MEN'S GOLF
By SHORT PUTT
The weekend presented cold and challenging conditions for all outdoor activities. But the Forbes golfers showed resilience to play their game and while the scores were obviously affected the enthusiasm by the players was plain to see.
The Saturday men's competition was the August Monthly Medal, sponsored by Bernardis Marketplace.
The field of 64 players produced scores that were higher than last month’s Medal scores but some players did excel in the conditions.
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The A-Grade was won by Caleb Hanrahan with a nett 73. His was a ‘par’ round with three birdies to balance out the three dropped shots.
His birdies on the 11th and 14th holes were precision golf supreme and followed a front-9 that was copy-book in ‘par’ scoring.
Runner-up on count back was Kim Herbert also on 73 nett. He had a steady front-9 with four bogeys.
His back-9 was bookended by 4’s with every hole in between scoring a ‘5’. For some reason the putter mimicked the conditions and went very cold on the back-9 otherwise he would have won the Grade by heaps.
The B-Grade provided the lowest nett score of the day. Fons Melisi thought he was in for a rough day after his double-bogey on the 2nd and numerous dropped shots from the 6th hole onwards. However, he rallied on the back-9 with a birdie and a succession of 5’s to finish with a very enjoyable day and a score of nett 70.
The B-Grade runner up was Mark Simmonds who was well pleased with his 75 nett. He felt the cold on the front-9 but warmed up a bit on the back-9 where his blemish on the 13th hole was offset by a tidy par on the last hole.
The C-Grade produced the second-best nett score of the day. Mike Prior laughed his whole way around in scoring a nett 71.
He was especially pleased with his front-9 where he played handicap golf with a blemish of a par on the 8th followed by a ‘double’ on the 9th. His hands were affected by the cold on the back-9 where bogeys were turned into double-bogeys by errant putting.
The C-Grade runner up was Peter Tisdell with a nett 74. This was a highlight performance for him where he followed the usual format of a good front-9 and lesser back-9. Again putting was the problem which resulted in three 8’s on his card. Without those he would have grabbed the ‘Medal’.
The ball sweep went to 78 nett on count back, going to: 74 – P Dawson; 76 – C Alley, K Tyne, A Matthews, T Williams; 77 – S Rogers, M Haley, B Parker, A Ruperto, C Banks, P Pymont, J Reid; 78 – N Mackenzie, B Tooth, N Duncan, T Callaghan.
There were a few visitors, namely: N Mackenzie (Sandy Gallop), T Tarmo & L Niko (Brighton Lakes), R Scott (Bankstown), J Mackenzie (Oxley), A Bayley (The Rock) and C Goodsell (Condo). Most of those were affected by the cold conditions with those from Brisbane feeling extremely frigid. But some of them did warm up at the Forbes Cup on Sunday.
The NTP’s went to: 9th – Archie Quirk; 18th – Rob Webb. Rob managed to convert for a ‘2’ but Archie did not.
In fact, Rob scored the only ‘2’ of the day.
He made his putt from 8 cm look easy, having just missed out on a hole-in-one by that narrow margin.
We hope that he did not tee his ball up more than 10 cm behind the tee markers as this extra distance could have cost him a place on the honour board.
The 3rd hole Super-Pin went to Caleb Hanrahan. His shot to 443 cm reflected the difficult conditions with the gusty wind and fickle lulls making it hard to find the green. Although he did not make his ‘2’ his putt went very close indeed.
The high scores can undoubtedly be attributed to the cold conditions exacerbated by a cold and cutting wind.
This made for many putting woes and creaky swings by many. At the end of the day there were only two players who finished under their handicap.
Many scores suffered from the three and four putt blemishes. While many players had trouble harnessing the wind to good effect.
It was common to see good front-9 scores and ‘a collapse’ on the back-9 as the conditions took hold, with Doug Churchill being a prime example.
The cold did register differently with individuals. Peter Grayson heard his knees knocking while putting on the 18th.
But maybe it was because he was facing a pressure putt to win the Keno for his team.
Some players were looking for some rope to end their round they were scoring so poorly. And others again really enjoyed the ‘19th Golfie’ where they could turn their attentions away from their golf on the day.
Stevie G had an exceptionally bad day. His 4-putt on the 9th was achieved from about three feet, then he had to salvage his motorised buggy and clubs from the water on the 15th, and while doing so dropped his phone in the water, and carded a triple-bogey on that hole. But the biggest calamity was to lose the Keno on the 18th hole despite making a miraculous par!
The effect of a golf game can be far reaching. For one person this has led to a name change.
Steven Rogers has recently returned to golf from an extended period away. With each competitive game he has improved but after last weekend he has resolved to change his name.
Henceforth he is to be known as ‘Ricochet Rogers’. If there was a tree to be found he would hit it, with the resultant shot going in any direction. Sometimes he found the fairway and other times he went deeper into the trees.
A good group of Forbes players attended the Trundle Open held on Sunday.
They joined a field of 115 players who enjoyed a sunny day albeit with a bit of wind chill. But that was negated by the warm hospitality and tremendous food supplied after the game.
The full results are not available but Forbes A-Grade players, of whom seven participated, did have success.
Caleb Hanrahan won the A-Grade Scratch with a 68. Among the A-Graders Peter Dawson tied third in the Scratch while Todd Callaghan tied third in the Handicap.
Head Pro Will produced the best Scratch score of the day with a 66, nett 70, that was applauded by those in his group and not bad for his first time on sand greens.
The A-Grade Handicap was won by Jacob Gaffey (W/Wyalong) with 69 and the A-Grade Stableford by Terry Galvin (Trundle) with 37. The results of other grades and divisions will be posted at the Pro Shop when they are received.
Here is the news:
There is a brace of Opens being held this weekend. These include Cowra and Temora, all of whom Forbes players try to attend, and Caragabal on 17 August.
Good luck to all those who do venture away.
John Betland is making a comeback at the Cowra Open but it remains to be seen how well he goes after nibbling the ends of two fingers with a router while at work.
The Wallace Cup is nearing its zenith. One semi-final saw Fons Melisi battle against Brad Ashton. This was going to be a tight match with Brad giving away 14 shots and Fons in good recent form. And so it proved with the pair locked at the turn.
By his own admission Brad played really well and nudged ahead early in the back-9. Then he fired great approach shots to set up wins on the 15th and 16th to take the match.
The other semi-final is between Kim Herbert and Stephen Uphill with the result yet to be notified.
It is crystal ball time:
This Saturday 9 August is a 4BBB Stableford Medley vying for the ‘Bob & Daine Doolin Memorial Cup’. And Sunday has the usual Stableford Medley comp.
LADIES GOLF
Cold, windy weather with the threat of rain did not deter the lady golfers last Wednesday.
Must have been the reward of cake day at the end of golf that was the attraction.
The event was an Individual Stableford sponsored by the Forbes Lady Golfers in two divisions.
Robin Lyell scooped the pool with a win in Division 1 with 34 points and both nearest the pins. Sally Perry had a great round of 35 points, after some time off with her family, to win Division 2.
Kerry Stirling and Sally Crosby were the ball wweep winners.
Saturday saw a slight improvement in the temperature but the threat of rain was again present.
The event was the August Monthly Medal and Putting as well as the Golf NSW Round 6 sponsored by Betland’s Joinery in two divisions.
Colleen Venables was the winner of Division 1 with a fine round of Nett 71 mainly due to her excellent putting, with only 27 putts for the round which also saw her take out the putting.
In Division 2 Jenny Hubbard who could just manage to fit in a round of golf between her travels proved to be the best with a Nett 73.
NTP’s went to Heather Davidson on the 9th who keenly watched the wind curve the ball in towards the flag finishing only a short distance from it.
Ann-Maree Gaffney was one of only a couple to stay on the 18th green to get the NTP.
Balls went to Heather Davidson and Ann Simmons to Nett 75.
Monthly Medal winners were Heather Davidson in Division 1, Colleen Venables in Division 2 and Jenny Hubbard in Division 3.
Last Sunday seven ladies travelled to West Wyalong for their annual ladies tournament.
They had a great field of 58 players from around the region and beyond.
The greens that have been severely frost damaged were fast and unforgiving and proved to be the undoing of a number of players. The weather however was just beautiful and it was a nice day out.
Ev Uphill was our most successful player winning B Grade scratch.
Rose Carroll received the 35 to 45 handicappers prize for a player who did not initially win a trophy.
Ann-Maree Gaffney took home a raffle prize plus there were quite a few balls won in the ball raffle by our players.
Upcoming events include the Bob and Daine Doolan Memorial Trophy 4BBB Medley on Saturday August 9, 18 Hole Stroke, Golf NSW Medal and Dropout Stableford on Wednesday August 13 sponsored by Nicholsons Petroleum, Dunedoo Tournament on Sunday, 17 August and Peak Hill Tournament on Sunday, 24 August.
VETS GOLF
There was no pain for Bede Tooth last Thursday as he blitzed the field of 24 players in the twin towns veterans golf competition winning with 40 points in the 18 hole competition.
While most were happy with a three pointer, or two, it was reported the popular Forbes member posted three four pointers cruising to victory over Parkes chief Robert J Lea next best on 37 points.
Played at Parkes there were few complaints despite the course being wet in patches while the greens were well presented, fast and true complemented with pleasant winter weather.
Other awards included Forbes’ Fonz Melisi taking home the encouragement award on a count-back with nearest the pin balls going to Parkes ace Nym Dziuba (A grade) and Forbes’ Frank Hanns (B grade) at the 4th hole while on the 11th no A graders found the putting surface with Mick Bond from Parkes taking out B grade.
Ball sweep to 30 points – 34 Mick Bond (P), Don McKeowen (F), 33 Barry Shine (F), Kim Herbert (F), 32 Lindsay Elliott (P), 30 Ian Ward (P), Niel Duncan (F).
Forbes players continued their dominance in the twin towns shield with their best six scores from 13 players totalling 199 points to Parkes’ (11 players) 191.
This week twin town vets will play at Forbes with noms from 9.30am for a 10am shot gun start.
Reining Bogan Gate vets masters champion Gordon Pritchard is the contact for Parkes players interested in playing in this years event which will be held on Tuesday August 12.
Phone Gordon on 0428 635 739, for those from Forbes contacts are Steve Edwards 0415 665 925 and Barry Shine 0409 718 004.
Last year over 40 players took part with similar numbers expected next week.
Due to the popularity of the sand greens classic nominations (with GOLFlink number) are required by Thursday if possible to help with catering. In saying that, late noms will be accepted.
How much for a day to remember?
Only $30, $15 to play, $15 to eat.
How good is that … everyone’s a winner, more so if able to pick up one of the valued prizes on offer.
Individual and draw from the hat 4-ball competitions.
After last Tuesday’s social 12 hole comp the inform Steve Edwards may have to play left handed at BG after posting a score of 29 points winning by eight from Barry Parker and that man Bede Tooth.
Tuesday 12 hole social comp for all, ball toss at 9am with coffee to follow for anyone interested.
