A LATE decision to switch his tee-off hole paid dividends for Mount Gambier Golf Club member Ross Bond.
The 64 year old was due to hit off on the 10th at the Attamurra layout in Saturday’s par round.
But late on Friday he decided to cancel that booking and tee off instead on the first hole.
And the result – a score of +5 and his first victory in more than 12 months.
“I think it’s just been a mental thing with me starting on the 10th,” Bond said.
“So I switched groups to go off on the 1st and obviously it worked – I’m very happy.”
Playing off a 10 handicap, the smooth-swinging bonecracker got off to a flying start, sinking a 10m putt for birdie on the par-five first hole.
Not only that, he parred the next two holes to quickly move to +3, straight away justifying his decision to switch tees.
It wasn’t all plain sailing though, with dropped shots on the fourth and eighth and halves on the other holes on the front nine dropping him back to +1 at the turn.
He quickly hit top gear on the back nine, however, picking up shots on the 10th, 13th and 14th after making pars, and getting to +5 after making a one metre birdie putt on the par-five 15th.
It was a welcome return to form for Bond who has seen his handicap gradually drift out from seven over winter.
“I don’t hit it long so I just can’t handle the wet conditions,” he said.
“I seem to seesaw between about seven in summer and 10 in winter every year.”
While he was thrilled to turn in the best score of the day, and take top honours in A Grade, he said it was even better to relegate Max Tollner to second place on the leaderboard.
“I’m an Essendon supporter and he barracks for Collingwood so I got him twice on the weekend after the Bombers won on Sunday,” Bond said.
Tollner’s round of +4, which included an untimely wipe on the 15th, was still good enough to win C Grade, one shot clear of Kym Sykes.
Coming in 4th overall, and second in A Grade, was three-time club champion Darren Bilney.
Playing off a one handicap, Bilney shot 69 off the stick to finish on +2, his round including birdies on the seventh, 12th, 15th and 18th.
In B Grade the photo-finish camera was needed to separate three players, with Matthew Dixon, Leigh McManus and Moryn Sullivan all coming in at +1.
In the end it was Dixon getting the judge’s verdict on a countback from McManus with Sullivan back in third place.
Meanwhile perfect conditions greeted the 87 players in Thursday’s stableford competition, and in the end it was Nic Clayton who led the field with 40 points.
Playing off a seven handicap, it was the second Thursday victory in two months for Clayton who also notched 40 points to win back in June.
Coincidentally on that occasion he beat Bond by a single point, each win coming thanks to a 75 off the stick.
On Thursday he started with 37 off the stick and 19 points on the front nine after eight pars and a bogey (on the fourth).
His back nine wasn’t quite as good off the stick, his 38 coming after bogeys on the 10th, 13th and 16th, and a single birdie on the 12th.
He scored 21 points, however, a result of the hole-ranking system which gives more shots on the back nine to players on single-figure handicaps.
One point behind Clayton in second place with 39 was Wayne Davison who was also looking for his second win in recent weeks.
His split his round 21/18, a wipe on the par-three 10th hole ultimately costing him victory.
Mark Forster was another point back in third place, his chances also not helped by wiping the 10th.
Rob Harkness also had a mixed day, finishing on 37 points after birdies on the eighth, 10th, 17th and 18th.
Unfortunately his round was derailed by wipes on the 11th and 14th.
