MURRAY DOWNS MENS
James McLean has taken out the 2022 Murray Downs Golf & Country Club’s Men’s Championship for the second straight year.
McLean got away to a slightly shaky start over the first two rounds, with scores of 78 and 77, but found his true mark with a brilliant round of three under par 69, giving him the lead after the third round – ahead of early leader Neville Brady.
McLean then capped off the tournament with a solid fourth round, shooting a one over par 73, to finish with a 13 shot lead on 297.
His nearest rival, Neville Brady, faltered over his final two rounds, with scores of 81 and 78 to finish at 310 and was closely followed by Daniel Cruickshank and Ash Free with scores of 312.
Division 2 was taken out by a relatively new member to Murray Downs in Harry Simpson, who is formerly from the Kooyonga Golf Club in South Australia.
Simpson shot rounds of 83, 79, 80 and 77 and ended with a tally of 319, beating Justin Thompson on 330.
Division 3 went to Troy Gnitecki, with rounds of 91, 88, 83 and 90, for a total of 352 and beating Ian Johansen on 359.
In Division 4, Leighton Dullard (383) got very shaky over his final round – but had a considerable lead going into the last 18 holes to assist him getting over the line by five shots from the fast-finishing Rob Merrett (388).
The Senior’s Championship was won by Neville Brady with a score 310, while the newly introduced Veteran’s Championship went to Ken Gregory, who finished with a final total of 323.
The nett winners in each division are Ken Gregory in Division 1, Justin Thompson in Division 2, Ian Johansen in Division 3 and Stuart Patterson in Division 4.
The fields on all days were very well attended, even though the weather forecast on the final day was a little bit suspect with intermittent showers.
In the daily competitions, Saturday’s best scores came out of Division 3, with both Leighton Dullard (22) and Lachlan Carroll (27) coming in with scores of nett 64, with Dullard coming out on top.
Troy Gnitecki (15) took out Division 2, with a nett 68 score, ahead of Rob Elder (19) from Mt Barker in South Australia on nett 69.
Finally, in Division 1, the very good scores continued, with Wayne Wisby (10) the best with a nett 65, ahead of James McLean (1) on nett 66.
The nearest the pins went to Wayne Wisby on the second, Robert Forster on the fifth, Brett Farlie on the 11th and Steven Bulmer on the 15th.
From Sunday’s competition, Harry Simpson (9) shot the day’s best score with a 68 nett, to take out Division 1 ahead of Andrew Spitty (0) on nett 69.
Our President, Colin Hedwards (16) recorded one of his rare wins, taking out Division 2 with nett 69 score, ahead of the unlucky Craig Fletcher (15), who finished with the same score.
In Division 3, it was Rob Merrett (23) who had a good day out, scoring a nett 71 and getting over the line ahead of Leigh Paynter (19) on nett 72.
The nearest the pins were scored by Harry Simpson on the second, Greg Armsden on the fifth, Bobby Kelly on the 11th and Mark Warren on the 15th.
On Thursday of last week – and in the very inclement weather – a small field of golfers took part in the daily Stableford competition, with Joe Morrison (24) finding the conditions to his liking, recording 39 points to comfortably win the day ahead of Ron Munro (16) on 34 points.
Ken Veale hit the green on the second to claim that nearest the pin, while Darryl Domaille hit it closest on the 11th. Other players required at least 32 points to be in the hunt for the ball competition.
On Tuesday of this week, the regular field of golfers took part in a Stableford competition, with Ray Holdsworth (31) leading the pack with 36 points.
He was followed by Geoff Bett (33) on 34 points, who claimed the runner’s-up prize and was closely followed by Murray Conn and Chris Mahon on the same score and Tony Wilson on 33 points – with each player receiving a ball for their efforts.
Malcolm Talbot cleaned up the nearest the pins on offer, winning both on holes five and 15.
At the halfway mark of the Swan Hill Windows & Kitchens 9-hole summer competition, its team Cadd Magic, having had their early lead slightly reduced, still in front of the chasing pack by six points.
The Golden Oldies are next and are five points ahead of The Frogs team.
In the player of the series competition, Dan Lavey has amassed 83 points to be slightly ahead of John Webb and Mick Kiley, who are both on 81 points.
We are now at the pressure end of the series and all good scores are vital to keep your team in contention for the major prize.
In our upcoming events, starting on Sunday, November 27, we will be holding the RTM Construction four-person Ambrose event. This will be followed by the annual turkey four person teams (no mixed) event on Saturday, December 10 – with the team’s best three scores counting per hole and will be followed by the annual Men’s Trophy presentation.
MURRAY DOWNS LADIES
The 71 competitors in the par event at Murray Downs Golf & Country Club found it hard to believe the summer golf season had started, when they were greeted by an icy southerly on Wednesday.
Ruth McAlister will have a new handicap next time she competes after scoring three up from her 30 mark to take out Division 2 ahead of Judi Lonergan (30) – who will also see a handicap reduction, with a score of two up.
In Division 3, Joan Foster (33) with two up and Eileen Morath (33) at three down were successful, while the Division 1 winners were Georgina Douglas (24) at square and Michelle Holt (24) at two down.
Jill Bath, square, and both Maralyn Morrison and Glenda Coulter at two down were the ball pool leaders.
Marg Moore collected two nearest the pin prizes, with the others going to Eileen Morath and Jill Brown.
Lisa Brady (28) was the star on Saturday, with her score of 42 points being three clear of the Division 2 runner-up Claris Bourne (27).
In Division 1, Barb Cadd (25) and Sheila Beard (25), both on 37 points, were the leaders.
Kerry Gammon, 39, and both Val Hedwards and Carol Wiseman, scored 36 points to lead the ball rundown, while Suzanne McLellan, Kate Lochery, Claris Bourne and Sarah Clark all hit the most accurate shots to the par 3s to claim the nearest the pins.
Claris Bourne (26) with 38 points and Kerry Gammon (32) with 37 points led a small field on Sunday.
TOOLEYBUC
STABLEFORD:
Winner: Marg Lauer, 31 points (24)
Runner-up: Lisa Zanker, 27 points (27)
Balls down the line: Ros Jennings, Leonie Lambert
Nutrien Award: Bev Beasy
Nearest the pin: Marg Lauer
Trophy donor: Lisa Zanker
