THERE were two distinct weather patterns for the morning and afternoon starters in the stableford event at the Blue Lake Golf Club on Saturday.
In adverse conditions it is normally the better golfers who come to the fore and that was certainly the case with Kieran Ashby showing the way.
The conditions did improve as the day went on but it was still tough going with consistency prevailing over spectacular.
Ashby was rock solid with no red ink on his scorecard, balancing one-point bogeys with three-point pars to turn with 18 points.
It was the back nine where he put the jets on with an inward 37 being made up of b two bogeys and the rest pars which earned him earning him 22 points to close with 40 points overall and the win.
A Grade’s Colin Ferguson can often be found practicing his chipping and that practice came good with his win with 39 points.
His sole birdie on the front nine came on the fifth hole and like Ashby, scored on every hole.
Ferguson had just the two one-point holes and picked up another two birdies on the back nine to have splits of 20 and 19 for a superb 73 off the stick.
Bryce Smith was another to face the bleak morning conditions.
He picked up four bogeys on his opening six holes but the damage was eased with a birdie on the third and ninth holes to turn with 18 points.
Scrambling one point bogeys through the first half of the back nine, he then powered home with just 12 strokes over the last four holes with birdies on the 15th, 17th and 18th holes for a combined 37 points and second place.
Marc Dalton survived a count-back against Brett Perryman to take third after both finished on 34 points.
The scratch golfer left his run just a little too late to challenge Ashby or Smith but was happy with his one under 34 on the inward nine with birdies coming on the 10th and 16th holes.
The ever-consistent Wayne Dunford was another to show experience is gold in the trying conditions.
He scrubbed just the one hole on his outward nine but redeemed that with an opening birdie worth 4 points.
An outward 18 points was bettered with a neat 40 off the stick coming in with a run of three pars.
His 38 points will inch him closer to a return to A Grade but in the meantime he was very happy to take the spoils of a win.
Like others David Adkins had his struggles early.
Despite a tap-in birdie on the second hole, there was also a wipe and three one-point holes to spoil his chances.
However, he fought on and showcased his ability with four consecutive pars on the last four holes to score 21 points on the back nine.
This was enough for him to claim second place with 36 points overall in his return to the game.
Adam Dunn took third with 35 points.
His day could have been even better but two double-bogeys towards the end proved costly.
It was a mixed finish for Dunn, as he put together some great golf on the back nine before tree trouble on the 15th hole.
However, he rebounded with a birdie on the 16th hole but then picked up a double-bogey on the last hole to finish the back nine with 20 points.
That was still too strong for Justin Ploenges and Jake Matthews who also finished on 35 points.
Robbie Drenthen was a model of absolute consistency with just the one blemish on the day coming on the hardest hole and took out the C Grade win.
Apart from the fourth hole, it read two or three points right through his round until the last two holes where he let it slip slightly with just one point each.
It was still a good return for the hard working Drenthen, describing his win “like a breath of fresh air”.
Second place in C Grade went to the experienced David Lock who tied with Drenthen on 36 points.
A scrub on the par three 16th hole hurt him badly in a count back, his 17 points on the back nine was two short of Drenthen.
Dean Gerloff also needed a count-back to claim the last podium position with 18 points on the back nine being too good for a number of chasing players.
Due to a number of players pulling out on the day the ball rundown was limited to scores of 33 or better and included Ploenges, Matthews, Fred Gould, Perryman, Matt Jennings, Roger Gale, Zeick Dalton, Jake Hollis, Shaun Phillips and Brayden Lane.
The nearest to pins and pro shots went to Adkins, Shaun Phillips, Trevor Little and Marc Dalton.
TUESDAY:
There was a four-way fight for the honours in the Tuesday mid-week stableford competition after Ben Gordon, James Rice, William Von Stanke and Brenton Hodge all finished on 37 points.
It was perhaps fitting that the player on the lower handicap took the prize and that belonged to Gordon off a 10 handicap.
After an ordinary first nine with just 14 points, everything clicked for him on the inward nine.
His birdie on the 17th hole gave him an even par 35 and a mammoth 23 points.
Rice went the closest to catching him with several three-point on the back nine for a closing 21 points.
Von Stanke was a point further back despite an impressive birdie on the 17th hole.
Hodge was the unlucky golfer to miss out on the podium as a wipe on the 15th hole costing him dearly.
Matt Davidson, John Robertson and Colin Stratford all had 35 while Marc Dalton was three under the card after six holes on the back nine before finding trouble on the 15th and 18th holes to end with splits of 16 and 17 points.
