On Saturday the Competition was the Monthly Medal, sponsored by Jelbart’s Tyrepower. The 62 players rolled around the course, using every ounce of tread on their shoes to maximise grip on the ground and ensure a tumbling flow to the ball flight.
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The A grade belonged to Peter Dawson who once again demonstrated his level of serenity with his game at present. His 71 scratch, 67 nett score included four birdies along with one double bogey and one bogey. It was a smooth cruise most of the way, with an occasional bump or trough. Martin Woods was runner-up with 70 nett. His was a game that also was generally smooth, but with a few hiccups.
The B grade was a family affair. Elder statesman Tony Cogswell, scoring a nett 69, stole a march on the offspring Andy who managed a nett 71. Tony was one shot better on each nine. Interestingly, on most holes they scored the same, with the first and 16th providing Tony the winning edge.
The C grade had many players who each had one shocker hole, thus keeping the scores relatively close. Despite an ‘11’ on the second hole, Clayton Alley managed to scrape home with a nett 70, one shot ahead of Bruce Squires on nett 71. Bruce does not want to reflect on the sixth and seventh holes which brought him to his knees.
The ball sweep went to 73 nett on count back, going to: 67 – P Dawson; 69 – T Cogswell; 70 – M Woods, C Alley; 71 – B Squires, A Cogswell, A Dukes, P Kay, P Barnes, D Rhodes; 72 – T Callaghan, T Morgan, C Barrett, L O’Connor, S Grallelis; 73 – F Hannes.
The NTP’s went to: ninth – T Griffiths; 18th – Alf Davies. Terry got his two, but Alf just could not stroke his ball into the void. For those interested in the stats, twos were scored by eight per cent of the players with no-one scoring more than once.
Chip-ins seemed to be a feature of the day. Robb Webb got one at the ninth, albeit for a par I am told. Cameron McMillan rolled one in from off the edge on the first for a par, and Stevie G chipped in for par on the second.
Some balls were keen for a drink. Stevie G plopped his ball into the water on the 15th, while Max Haley only allowed his a sip, skipping his ball over the water on the fourth. Dave Williams drowned two balls at the ninth, which did not help his partner Peter Grayson who also found the wet stuff.
The power lines on the seventh claimed another victim, in more ways than one. Peter Grayson hit a marvellous shot, only to question whether it struck the wires. “Certainly not!” said Stevie G. After a fruitless search among the trees down the fairway, Scott Kirkman (who was on the 6th green) indicated to Peter that his ball had hit the wires, skying upwards and finishing beside the Ladies tee. Stevie G proceeded to hide among the trees from then on.
There were some disturbingly high scores on some holes. Clayton Alley managed an ‘11’ on the second. The 15th had a number of nines, Dave Williams contributed with his double-digit on the ninth, and Stuart French managed a ten on the seventh.
The A graders also contributed with a number of sevens, but the most memorable were Bundy Nixon with eight on the sixth, and Digit with nine on the seventh. Dan Bayley had a fire interruption to his game, but returned to complete his round under the watchful eye of John Betland. But his powers of concentration ensured he finished well.
Sunday had the usual Stableford Medley, four players finished on 37 points, requiring a very serious count-back procedure. Ethel Combs was announced the winner, ahead of Ray Taylor, who has devised a new way to play. The ball sweep went to 37, being awarded to Stu French and Bruce Carpenter.
This was a welcome change in proceedings for Stuart. Ray Taylor has a foot malaise with his front foot, but developed a ‘full body turn on back-leg only’ stance that ensured he delivered the club head squarely at the back of the ball and kept it straight. This style will feature soon on You Tube.
Here is the News: This weekend is the annual Forbes Nissan Classic, sponsored by Frank Spice Nissan. Both days have full fields, but there are individual spots still left. Thank you to those guys who helped at the Working Bee, doing some preparation for the Nissan weekend. Much was achieved, which hopefully was not undone by the stormy weather early in the week. One of the guys lost his wedding ring on the course, so if you are on a tee or among the trees and you find it please hand it into the Pro Shop.
The Wallace Cup, the premier Club Match Play comp, is nearing the finale. Neil McMillan has been waiting anxiously for an opponent in the Final. His combatant was decided on the weekend. Ian Bown and Peter Cowhan ventured forth on Sunday afternoon. Ian was wary after a terrible game on Saturday, and Peter was trying to focus after a heavy weekend of sport. As so often happens in this format, one player was hot and the other was cold.
In this case Ian was hot, standing on the 13th tee and only five over the card. Peter had one of those games where the ball bounced wrong, the chip checked too soon, or an errant branch prevented a clear shot to the green. And Ian had had a dream game. The final result was a win six and five to Ian. The date for the Final is yet to be set, with both players having commitments. But be rest assured that Neil will hone his skills to try to nullify the 6 shots he has to give Ian.
Demo days: November 17 – Ping: 10 am to 2 pm and November 18 – Titleist: 8am to 12noon. Note that the Events Committee will hold their elections on November 14, at FGA house. Nominations for a position can be made to Sec/Treas Al Rees.
It is crystal ball time: Saturday, November 11 and Sunday, November 12 are the 4BBB and Stroke Comps for the Nissan Classic weekend. The course is in top shape and the sponsors have been generous. It all bodes well for a great weekend. Saturday, November 18 is an 18-hole Stroke event, incorporating the ‘Medal of Medallists’. Sunday, November 19 is an 18-Stableford Medley.
-by Short Putt
Kool Kats are Hot in Super 6’s
The fourth round of the ASI Capital sponsored Forbes Golf Club Summer Sixers competition, once again produced low scores. Bu the hottest team on the planet were Kool Kats with an exciting 95.5 score. However, individual results by other players ensured that Kool Kats had to share the limelight.
A few best scores were in the 20’s, but the quality of the players is such that you need to be in the low 30’s at least to get anything. For the Members we have: Bob Scott (28), John Cutler (29.5) and Fleur Von Mergerson-Wells (31), while for the Non-members it was: Geoff Tilley (31), Rachel Lawler (32.5) and Neil Herbert (33).
Once again familiar names dominated the leader boards. The best scores in each Pool were: Carlton Dry Boys 102.5 (Pool 1), Flip Floppers 101 (Pool 2), Forbes Toyota 101 (Pool 3) and Kool Kats 95.5 (Pool 4).
Minyas are the ‘newby’ team with the most points so far, but TBC remain the highest placed newby even though have slipped a bit. The Pool leaders are: Pool 1 – Carlton Dry Boys 99.5), Pool 2 – Four n Two (sounds almost like a pie brand) with a perfect score of 10, Pool 3 – Forbes Toyota (9.5), and Pool 4 Hook Drive & Sink (8.5).
The ball/ money voucher winners for each Pool are:
Pool 1 –Laurie O’Connor, Goldie Ridley, Heather Davidson, Terry Sharpe, Teresa Armitage, Colleen Venables and Eily Hush.
Pool 2 – Geoff Tilley, Carolyn Duncan, Toni Townsend, Debbie Tilley, ben Robinson, Mary Ewing and Andrew Grogan.
Pool 3 – John Cutler, Kathy Collits, Neil Herbert, Geoff Drane, Graeme Hopkins, Nick Turner and Sandy Paterson.
Pool 4 – Bob Scott, Louise French, Fleur Von Mergerson-Wells, Danielle Scott, Lyn Kennedy, Rachel, Lawler and John Bruce.
Good to see an almost fresh bunch of names there from last week. Sandy Paterson has re-created some winning form. He started well in the squash comp then fell from grace at the hands of Pete Cowhan and others.
This affected his golf markedly, but now he has had a revival. You cannot keep a good man down. Many players could have scored better if some of their putts had dropped rather than shaved the edge of the hole.
The cries of protest from these near-misses rolled around the course. But this week could be different, we hope.
-by Smooth Swinger