FOR the 79 players in Thursday’s pro shop stableford event at the Mount Gambier Golf Club, they will be glad the weather turned out much better than forecast.
Morning golfers had to contend with strong winds but no rain, with a wet forecast for the afternoon.
While there was early rain for the afternoon golfers, it cleared and turned out much better than anticipated, albeit very cold.
Roger Davis was the clear overall winner with 39 points, from splits of 18/21, from Ross Anderson with 37 points.
Davis, who has recently joined the valued course volunteers group and course committee, plays off an eight handicap and was on handicap through the front nine with a bonus four-point birdie on the 10th hole, plus three-point birdie on the last completing a steady round.
Ross Anderson continued his good form from last Saturday’s monthly medal, with splits of 17/20 and a birdie on the last putting Anderson into positive territory.
Other good scores with 36 points were Peter Dempsey, Craig Foster, Henry Forbes and Leigh McCracken, who similar to Davis and Anderson, did all their good work on the back nine once they had negotiated the early rain.
The ball rundown went to 33 points, with the shots of the day going to David Cameron on the eighth hole and Peter Berkefeld on the 16th, with both sinking their putts for four-point birdies.
Meanwhile, Saturday had everything from heavy rain, extreme winds, lightning and thunder, with only 37 hardy golfers completing their round.
They all deserve a medal.
Unsurprisingly scores were well below average, with the ball run down going to 28 points.
A Grade was taken out by Kevin Cook from Nic Clayton, both with 30 points.
Cook was one of very few morning golfers who had 11 points on the front nine, reflecting how tough the early conditions were, but he rallied with an excellent 19 points on the back.
Clayton continued his run of recent good form with 13/17 splits and included the nearest the pin on the long 16th hole.
B Grade had the equal best score of the day with Wayne Davison’s 34 points, followed by Cary Megaw with 33.
Davison’s split of 17/17 was highlighted by a good putt on the 16th hole for a birdie three-points.
Davison would have relished the chance to collect the side bets from his golf colleagues.
Megaw had splits of 16/17 highlighted by a four-point birdie on the fourth hole.
C Grade had the other best score with Charlie Finch scoring 34 points from Rob McLellan on 32.
Finch was the runner-up in last weeks monthly medal.
He had splits of 13/21 and was at the 12th hole when a massive thunder burst went through, which got the adrenaline pumping as he powered home.
McLellan only had 12 points on the board after the front nine, but had the best back nine of the day with an impressive 20 points in the poor conditions.
The other nearest the pin went to Tim Driver on the eighth hole, who not only missed his birdie, but three-putted much to the delight of his playing partners.
