A LARGE field made the most of the warm, sunny conditions and fronted the Blue Lake Golf Club for a stableford round on Saturday.
It was the big-name A Grade players who shone the most as half of the top 10 finishers all boasted single-figure handicaps.
Bryce Smith led the pack and took out the overall winners’ prize which earned him an impressive 40 points.
Smith started strongly with 19 points from his 37 strokes on the front nine.
He birdied the ninth hole but also picked up three bogeys on opening nine.
Smith’s back nine was much more consistent with three pars and a birdie on the 11th hole, while a couple of bogeys on the 14th and 16th were erased by birdies on the final two holes.
He completed his inward nine in 34 strokes and earned 21 points to seal the victory.
There was a tight tussle in A Grade for the three placings with Zach Westwick’s score of 39 points a standout, followed by a five-war countback for the minor prizes.
Westwick grabbed a valuable four points on the par-5 third hole with a birdie and like many others, birdied the ninth hole to turn with 19 points.
An opening bogey on the 10th hole failed to deter him as he added another four pars and two birdies for 36 off the stick and 20 points on the back nine.
Nick Wilson, Matt Roscow, Jamal Jakubenko, Brett Perryman and Damian Dixon all featured in the countback after finishing with 37 points and in the end it was Wilson and Roscow who featured in the minor placings.
Wilson kept his best form for the back nine with an error-free 34, which also featured a birdie on the 17th hole and his splits of 15 and 22 were always going to be hard to catch.
Roscow also had a much better inward nine compared to the front.
The nine-handicapper’s splits were 17 and 20 points.
In a count back which went down to the wire, both Roscow and Jakubenko had 20 points on the back nine and 13 points over the last six holes.
Despite birdies on the 11th and 14th holes, Perryman could only counter with 18 points but still held off Dixon with the same score.
A countback was also needed in B Grade for the minor placings while John Kamp claimed the win with 39 points.
Kamp sat at the top of the leaderboard for for some time and recorded birdies on the third and 13th holes, which both earned him four points each.
With three holes remaining, he already amassed 36 points but only managed three points across the final three holes.
Doug Robbins and David Marshall both tied on 37 points.
Robbins used all his experience to turn a mediocre front nine of 16 points into a second place finish after he added another 21 on the back nine and closed his round out with four successive pars.
Marshall was a lot more consistent throughout the round which was reflected in his splits of 19 and 18 points.
The highlight of his round came on the third hole where he picked up a birdie.
There were no countbacks needed in C Grade where Tom Von Stanke claimed the honours with a strong round which saw him end with 38 points.
Von Stanke’s four pars showed he has what it takes to take his game to the next level.
Fresh from his win in the quarter finals of the club championships Trevor Gartside showed it was no fluke as he claimed second place with 37 points, while early bird player Gavin Sparrow took third place on 36.
Sunday saw the semi-finals of the Blue Lake Golf Club’s 2022 Men’s Championship and while most of the favourites in each grade won, some were more difficult than others.
In A Grade, Anthony Williams was the favourite when he took on Trevor Little but it would not have been a huge surprise Little to claim victory.
However, Little was unable to showcase his abilities and went down to the experience Williams 7-5.
Dan Christian’s game is a superb as his greens-keeping and progressed to the finals after a tight 4-3 victory over Bryce Smith.
It will be an entertaining final on Sunday at 8am and a large following is expected.
Christian will have to play at his best to prevent Williams from adding another trophy to his name.
In B grade, there was an upset as John Millhouse went down to Shaun Phillips, while Smokey Von Duve kept his form in the other semi-final to account for Roger Gale in a clash which went down to the 18th hole.
This should also be a high-class final with Von Duve’s experience expected to get him over the line.
Perennial finalist Russell Lingham needed all of his experience to see off Trevor Garside in a close tussle.
Brenton Hodge had an easier passage as he defeated Brenton Speck 7/6.
Hodge will do battle with Lingham in the C Grade final which starts at 9am.
The club is combining the Men’s and Women’s championship so anyone who wants to witness a vast array of top male and female golf is encourage to turn out.
