Golfers bask in Saturday sunshine

On Saturday the men's golf was dominated by sunshine and a nippy breeze. This only served to encourage the golfers to play with vigour, and also aided the scoring by helping to make obvious the subtleties in the greens.

The Saturday Mens golf event was an 18-Hole Stroke comp sponsored by B&C Automotive. The field of 53 players was down a bit, but this was possibly due to 'golf fatigue' after a busy period, and maybe 'iffy' weather through the week.

The Div-1 was won by David Earl with 70 nett. He played steadily throughout and kept any double-bogeys off his card. He was not looking good after he took five holes before scoring a par, but then settled into a rhythm.

The runner-up was Alf Davies, who after his opening tee shot was aiming to play a par round. His 71 nett was below par and thus he was pleased. He would have been more pleased if only he had not had a double-bogey on the 4th and a string of bogeys to start the back-9.

The Div-2 heralded the rising of some new stars. Harry Quirk did exceedingly well to score a nett 64. He used his handicap well and also kept his mistakes to a minimum, ensuring they were covered by his handicap.

Runner-up was Jake LeBrocque with 70 nett. Maybe he was inspired by playing alongside a family member Greg, a visitor from Townsville. Jake was also controlled except for the 2nd hole where a perfect score of '10' spoilt his card.

The ball sweep went to 76 nett on count back, going to: 72 - G LeBrocque,S Davies; 73 - P Cowhan, C McMillan, N McMillan; 74 - H Callaghan, W Judge, D Mylecharane, F Hanns; 75 - A Cogswell, N Duncan, J Betland; 76 - M Watts, R Borger.

The visitors included: Sam Davies (Toronto), Greg Jones (Korumburra), Grant Airey (Mt Coolum), Greg LeBrocque (Townsville) and Pete Davies (Waratah). They all seemed to cope well with the conditions, albeit a bit chilly for those from the north.

The NTP's went to: 9th - Warwick Judge; 18th - Brian Everest. In what can only be described as an event very near to being as rare as finding rocking horse droppings, there was only one '2' scored all day. This was by Brett Thomas on the 3rd, and not even the Superpin! Even Alf Davies could not convert his 3rd Hole Pro Shop Superpin success into a '2'.

The NTP on the 18th for Brian Everest follows a trend for him over recent weeks where he finishes off a dull day on the course with a fine shot on the last hole. And he comes back for more.

The biggest story was the glee shown by the golfers to be playing in sunny conditions. The recent 'aerial wetness' has meant the course is playing long, which may be affecting the shots from tee to green.

But the greens are rolling well, with the advantage of the sunshine highlighting the nuances around the pin placements. But maybe the sun shone in the eyes of the golfers, leading to missed opportunities for any 2's.

Bobby Borger is back to swinging well, but needs to gain some touch after his absence. His score on the weekend comprised a string of 5's on the front-9 (both pars and bogeys) and a string of 6's on the back-9 (bogeys and double bogeys). A work in progress I would say.

Alf Davies was especially pleased with his opening hole, where he scored a par. Some said his was the only tee shot to find the green all day, but yet again the putting did not bring any just rewards.

Dave Bernardi needs a refresher lesson from Head Pro Adam. He has been a bit wayward in recent rounds, after an initial flourish of good play after his lessons. But he came unstuck on the 7th where he joined Jake LeB to be the only two players all day to score a perfect '10'. But perfect may not be the right word.

Many players stumbled on the '6-7 combo'. Andy Cogswell 'flushed' a combined score of 17 for those holes, and Niel Duncan was close with 15. In fact all the par-5's defended themselves well, with the 6th hole yielding only three birdies and the others four each.

Sunday saw a small field also enjoy the sunshine as they contested the Stableford Medley. The players were out early so contended with dew on the greens.

The winner was Sharon Grierson with 33 points. Runner-up was Henry Nash with 32 points. There were no NTP's recorded, and with a small field no ball sweep was possible.

Here is the news:

This weekend sees the final leg of the 'Trilogy of Golf', sponsored by O'Connors Machinery, played in conjunction with the Condo Open. At this stage there are no clear cut winners so the scores on Sunday will be telling.

Head Pro Adam is running his Junior coaching sessions on Thursday afternoons. Last week he managed to cast aside his bout of man-flu (not covid) and give the kids some needed fresh air exercise. Adam will be firing on all cylinders this week.

Do not forget to use your 'Store Credit' before the end of the financial year. Adam has a good stock of winter apparel so maybe that credit will come in useful.

Members can expect their membership renewals in early June. When you are in the Pro Shop please remember to check that we have your address details (both postal and e-mail) correct so there is no delay in you receiving the renewal notice.

It is crystal ball time:

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, in conjunction with the Condo Open.

Forty players representing five clubs contested the monthly Lachlan Valley veteran's golf competition held at West Wyalong last week with the home team relishing the home course advantage.

Playing off the "easier" red tees where regular handicaps were substantially reduced, West Wyalong players took out both the A and B grade divisions, while the club also won the teams event.

A grade winner was Anthony Archibald who carded a well compiled 36 points off his seven handicap. He had two points to spare from Parkes' Peter Bristol (five handicap) with local Graham Tulloch third on 33 points.

In B grade John Lewis (20 hcp) scored 33 points to pip Parkes' John Dwyer (14 hcp) and Gordon Pritched (20 hcp) who returned scores of 32 and 31 points respectively.

Lewis completed a good day when he won the B grade nearest-to-pin, while Phil Bishop from Parkes was the A grade winner.

The teams event - best three scores from each club - saw West Wyalong an easy winner with 102 points, followed by Parkes on 97, Forbes 86, Condobolin 75 and Grenfell 60.

The best three scores fro Forbes players were returned by Jeff Haley 30 points, Ken Sanderson 29 and Kim Kim Herbert 27.

Herbert was the lowest handicapper on the day, playing off one. As a memento he made sure he took a photograph of the scorecard to validate that he once played off one.

The twin-towns veterans competition returns this week with Forbes the hosts.

Last Tuesday farmers from a wet south of Forbes took honours in the social 12 hole competition where Geoff Moon was best on 30 points from Trevor Toole on 29.

One of the club's finer golfers showed how to play the game last week with organiser Geoff Drane welcoming David Mylecharane.

Anyone thinking of a morning hit is invited to play any Tuesday, especially beginners with tee-off from 9am for a relaxing morning in social company.

For all information on golf in Forbes contact the Pro Shop on 6851 1554.

Last Wednesday 18th the Stableford was reduced to 17 holes due to the water cutting off the 4th however the accurate players missed the puddles on a number of other holes to come in with good scores. Thank you Kaloola Dairy for sponsoring the day.

Winner Division One Sally Perry 34 points and Winner Division Two Sarah Black with 35 points and also closest to the Pin on 9th. NTP 18th Heather Davidson.

A number of our ladies have been playing tournaments in the District with Young proving tough as always so the girls came home empty handed.

Cumnock Tournament on Sunday 22nd saw success for Sal Perry who was the Handicap Winner in Division One with Jenny Fletcher Runner Up in the Stableford and NTP in the same division.

Lindy Pollock was Runner Up in Division Two Handicap.

Heather Davidson, Lindy and Sally won the Teams Event.

Last Friday the pennants match resulted in Dubbo defeating Forbes 4/1 .

The Dot Coady Match play is progressing well with Lindy Cowhan, Kerry Stirling and Heather Davidson already into the Semi final. Congratulation to all that have enjoyed success over the past week.