The weekend golf activity was dominated by the Forbes Mens Open events, but also by some very inclement weather.

Saturday's play was affected by periods of rain and water on the ground, while Sunday did produce a period of sunshine in the afternoon that helped some players. But the scores were quite good nevertheless.

On Sunday the Mens 18-hole Open, sponsored by Forbes Shire, Golfie Hotel and Golf Harvest.

It was 'touch and go' with rain late in the week and across Saturday making the course very wet and heavy. But the field of 116 were undaunted and despite the difficult conditions produced some excellent results.

The Presentation was a cosy affair, attended by Councillor Chris Roylance representing the Forbes Shire, and a number of visiting players who were staying over. There was still plenty of laughter into the evening as the players dried out alongside the lovely fire.

The A-Grade Scratch was won by Kurt Cusack (Wellington) with a score of 72. He shot 1-under on the front-9 and 1-over on the back-9 in a great display of solid scoring. He birdied the 5th hole but bogeyed the 13th hole in what was a masterful display in those conditions.

In the A-Grade, the Handicap winner was Mike B Wood (Dubbo) who managed a 70 nett. He started with a double-bogey, and had a 'triple' on the 7th hole, but after that settled into some good golf.

The Handicap runner-up was Mike Wood (Dubbo) who finished two shots behind his son, but hampered by a lower handicap. Mike senior parred the front-9 and leaked a few shots on the back-9 but still played well.

The B-Grade Scratch winner was Anthony Alley with 86, which indicates how hard the scoring was. Anthony had a roller-coaster front-9, scoring an '8' on the 2nd hole, but played better on the back-9.

In the B-Grade Handicap the winner was Mike Gaffney (Griffith) with a pleasant 74 nett, but he got there on handicap over Craig Fox (Cootamundra).

Both players were steady on the front-9 but got a bit wayward on the back-9

The C-Grade Scratch winner was Keith McCullock (Riverside) with a hard fought 100. His was a case of trying hard on the front-9 and then not improving on the back-9. But at least he finished with a par.

The C-Grade Handicap win went to Josh Wood (Dubbo) who used his previously gained local knowledge to finish with a nett 77, and could have been better without a big score on the 7th.

Runner-up on count back was Henry Nash, who managed almost equal halves in his progress. But for a '9' and a '7' his card was looking pretty good.

The ball sweep went to 77 nett on count back. Being a larger field the list is quite extensive so check in the Pro Shop to see if you were among the nearly 40 that scored a ball.

There were 65 visitors representing: Dubbo, Dunedoo, Murrumbidgee, Young, Parkes, Condobolin, Wollongong, Shelly Beach, Wellington, Trundle, West Wyalong, Lynwood, Temora, Riverside Oaks, Lake Cargelligo, Nelson Bay, Griffith, Bogan Gate, Caragabal and Cootamundra.

Glad to see you all here and hope to see you on your home course soon. And we welcome back our 'long lost son' in the form of Digit McAuliffe. Always a smile on his face - makes you wonder what he is planning now.

The NTP's were available across all par-3's and included: 1st Hole A-Grade - Alf Davies; 3rd Hole A-Grade - Steve Beattie (Condo), B-Grade - Greg Webb, C-Grade Tim Mackay; 9th Hole C Grade - was awarded to Craig Taylor (W/W) when in actual fact he is a B-grader, and obviously did not read the card correctly. The 18th hole for B-Grade was not snaffled.

With the greens being difficult to putt on, it is not surprising that the majority of the 2's were scored by the A-graders, among who Alf converted his NTP and was the only player to score a '2' on the 1st hole.

The B- and C- graders managed three 2's each. Steve Beattie did convert his B-Grade NTP on the 3rd. But overall there were only twenty 2's.

Putting aside the fantastic exploits of the Scratch winner, Kurt Cusack, conditions were more conducive to high scores. There were a number of double-digit scores on individual holes. Possibly the usual worst was a '10' on the 9th hole by a Parkes player.

But undoubtedly the absolute crown for 'dogged determination' goes to a W/Wyalong player who honestly recorded a '17' on the 4th hole. It seems that Lawrie Milsom can share a tear-drenched beer with Ben Kelly (Caragabal) who managed three triple digit scores on his card.

The Saturday event was a 4BBB Stableford, sponsored by Forbes Livestock & Agency. The conditions were definitely wetter than Sunday, and consequently the field had shrunk to 81 players. It was a case of local knowledge being an advantage.

The Scratch Stableford Winners was the pairing of John Betland and Peter Dawson (Fbs). They managed 40 points, but scraped through on count back from Steve Betland and Jacob Bernardi (Fbs). John and 'Ecky' managed two 1-pointers as compared to Steve and Jacob managing just one. No doubt the discussion about who is better will rage on.

The Handicap Stableford Winners were Jock Coupland and Tom Stuckey. They were lucky on a few occasions, but conversely could have been better without two 'wipes'.

The Runners up were Jack Dobell and Dave Tildsley on 45 points. Without their lone 'wipe' maybe they could have skipped up a place.

The balls weep went to 40 points on count back, going to: 44 - G Webb/ N Duncan, D Bayley/A Quirk, S Beattie/ P Ward, P Cowhan/ D Lane, L Little/ M Prior; 43 - J Bernardi/ S Betland; 42 - B Tooth/ D Bernardi, J Cutler/ N Ryan, B Slack-Smith/R Scott; 41 - S French/D McAuliffe; 40 - B Robinson/ M Roylance.

The NTPs went to: 9th - B Thomas; 18th - D Mylecharane. The 3rd Hole Super Pin went to Nicole Death with a shot to 218 cm, which made a hard day easier to bear.

Here is the news:

The big news is that Forbes was the first leg in the 'Trilogy of Golf' with the next two weekends at West Wyalong Open on May 22 and the Condobolin Open on May 29 completing the set. Details about entry for each open are on the flyers on the notice board at the Pro Shop.

Do not forget to use your 'Store Credit' before the end of the financial year. And also a reminder to players from the Summer Sixes comp that there are some vouchers to be collected from the Pro Shop. Come in and check if there is one for you.

And do not forget to vote, either before the weekend or before golf on Saturday.

It is crystal ball time:

This weekend things quieten down at home with an 18-hole Stroke event, sponsored by B&C Automotive. Sunday has a Stableford Medley.

Sat 28 May is an 18-hole Stableford playing for the Wilf Hodges Memorial Trophy. Sunday has a Stableford Medley as well as the completion of the 'Trilogy of Golf' at Condobolin.

Rain was the winner once again in 'twin towns' golf with play, scheduled for Parkes, cancelled last Thursday.

Today veteran golfers from all Lachlan Valley clubs will converge on West Wyalong for the monthly 18 hole competition.

After being 'bridesmaid' the past few weeks the town's top 'fiery' Brian Clarke took home the 'bickies' last Tuesday winning the 12 hole social comp with 28 solid points from Andrew Norton-Knight next best on 25.

Anyone thinking of a morning hit, especially beginnes, is invited to play any Tuesday with tee-off from 9am.

A busy week with the Western Districts Tournament being played at Cowra where 12 Forbes players tried their hardest over the first two days with a disappointing wash out on Thursday.

With 160 players in four Divisions it was Duntryleague who took home most of the silverware.

Our ladies who brought home some prizes were glad they made the trip. Ev Uphill playing in Division Two came 3rd in the Scratch. Debbie Dingwall came 3rd In Division 3 in Stableford on Wednesday together with Sarah Black who had 6th place. Lindy Pollock playing in Division 4 came 4th on Wednesday. Kerry Stirling had NTP in her Division on Wednesday.

At the same time Wednesday 11th News on Rankin sponsored a Stableford competition at home with Julie Hurkett winning with 33 points and Runner Up Jill Morgan on 32 on a countback. NTP 9th Enid Baker and 18th Colleen Venables.

The Pennants team is playing against Dubbo at Forbes this Friday providing the water has left the course and we wish the following good luck, Heather Davidson, Lindy Cowhan, Ev Uphill, Sarah Black and Jenny Fletcher.

The Stroke, Monthly Medal and Golf NSW Medal event that was scheduled for this week has been transferred to next Wednesday 25th.

If in doubt of events being played contact the Pro Shop on 6851 1554.