Betland and Death dominate Foursomes Champs

MEN'S GOLF By SHORT PUTT Bright sunny weather bathed the Forbes golfers across the weekend encouraging them to play their best in the competition events. The majority had success but a few welcomed the comfort of the ‘Golfie’ Hotel at the end of their round. The big event was the 27-Hole Mixed Foursomes Championships played on Sunday 2 November and sponsored by Dunk Insurance. A field of 16 teams contested the event with the greens and pin positions maintaining their ‘slippery’ surface from the previous day’s Monthly Medal competition. The Scratch event was won by John Betland and Nicole Death with a total score of 119. After 18-holes they had a five shot lead on the Hanrahan/W Simmons and Dukes/Crosby pairings. Despite some hard charging by Hanrahan/Simmons on the final 9-holes this lead was enough for the win. The Scratch runners-up were Caleb Hanrahan and Wendy Simmons on 122. They had a couple of hiccups on the front-9 with a double on the 7th and only one par. But they improved on the second 9-holes carding five pars and a birdie. Their third 9-holes was the best of the day with three bogeys and one birdie. The Handicap Winners were John Betalnd and Nicole Death who used their 12 handicap to good effect to finish with 101 nett. After 18-holes they had a half-shot lead over Melisi/C Duncan and two shots over Grallelis/Hubbard. Their third 9-holes was equal second best despite scoring a ‘snowman’ on the 7th hole. The Handicap runners-up were Steve Grallelis and Jenny Hubbard with 103 nett, utilising their handicap very well. They played comfortably with barely a cross word all day, completing the 18-holes in second place with a nett 69. Their third 9-holes equalled that of the winners, but for some cooling putters could have been better. The ball sweep went to 106.5 nett on count back, going to: 104 - Dukes/Crosby; 105.5 – Hanrahan/W Simmons; 106.5 – Melisi/C Duncan. The NTP’s went to: Ladies – 3rd: A Simmons, 9th: D Tilley; Men – 9th: M Walton, 18th: M Walton. None of these were converted by their partners into 2’s. There was only one ‘2’ scored all day and that by Hanrahan/Simmons on the 3rd hole. The 3rd Hole Super Pin was won by Caleb Hanrahan with a shot to 83 cm. The conversion by Wendy for a ’2’ ensured they ‘averaged’ a par on this hole played twice. As with many paired events there are good shots and troublesome shots. Pete Barnes had troublesome shots that put partner Heather Davidson into the trees from which Heather made good recoveries onto the fairway. Lindy Pollock drove well on the 8th but put partner Max Hazell in a quandary. Will he go over the big gum or under? Instead he elected to play a draw shot around the tree that landed on the green and left a nice two-putt for a par. And it happens to the best of them. John Betland had to recover from near the fence on the 7th after Nicole’s shot had run further than intended. John faced up then promptly shanked his shot OB. But they did manage to get ‘up and down’ in two shots for a ‘snowman’. On Saturday the mens competition was the November Monthly Medal. The greens were well paced and the pin locations had a good mix of challenging and forgiving. The A-Grade winner was Pete ‘Ecky’ Dawson with a 69 nett but on count back from Steve Betland. A double-bogey on the 4th hole was his only blemish on the front-9 and coupled to a birdie he turned on 37. His back-9 was near flawless but a bogey on the 18th meant he finished with a 34 and scratch 71. The runner-up Steve Betland played a beautiful front-9 turning on 33 after three birdies. He matched Ecky’s back-9 but did manage on birdie on the 18th to finish with a scratch 67. The B-Grade was won by Matt Roylance with a 70 nett. He was quite tidy on the front-9 with a 40 scratch but a couple of double-bogeys on the back-9 led to a 43 scratch. Runner-up was Brian Everest with 71 nett. His putter was not quite working but he still managed 42 on the front-9. He matched Matt on the back-9 with a 43 but was hurt by a double-bogey on the 18th. The C-Grade went to Haig Carlisle who enjoyed his game, finishing with a nett 71, but only on count back. He covered all of the scores on the front-9 with pars, bogeys and double-bogeys but still finished with 44 scratch. His back-9 was a bit messy and he could only manage a 47. C-Grade runner-up was Cody Banks with a nett 71 also. He somehow managed to control the direction of his ball flight and was rewarded with a 45 on the front-9. The back-9 became a bit of a troublesome venture. A triple-bogey and a few double-bogeys did not help, as too the bogey on the 18th which ultimately cost him the medal. The ball sweep went to 75 nett on count back, going to: 70 – B Ashton; 71 – P Kay, D Earl; 72 – C Hanrahan, K Tyne, T Callaghan, Lee Grierson, J Cutler; 73 – L Fraser, S French, P Barnes,; 74 – W Judge, T Williams, NJ Morrison; 75 – N Duncan, C Dwyer, C Alley, J Reid. There was one visitor – Peter Dohertyy (Barham) on his way through to Coffs Harbour for a wet week. The NTP’s went to: 9th – T Callaghan; 18th – J House. Todd converted for his ‘2’ but Jeff was slightly off-line. The 2’s were around with players grabbing nine of them. Of those six went to the A-Graders with the 1st hole remaining ‘two-less’. The 3rd hole Super-Pin went to Paul Kay. He was another to go ‘oh so close’ to a hole in one, finishing only 34 cm from the hole. This followed a ‘par, par’ start but then the story got a bit askew. If only he had this shot a few weeks ago then he may have defended his B-Grade Championship. The story of the day was the two ‘eagles’ scored by Todd Callghan and Stuart French. Fine achievements by both. But they were playing in the same group and both managed the score on the 15th hole. Todd’s was an easy 8-foot putt but Stuart had to work a little harder for his ‘eagle’. Stevie G provided a humorous highlight for his group. On the 15th he played two tidy shots down to the water, then intended a smooth swing for his third to the green. The swing was not quite smooth and the ball shot like a bullet fairly flat across the water. It struck a perfectly angled rock which skied the ball back over his head and back down the fairway to finish 10 or so metres behind him. At least he did not lose the ball in the water. His next shot safely negotiated the water as it headed towards the green. Al Rees had a ‘moment’ on the 9th tee. He hit his tee shot then exclaimed ‘where are you going’ as the ball went nowhere near intended. All was not lost though as he still managed a ‘4’ on the hole. Here is the news: This weekend is the annual Forbes Nissan Classic. There is a 4BBB Stableford on Saturday, sponsored by Forbes Holiday Park. Sunday is the Individual Stroke event with a 2-tee start. There are still times available so contact the Pro Shop. Head Pro Will has another TaylorMade Equipment Fitting day scheduled for Friday Nov 14. This will be an early session with times available from 8 am to 12 noon. Contact Head Pro Will to get your name down. The Men's ‘Medal of Medallist’ is scheduled for Saturday 15 November. Those who won a Monthly Medal through the year will be advised. This is your chance to be the ‘Top Gun’. It is crystal ball time: Saturday 8 November is a 4BBB Stableford, sponsored by Forbes Holiday Park. Sunday 9 November is the Forbes Nissan Classic Individual event. The course will be closed until the late afternoon. SUMMER SIXES By SMOOTH SWINGER The second round of the Forbes Golf Club Summer Sixers competition was played last week and produced some interesting results. All teams managed to get a score in with three getting under the 100 total. The best of these was a 94.5 by ‘Bogeys on Barrys’ who outdid their opponents ‘F-Troop’. The clos-est result was in Gp 2 where ‘The Globe’ (104) accounted for ‘The Duffers’ (107). Still Trying (Gp 1) and ‘Bump and Rums’ (Gp 3) are the only unbeaten teams in their groups, while Groups 2 and 4 still have a few multiple winners. Earning those bonus points for ‘6 cards or more’ or for ‘score under 103’ have certainly helped some teams. Best Individual scores for Week 2 were: Members – Steve Grallelis (Murray’s Mates) 29.5 nett, and for Non-Members – Henry McLennan (Bogeys on Barrys) 22 nett. Don’t forget to enter your ID number and team name on the card as well as signing it, or else the score will not count. And grab a copy of the ‘Summer Sixes Rules’ when you are next in the Pro Shop. Hopefully the weather will not dampen the play this week. Enjoy it out there. VETS REPORT Parkes veteran golfers achieved a rare teams win over Forbes in the Bridgestone sponsored special event played at the local course last week. The day saw $200 in cash and prizes on offer for the 18-hole event where Parkes won the twin-towns shield (six best scores from each club) by 225 points to Forbes' 218. Thirty players contested A and B grades and it was the Parkes boys who lead the way with Dale Stait and Mick Bond the respective winners, both carding a handy 39 points. Runner-up to Stait in A grade was Forbes' Steve Uphill with 37 points, while Richard Hamilton made it a quinella for the locals in B grade returning 28 points. Forbes dominated the nearest-to-pins with Ken Sanderson and Neil Herbert winning A and B grade respectively on the fourth hole and Peter Barnes the A grade winner on the 11th hole. The encouragement award winner was Ian Ward from Parkes. There was no ball sweep as all players received a "top-of-the-line" Bridgestone courtesy of the sponsors. Next week Forbes will stage the 18-hole event with registrations taken from 8.45am for a 9.30 shot-gun start. The following week, November 13, West Wyalong hosts the monthly Lachlan Valley event. Tee-off is 10am. Last Tuesday 11 braved threatening rain with nine finishing after two called it a day on the 9th of the 12 hole competition where the wily Barry ‘Scadger’ Parker was best with a solid 24 points. He had to survive a count-back from Neil Herbert while most of the pack were hot on their heels. If wanting to play any Tuesday be at the club by 9am, no later. Very social with a coffee meet after for many.

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