IT was a contest between the young and the old to decide the winner in the Blue Lake Bistro monthly medal stroke event at the Blue Lake Golf Club on Saturday, with the decision going down to the wire.
With youth on his side and the comfort of playing with a good group of supportive guys, Joe Pritchard eventually took the win after a count-back against the experienced Colin Stratford.
Possessing a swing perfected by his father/coach Matthew Pritchard, Joe was on song early, four under his handicap after eight holes and doing it easy in the tough conditions.
Despite a double-bogey on the eighth hole, the 21 handicapper turned with a 43.
It was a bit of a topsy-turvy back nine, with a couple of doubles and a triple on the 12th hole, but in between he threw in a chip-in birdie, with a well-executed 60-metre approach on the 11th.
Another two consecutive pars on the 14th and 15th holes meant Pritchard would at least be in the running for some prize money, just where was to be decided.
Pritchard obviously enjoyed the first time experience of playing with some new partners and relished the relaxed banter to finish, with his final tally 89-21-68.
At the other end of the experience scale it is normally the shrewd Stratford who prevails in tight situations, but this time he had to settle for the grade win.
It was a solid round with four pars on the outward stretch and he was headed for the outright win, but faltered on the last two holes which also hurt his count-back chances.
A two-under round on a course set up to its maximum was still an excellent effort.
Bryce Smith was the best of the A Graders, but also had to survive a count-back against Stephen Easterbrook after both finished on nett 71.
Playing off 2 there is not much room for error for Smith and he almost put together the perfect round, slipping up on only three occasions.
While his game was strong throughout, he could not quite turn the pars into birdies, returning spits of 37 and 36 for a nett 71.
Easterbrook had a bit more leeway with his handicap of eight and after a 39 on the outward nine, he had his nose in front, even more so after opening the back nine with three pars and a birdie on the 13th hole.
Even with the flag set back on the 17th hole it would be one he would expect to make par on the majority of times.
However, a disappointing double-bogey took some gloss of his round.
A closing 40 saw him relinquish first place to Smith.
Also needing a count-back to decide third place, Clint Mitchell can thank a workmanlike even-par 37 to clinch the prize money by a solitary margin from Jamie Walters and Bruce Morale.
Walters was unlucky to find trouble at the end of both nines, the trees seeing him walk off with an eight on the ninth and 17th holes that ruined his chances.
Morale birdied the 10th hole but gave that back plus three more to finish with splits of 40 and 38 to fall just short.
Doug Robbins will rue a scratchy start that cost him not only the outright win, but also the B Grade honours to Stratford.
Opening with a triple-bogey and two doubles on the third and fourth holes, he then showed what he is capable of with an inward 39 thanks to a birdie on the 15th.
If, which is the second most used word on the golf course, he could have turned those holes into just one-overs he would have taken the main prize.
A count-back was needed to decide the last of the prize money, with Colin Tester successful with a superb 42 on the inward nine, which proved too much for Daniel Loupos who stumbled on the 12th hole.
The C Grade golfers found the going hard in the longer course setup, with Brayden Lane’s 74 enough to take the win.
Lane impressed and deserved the win after a run of bad holes on the front nine would have destroyed most player’s hopes.
Lane showed maturity by knuckling down and improving on the back nine with pars on the 11th and 13th holes.
His splits of 57 and 48 showed good resilience and willingness to never give in.
Four shots further back Simon Lalich took second after a count-back thanks to a birdie on the 15th hole, while Kevin Mansell benefited from his recent coaching to snatch third after a count-back, also on 78.
Anyone who took home a ball prize on Saturday deserved it and that included Walters, Morale, Loupos, Gary Telford, Colin Ferguson, Michael Watts, Smokey Von Duve, Wayne Dunford, Zeick Dalton, Thomas Von Stanke and David Dowie.
Tester added to his prize pool with his pro shot on the fifth hole, while Dowie (A Grade) and Justin Ploenges (B) won their respective nearest the pin prizes.
