By SHORT PUTT The weekend produced sunny weather for golf, which is likely to be the norm as we head into the summer months. Good grass, smooth greens and shady trees welcome the golfers and help deliver some exciting performances. On Sunday the 2024 Mixed Foursomes Championships were played, sponsored once again by Blue Sky Outdoors. Competing in the event were 12 pairs, with some regular pairings and some new blood among the players. But once again it was a champion effort which won the trophies. The Scratch winners were John Betland and Nicole Death who managed 125. After 18 holes they held a two shot lead over Niel and Brianna Duncan, with Jayden Pendleton and Heather Davidson a further shot back. This lead was thanks to a 42/42 split which included nine pars and an unfortunate double-bogey on the 9th. They defended their 2023 title, and may even claim a ‘three-peat’ with the win in 2020 when the event was last played, having been postponed due to the Covid issue. The final 9-holes told the story with the Betland/Death pair sharing honours with Pendleton/Davidson by scoring 41’s, while Duncan/Duncan faltered with a 45. This left the Pendleton/Davidson pair as runners-up on 128. The Handicap results were a repeat of the scratch results. Betland/Death and Pendleton/Davidson had the same handicap of 11.5 handicap but the three shot lead that Betland/Death had after the 18-holes was enough to earn them the winners badge. Jayden and Heather can rue the ‘9’ they scored on the 15th hole, as compared to the ‘5’ that John and Nicole scored. At least they gave the winners a ‘run for their money’. The ball sweep went to 114 nett, gleefully received by: 112.5 - W & J Judge; 114 N & B Duncan. The NTP’s went to: 9th Ladies – S Grierson, Men – C Byrnes; 18th Men – J Betland. The alternate tee shot format had a hand in that. The pair of Andrew Dukes/Sally Crosby has tasted success in this event before. Playing alongside John and Nicole they thought they had a good chance with a better handicap. But alas they could not fire on the 18-holes, and instead left their best until last but the gap was too much. Some pundits tipped the pair of Archie Quirk and Sharon Grierson to do well, with both players in form after the champs. But things did not go well from the very start. While tuning up before the game by swinging her putter Sharon lost her grip and watched the putter sail over the fence and onto the ‘Golfie’ verandah. A couple of 8’s in their 18-holes put a dampener on things. But the final 9-holes did not start well when Archie OB’ed his tee shot, forcing Sharon to tee off. Then the final 9-holes finished with a triple bogey after finding water, the bunker and a tree. The best comeback was made by Warwick and Jean Judge. Their 18-holes earned them a score split of 49/51, but they nearly shot into Handicap contention with a well-played 46 on the final 9-holes to race up the leader board into third spot. The ‘worst play’ story goes to the pair who scored a ‘10’ on the 9th, their final hole of the day. The first tee shot found water, then the next shot found water. This was followed by a chip short of the green, and then a chip over the green. The return chip rolled to the front of the green, and was followed by three putts. That pair remains incognito. Play on Saturday was the annual ‘Callaghan Shield’. In a change of format this year it was a 4BBB Stableford Aggregate Medley, where each player’s stableford score countered and then combined for each pair. This was an initial source of confusion for the 67 players, but everybody warmed to the challenge. The winners were the pair of Jayden Pendleton and Archie Quirk, who amassed a score of 75 points. Archie was heard to modestly claim it was his shots on the front-9 that got them off to a good start, while Jayden steadied the ship coming home. Archie had plenty of 3-pointers in his score, while Jayden managed a 4-pointer and numerous 2-pointers. Runners-up were a pair of Juniors who have taken to the competition play very well. Charlie Howe managed 39 points and was well supported by Max Hazell on 31 points, which combined for their 70 points. Both players scored on every hole, with the 9th being their worst hole by recording only a point each. On the other holes they combined 3’s with 2’s to keep the score ticking over. The Individual Comp was won by Charlie Howe with his 39 points, but only on count back from Archie Quirk. We can see many a duel between these two juniors as they develop their games. The ball sweep went to 64 points on count back: 69 – H Callaghan/C McMillan, S Kirkman/T Griffiths; 67 – R Webb, P Tisdell, T Morgan/D McGroder; 66 – A Dukes/K Herbert; 64 – T Howe/R Grayson, J Reid/L Whitfield, D Quirk/A Andrews. The lone visitor was Katherine Jeffress (Cowra) who joined in with Brian Everest and Phil Maher but struggled a bit. The Super Pin was won by Todd Callaghan with an impressive if askew shot. His ball finished 484 cm from the hole, but nobody could better that or even get close to the ‘usual’ 250 cm range. Unfortunately the hoped for ‘2’ conversion did not transpire. The NTP’s went to: 9th Ladies – H Davidson, Men – J Pendleton; 18th Ladies A-M Gaffney, Men P Dawson. Only Ann-Maree and Ecky converted for 2’s, and those both on the 18th, with a total of six all day. Kim Herbert scored the lone ‘2’ on the 9th and Dave Mylecharane got the loner on the 3rd. The course played really well with a return to ‘Preferred Lie on fairways and green surrounds’ only. The greens were quite smooth which may have contributed to the low number of 2’s. Some, like Luke Flakelar, found that the putts were fast, with an initial missed first putt travelling uncomfortably past the hole for a second putt. Liam Whitfield was another who found that the greens ‘carried his ball too far’, but then he had too many shots getting to the green in the first place. And then Kim Herbert putted short all day, except for the 9th. In fact putting was the primary malady for the day. Stephen Uphill had a scare on the 1st hole by travelling miles past with his first putt, then putted short for the remainder of the day. Ev Uphill was unlucky not to score well, with many putts shaving the hole and on one occasion refusing to drop. Here is the news: The FGA AGM was held upstairs in the ‘Golfie’ on Wed 30 Oct. An announcement on the Office Bearers will be made after the Management Committee first meeting in November. The Events Sub-Committee AGM will be held on Tue 5 Nov, in the meeting room of FGA House. The Ladies Committee have held their elections with Sally Perry returned as President and Sarah Black returned as Ladies Captain. Congratulations to all. The 2024-25 Summer Sixes comp is into its second week with some good first time scores. After this week the handicaps will settle down and the competition between teams will be in earnest. The Forbes Nissan Classic is on this weekend, and with a good field each day there will not be much chance for social play. Head Pro Will has advised of a Callaway Equipment Demo day to be held on Wed 13 Nov. Contact the Pro Shop for more details if you are interested. This weekend is ‘Forbes Nissan Classic Weekend’. On Saturday a 4BBB (not Medley) will be played for Men and Ladies, while Sunday has the Individual Stroke event. With good weather this should be a cracker of a weekend. Thanks to all the sponsors who have made this event possible.
