be to stay in top spot.
Runners-up were Ecky Dawson and John Betland, who also improved but still fell one shot back on 73. A ‘7’ on the 7th hole was the real difference.
The Handicap contest had an even smaller gap than the first day. Niel Duncan and Stephen Uphill improved by four shots for their 72.5 nett.
Runners-up were Paul Pymont and Adam Ruperto with an agonising 73 nett, having gone backwards from Day 1 by a single shot. Three bogeys to start their round did not help.
The ball sweep went to 81 nett on count back, going to: 77.5 – Sallaway/Murray; 81 – Grallelis/J House.
The NTP’s went to: 9th – R Murray; 18th – C Hanrahan. Both greens were hard to hit it seemed.
The 2’s were once again very scarce with nil being scored.
The winner of the 3rd hole Super Pin was Liam Fraser with a shot to 207 cm. Once again he was in the first group which made it hard for those following.
The scores generally were higher than expected from the conditions, but lower than last year. Nerves seemed to play a part on Day 2, except of course the leaders who revel under such pressure.
The Walton/Byrnes did well on Day 1 to snare two of the sharp-shooter prizes. Reggie Murray spread his talent over two days with NTP’s on different holes.
This format promotes forgiveness and urges strong recovery. As an example Stephen Uphill hit a good drive on the 15th with Niel Duncan to play the second shot. Uncharacteristically Niel duck-hooked his shot into the trees beside the lagoon but the ball was still dry.
Stephen then fashioned a shot from a steep downhill lie, under the branches, over the water, through the large trunks and into clear ground near the green. But a weak chip resulted in a bogey which was better than what it could have been.
Another calamity was Jacob Reid missing a very, very short putt on the 18th that would have kept his pair below ‘100’.
Another pair found water on both the 4th and 15th holes scoring an ‘8’ on each hole. Needless to say they did not feature in the ball sweep but may be a support fight for Kosta Zu.
The 7th hole brought ruin to a couple of pairs on Day 2. Harry C and Cam Mc doubled the hole number there, going OB a number of times to finish with ‘14’. Most of those came from approach shots near to the green.
At the other end of the hole Todd C found the OB off the tee, then he and Dave Q struggled to the green to card a ‘Bo Derek’. Note that surnames have been omitted to protect the sanity of the players.
A stand-out shot was played on Day 2 by the escape guru in Stephen Uphill. On the 12th hole Stephen put a lovely tee shot down the middle. Partner Niel Duncan deliberated on his club selection, made a choice and hit the shot.
The ball landed on the back of the ‘hill’ in the green and rolled away. Stephen, with support from Niel, played a chip shot that landed on top of the hill, rolled sedately down the slope and plopped into the hole for a birdie. It was ‘easy as pie’, but unrepeatable in another 100 shots.
There was no Sunday Stableford Medley as there were no participants.
Here is the news:
The Wallace Cup is progressing well. Wins have been recorded by Cam McMillan, Brad Ashton, Ken Sanderson, Kim Herbert and Stephen Uphill. Results of other matches are yet to be posted. This leads into the Quarter Finals which should see some good matches.
H/Pro Will has organised a TaylorMade Fitting event for Wed 9 July, commencing at 11 am. There are still a few time slots available in the afternoon so give him a ring to book in.
Crystal ball time: Saturday 5 July is the Monthly Medal, sponsored by Walkers Ag-n-Vet. Sunday 4 July is a Stableford Medley.
VETS GOLF
"We nearly made it,” was the word last Thursday prior to presentations in twin towns veterans golf at Parkes with the host club surging in numbers supplying 13 of the 27 players in attendance.
For the past few weeks Forbes has dominated playing numbers winning the twin towns shield on each occasion and did so again last week with their best six individual scores totalling 197 to Parkes’ 187. The closest it has been for weeks.
Not only that Forbes dominated at the ‘trophy’ table winning all except for A grade nearest the pin on the 11th hole won by one of Parkes keenest, Nym Dziuba. B grade went to popular Forbes ace Bruce Chandler. At the 4th two Forbes lefties, A grade Barry Shine, B grade Francis Hanns.
Social mayor of Bogan Gate playing out of the Forbes club Steve Edwards took major honours being the only competitor to break handicap scoring 37 points to win by two from fellow club mate Kim Herbert, runner-up again after filling the same at the Lachlan Valley the week prior in Condobolin.
Ball sweep to 30 points. 33 Gordon Pritchard (P), Steve Uphill (F), 32 John Fowler (P), Michael Lynch (P), Allan Rees (F), Stuart French (F), 31 Ian Ward (P), 30 Lindsay Elliott (P).
This week Forbes plays host to twin towns vets with officials from both clubs hoping to the continuing support show last week despite the chilly surrounds but brilliant sunshine. Noms from 9.30am for a 10am shot gun start.
As with Forbes the previous T/T meeting prior to presentations on Thursday a minute’s silence was absorbed in respect to the passing for popular Parkes member Graham Cooke whose grave side funeral service will be held on Friday (July 4).
It was also mentioned at presentations that another popular member in Parkes and twin golfer Rod Luyt has been honoured with life membership. Well deserved.
Zero degrees, frost, wind and sleety rain couldn’t stop four brave Tuesday social golfers for 12 holes last week where despite no competition being played it can be reported that Ted Morgan was best of the ‘pack’ with 20 points from Barry Parker and Ross Williams 18 while Andrew Norton-Knight brought up the rear with a steady 14 points.
Be part of Tuesday golf any week, ball toss at 9am. All invited to enjoy the hit and if interested coffee after where the problems of the world take preference to all.
