AFTER the recent run of high scores and the course in such good condition it was surprising a +3 was good enough for the win in Saturday’s Par event at the Blue Lake Golf Club.
With such a low winning score, what was not surprising was a total of six players registered the same score.
Luckily for the handicapper the computerised scoring system did the maths and it was Colin Tester who received the round honours.
Tester could have been forgiven for throwing in the towel half way through his round but like the trooper he is he stuck with it, turning a first nine -2 into a +3 finish.
His chirping was quiet after the first 11 holes where he was staring down a minus 3 but from then on he registered an impressive 27 strokes which included five pars and a birdie on the 15th.
The hot finish was always going to be hard to beat in any count-back situation.
Also finishing on +3 were A Grade’s Scott Sawyer, Bruce Morale and Jarrod Ryan.
Sawyer took the count-back win for the grade with his +2 on the back nine despite finding himself in trouble on the dogleg 15th trying to clear the trees.
This came after a nice birdie on the 13th which had him tie Tester’s score.
A par for a plus on the last was enough to steer clear of the logjam.
Morale had the grade – and possibly outright – win in his grasp with an opening +2 after nine which he added to with a par (plus) and a birdie on the 12th to see him sit pretty with +4.
However, wipes on the 13th and 16th handed the win to Sawyer.
Ryan must have thought all his birthdays had come at once with a 36 off-the-stick equal to +4.
Yet a birdie on the 10th was quickly met with a wipe on four holes before another birdie on the 17th restored his scoring.
The other two +3’s belonged to B Grade players led by Matthew Pritchard.
Plodding along at +1 Pritchard was still upbeat but a chip in birdie on the 13th kickstarted his game.
While he gave it back immediately on the next hole he took full advantage of a red-hot putter to add plusses on the 16th and 18th (birdie) for splits of +1 and +2.
Pritchard was not to know at the time but that chip-in was the difference in a count-back with Tayte Spencer, who came in at runner-up for the grade.
Third place went to the unlucky Dyllan Lane (18), who relied on a +2 on the back nine to secure a podium finish on the count-back.
His playing partner John Robertson secured the C Grade win.
Vowing to reduce his overly generous handicap of 24 he went about it in the best possible manner.
Strategically playing the back nine first Robertson turned with a +1 after some smart golf over the last three holes.
While he could not quite add to the total it was still a good day out and promises better things to come.
In a multiplayer count-back the minor placings went to Richard Neale and Shaun Martin after a host of players finished square with their handicap.
There were some hard luck stories in the ball rundown.
After finding his drive resting against a tree on the 18th all David Adkins could do was chip out which saw him eventually wipe the hole.
Finishing with +1 he was beaten in a count-back for any podium finish and had to settle for taking money off his playing partners.
Trevor Little (4) had an inward 35 and a +1 total, Anthony Williams played scratch golf for a +1 and Marc Dalton had the luxury of wiping the 12th but still finished with +1.
Others to take home a ball prize included Rod Heinrich, Tom Drenthen, Fred Gould, Geoff Munt, Cory Davis and Dieter Rostig.
Winners of the pro shots and nearest-the-pins were Smokey Von Duve, Russell Armstrong, Ben Gordon, Barry Humphries and Tester.
