SATURDAY
ONE of the attractions of golf is that through the handicap system every player has a chance to better themselves or win a competition.
That was no more evident than in Saturday’s Par competition where Russell Lingham, who still plays off a respectable handicap of 24, was able to use his guile and experience to take out the overall win.
While Lingham may not be able to match the length of some younger players, he will certainly give them a run for their money in golf tactfulness.
Lingham recorded a plus 5 to easily account for the rest of the field.
As is testimony to his gentrified personality, Lingham was happier to talk about a rule clarification after the game than his win.
He set up the victory by progressing through the first eight holes without a wipe, before tree trouble found him out on the ninth to turn with plus 2.
He recovered immediately with a plus on the 10th, which was soon wiped with a pick up on the next.
However, that was the only blemish on the scorecard as he added a birdie plus on the 16th for a plus 5 finish.
It was a well deserved win for the club stalwart.
All grades required a count back to decide placings.
In A Grade both Bryce Smith (3 handicap) and James Roughana had splits of one-up and one-down and it came down to who had the better score over the last six holes – with the honour going to Smith.
Matching his two birdies – on the third and ninth – with two bogeys, Smith turned with 35 off-the-stick and another two bogeys on the inward nine.
His final score of 37 had him finish square with his handicap.
Roughana (12) had similar troubles over the back with a run of double bogeys through the middle part of his back nine denting his chances of a win.
Despite a good run of three birdies through the 14th, 15th and 17th holes, Gavin Coon had to be content with third place, surviving another count-back with a minus 1 total.
B Grade winner Jake Matthews will rue a slow start to his round, with his only plus on the opening nine coming on the ninth.
While he hoped that would kick start his round it was not to be, adding another minus on the 11th to find himself three down with only seven holes to play.
However, of those seven he managed four plusses from five pars, which allowed him to see off Justin Ploenges, who he tied with on plus 1.
Unfortunately for Ploenges he did all his hard work on the front nine, as a birdie on the ninth saw him turn level with his final score.
Damian Dixon (14), Richard Evans (17) and Adam Dunn (13) all finished square with the former taking third after a count-back.
No count-back was required to decide the C Grade winner, as Brenton Speck (21) topped the field with plus 1.
Robert Lindner finished second on -1, while Simun Lalich survived his own count back to take third on -2.
Ball winners on the day included Evans, Dunn, Zeick Dalton, Ian Bown, Matthew McIntyre, Richard Kuhn, Fred Gould, Barry Humphries, David Adkins and Suvas.
Smith made it a productive day as he added another eight balls to his collection with pro shots on the fifth and 16th holes, while David Lovie and Coon won their respective nearest-the-pins.
TUESDAY
SPARE a thought for one of the club’s newer members, Suvas, who sat on top of the leaderboard for most of the day on Tuesday.
On a cold wintry day he had shot a respectable 36 stableford points, proof of his rapid improvement after taking up the game eight months ago.
As he watched player after player enter their scores into the computer his excitement kept rising until it came down to the last few groups.
His hope turned to despair as he saw James Roughana register a superb 41 points made up of seven three-point holes and a four-point birdie on the 13th.
Thinking his 41 was enough in those conditions, Roughana then had to watch the final two pairs enter their scores.
Not only did he have to watch his name drop to second, it was made even more sour to lose by a count-back.
Rod Heinrich, playing in the final group with Dan Christian, parred the last three holes to add six of his 21 points and just enough to snatch the win.
While devastated for Roughana, Heinrich was equally pleased to be back on the winner’s podium and deservedly so with his splits of 20 and 21.
Playing partner Christian had four birdies on his way to to 35 points and a welcome return to form.
CLUB HANDICAP CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE Blue Lake Golf Club will hold its handicap championships this Sunday.
A close contest is expected across all grades, with winners difficult to pick.
In A grade Trevor Little (3) will play against Michael Watts (11).
Little had an easy win over Nick Wilson 8/7 and his consistency may come to the fore against the bigger hitting Watts.
Watts had to fight a little harder for his semi-final win, as he overcame the perennial finalist Richard Kuhn 4/2.
While he might have a bit more length over Little it will be hard for him to find greens in regulation over 36 holes.
In an entertaining match Little is expected to deliver a win.
In B Grade Tom Drenthen enters the final more hardened after his 2/1 win over Michael Olle.
Favoured to win the event, Olle gave Drenthen a solid game and both deserved a chance to play off in the final.
Once again over 36 holes expect Drenthen to lay a strong foundation and brick up a win against Shaun Phillips.
Phillips had the easier semi and accounted for Dudley Tanton 5/4.
With little separating the two in handicaps, the game is expected to be taken to its full 36 holes.
The form player in C Grade, Richard Neal, was forced to work hard against Graham Burke to seal his place in the final, finally finishing one-up after 18 holes.
It was the same score in the other semi where Brenton Hodge needed the full 18 to take care of Joe Pritchard.
Expect Neale to be a bit too tricky for Hodge in the 27-hole play off.
