MURRAY DOWNS MEN
AS THE weather starts to warm up and the days are stretching out, large numbers of golfers are taking advantage of the conditions.
This was no more evident than last Saturday, with more than 100 players competing in the daily stableford competition, along with an equal number of visitors enjoying our wonderful course.
The men’s daily competition was broken up into three divisions, with Uli Van Rensburg from Barham shooting a magnificent score of 51 points, from his daily handicap of 38, to eclipse the field and take out Division 3.
His round of 95 off the beater consisted of only two pars but was a mixture of bogies and double bogies, which is exceptional from a player with such a high handicap.
The runner-up in Division 3 with a respectable score of 37 points was Joey Higgins (28), while Division 2 was won by John Tripodi (16) with 38 points, just ahead of Dale Smith (14) with 37 points.
In Division 1, it was former local Glenn Palmer (10) who came out on top with 40 points, ahead of Mathew Collins (5) on 39 points.
The ball rundown was led by Mark Warren on 37 points and went down to scores of 34 points, while the nearest the pins went to Brian Hinton on the 2nd, Mathew Collins on the 5th, Brian Elliott on the 11th and Zachary Haywood on the 15th.
Last Thursday’s competition was against par, with another very good-sized field taking part.
Ken Gregory (8) found the conditions to his liking and recorded the day’s best score of 6 up to take out Division 1 from Neville Brady (4) at 2 up.
Tori Ficara (24) took out Division 2 honours with his 4 up, ahead of Rob Merrett (22) at 1 up, while Division 3 went to Graeme Giddings (28) over Peter Amezdroz (36) when both players finished with 4 up apiece.
Scores of square or better were required to get a ball, while the nearest the pins went to Ken Gregory on the 2nd, who had to share the jackpot ($37 each) on the 11th with Sam Rovere when both players hit it inside the magical one-meter distance, and Alistair Ferrier on the 15th.
Sunday’s competition was the Doing it for Jarrod four-person Gentsomes ambrose event, which raised money to assist the Challenge kids with cancer foundation, in memory of Jarrod Lyle, who lost his life to the dreaded disease five years ago.
The winners of the day, with an excellent score 145 points, were Lyne and Rod Bishop and Shelley and David Wilkins, with an average of just over eight per hole.
Runners-up were Chris Knee, Rob Forster and Jaime and Adrian Knee with 141 points, with Leigh Evans, Garry Steinmann, Tony Miceli and Francesco Cianci finishing third with 140 points, ahead of Steve Bulmer, Steve Emberson, Neville Brady and Brian Elliot with the same score.
The next best, with 136 points, were the captains Mick and Mag Kiley, along with Lisa Brady and Craig Davies.
The nearest the pins went to Mick Scott and Colleen Roberts on the 2nd, Matt Loats and Lynne Bishop on the 5th, Mick Kiley and Lisa Brady on the 11th and Matt Loats and Lynne Bishop on the 15th.
An excellent field of golfers, making up two divisions, assembled on Tuesday for the stableford competition, playing from the gold tee markers.
Division 1 was taken out by Noah Starrs (11) with 39 points, ahead of Malcolm Talbot (14) on 37 points.
Jackson Quirk (17) got the nod in his favour for Division 2 honours, in front of David Bourne (25), when both players finished with 39 points apiece.
The ball rundown was red-hot, with 36 points the score required to be eligible for a ball, while the nearest the pins were taken out by Bruce Wilson on the 2nd, Daniel Kret (Rosanna GC) on the 5th, Damian Mangiameli on the 11th and Greg Weybury on the 15th.
All golfers are reminded of the annual general meetings scheduled for Monday, October 16, at 7.30pm for the men and Wednesday, October 18, at 2pm for the women.
MURRAY DOWNS LADIES
TRACEY Hooper is enjoying her first season of golf at Murray Downs so much that she makes a weekly trip from Sea Lake to join in the competition.
Hooper started on the maximum handicap of 54 last year and has slowly honed a few shots off and will now be on a 49-mark next time she steps up to the tee, after scoring 8 up in the par event on Wednesday.
The event was also the second round of the Holt’s Spring Brooch.
The runner-up in Division 3 was Jenny White (37) with 2 up, while in Division 1 Shelley Wilkins (20) 3 up and Kathy Parkinson (14) square were the winners, and in Division 2 Pam Blohm (30) 3 up and Suzanne Napier (27) 2 up were successful.
Sally Fearn, 2 up, and Colleen Roberts, Gaye Legudi, Deb Watson and Lois Coady, all 1 up, led the ball competition.
Lois Carnie was rewarded for two accurate shots to the par 3s, with the others going to Lyn Merrett and Sally Fearn.
Belinda Gardner (31) 39 points and Barb Cadd (29) 35 points were Saturday’s winners, with Claris Bourne 35 and Anne Webb, Kerry Gammon and Shelley Wilkins all 34 points collecting balls, andMarg Moore and Dione Heppell being the nearest the pin winners.
Lynne Bishop has taken out the singles knockout, defeating Lois Carnie, and, with her partner Barb Cadd has also claimed the four-ball knockout championship after a tough match against Mag Kiley and Anne Webb, which went to the 18th hole.
LALBERT
ON SUNDAY, September 17, the club held its Gymkhana Day stroke event to wrap up the 2023 season.
In the nine-hole juniors, Kel Parsons won on a countback from Blake Shepherd on 61, while in the women’s the scratch winner was Maree Kingwill on 107, ahead of Karen McKissack on 109, with the handicap winner being Danika Meehan on nett 86.
In the men’s, the scratch winner was Doug Meehan on 84, from Charlie Kingwill on 86, while the handicap winner was Scott Worner on nett 73.
The nearest the pins were won by Maree Kingwill, while the longest putt with the club’s wooden stick putter was James Meehan Sr.
The club awards were presented: in the electic Doug Meehan, 63, won the men’s and Maree Kingwill, 79, the women’s, while the junior winner was Danika Meehan, with Chase Worner finishing runner-up.
The Gladys Meehan Memorial Award, with the best five stableford rounds, went to Danika Meehan on 192, from Maree Kingwill 170 and Caitlyn McKissack 143.
The John Curthoys Memorial Award with the best five stableford rounds was won by Maurice Meehan on 188, from Stuart McGregor on 183 and Doug Meehan, Peter Harley and James Meehan Sr on 181.
Following the award presentations, two club life memberships were presented to Robyn Meehan and Lila O’Meara (posthumously, which was accepted by her children who were present).
VETERANS GOLF
VETERAN golfers enjoyed the hospitality of the Tooleybuc Sporting Club for their stableford event on Tuesday, September 19, with many thanks to the staff for the condition of the course and the Asian buffet lunch and Trakka for assistance.
The women’s winner, with 33 points, was Shirley Jenner, while the runner-up with 32 points was Lorna Stuchbree.
The men’s winner was Sandscrape champion Darryl Domaille with 39 points, ahead of Kevin Lane with 35 points.
The ball pool was won by Eileen Willox, Jenny Lynas, Margaret Learmonth, Graham Wyte, Ian Dodd, Fred O’Bryan and Rick Austerberry.
The nearest the pins were won by Jenny Lynas, Kerry Gammon, Eileen Willox, Jan Butcher, Darryl Domaille, Hank van de Veen and Kevin Lane twice.
The next Veterans event is the Spring Carnival at Barham on October 2 and 3.
Book via the Barham Pro Shop on 5453 2971.
