MEN'S GOLF
By SHORT PUTT
Saturday was a typical winter’s day presenting conditions that did not provide encouragement for high scoring. But the Forbes golfers took on the challenge to bring in their best possible score.
The Saturday Competition was the annual ‘Hawke Trophy’, a 4BBB Stableford Medley sponsored by the Hawke family.
The field of 68 players, comprising both Men and Lady golfers, battled through the conditions producing scores which were lower than what this format usually produces. And a heavy deluge of rain affected the later players who may have been in contention.
The Winners were the pair of Brett Woonton and Adam Currey with a score of 45 points.
Brett surprised himself on the front-9 scoring four 3-pointers that chimed in well with Adam’s lesser score.
Adam took the reins on the back-9 after the rust from his swing was worked free. And like the front-9 their scores meshed well. They faltered a bit with 1-pointers on the 15th and 17th holes but otherwise did well.
Runners-up were the pair of Pat Murphy and Damien Kennedy.
Their 44 points was built on a shared contribution throughout the game.
They each had a scattering of 3-pointers with Pat scoring a 4-pointer on the 8th hole. Unfortunately, two 1-pointers on the front-9 held them back from snaring the top prize.
The winner of the Individual event was Robert Scott with 39 points. He did exceedingly well on the front-9 scoring 21 points but his back-9 affected his score.
Successive runs of ‘1, 2, 3’ points made for pleasant aesthetics on the card but did not help his score. With this individual score it is hard to see why he and partner Phil Wells were not among the leaders. Maybe they were slightly out of focus.
The ball sweep went to 40 points on count back, going to: 43 –S Martino/ A Currey, B Tooth/ D Bernardi; 42 – P Wells/R Scott, L Hurford/D Taylor, R Carroll/H Davidson; 41 – P Pymont/L Fraser, C McMillan/H Callaghan; 40 – L O’Connor/D Mylecharane. There were no visitors.
The NTP’s went to: 9th – Men: B Ashton, Ladies: R Carroll; 18th – Men: B Tooth, Ladies: S Grierson.
None of them managed to convert for a ‘2’. There were four 2’s overall with the 3rd and 9th sharing the honours.
Interestingly Sharon Grierson has consistent success for NTP’s on the 18th but also consistently has little success with converting for a ‘2’.
The 3rd hole Super-Pin went to Trevor Williams. His shot to 117 cm did not originally look good but ‘stuck’ on the wet green to finish close. He did convert for a ‘2’. Trevor was more than halfway inside the previous best shot.
That was made by Jordan Brett who managed to score his ‘2’ from outside three metres.
Overall the nett scores were lower than what would have been expected in this format but much of that can be attributed to the weather.
The cold made it hard to hang onto the club or to have any feel when putting. And the deluge of rain made the greens wetter still.
The best ladies pairing was that of Rose Carroll and Heather Davidson.
They both teamed well with one scoring well while the other hit a bump. But they also shared a slump in form on the back-9 with one ‘miss’ and two 1-pointers.
Converting those would have put them among the winners. Many of the ladies pairs just missed on the ball sweep.
There were a couple of ‘swingers’ in the field brought about by individual cancellations.
Adam Currey was in good company with both Brett Woonton and Simon Martino with each combination scoring well, although Simon and Brett did not do well. Brad Ashton trundled around with Harry Callaghan and Cam McMillan and left them to produce the better scores.
Despite the difficult weather conditions there were very few ‘blow out’ holes. One player did manage a pair of 11’s on consecutive holes, and a Junior grabbed a ‘Bo Derek’ on the 4th hole. Otherwise, there were 8’s and 9’s scattered throughout the field but no real calamitous individual rounds.
Putting was tricky with many shots lost by putts falling short or not taking the expected break. That timely balance between too soft or too hard is one of the challenges of the game.
And there were the mistakes down the fairway brought about by grip problems and wet conditions.
Maybe the chip did not go as far as intended or did not bounce as expected. Maybe the approach to the green needed an extra club. Either way there is a shot gone and hopefully a lesson learnt.
Some pairings got caught on the deluge of rain and unfortunately did not complete their game. One group completed the 14th hole then bolted for the ‘Golfie’ to get dry on the outside but wet on the inside.
Some returning players could have chosen a better day to get back into their golf, but that is the way of nature. A few of them had rust in their swings which affected their scoring but it was good to see them out there. No doubt the natural talent within each of them will bubble to the top with the more that they play.
Here is the news:
A reminder of the 2025 Trundle Mens Open which is scheduled for Sun 3rd August commencing at 9:00 am. Entry fee is $50 cash only ($20 for Juniors) which includes lunch. Breakfast is available from 7:30 am. There is a 4BBB Medley to be played on Sat 2nd Aug.
And do not forget the Caragabal Open, scheduled for Sun 17 Aug. The fee is $50 per player which includes lunch. If nothing else the usual trestle tables laden with food should entice you there.
Refer to the flyers at the Pro Shop for details on registration for both of these but you better be quick so that catering can be finalised.
The Wallace Cup has reached the semi-finals thanks to the diligence of the players.
These matches feature Fons Melisi vs Brad Ashton and Stephen Uphill vs Kim Herbert. Not many shots given in these matches although Brad may have the most difficult task.
Both Fons and Stephen earned their spots after each had a very close match. Fons and Cam McMillan needed an extra hole to decide their match with no shots given on the 1st hole, their 19th. Stephen held off Wayne O’Neill to win 1-up on the 18th hole. They were evenly matched throughout in this tight contest.
It is crystal ball time:
This Saturday 2 August is the Monthly Medal Individual Stroke, sponsored by Bernardis Marketplace. And Sunday has the usual Stableford Medley comp, alongside the Trundle Open.
LADIES GOLF
Numbers were down last Wednesday with quite a few of our regulars travelling around the countryside and the world.
Scores on the day were not outstanding with the winning score being 34 points by Kerry Stirling in Division 1 and 33 points by Julie Wood in Division 2.
Ball sweep went to Ann-Maree Gaffney and Jill Cripps with 32 points. NTP’s went to Heather Davidson on the 9th and Colleen Venables on the 18th. The event was sponsored by Ev Uphill.
Results of Saturday’s Merve Hawke 4BBB Medley are in the Men’s notes.
Last Friday the Ladies Pennants Team travelled to Wellington to play Warren in the quarter finals.
The Forbes ladies all played well coming home with a win, 4 matches to 1. All matches were close finishing on the 17th and 18th holes.
The greens were very fast with some tricky pin placements which the Forbes ladies handled slightly better than the Warren ladies.
Team members were Heather Davidson, Ev Uphill, Robin Lyell, Kerry Stirling and Sally Crosby. Venue for the semi-final against Cowra has yet to be decided.
Saturday August 2 is a Stroke event sponsored by Betland’s Joinery in two divisions.
It is a Golf NSW Medal Round, Monthly Medal and Putting.
Wednesday August 6 is a 4BBB Stableford Aggregate sponsored by Enid Baker and the Jelbart Family.
Eight ladies are off to West Wyalong for their tournament on Sunday August 3.
VETS GOLF
First of all date for the Bogan Gate Vets Masters has been released, Tuesday August 12 2025.
While it is common knowledge that some of the past players are up north chasing the sun or overseas spending excess cash, hosts at BG, Roz and Steve Edwards, feel an earlier date is best suited for one reason: not having to play fairways covered with the yellow daisies. Remember last year, lost ball aplenty.
Steve said this week that all will be in place from fairway to greens presented in prestige condition while caterer Roz guarantees morning tea and lunch will be as good as you will get at any sporting tournament.
How much will this cost? Only $30, $15 to play, $15 to eat.
How good is that … everyone’s a winner, more so if able to pick up one of the valued prizes on offer.
For catering purposes numbers are needed, please contact one of the following at vets golf or by phoning Steve 0415 665 925, Barry Shine 0409 718 004 or Gordon Pritchard 0428 635 739. If not answering leave a message.
Don’t forget your GOLFLink number for handicap purposes. Also non vets most welcome. Everyone invited to play, ladies more so. Noms and morning tea from 9.15am, shot gun at 10am.
For the record those from Forbes who have had the pleasure of playing the BG Masters, amongst other events, include Adam Andrews, Ralph Baker, Bruce Chandler, Alf Davies, Peter Barnes, Geoff Drane, Trevor Drury, Niel Duncan, Steve Edwards, Peter Grayson, Frank Hanns, Geoff Haley, Kim Herbert, Neil Herbert, Scott Kirkman, Les Little, Dennis McGroder, Don McKeowen, Alex Mackinnon, John Milton, Jeff Moon, Ted Morgan Andrew Norton-Knight, Laurie O’Connor, Barry Parker, Allan Rees, David Rhodes, Peter Scholefield, Barry Shine, Ken Sly, Mike Sutcliffe, Ian Thomas, Trevor Toole, Bede Tooth, Ken Walton, Ross Williams.
Twenty nine twin town vets took to the Forbes course last Thursday including a new member in the Forbes ranks, Trevor Williams, who showed form in his fist outing and with coaching from Kim Herbert it won’t be long before he is in the winners circle. It is hoped the trend of more new members continues from both camps.
Welcome back after holidays to Forbes’ Ken Walton who showed the break did him good winning with 39 points from the evergreen Parkes ace Gordon Pritchard scoring 35 points.
Forbes’ Steve Rodgers went home with the encouragement award while nearest the pins were won by Steve Uphill (F) 9th and Gordon Pritchard 18th. In the twin towns shield Forbes (best six scores from 19 players) 207 to Parkes’ (10) 175.
Ball sweep to 31 points - 35 Allan Rees (F), 34 Bruce Chandler (F), Les Little (F), Kim Herbert (F), 32 Garry Phipps (P), 31 Steve Uphill (F).
Parkes this week for twin towns vets with noms from 9.30am for a 10am shot gun start. Good opportunity to get in a bit of practice before they get to host the next Lachlan Valley 18 hole comp on August 21.
The wind was so strong last Tuesday morning that dogs were blown off the chain but that not stop eight hearty 12 hole stayers having a go. Of note was the power play of Alex Mackinnon who drove well past the 150m markers on the 11th and around the corner at the 8th. As you will note, wind with and against. Excellent tee shots
But that wasn’t enough for him to win with Ted Morgan playing strong from tee to green recording 26 points winning by one from Andrew Norton-Knight on 25 then BMS with 24 points.