By SHORT PUTT The annual staging of the Forbes Nissan Classic weekend was bathed in sunshine throughout, with only a wind that seemed to oscillate around to contend with on the Sunday. It was easy to see that both members and visitors alike enjoyed their golf activity. The major event was held on Sunday with the running of the Classic Stroke Event. The field of 136, including ladies, had representatives from 15 clubs with 54 visitors attending. They all enjoyed a course in tip top condition, greens that were deceptively quick in places and a good feed afterwards. President Tony Cogswell welcomed all the visitors and thanked Frank Spice Nissan, the Forbes Shire Council, and the other sponsors that help make the event possible. Prizes were offered for Scratch, Handicap and Stableford across three grades in the men and one division in the ladies. Also up for grabs were NTP’s across all par-3’s and a couple of novelty shots with ‘nearest 2nd shot’ being awarded. The Mens A-Grade Scratch winner, and holder of the Nissan Classic Trophy, was Cooper Giddings (Dubbo) who managed a 68 on the day. On his front-9 pars were easy but he only managed a couple of birdies and a bogey. It was the back-9 where he excelled with ‘trouble free’ golf and managed birdies on the 13th, 15th and 18th holes. The Mens A-Grade Scratch Runner-up was John Betland with 71. He matched Cooper’s front-9, having started with a birdie and finished with a bogey, and was ‘on fire’ on the back-9. He was 3-under after seven holes but an untimely double-bogey on the 17th and bogey on the 18th meant he slipped back. The Ladies Scratch was won by Brianna Duncan with 88. A double-bogey to start did not enthuse her and she could not find form for the remainder of the front-9. But she settled into her swing on the back-9, recording four pars and a lone birdie, with this score giving her 4-points in stableford on that hole. The Ladies Scratch runner-up was Sharon Grierson with 92. She also needed the front-9 to get warmed up, but stormed home on the back-9 with some excellent play. Other prize winners were (Forbes unless stated otherwise) were: Men A-Grade Handicap: S Sallaway (68 nett), R Murray (70 nett). Men A-Grade Stableford: A Dukes (37 pts), Alf Davies (34 pts). Men B-Grade Scratch: B Thomas (84), P Kay (86). Men B-Grade Handicap: W Hagan (70 nett), P Barnes (72 nett). Men B-Grade Stableford: J Reid (36 pts), J Wood (Dubbo – 35 pts). Men C-Grade Scratch: R Smith (92), C Byrnes (94). Men C-Grade Handicap: L Fraser (72 nett on c/b), NJ Morrison (72 nett). Men C-Grade Stableford: B Ferrao (Breakers – 34 pts), W Brooking (Cabramatta – 33 pts). Veteran: Scratch – P Dawson (72), Handicap – A Melisi (73 nett). Junior: Scratch - A Quirk (84), Handicap – C Howe (76 nett). Men Visitor: Scratch – M Wood (Dubbo) 73, Handicap – R Hey (Parkes) 74 nett Ladies Handicap: J Cripps (75 nett), L Cowhan (77 nett) Ladies Stableford: J Fletcher (31 pts), L Knight (Magenta Shores) 30 pts. Best Ladies Visitor Nett: M Starkey (North Ryde) 82 nett. Nearest the pins went to: Men: 1st A-Grade – R Hey (Parkes), 9th C-Grade – C Banks, 18th B-Grade – R Grayson. Ladies: 9th – H Davidson, 18th – J White (North Ryde). The super-pin was won by Shane Sallaway, with a shot to 203 cm, who received an enthusiastic following at the presentation, but sadly no speech was given by him under orders from ‘the boss’. The sometimes blustery wind affected a few players, especially those teeing off the 10th. One player, a ‘leftie’, tried to manoeuvre his tee shot to scrape past the trees and then use the wind to hold the centre of the fairway. But he only managed to put three balls into the water. Another hit the tree on the right side of the tee box, from where his ball bounced to the far side of the 15th fairway. From there he played a magnificent shot into the water. Other players saw their magnificent tee shot start off down the fairway, then get snaffled by the wind and drift way over onto the 15th fairway. Any suggestion of a slice was accentuated. One person searching for his ball among the gums trees between the 15th and 14th fairways was H/Pro Will. It can happen to the best of us. On Saturday the ‘Forbes Advocate Trophy’ 4BBB was played, with 124 players, including five Juniors, participating. Once again it was important to have a good pairing to ensure you combined well to score highly. The Men's Scratch Stableford winners were John Betland and Peter Dawson, who managed to accumulate 43 points. There was a fair margin back to the runners-up, the pairing of Steve Betland/Charlie Dwyer with 38 points. The Men's Handicap Stableford went to Stuart Thomas and Hamish Steele-Park with 50 points. They are both used to dealing with numbers and cumulative results so it was easy for them. Runners-up were Tom Grieve (Pacific Dunes) and Lindsay Beileiter (Wentworth) with 46 points. The Ladies Scratch Stableford went to Brianna & Carolyn Duncan with 33 points to produce a dominant performance. A long way back was runners-up Wendy Simmons & Sharon Grierson on 25 points. The Ladies Handicap Stableford went to Heather Davidson & Kerry Stirling with 47 points. They were chased all the way by Bronwyn Dwyer (Breakers) and Kath Jeffress (Cowra) on 45 points. The ball sweep for men went to 42 points on count back, with 15 pairs being recipients. The ball sweep for Ladies went to 38, with four pairings being lucky. Check in the Pro Shop if you think you were successful. The NTPs went to: 9th – Ladies H Davidson; Men J Pendleton, 18th – Ladies J Fletcher, Men J LeBrocque. The ‘second shot nearest’ winners were: Ladies (on 13th) – B Duncan; Men (on 12th) – Div 1 J Betland, Div 2 S Martino. The Superpin was snatched by Peter Dawson, whose shot to 152 cm was the best seen for a long time and less than half the distance for the next closest, who entered his distance in ‘feet and inches’. The conditions on the day were beautiful, but sometimes the golf was not so good. Paul Kay had trouble on the 10th tee, but being the champion he is he soon recovered. Jeff House played a magnificent tee shot on each of the 1st and 18th holes, but everything in between was not recordable. Here is the news: Head Pro Will has a Callaway Equipment Day scheduled for Wed 13 Nov. Contact him at the Pro Shop if you are interested in trying some gear. The Mens ‘Medal of Medallists’ will be held on Saturday November 15. All those who won a medal from December 2023 to November 2024 are eligible to compete for the top honour, and are encouraged to participate. The Wallace Cup is sponsored by Lachlan Commodities. The Events (Men's) Committee has been re-scheduled to Tuesday November 12, at the FGA House. If you are interested in nomination please contact the Events Cttee Secretary S Grallelis. The 2024-25 Summer Sixes comp is going well with a number of very low scores being recorded. We shall see what happens when the handicaps settle down. There are nine rounds before the Christmas-New Year break, with the grand final scheduled for April 6. There is a lot of fun golf to be had! It is crystal ball time: This Saturday, November 9, is the November Monthly Medal, sponsored by Jelbarts Tyrepower. There will be a Stableford Medley on the Sunday.
