MURRAY DOWNS MEN’S
JASON Stevens has been recovering from injury over the last four months but found some fine form on the fairways last Thursday.
Jason (9) had a whopping 44 points in the Stableford competition to win, collecting the eagle’s nest on the par 5 7th hole along the way.
Ross Hastings (10) also capitalised on his recent string of form with 77 off the stick and second in A grade on 41, with Luke Wilson (5) third on 36 points.
Philip McClure (22) finished on top in B grade with 37 points, ahead of Michael Burns (18) and Geoffrey Frame (22) who both had 35 points.
In C grade, all three placegetters finished on 37 points, David McCallum (40) finishing on top ahead of Geoffrey Bett (32) and Thomas Wilkins (30) on a countback.
93 players teed it up on Saturday in the spectacular autumn conditions.
There must have been some tough pin positions because only seven players were able to beat or match their handicap in the round that had a daily difficulty rating of +1.
We will focus on this distinguished group of seven in this report, with Daniel Cruickshank (2) shooting 73 to finish first in A grade on 37, while Brian Hinton (13) was the overall winner of the day with 41 points to top B Grade ahead of Brett Farlie (15) with 36 points.
Paul Raudino (18) won C Grade with Trent Hawkins (17) coming second, both on 36.
There was only a small group of golfers who participated on Mothers Day, with Rick Harding (11) finishing the best of them with +5 in the par competition and Justin Thompson (13) placing second in A grade behind Rick.
Nathaniel Holmes-Brown (17) completed his round with +4 to win B grade, with Noah Sherlock (33) climbing into the places with +3.
An honourable mention to the following golfers who also bettered their handicaps on the day – John Scott +2, Matthew Battenally +1, Mick Kiley +1, Adrian Knee +1.
There was another hot day to finish the week of golf on Tuesday, with John Tripodi (16) leading the field with 37 points as the overall winner in the Stableford competition, with no other golfers beating their handicap on the day.
MURRAY DOWNS LADIES
WITH only one round to go, Olive Spitty has a commanding lead in the Murray Downs Golf and Country Club Championships.
Her two round total of 145 is 22 shots clear of her sister Mabel, Jo Watts and Lynne Bishop.
Olive is also leading the nett event on 143, followed by Jo Watts (145), Val Hedwards (146) and Lynne Bishop (147).
In B grade, Shelley Wilkins (186), Mag Kiley and Virginia Allen (194) and Marg Moore and Jeanette Tucker (195) are the leaders in the scratch event.
The nett event leaders are Shelley Wilkins (144), Sheila Beard (147), Virginia Allen (150) and Suzanne Napier and Jeanette Tucker (151).
Sally Fearn on 205 leads C grade by eight shots, ahead of Melita Sartori, with Barb Cadd and Di Atkin 10 shots behind.
Sally also leads the nett event on 141, with Melita Sartori and Leanne Button on 147 and Di Atkin on 153.
Only a small field contested D grade, with Mandy Amezdroz on 229, Di Pinal on 234, Deb Watson on 240 and Elaine Brown on 249.
Di Pinal (140) leads Mandy Amezdroz by seven shots in the handicap section.
Fifty seven women teed off in perfect weather conditions for the second round of the club championships on Wednesday, with Sally Fearn posting the best score of the day with 100-32-68 to win B grade, with Jenny Lynas 100-28-72 finishing as runner up.
In A grade, Lois Carnie scored 88-18-70 and Suzanne Napier scored 97-26-71 to be the victors.
Leaders of the ball pool were Jo Watts, Claris Bourne, Melita Sartori, Jenny Monahan and Mandy McCallum, with the nearest the pin prizes going to Pam Austerberry, Shelley Wilkins, Val Hedwards and Tracy Hooper, who collected the $250 jackpot on the 11th hole.
On Saturday, Mandy McCallum (41) scored an amazing 45 points and reduced her handicap to 37 to win B grade ahead of Barb Clark (31) with 34 points.
In A grade, scratch marker Olive Spitty scored 38 points to win from Eilleen Willox (23) with 32 points.
Olive’s score included six birdies and was equivalent to 71 off the stick.
Nadine Cox (27) and Jan McEwan (31) both scored square to lead the small field on Sunday, with Kristy Gordon and Olive Spitty at one down, the next best.
MURRAY DOWNS DAD’S ARMY
ON Monday, May 12, members of Dad’s Army played the back-nine, with Thomas Wilkins and Robert Smith leading the field with 18 points.
They were followed by Robert Deighton on 17 points, Damian Kelly, Raymond Frame and Colin Hayward on 16 points, Graeme Bray on 15 points, Barry Ingram on 14 points and John Brereton, Ross Cox and Ian Dickson on 13 points.
On Wednesday, May 14, members played the front-nine, with Robert Smith winning with 19 points.
He was followed by Robert Deighton on 18 points, Damian Kelly and John Brereton on 17 points, Barry Ingram and Brian Devlin on 14 points and Thomas Wilkins and Colin Hayward on 13 points.
The weekly winner was Robert Smith with a fine 37 points, ahead of Robert Deighton on 35 points, Damian Kelly on 33 points, Thomas Wilkins on 31 points, John Brereton on 30 points, Colin Hayward on 29 points, Barry Ingram on 28 points. Raymond Frame on 27 points, Ross Cox on 25 points, Ian Dickson on 23 points and Brian Devlin on 20 points.
LALBERT
ON Sunday, May 11, the Lalbert Golf Club held its opening round for 2025 season, with a two person Ambrose event.
The scratch winners were the brothers Meehan, James Junior and Chris, with 73, ahead of Peter Harley and Scott Worner on 74.
The handicap winners were Doug Meehan and Bo Brown with 62.75 Nett, while the nearest the pin on the sixth hole was won by Bo Brown.
As it was Mothers Day, members and families enjoyed an evening meal.
NYAH WEST
LAST Sunday, players helped celebrate Mothers Day with a Stableford round, followed by afternoon tea, with club president John Manser (11) stealing the show with 36 points ahead of youngster Eli Dickeson (32) on 34 points.
The nearest the pins went to Dennis Pretty on the Goodyear Autocare 2nd hole and the Nutrien Ag Solutions/Landmark 15th hole, Andrew Flanagan on the Nyah West Pharmacy 12th hole and John Manser on the Rutherford Street Tyres 16th hole.
Despite the dry grassy course with plenty of run, nobody scored an eagle to clear the Country Tracks 4WD Swan Hill eagles nest.
This Sunday, the club has a contingent of members visiting the Balranald club to support their traditional Bodinnar Day tournament.
A general meeting of club members will also be held on Monday evening, commencing at 7.30pm.
Commencement of the clubs junior development program has been deferred by one week to Sunday, May 25 at our Nyah West course at 202 Yarraby Road, starting at 9.30am.
TOOLEYBUC LADIES
Wednesday, May 14
Second Round Club Championships
Winner – Lisa Zanker (89/70)
Runner up – Tracey Burge (94/71)
Third place – Leonie Lambert
Nearest the pin 1/10 – Lisa Zanker
Nearest the pin 5/14 – Leonie Lambert
Balls down the line – Narelle Fraser, Janet Brauer, Ros Jennings
Trophy donor – Narelle Fraser & Tooleybuc Sporting Club
Lisa Zanker is leading the club championships heading into the final round, with Tracey Burge hot on her tail along with Narelle Fraser, Janet Brauer, Leonie Lambert. Good luck to everyone for next week.
