A STRONG field of 100 golfers made the most of the relatively fine weather and friendlier pin placements at the Blue Lake Golf Club to register some impressive scores on Saturday.
The last few weeks have seen golfers struggle to better their handicaps but this week it was a different story as Richard Neale claimed the overall win with a strong score of 43 stableford points.
Neale intended to use the event as a warm up for his final in the Club Championship the next day but instead sent an ominous warning to his opponent as he showed why he deserved his place.
He started the day with two three-point pars and quickly another couple of three-point holes thanks to his generous handicap.
At the halfway point, Neale had 21 points to his name.
A double-bogey on the 10th hole earned him another two points and he matched the four three-point holes on his front nine with the same again on the back to close out his round with 43 points.
A Grade’s Nick Wilson showed why he would have been a real threat in the Club Championship if he had got through but he put the disappointment of a semi final loss behind him and claimed the grade win with 38 points.
After a sluggish start of two wipes, Wilson soon regrouped and battled his way to 15 points after nine holes thanks to a birdie on the 7th hole which earned him four points alone.
It was a complete turnaround on the back nine, where he put on a demonstration of precision golf, as he reeled off birdies on the 10th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes to storm home with 23 points on the inward nine.
The eight-handicapper finished the back nine with a very impressive 33 off the stick.
A count-back was required to separate Anthony Riddoch and Bruce Morale after both finished on 37 points.
Either would have deserved second place but in the end it was Riddoch who got the chocolates thanks to his closing 19 points.
Morale was the mirror opposite, with a better front nine but will rue a non score on the very last hole after an eagle on the 17th hole, to end with splits of 20 and 17.
Jake Matthews and Damian Dixon both had scores which would often win not only their grade but overall as well with 40 points each.
However, after Neale clutched victory out of their grasp, they had to settle for a fight for the grade win instead.
Matthews proved in the end that consistency matters with five three-point holes on the back nine to edge out Dixon.
Dixon’s round was startling, with 37 off the stick to open, thanks to a birdie on the 6th hole and 23 points.
It cooled over the back nine to see him come in with 17 which cost him in the count-back.
Robert Lindner made sure there was no count-back needed to decide first place in C grade, as he claimed the win with an impressive 39 points.
Lindner was steady and regularly picked up pars to end with splits of 21 and 18.
There was a count-back needed to decide second and third after Tony Morandin and Kevin Mansell finished tied on 34 points.
Morandin’s par on the 15th hole gave him three points on his way to 19 points on the back nine, a score Mansell was unable to cover, despite a superb birdie on the 15th hole.
Tom Drenthen, Curtis Coppetti, Scott Sawyer, Robert Martland, Jacob Reed, Brad Talbot, Gavin Coon, Rod Heinrich, Justin Ploenges and John Kamp were the ball winners on the day.
Morale cleaned out the Eagles Nest, while Martland and Matt Roscow took home 4 balls each from their pro shots on the fifth and 16th holes.
B Grade’s Heinrich and A Grade’s Steve Jelly won the nearest to pin awards.
Thunderstorms never eventuated on Tuesday but there was plenty of lightning on the fifth hole as Scott Paterson aced the Par three fifth hole with a hole-in-one.
Paterson played 138 metres downwind and perfectly executed soft approach which pitched just before the green and then rolled truly for his first hole-in-one.
This was not the only joy for Paterson, as he also put together a score in the mid-week stableford competition which put him in a count-back with Rod Heinrich on 37 points for the outright win.
Heinrich snatched the double off Paterson as he claimed the count-back thanks to his own piece of excellence, a brilliant eagle on the roadside 13th hole.
His 20 points on the back nine thanks to the five-point eagle was enough for him to be declared the outright winner.
Paterson’s hole-in-one was worth five points by itself and he also ensured he scored on every hole and regularly picked up a handy 3 points on some extra holes. Club veteran Vic Smith could only match Paterson’s ace on the 5th with a par of his own, earning him 3 points on his way to 17. Matching the same score off the stick as his front nine he added another 18 points for a very solid 35 points overall and took third prize.
Marc Dalton, off a two-handicap, made short work of the Par five third hole with a superb eagle.
Club Handicap Championships:
Sunday saw the culmination of the Men’s Handicap Club Championships.
In A Grade, Trevor Little was up against Michael Watts.
The clash was expected to be a close tussle as Watts had more length than Little but not his precision and consistency and it is no surprise it came down to the last hole to decide a winner.
After nine holes, Watts was four points up but knew he would need to keep Little at bay and at the lunch break the advantage had been whittled down to just one.
Both players made the most of the mild conditions and put on a demonstration of high-class golf for those who ventured out to watch.
With handicaps reset for the second 18 holes, it was Watts ahead at the 27-hole mark by two.
The clash was headed down to the wire with just nine holes left to decide the champion.
The championship came down to the final hole and Watts held his nerve to claim the cup.
He finished one up on Little in an exciting contest.
Tom Drenthen and Shaun Phillips competed in the B Grade Championship final.
Drenthen entered the final in full confidence after a couple of weeks of good form and he quickly put it on display and was up by three after nine holes.
Drenthen’s lead extended to four at the lunch break after 18 holes, a lead which he did not let go of as he claimed the championship after 36 holes despite the best efforts from Phillips.
Brenton Hodge and Richard Neale battled it out in the C Grade final.
It was a classic shootout, with Hodge one up after nine holes but Neale up by one after 18 holes.
The final went down to the wire as both players were evenly matched but Hodge claimed the victory on the 28th hole.
