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MEN'S GOLF
By SHORT PUTT
The Forbes golfing week finished on a high with a great day and good field in the Saturday event. The scores and enjoyment were high all around with close finishes in all divisions.
The event was an Individual Stableford Medley with players competing for the Kristie Carpenter Memorial Trophy, sponsored by Terry Griffiths and Veronica Rebellato. The 76 players had many locals with quite a few visitors to push the numbers up.
The overall winner was Anthony Alley with his 41 points, but only by count back from Cam McMillan who himself was hounded by Ev Uphill. They certainly enjoyed themselves and each could recount moments where they could have done better.
Although the event was a ‘Medley’ there are prizes for the men and lady competitors.
The Men’s Div-1 winner was Anthony Alley with runner-up Cam McMillan.
Anthony was devastating on the front-9 but he had a few too many 5’s on the back-9 and had to settle with a 40.
Cam was more consistent overall shooting a scratch score of 68. His stableford points were the same as Anthony with the eventual decision for the count back resting on the 14th hole.
The Men’s Div-2 was won by Brendan Hayes on 39 points. He also scraped in on count back.
He played steadily all day using his handicap to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Despite bogeys on the 6th and 7th his front-9 had the better score, having started with a par on the 1st.
The Div-2 runner-up was Max Haley, also on 39 points. Max enjoyed the company in his group, scoring 21 points on the front-9 which equalled the best for the day.
He had a couple of 1-pointers on the back-9 and ‘only’ managed to play to his handicap. He ruined his day with a double-bogey for only ‘1’ point on the last hole.
The Ladies Division was won by Ev Uphill with 40 points.
Ev started with a par then amassed a bevy of 2-pointers to head towards a great score. However, a single 1-pointer on each of the halves dented her chances in this high-octane environment.
The ladies runner-up was Kate Steele-Park with 38 points and on count back from two other players.
Kate played alongside Ev and was suitably inspired. However, where Ev had 1-pointers Kate could only manage ‘misses’ on nearly the same holes.
The ball sweep went to 33 points on count back, going to: 38 – D Tilley, V Rebellato; 37 - J Crips, N Kelly, C Herbert; 36 – B Duncan, K Sanderson; 35 - R Hey, P Wells, W O’Niell; 34 – T Duke, D Taylor, P Duke, T Griffiths, A-M Gaffney, C Duncan,; 33 – S Crosby, L Wilks, K Tyne, M Duke and A Rees.
The visitors included: P Jackson (Coffs Harbour), R Hey, W Powter, D Howard, J Green, M Kelly (all Parkes), L Wilks (Grenfell) and N Kelly (Future).
Their scores were scattered through the field so no favourites there, but undoubtedly the Parkes guys enjoyed their practice run on the course before the Mens Open.
The NTP’s went to: 9th – Ladies: B Duncan, Men: P Barnes; 18th – Ladies: B Duncan, Men R Hey.
Both Pete and Rob converted for 2’s but Briana only had a 50 per cent strike rate for hers, missing out on the 18th.
Putting was a bit tricky as only seven 2’s were scored all day. The ladies managed one ‘2’ by Briana on the 9th.
The men ravaged the 9th also with single items on the 18th and the 1st. The '’' on the first was scored by Denis Howard from Parkes. It was a good start to the day and he thought he was doing very well. But then the ‘back-9 curse’ got him.
The 3rd hole Super-Pin was a surprising effort.
The winner was content with their shot onto the green but surprised that the remainder of the field could not better it. However, the money will go well for Lachlan Hodge and he can feel pleased about his 326 cm winning shot.
On the hunting trail was Harry Callaghan with what he thought was an ‘eagle’ on the 6th hole, or so the Leaderboard screen showed. However, it was a clerical error and was soon rectified. Other than that peak of excitement there were no other cries.
The golfing gods can really be cruel. Darren Taylor was having what could be described as a dream round but in essence was just better than average.
He was pleased to record 19 points on the front-9 and looking forward to building on his score on the back-9.
All was going well, especially after a 4-pointer on the 13th where his par was helped by 2-shots to earn four points. The 14th was easy enough also.
But the gods hit, the wheels came off and he leaked oil all the way home. He amassed only four points on the last four holes to crash out of contention. Two points on each of those holes would have put him knocking on a prize door.
Peter Barnes thought he was going onto the Honour board when his shot on the 9th passed so very close to the hole or so it looked. It was certainly close being well within two feet, or 60 cm for the modern thinkers, but not good enough.
Here is the news:
The second leg of the Men's ‘Trilogy of Golf’ was played at Condobolin GC last Sunday. It was a big field with a packed time sheet that resulted in a few groups finishing in near darkness. Read the separate report for full details.
The tee timesheet for the Men's Open on 31 May is now full. The field will be compact to ensure everyone gets into the Golfie in time and the presentation can be completed before players travel home.
Players are advised that the Lachlan Valley District GA Pennants are scheduled for Sunday 14 June and will be held at West Wyalong. There is a nomination sheet in the Pro Shop.
Please get as many names down as possible so Forbes can extend its ‘supremacy’ across all prize categories. Contact Steve Betland for details.
Players are advised that if their card is not completed correctly their scores will be removed. Do it correctly or ask someone for help. Having the correct score entered will ensure that count backs truly represent the outcome.
It is crystal ball time:
This Saturday, 23 May, has an individual Stroke sponsored by B&C Automotive. There is the usual Sunday Stableford Medley comp for those keen for another hit.
VETS GOLF
It was a day of close call at last week's twin-towns veterans golf played at Parkes, with a count-back required to decide the winner and only one point separating the teams for the weekly shield.
In a day of good scoring, there were no flies on Forbes' Les Little who took the honors with a solid 40 points on a count-back from John Dwyer of Parkes.
Twenty-six players faced the starter - 15 from Parkes and 11 from Forbes - in a day that was perfect for golf combined with plenty of run on the course.
If was another case of Parkes being on the wrong side of victory with Forbes claiming the twin-towns shield - best six scores from both sides - by 220 points to Parkes' 219.
Nearest-to-pins proved hard to get with the Parkes pair of Dale Stait and Joe Davies winning A and B grade respectively on the fourth hole, while no player managed to hit the green on the 11th hole. Joe also won the encouragement award and went home with a handful of balls from his two "wins".
The ball sweep went to 34 points with winners as follows: 38 - Ken Walton (F); 37 - Ken Sanderson (F) and John Pearce, Phil Bishop and John Ivey (P); 35 - Barry Shine (F) and Nym Dziuba (P); 34 - Ted Morgan and Peter Barnes (F).
This Thursday Grenfell will host the May Lachlan Veterans Golf Association monthly 18-holes competition.
Nominations taken from 9am for a 10am shot-gun start.
Last Tuesday’s social 12 hole comp was naturally abandoned due to the ladies Western District’s tournament here in Forbes but all was not lost as 12 regulars made the trip to Canowindra for a hit.
The brain child of Ken Sanderson and co-host Ken Walton the talking point over lunch was the handicap system where it was suggest the punter pal, John Milton could undertake a stewards review into who played off what and why. He declined as he felt he would need two assistants due to the complicity of all cases.
For the record Phil Wells off his revised Tuesday handicap won with 36 points from Dennis McGroder, another who extended his handicap scoring 35 points as did David Earl off who knows what handicap.
Tuesday social 12 holes for all, even social players. Ball toss at 9am for playing partners. Best of all, coffee and a chat to follow if interested.