By SHORT PUTT
Bright sunny conditions on Saturday welcomed the Forbes golfers to the course and brought promise of a day of good scoring. Most players produced the goods but were left in the wake of the leaders who excelled.
The golf competition was a 4BBB Stableford Multiplier sponsored by the Forbes Tuesday Golfers. The field was down a bit at 56 players but the enthusiasm was certainly high. Most players finished in good time to enjoy the ‘Golfie’ hospitality but unfortunately hot chips were not available.
The winners were the pair of Kim Herbert and Archie Quirk who posted 75 points. They teamed very well but did have a hiccup on the 8th and 11th holes where neither of them performed well and consequently scored zero points on each. They had a good start when both parred the 1st hole and with a shot each managed a ‘3 for 3 and 9 points’. They also managed an 8-pointer on the 16th when Kim birdied and Archie had a net par.
The runners-up were Wayne O’Neill and Jake LeBrocque with 73 points. They had an indifferent start with only 2-points and a miss but thereafter they scored consistently well on each hole. They managed a 9-pointer on the 7th and 16th holes but could only manage a 1-pointer on the last.
Latest Stories
The ball sweep went to 54 points, going to: 66 – W Gunn/C Hanrahan; 62 – C Banks/N Ryan; 59 - H Steele-Park/ B Tooth; 58 – P Dawson/D Quirk; 57 – H Callaghan/C McMillan, A Rees/P Kay; 54 – T Griffiths/S Kirkman.
There was a lone visitor, being Dylan Hood from Parkes. He was paired with Cooper Byrnes and together finished middle of the field with 48 points. They had too many ‘wipes’ and 1-pointers to threaten the leaders.
The NTP’s went to: 9th – Will Gunn; 18th – Caleb Hanrahan, of whom only Will converted for a ‘2’ and in the process knocked off three other players, none of whom had converted. There were five 2’s overall with Ecky Dawson dropping a long putt for one on the 18th. The 3rd had the others.
The 3rd hole Super-Pin went to David Quirk. He was in the third last group of the day but nevertheless had only one name to beat. His shot finished at 320cm and was well inside Heather Davidson at 957 cm, but he was unable to convert. The green must have been hard to hit because nobody else was remotely close.
This format can produce outstanding results on some holes and dismal losses on others. Good scores rely on both partners contributing on each hole, a the ‘Multiplier’ format means that a zero score negates any other score by the partner. One pair were unable to return a card, maybe as a result of outside influences.
When all goes well a good time can be had, as shown by the leaders. The runners-up were seven points ahead of the third group who in turn were four points ahead of the next group.
The runners-up, Wayne and Jake, may have missed the main prize but they grabbed the ‘Speed Golf’ prize, charging through the field to get to the ‘Golfie’. But it was not without drama. Their 9-pointer on the 7th was a miracle in itself.
Wayne had put his tee shot down the fairway. But Jake’s tee shot struck a tree on the left and rebounded beyond the 6th tee, and in the process scaring Mark Watts who was putting. Jake then fired a shot down the 11th fairway, played to the front of the 7th green, chipped up and sunk the putt for a par and three points. Meanwhile Wayne had played conventionally down the fairway and two putted for three points also. It is a shame there is only room to mark a ‘9’ on the card.
A common comment at the end of play was ‘a good day once the golf was finished’. This could be true of the Martino/Woonton pairing who recorded ten ‘zeros’ on the card but did have 9-pointers on the 7th and last holes. It was similar for the Parker/Little pair who had several zeros but nothing better than a 4-pointer on any hole. Individually they almost did better than their combined score.
The trees are an endemic part of the course and can be both helpful to golf or hinder a player’s score. A good result was received by Mark Watts. His tee shot down the 16th looked to be heading for the practice fairway. After a concerted search among the practice balls by the group one of them noticed a ball in the middle of the 16th fairway. This proved to be Mark’s ball which he then played to score a birdie and four points.
Not so lucky with the trees was Cam McMillan. Playing the 5th hole his tee shot was behind the trees on the right. Trying to run his ball under the trees and onto the green it hit a tree dead centre and rebounded to well behind him. He was unable to salvage any points there.
Another to farewell from the trees was Paul Kay. On the 12th he was among the trees on the right. Taking inspiration from Alf Davies, he grabbed his driver and played a low, fading and running shot to short of the green. His chip was good but his putter was errant and earned him only one point.
There were some good individual scores out there. The better of our A-Graders were Ecky Dawson and Caleb Hanrahan paired with H/Pro Will who all shot 71 scratch. Brett and Simon were in the penultimate group with Caleb and Will and commented that they were in awe of such good golf.
There was no field for the Sunday Stableford Medley
Here is the news: This Saturday 7 June the Annual ‘Can-Assist’ Charity Day will be held.
This year it will be a shotgun start at 9:30 am, with lunch and prize giving to follow. Handicap and Non-handicap players are welcome. Register a group through the members portal on the website or contact the Pro Shop. Monies raised go towards supporting those members of the local community who are beset by cancer.
The Lachlan Valley District Championships and Pennants will be held at Trundle on Sun 15 June. We need good numbers to represent the Club in the Pennants teams and to support one of the smaller clubs who have supported us through the year. There is a nomination sheet in the Pro Shop so get your name down ‘pdq’.
Players are advised that the Office pc is now repaired, and we shall be sending the Annual Membership Renewal Invoices very soon. Because of the delay in the process there will be a grace period for members to pay their membership.
It is crystal ball time:
This Saturday 7 June, the event is a 4-Person Ambrose Medley in aid of the Forbes CanAssist Community help. Sunday and Monday have the usual Stableford Medley comp.
STOP PRESS
There is little doubt that the Betland brothers are amongst the best sporting representative Forbes has ever produced. Their golfing talents do all the talking, they can play.
Their latest was this week at the Srixon NSW Mid-Amateur Titles played at Tamworth’s City and Longyard courses with both near the lead over the 54 hole major.
John finished fourth overall at seven under par after rounds of 65 (five under at City) followed by 69 (one under at Longyard) to finish with 69 (one under at City) highlighted by an eagle two at a 310 metre par four.
Steve was only one shot behind with rounds of 70 (par at City), 68 (four under at Longyard) to finish with 70 (City) where a double bogey at the last cost him moving several positions up the ladder.
Winner at nine under for the tournament was Luke Humphries from the Goulburn City Club.
Next assignment for the Betland brothers will be the Lachlan Valley individual championship and team pennants to be played at Trundle on Sunday June 15.
VETS GOLF
“I did my bit,” was how Peter Bristol summed up his win in last Thursday’s twin towns vets golf competition played in Forbes.
Reason being the popular Parkes vets president summed up his feelings on how dominating Forbes has been in recent months when it comes to the twin towns shield, and nothing changed last week with Forbes dominating again posting 190 points from their best six individual scores to Parkes’ 181.
Still Peter was happy with his winning score of a creditable 37 points while all was not lost at the trophy table for Parkes with Lindsay Elliott picking up the encouragement award … only on a count-back which showed how difficult scoring was for many.
Nearest the pins - 18th A grade Ross Williams (F) while no B grader found the green at the 9th. Ball sweep to 31 points - 34 Ross Williams, (F), 33 Bruce Chandler (F), 32 Nym Dziuba (P), Andrew Northon-Knight (F), 31 Ken Sanderson (F).
Vets golf this week is scheduled for Parkes with officials from both clubs looking forward to a strong showing after only 24 played last week. If the golf isn’t A grade be assured the ‘home cooked’ BBQ sausage sanger is.
The damp feeling also caught out Tuesday golfers last week where ‘Pencil Pete’ Scholefield had the last laugh on Barry ‘Scadger’ Parker winning with 22 points on a count-back over the 12 holes.
It was a tight at the finish with others in line for the chocolates where Jeff Moon, Andrew Norton-Knight and Ken Sly all finishing one point in arrears.
Remember ball toss on the stroke of 9am every Tuesday. Young and old, in fact anyone who wants a hit welcome. Some go further with coffee after, it's all happens Tuesday at the Golfie.
