The Saturday comp was again an 18-Hole 4BBB event, but this time it was a Stableford Multiplier, sponsored by the Forbes Tuesday Golfers. This format requires a good arithmetic ability, coupled to a huge bucket of forgiveness as the consequences of you not scoring any points may be devastating for your partner.

The Tuesday golfers chose this format because they have an abundance of each, and were hoping to gain an advantage. Instead they shall have to use their Tuesday gatherings to concoct an alternative winning format.

The overall winners were the family pairing of Anthony and Lachlan Alley. Their score of 84 was built upon consistent scoring, and with only one 'zero' hole. The 7th hole was their best effort, where Lachlan almost achieved a personal milestone. He was putting for his first ever par on this hole, but a tentative stroke led to the ball narrowly slipping away. But it was good play nevertheless.

Runners-up were Matt Duff and Ted Morgan with a creditable 81 points. No zeros on their card but a few 1-pointers which held them back from the winner's circle. This pairing was the highest placed of the four teams who managed to score on every hole.

The ball sweep went to 66 points: 80 - H Callaghan/ Baxter; 78 - Slack-Smith/R Scott; 77 - Cutler/Hooper; 75 - R Grayson/S Betland; 72 B Everest/ Maher; 70 - D Earl/S Uphill; 68 - Rees/R Williams; 67 - G Nicholson/P Duke, Falvey/T Duncan; 66 - M Flannery/S French, J Daley/D Maling, and Carpenter/ N McMillan.

The NTPs went to: 9th - S Sallaway; 18 th - T Griffiths, neither of whom got their '2'. There were only five 2s scored, reflecting the slower than usual greens even though the line was very true. The 3rd Hole Super Pin went to John Ridley, who also missed his '2'.

The best performer in the 2s category was Ralph Baker, who snared 2s on the 1st and 9th holes. That netted a 15 pointer on the 1st hole, but a zero pointer on the 9th hole due to his partner Bruce Squires having a zip. Interestingly, they shared the 'most number of zero holes' with another pairing, neither of whom finished last. The best score of the day went to John Cutler and Glen Hooper with 92. However, unfortunately Glen was assigned an incorrect handicap and a re-calculation of their score dropped them to fifth spot.

The field was helped by a number of visitors participating, none of whom were from a Covid hotspot. They were especially careful of the health regulations, and became intoxicated by the pleasures of the course. While their scores were below the median, their praise of the course was at the very top.

In this format there are usually some very good individual performances. But, these can be negated by an errant score by their partner. The most common complaint between players in a pair related to putting woes. All too often a needed putt was left short, resulting in a good 4-pointer being multiplied by a 'zero'.

Such mishaps were generally unfortunate, and the partners dipped deep into the forgiveness bucket. Luckily there were no fisticuffs on the course. Although, it was observed that Paul Kay often walked on the other side of the fairway from partner Terry Griffiths. This was maybe as a result of Paul muttering he had the worst start of the whole year, resulting in one zero and numerous 1s by Paul, and thus a lowly score of single figures after five holes, rather than something closer to 20.

Once again the water hole 9th proved too much for some players. Ralph Baker had played a tremendous shot onto the green, but partner Bruce Squires watched as his tee shot fell short by 30cm and splashed into the water. His resultant '6 for zero' offset Ralph's '2 for 4'.

The Sunday Stableford Medley had a good field, courtesy of the group of visiting golfers. Unfortunately a deluge of rain during the middle of the day caught a few players towards the end of their round, resulting in a few cards being washed out.

Nevertheless, it was a good day despite that. The winner was Julie Hurkett with 39 points, who had been called in to make up the numbers for even groups with the visitors. She was glad she did join in. Runner-up was Rob Webb with 38 points. He was very pleased with his round, having bombed out badly the day before, when the occasional good hole did not compensate enough for the misses on other holes.

Unfortunately there were no NTP's, but the ball sweep went to 25 pts: 30 - Peter Grayson; 27 - Lee Daley (Yamba); and 25 - Wendy Mason (Sawtell). The Golf industry continues to undertake market research to ensure their products are of the highest standard and meet the demands of the players. The manufacturers of golf balls are very keen in this regard.

A recent survey showed that Srixon balls were most likely to be lost, with many finding their way amongst deep grass lies. Unfortunately the analysis is not complete, so it has not yet been identified if Srixon balls are the most prolific on the course and hence contribute to a higher percentage, or if other brands are more prolific but easier to control and thus less likely to be lost. The research continues.

Here is the news: Many of you would already have heard, but you will all be pleased to hear that Head Pro Adam Demidjuk and wife Ainsley now have a baby girl. The baby, Bobbie, was born during the early hours of Sunday 20 Sep.

She was a healthy size, and mum and baby are doing well. Needless to say, Adam is very thrilled to have a Princess. Unfortunately the Rotary Charity Day scheduled for Sun 27 Sep has been postponed until sometime in early 2021. The uncertainty around preparations under the Covid- 19 Regulations meant it was better to postpone until a more beneficial time.

Planning for the Forbes Nissan Classic (14, 15 Nov) continues, with the expectation that this will be conducted as a Local/Regional event only. It is expected that extra precautions will be in place, including no presentations. More on this after the Dept of Health review of the Covid-19 regulations at the end of September.

On Sunday the Dubbo Open was held, and conducted under strict Covid-19 protocols. The event was reduced to 18 holes, with no presentation, and players encouraged to vacate the clubhouse as soon as possible. The winner was a local lad with a scratch score of 68. A small contingent of Forbes players attended but were unsuccessful.

Committee elections are coming up. It is important that members participate and contribute through a Committee membership. Please give some thought to nominating. Contact Events Committee Chairman Steve Grallelis if you want to know more or are interested.

Crystal ball:

A Stableford event was played in two Divisions on Wednesday 16th with a big field of 32 players. Division 1 winner was Julie Hurkett 37 points and runner-up Marie Reid 34. Division 2 winner was Enid Baker 36 and runner-up Debbie Dingwall 35. Ball Sweep went to D Dingwall, M Reid, F Wells 34, J Judge 33, L French 32, M Tooth 32, A Flannery 32 and J Cripps 31 on a C/b. NTP 9th J Hurkett and 18th L Pollock.

Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to our Sponsors for the day Anne Reade, Goldie Ridley and Alison Kingston.

Saturday 19th was a 3 person Ambrose called the Evil Golfers Trophy which clearly has a meaning from the sponsors Jenny Hubbard, Debbie Tilley and Jenny Fletcher. There were a number of visitors who made the numbers up to 32 which from all accounts was a great day. The locals of Brianna and Carolyn Duncan and Heather Davidson had 65.5 which gave them the trophy with the runners-up being the visitors J McCormack, L Daley and J Bereick 68 1/6. Ball Sweep to S Perry, E Uphill, and C Venables 68 5/6 who were unlucky to miss out on being runners-up. NTP 9th J McCormack(visitor) 18th Rose Carol. Grenfell Tournament set down for Sunday was cancelled due to the wet weather.