MEN'S GOLF
By SHORT PUTT
Last Saturday the Forbes Golf Club competition was the annual ‘Deacon Dwyer Trophy’, sponsored by T&M Tyres and played as a 4BBB Stableford Medley. The hot and breezy weather encouraged many to play as early as possible.
The field of 69 players returned scores that were not alight, which surely would have matched the weather conditions. However, they were all respectable scores for this format with more above handicap results and only a few stumbling below handicap.
The winners on the day were the pair of Kim Herbert and Peter Cowhan. They were among the later starters and produced a hot score to match the hot conditions. Their total of 46 points had a handy gap to the rest of the field, and epitomised the success in steady scoring golf.
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The pair combined well, marking only a single 1-pointer on the card and that occurring on the 13th hole. They each contributed well on the front-9, but the back-9 was a heavy burden for Pete when Kim only contributed on three holes, and those with the same score as Pete.
The Runners-up were Cody Banks and Harry Callaghan with 43 points. They battled past two other pairs to grab their spot on count back thanks to a strong back-9 that had no 1-pointers and five 3-pointers. Harry was the steady scorer of the pair but Cody chimed in at opportune moments with 3-pointers.
The Individual comp was won by Matty Duke with 40 points, being quite fresh after a small absence from the game. He got the nod after a count back with Liam Fraser. They both had the same points for the back-9, and eventually needed a hole by hole count to determine the winner. Matty had the slightly stronger finish to his round which got him past Liam.
The ball sweep went to 41 point on count back, going to: 43 – R Murray/J Pendleton, C &T Howe; 42 – R Smith/C Alley, P Pymont/L Fraser, P & M Duke, P Dawson/T Callaghan, C Hanrahan/T West; 41 – D Quirk/S Paterson. There were no visitors,
The NTP’s went to: 9th – Ladies Sharon Grierson, Men Caleb Hanrahan; 18th – Sally Crosby, Men Cody Banks, with only Caleb converting. There were nine 2’s scored all day, with the 9th yielding five of them. A lone ‘2’ on the 3rd went to Peter Cowhan to help their score along.
Interestingly, the Christian names of the ladies NTP winners started with an ‘S’, while those for the men started with a ‘C’. That is a nice little fact to drop into the dinner conversation.
The Pro Shop Super-Pin, held on the 3rd hole, went to Laurie O’Connor who managed to find the green in blustery conditions and have his ball nestle 350 cm from the pin. His was an early shot and well protected by the stronger winds later in the day.
How strong was the wind at times? Well, one player who usually finds the corner whilst playing the 14th hole did not make it on Saturday. He hit a low tee shot, keeping it below the wind and intending for it to run. But when it hit the ground it jumped up high and was almost pushed backwards, leaving him well short of the corner. He managed a ‘5’ and followed that with a ‘9’ trying to use a helping wind.
This format requires each of the pairing to do well but importantly to have a good score when their partner is faltering. Unfortunately a few pairings did not do well in this regard. One group had six holes where they scored 1 point or less, much against the grain of their individual success in the recent ‘Medal of Medallist’ event.
And the of course there is the time when it is ‘not your day’. Tom Toohey and Jordan Brett went out full of enthusiasm but the course bludgeoned them to a low score. Tom had more ‘misses’ on his front-9 than scoring holes, while Jordan kept his misses to only two, but found the ‘flat stick’ was not firing on all cylinders. But they had a good laugh.
Many others found it difficult to ‘work the ball’ close to the foliage of the fairway trees and then shape it onto the fairway. Many times the branches seemingly reached out and grabbed the ball in flight. On other occasions a ball flighted on the intended path was whisked away by a gust of wind.
Despite the weather there were very few horrendous holes. One player managed to record three 9’s alone, and did not help his dad Ken at all. Another marked an ‘11’ on his card for the 7th hole, but was pleased when Kate scored a point for the team. But the last word goes to the player who sketched a sad face on his card instead of a score for the 6th hole. Even the club champion had troubles.
There was no Stableford Medley on Sunday, with players mindful of the bad weather.
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Once again you are reminded to ‘slip, slap, slop, etc’. It is obvious on sunny days but even more important when the wind blows and whistles in behind bare knees and around your ear lobes. Recommendations are to re-apply any sunscreen every two hours or so. Making the turn from front to back is a good point at which to reapply.
Seeking shade is also recommended but that is counter intuitive for golf, as it means you would be among the trees when ideally you want to be on the fairway. And also keep your drinks replenished. There are water bubblers on the 6th and 15th tees and the Pro Shop is well stocked.
Don’t forget to put some thought into ‘The Longest Day’ event. This is where players in groups try to play 72 holes in one day, with sponsored money going to the Cancer Council. More info is available in the Pro Shop.
This Saturday, 30 November, is an 18-hole Individual Stableford for the men, sponsored by Knights Fabrication, and the same format for the ladies. I can feel the excitement build for the ‘Ham Day’, scheduled for 14 Dec. Sunday has the Stableford Medley for those that want an extra game.
SUMMER SIXES
By SMOOTH SWINGER
It has taken a while but Round 5 of the sponsored Forbes Golf Club Summer Sixers competition saw the last of the ‘unbeaten’ teams fall by the wayside. And all fell in close results.
Blackridge Hire, Gunn Golf, LIV and Sandbaggers all had losses this week. Gunn Golf had the closest loss being beaten by The Foxes by a point, while LIV and Sandbaggers had a couple of points in it. Blackridge Hire got bowled by Globe Hotel. The tightest win for week 5 was by ‘Up to Par’ with a half point win over Still Trying.
In Group 1 the best score was made by Globe Hotel who managed 97.5. The only other sub-100 score was made in Group 4 by Six Appeal over ‘Par then Bar’. What was especially pleasing was that all teams recorded an actual score, showing they were keen to get out among the competitive spirit and have some fun.
The big winners in the 5th round were Southside Swingers (111.5) over LITT (129), Mid Pro (102.5) over HD&SI (110), and Six Appeal (99.5) over Par then Bar (106).
The Rnd 5 Best member nett score was made by Archie Quirk (Gunn Golf) with 32 nett. The Best non-member nett score was made Tim Prior (Six Appeal) with 29.5 nett. The ball sweep went to 34.5 nett, reflecting the better conditions through the week as compared to the previous week. Balls for members will go onto their account while Non-members can get theirs from the Pro Shop.
It is pleasing to see some teams all wearing the same shirts out there. It certainly lends a splash of colour and helps build that togetherness that leads to fun times. Well done.
The ‘Bonus Round’ is looming soon so keep your ears open for when this will be.
Make sure you all keep swinging and keep laughing.
VETS GOLF
Perfect conditions from weather to the course greeted 58 veteran golfers to Forbes last Thursday for the last of the Lachlan Valley monthly competitions for 2024.
While all was in place for low scoring it was not necessarily the case with only a couple playing below their handicaps with the ball sweep going as low as 31 points.
In A grade it became a case of playing partners from the host club fighting out top honours with Kim Herbert getting the nod on a count-back over Alf Davies after both posted 37 points.
Tear-away winner in B grade was Brad Dunk (no relation to Billy) from Cowra with 43 points from Forbes’ Adam Andrews who looked good for a long time until the last cards were submitted runner-up with 39 points.
Nearest the pins - 9th A grade Barry Parker (Fbs), B grade John Dwyer (Pks) while the Parkes pairing of Richard Hamilton (A) and John Fowler (B) took honours at the 18th.
Ladies winner was Leanne Young, one of three who travelled over from Grenfell and Cowra for the day. Interesting to note it was Forbes’ Fearless Frank Hanns who claimed the shot thinking he was the player, not the marker.
Forbes claimed the Coles/Miller Shield (best three individual scores) with 113 points, Parkes 96, West Wyalong 93, Grenfell 92, Condobolin 89. Forbes also led the number of representatives with 18, Parkes 15, West Wyalong 8, Condobolin 6, Cowra and Grenfell 5. One visitor.
Forbes were also commanding winners of the Coles/Miller 2024 shield with 1095 points from Parkes 981, Condobolin 956, West Wyalong 868, Grenfell 786.
Ball sweep on Thursday to 31 points. From Forbes and Parkes only – 37 Steve Edwards (F), 36 Barry Shine and Jeff Haley (F), 34 Frank Hanns (F), Lex Hodges (P), 33 Dale Stait (P), Ken Sanderson and Barry Parker (F), 32 Peter Grayson and Bruce Chandler (F), John Dwyer (P), 31 Lex Hodges (P).
Twin Towns vets in Forbes on Thursday, noms from 8.30am for a 9am shot gun start. Thursday will also see the AGM of the host club. The following week Parkes will host the last scheduled twin towns comp which will also include the annual Christmas lunchon and drinks. For those interested rounds are scheduled for Forbes (Dec 12) and Parkes (Dec 19).
Last Tuesday 11 played the social 12 holes with the in-form Peter Barnes winner with 28 points from the reliable Barry Parker on a count-back. A highlight for the morning was Jeff Moon scoring an eagle three on the par five sixth.
Organisers are hoping for a good roll-up on Tuesday where discussion will centre on a Christmas get-together after a successful year on the course. Be at the Pro Shop from 9am re ball toss and ‘talk’.
