SEVEN-time club champion Anthony Williams held off a hot field to claim the inaugural Barry Maney Volkswagen Mount Gambier Golf Club Open last Sunday.
Williams won the 27-hole event by two shots over Jake Laubsch who finished runner-up.
Williams was dominant throughout the first 18 holes as his first non-par was a bogey on the par 4 17th hole.
“I parred the first 16 holes but had a few lip-outs so it could have been better,” he said.
He immediately made up for his bogey on the 17th hole with a birdie on the 18th.
The even-par 72 saw him tied with Darren Bilney ahead of the final nine holes but it was Williams who prevailed thanks to a two-under par 34.
Williams had a bogey on the third hole but made up for it with birdies on the fifth, sixth and seventh holes.
That gave him a two-shot buffer over Jake Laubsch who followed his one-over par 73 on the first 18 holes with a one-under 35 on the final nine.
Williams agreed the event had been very successful, saying it was “good to see so many people from away” come to the region to take part.
Other winners in the men’s section were Jayden Eldridge who took out the 27-hole nett with a score of 106 and Peppi Pace who won the 18-hole stableford event with 33 points.
The women’s 18-hole gross event was a cliff-hanger, Jennifer Van Rijthoven defeated Kerry Pedlar on the 2nd play-off hole after they both shot 86.
The other women’s winners were Bernie Jennings who took out the 18-hole nett with 73 points and Vicki Clark who won the stableford event with 35 points.
In Saturday’s stableford competition it was Bryce Whicker who found some of his best form to finish on 40 points, the equal best score of the day with Jon Clayton.
Playing off a nine handicap, Whicker had 18 points on the opening nine holes, but lit up the back nine, shooting a two-over par 38 off the stick to add 22 points to his tally.
That was good enough to win A Grade by a single point from David Boyce who was left ruing his chances after double-bogeys on the seventh and 15th holes.
Clayton’s 40 points saw him take out B Grade by two from Leigh McCracken, while in-form teenager Flynn Davison finished with 37 points to beat Graham Robinson by one point in C Grade.
The best round of the day was turned in by Warrnambool visitor Caleb Perry, who shot a two-under par 70 to finish with 36 points from his handicap of +2.
Perry was four-under through 15 holes, but ended any chance of a round in the high 60’s with a double-bogey on the par-three 16th.
108 players took part in Thursday’s stableford competition where only two players were able to beat their handicap.
Dennis Smith claimed the win as he edged out Flynn Davison as they both finished on 39 points.
