Despite the good weather on the weekend, with only a mild breeze to cares the ball on occasions, scoring was very difficult for most of the field. The winners seemed to have no problems, but there were more tales of woe than exuberance.
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Saturday was the Monthly Medal, sponsored by Adept Plumbing. There are no plumbing innuendos, except to say that the winners were flushed with their success. The field of 80 players was bolstered by visitors and a good run of local players all looking to succeed.
The A-Grade winner was Peter Grayson, seemed to relish the cooler conditions. His only blemish was a seven on the 15th but every other hole was either par or bogey to play consistent golf and record a nett 70. But for a sliding putt he would have parred each of the par-threes. Runner-up, once again, was Phil Maher, on 72 nett, who would have dropped his ‘bridesmaid’ tag if he had not had such a roller-coaster round.
The B-Grade title went to Rob Webb with a nett 70. His consistent par or bogey scoring was interrupted by a two on the ninth, but that was good in any case. Close behind was Ian Bown with nett 71. His front nine was tidy but he strayed a bit on the back nine, recording some unfortunate shots including an air swing.
The C grade was won by John Pritchard, a visitor from Orange, with a nett 67. Unfortunately, he cannot claim the Medal title, which goes to Allan Rees with his 69 nett. John did well on an unfamiliar course, and reaped the reward of straight play coupled to his good handicap. Allan on the front nine was like his recent NZ trip – all over the place. But he settled into some excellent consistency on his way home.
The ball sweep went to 75 nett on count back, going to: 66 – J Morgan; 67 – J Pritchard; 69 – A Rees; 70 – P Grayson, R Webb, T Edols; 71 – I Bown; 72 – P Maher; 73 – J Zannes, P Dawson, B Squires, T Hanson; 74 – P Pymont, R Borger, B Thomas; 75 – M Haley, P Nixon, J Haley, G Forrest, R Davies, W Judge, G Coles.
The NTP’s went to: ninth – Marty Woods; 18th – F Donohoe. Neither got their two. In an example of the tough conditions, only eight twos were scored with the 9th and 18th taking a peppering, but no salt available on the first.
The visitors included a big group from Wentworth GC - comprising C Lynch, M Tilston, W Hennessy, G Tilston, J Pritchard, G Forrest, S Hare, A Michell and W Clinghan – and Tony Hanson from Shoalhaven. They all enjoyed the course, with some having a modicum of success. We may see them again for the Open next weekend.
So how tough was the course? The scores do not lie. The best scratch score was 74 by John Betland. There were only seven Nett scores of par or better. And there were more than 22 per cent of scores that were 100 or higher.
The course was in great condition, the greens were fast without being slick, and the breeze was not tree bending. The winners managed to score well, so maybe it was just one of those days where the many facets of golf did not gel for the majority of the players.
The best round of the day was presented by James Morgan. His 66 nett earned him good reward in the clubhouse, but unfortunately his membership status denied him full glory. His card showed the value of consistency, despite what your handicap may be.
The long holes were a problem, with sevens resulting from hitting with gusto, but the other holes were all played well.
James was paired with Peter Cowhan who relished his play. Those two were paired against Frank Hanns and Mike Spice, who took an early lead in the group play. But the effort by James, assisted occasionally by Peter, delivered an eight up win for the day.
In many cases the golf player needs to use some imagination to extricate from a tricky situation. Ash Tucker followed Sergio Garcia’s example when he played a backhand shot.
Ash was not in a tree as Sergio was, but his tee shot on the third had finished against a tree near the left water hazard. With no stance for a right-hander Ash did well, connecting with the ball cleanly, which then ran towards the green but unfortunately finished behind another tree. Ah well, such is golf.
There were dilemmas faced by many players. It was said that ‘Tornado’ Griffiths three putted on 22 holes, but the maths is wrong there.
Unless of course the number of his putting strokes felt like it was 22 holes. And then Stuart French had trouble in the bunker. He shanked a chip shot to get in there, flailed for a time, got out, then got back in again, and flailed some more. His score on that hole was almost a full round of golf.
Some players seemed to have nobody on their side. Paul Kay was able to record that he had trouble with trees on every hole. That must be a record.
On some days a player’s ball would strike a tree and bounce onto the fairway. Not for Paul. Not only did his ball bounce into the trees from off the fairway, but they finished snookered and a number of times he had to play sideways or backwards to get out of trouble.
And Peter Barnes was not immune. His ‘12’ on the seventh included trees and OB’s.
He was not as bad as Bob Borger, who recently on that hole played his third shot from behind the Ladies tee without having gone OB. And then managed to five putt once he got to the green.
There was one group out there who were unaware of what the competition format was. They must have thought it was a ‘cumulative gross score’ event, as they amassed a cumulative score of 431, with each in triple digits. The next nearest cumulative score was 397.
There was no Stableford Medley on Sunday. Instead the day belonged to the Forbes Ladies Open, which was contested by 71 players. Players travelled from Mudgee, Wellington and our near neighbours.
There will be full report provided, but for those interested the scratch winners over the three grades contested were - A grade: Catherine Cox (Mudgee) with 89; B grade: Sally Crosby (Fbs) with 98; C-Grade: Deb Dingwall (Fbs) with 103. More information to come on that event.
Here is the News
The Forbes Open is well on the way for play on May 13. And hopefully the weather will hold well also.
As this is also a Qualifying round for the NSW Open, we have already had intrants from far afield. While a playoff is exciting, we hope we have a clear winner this year as we do not want to have a play-off in the dark.
The Starting Time sheet is in the Pro Shop. Either drop in or give Simon a ring to get your name down.
There will be a designated Last Tee-off time so make sure you get in early to get the best time and avoid missing out. The nomination fee includes a lunch, which is even another reason get your name down.
On Saturday, May 12 we have a 4BBB Stableford event, sponsored by Forbes Livestock and Agency. Once again, the Starting sheet is in the Pro Shop so get your name down now to enjoy a good day of golf to start the weekend with.
Organisation is progressing for the Legends Pro-Am on Friday, May 18. We already have 32 Professionals entered, so now we need players to fill the field.
Once again we have good support from the Forbes Shire and other great sponsors. This only serves to ensure Forbes is well showcased and becomes a mecca for many travelling tourists.
Players (Men, Ladies and Juniors) with a GA Handicap are encouraged to participate alongside some good Legends Professional golfers. Some of the Pros are very good at providing a helpful tip on your game, which you can then follow up with during a lesson with Simon.
The 2018 Wallace Cup will commence soon. Because of the busy period of golf we have and are going through, we have delayed this event a little bit.
This must be finished before November, so players are warned that the rules for completion of matches will be enforced. This is the Premier Match Play comp for the year, so please participate. Watch the notice board for the nomination sheet.
Do not to forget to check the Local Rules board. It does help your enjoyment of the game.
It is crystal ball time:
Saturday, May 12 we have a 4BBB Stableford, sponsored by FLA. This precedes the Forbes Open Stroke event on Sunday, May 13.
Friday, May 18 we have the Legends Pro-Am, with an 18-hole stroke event on Saturday, May 19 and the Sunday Stableford thereafter.
-by Short Putt