THANKS to the generosity of the Jens Hotel Club, players in the Blule Lake Golf Club monthly par competition were not only vying for the cash prize on offer, but also the chance to win a $300 party pack.
The winners of each month’s par competition play off at the end of the year in the hope to take home the major prize which tends to attract a good field and Saturday was no exception.
In a close count-back, John Brown just held off Josh Ransom, both with a superb +6.
Brown’s game was solid all day, with regular pars on the front nine and a birdie on the sixth hole seeing him turn with +2.
Even better was to come over the back nine, with just the two bogeys on the 12th and 18th holes for a 37 off the stick and a +6 finish in a great display of golf.
Ransom put on his own display of awesome golf with a magnificent outward 34, birdying the third and fifth holes along the way.
Unfortunately the birdies only delivered a single plus and on another day he would have had 23 stableford points.
It was a bit more of a roller coaster back nine, with three wipes to go along with five pars for a +1 which hurt his count back chances.
Both players deserved the win after putting on such a magnificent display but Ransom had to settle for the A Grade win.
The shot making was not confined to just those two, with Zeick Dalton also wowing his playing partners.
A mediocre 39 front nine was quickly put into distant memory after a four-under 31 on the back, not dropping a shot and adding birdies on the 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes for a +5 finish.
Up-and-coming junior Callum Harvey finished with a third place.
He did all the hard work on the way out, birding the first hole and having only the two wipes for a +2 turn.
Despite another birdie on the 14th hole he could not quite add to that tally, but it was still a good result for the single-figure handicapper.
David Johnston has struck a rich vein of form of late and continued that with his win in B Grade.
After being -3 after four holes a win was the furthest thought in his mind, but a pair of plusses at the end of the front nine saw him turn at -1.
A par, birdie, par start to the back nine gave him some impetus and despite a couple of hiccups through the middle part of the nine he finished strongly with three consecutive pars for a +3 result.
That point-scoring finish was instrumental in seeing off Barry Humphries, who tied Johnston with his own +3.
Humphries was chasing his tail all day, getting in front early and then giving them back to have a front nine of +1.
A more consistent back nine with no wipes saw him fall just short of Johnston with splits of +1 and +2.
In another count back Paul Scullion finally returned to the podium after a long absence, banking third place with +2.
He held off Stephen Von Duve who could only match Scullion’s +2 with a +1 on the inward nine.
There were good scores in C Grade, with the winner, Richard Dean, almost snatching the outright victory, falling just short on +5.
Dean (27) also would not have envisaged any thoughts of a place finish much less a win, after an ordinary start of square after nine.
However, the back nine was a completely different story, wiping only the 13th hole but adding six plusses for a +5 win.
A bogey or better on that hole would have been enough for the outright win.
Hot on his heels was Lachlan Byrne who made a mockery of his handicap on the outward nine.
A run of three consecutive pars from the fourth hole onwards saw him turn with +4 and while he parred the opening three holes on the back nine, he gave all them back to finish on that +4.
Third placed Ken Milsop was no slouch either, coming in with splits of +1 and +2 which on another day, may have been a winning score in C Grade.
Unusually for par competition, scores of square or better were needed to secure a ball prize which included Von Duve, Craig Dixon, Wayne Dunford, Ian Bown, Matt Dwyer, Russell Lingham, Victor Smith, Anthony Riddoch, Trevor Little and Gavin Coon.
Ransom added to his bounty with a pro shot win on the fifth hole, while Jarrod Ryan picked up a similar prize on the 16th.
Nearest the pin prizes went to Lingham in C Grade and Tyson Ploenges in A Grade.
