OVER a third of the field played to their par or better in a strong performance at Blue Lake Golf Club on Saturday.
Ben Papps claimed the overall win with an impressive score of +7.
Papps started the day strong with a score of +3 at the end of the front nine.
His impressive round continued into the back nine where he recorded pars on the first seven holes.
Papps continued his strong form into the 17th hole where he recorded an eagle, before ending the day with a double bogey.
One of the only challengers that Papps faced was A Grade winner Stephen Easterbrook with +5.
Easterbrook had the chance to catch Papps but recorded bogeys on the 14th and 15 holes.
Second-placed Kieran Ashby recovered from a poor start to fight his way back to square after nine holes.
He then added three plusses over the back nine with a birdie on the 17th.
Shannon Fullerton was left ruing a double bogey on the par 3 fifth hole which dented his chances of a higher finish.
He finished the front nine with a score of +1 before adding just one plus on the back nine to finish third after a count back with Trevor Little.
It was a mixed bag for David Quinn who claimed victory in B Grade.
Quinn recorded three pars in the first five holes but scored double bogeys on the 7th and 8th holes as he ended the front nine with +1.
His inward nine began with a par, before scoring a bogey on the 11th hole, a birdie on the 12th and a par on the 13th.
Quinn ended the back nine with an impressive +4 to end on +5.
Damian Dixon claimed second in B Grade as he ended the round with +4.
Dixon recorded a strong finish to the day as he scored five pars and a birdie across the final seven holes.
Third-placed Fred Knight struggled for consistency throughout the day.
His game was highlighted with a birdie on the 17th hole but inconsistency cost him as he had five plusses over the back nine but also picked up three minuses which ended any chances of a higher finish.
The majority of C Grade were unable to match the impressive performances of the rest of the field as Richard Dean claimed the win after a multi-player count-back.
Dean, Peter Mikelsen, Trevor Gartside and Jarrod Sanders all ended the day with a final score of +1.
A +1 score over the last six holes was enough for Dean to claim the win over Mikelsen who was awarded second and Gartside in third.
Wayne Dunford leads the list of ball winners followed by Gould, Ben Pudney, Little, Michael Olle, Colin Ferguson, David Adkins, Matt Dwyer, Adrian O’Donnell and Bruce Morale.
Quinn won the novelty prize with his best back nine score.
