Hanrahan leads golf championship after opening rounds

The weekend provided some magnificent weather for the Forbes Golfers to begin their Club Individual Championships.

The Club Championships, sponsored by Lachlan Commodities, is played over four rounds, held across two weekends.

The first round on Saturday was contested by 72 men and 3 Juniors, while the Second round had 58 players and the three Juniors again.

In the A-Grade John Betland fired the first shots in the Scratch with a 69, followed by a 71 on day 2 to retain the Scratch lead.

Caleb Hanrahan sits in second place after his 70 and 72, while Steve Betland is hovering after his 73 and 72.

The Handicaps brought things closer with Caleb leading on 144 nett, closely followed by Dan Bayley (145) and John Betland (146). Dave Mylecharane started well with a 71 nett but could not make the second day.

The A-Reserve Scratch is led by Jordan Brett after his 161 (83, 78). Close behind is Peter Cowhan on 166 (81, 85) and Jack Dobell on 167. Both of these players went backwards after their day 1 scores.

The Handicaps drew the field together with Jordan Brett ahead on 143 nett, but Jack Dobell (145), and Peter Cowhan and Scott Kirkman (both 148) closed the gap.

The B-Grade could be quite competitive, but perhaps it may only be for 2nd place.

In the Scratch Doug Churchill was a man on fire with his 167 (80, 87), ahead of Brett Thomas 169 (84, 85), then a gap to Niel Duncan and Glen Hooper on 173.

The Handicap still has Doug ahead (139) but challenged by Brett Thomas (141) and Peter Barnes, Niel Duncan and Glen Hooper on 147.

The C-Grade includes there Juniors. Les Little and Lachlan Alley lead the Scratch on 194, but Jon Cutler (195) and Rob Scott (196) are close by. The Handicap lead jumped to Liam Fraser (145) after a fine opening 69 nett, while Lachlan and Rob a quite near on 148 nett.

There were definitely differences in the playing conditions between the two days, with many finding it harder to judge the pace of the greens on the second day.

In conjunction with the Champs there is a daily competition being held, sponsored by Pool Magic. The results for the two days contested so far are:

Saturday: The scores were very good with plenty of opportunity for success on the green.

The Div 1 was won by Caleb Hanrahan with 71 nett on c/b. He pipped both Dave Mylecharane and Jack Dobell by a couple of shots.

In Div 2 Doug Churchill showed the field a clean pair of heels with his nett 66. Trailing along was Runner-up Clayton Alley on nett 69.

Div 3 was also tight with Rob Scott the winner on 68 nett, from Liam Fraser with nett 69.

The ball sweep went to 73 nett on c/b, viz: 70 - B Thomas, D Taylor; 71 - J Ridley, P Pymont, J Dobell; 72 - P Cowhan, T Cogswell, A Cogswell, D Bayley, J Betland, F Melisi, Alf Davies, M Haley; 73 - T Callaghan, P Dawson, M Livingston, C Moon, B Parker, H Callaghan and P Barnes.

The NTP's went to: 9th - Barry Parker; 18th - Barry Parker. He found it all too easy with some good shots early in the day that trumped all others following. The Super-pin went to Steve Betland with a mediocre shot to 4.0 metres, but it was enough.

Sunday: For some reason the scores were generally not as good as Saturday. Some claimed the pin positions were challenging, while others found the greens slower and thus hard to get the ball to the hole. Nevertheless all the winners were fresh faces.

Div 1 again saw a blinder of a game, with Jordan Brett 'on song' to win with his nett 60. Runner-up was Dan Bayley on 73 nett, and honour he earnt on count back from Caleb Hanrahan and Scott Kirkman.

Div 2 was a close contest with Glen Hooper grabbing the spot with his 71 nett. Runner-up was Brett Thomas with 72 nett, lamenting his practice fairway recovery on the 16th.

Div 3 was dominated by Juniors. Lachlan Alley finished with 73 nett, a little ahead of Harry Quirk on his 76 nett, which was also shared by Jon Cutler.

The ball sweep went to 77nett on count back, viz: 73 - C Hanrahan, S Kirkman; 74 - D Churchill, J Betland, J Dobell, S Betland; 75 - P Barnes, N Duncan, P Grayson; 76 - P Cowhan, P Dawson, S Sallaway, J Cutler; L Fraser, D Lickess.

The NTP's went to: 9th - Doug Churchill; 18th - Jack Dobell, who was on the sheet all alone having hit the spot early in the day. The Super-pin went to Steve Betland for a consecutive grab of the money pot. This time he edged it closer to 3.0 metres.

Good to see Peter Grayson and Dave Mylecharane doing well after a bit of a break. And we spare a thought to the likes of Riley Pike and Brad Ashton who crashed badly in their Grades after exhibiting some good form. But at least it was sunny weather.

Here is the news: The Summer Sixes comp commenced this week, with teams arranged into four groups. There are still spots available if you are keen to either join a team or enter your own. It looks like a long season so there is plenty of time to groove your swing.

There were not many practice rounds played last week so there will be some interesting movement of handicaps over the first two weeks as players settle into their rhythm.

Head Pro Will has another Junior Clinic planned so contact him to get the details.

It is crystal ball time: The weekend 14, 15 Oct will have the final two rounds of the Club Individual Championships, with a seeded draw on the Sunday.

The following weekend is a Par event sponsored by Peter Dawson.

Contributed by Smooth Swinger

The first round of the sponsored Forbes Golf Club Summer Sixers started this week. The contestants include many players from last year eager to make the Grand Final and grab the big prize.

The format this year comprises four groups. The teams in these groups have been arranged to minimise the potential to play a 'Bye'. There are 17 weeks of play before the four week Finals series. And there is flexibility in the draw to cater for any weather interference.

Head Pro Will is keen for all to enjoy themselves and for new players to join in. So if you want to get on board give him a ring at the Pro Shop, as there are some teams still looking for players.

Once again the Competition is fortunate to have on board a number of local sponsors, with Bernardi's Marketplace and Flannery's Pharmacy as Gold sponsors joined by BWR Accountants and Gunn Golf. This will ensure a similar prize pool to last year.

All players are reminded to refresh themselves with the Rules, some of which only apply to this Summer Sixes format. Take particular note of the 'double-par' opportunity, and what to do at water holes. And to help with the processing of scores and derivation of results, players are reminded to enter their name, Team name and player Id onto their card and sign it.

The first week of results will be published next week. There are Voucher prizes for Member and Non-Member winners, and a ball sweep across the competition. Any balls won can be collected from the Pro Shop, so drop in and see if you made it onto the list.

The Sixes mayhem has started, so get out there, keep swinging and make sure you have fun.

After a couple of weeks of high scores the chill and wind last Thursday resulted more realistic scores for the twin-towns veterans golf competition played in Forbes.

Once again Forbes players dominated with Alf Davies taking honours playing to his handicap for 36 points winning on a count-back from Geoff Drane runner-up and also on a count-back from John Milton who last week in Parkes took home the encouragement award.

Thirty one players, 19 from Forbes and 12 from Parkes welcomed Wyong visitors Narelle and Bruce Baldwin. Forbes again came out on top in the twin towns shield with 208 points from Parkes' 191.

Nearest the pins, 9th A grade Andrew Grierson (F), B grade Wendy Simmons (F), 18th A grade Phil Bishop (P), B grade Frank Hanns (F). Bradman award which was hotly contested went to 'our' visitor Narelle.

Ball sweep to 32 points, 36 John Milton (F), 35 Peter Grayson (F), 34 Tom Delmonico (P), 33 Graham Cook (P), Frank Hanns (F), 32 Jeff Haley (F), Wendy Simmons (F), Ross Williams (F), Lex Hodges (P), Barry Shine (F).

Play this week in twin-towns vets will be once agabe in Forbes before they make it a trifecta as hosts with the Lachlan Valley 18 holes the following Thursday.

Play in the LV competition will feature the play-off for the NSW Veterans Medal which will involve the top three place-getters from the first six monthly competitions of the year. Names for the 18 players who qualified will be published next week.

The wind blew making for some easy and not so easy holes on Tuesday for the 12 hole members in the social round where best after a three-way count-back was Barry Shine with 26 points from Ian Thomas who started like 'a champion' and a late starter due to day-light saving error Peter Barnes.

Tuesday golf for all, be at the Pro Shop around 9am for a hit over 12 holes, Beat the heat.