MURRAY DOWNS MEN’S
THE main highlight this week was that some of our own won the Champions of the Murray golf tournament final at the Yarrawonga-Mulwala Golf Club last weekend.
With more than 500 male golfers from seven golf clubs along the Murray River vying for the prize, the victory by the pairing of Allan Spencer and Dean Farrell was special.
Allan and Dean had a comfortable cushion of 42 points in the four ball best ball Stableford competition to finish on top, with many congratulations going to Allan and Dean.
Last Thursday saw some impressive scores carded in the par competition, with Robert Hinton (14) leading the field to be first in the A grade section with a massive +6.
Robert only had two blemishes on the back nine and came home with a wet sail for 38 strokes off the stick.
Ken Gregory (8) was again consistent to finish runner up in A Grade with +1, while Justin Thompson (14) was third on -1.
Alistair Ferrier (17) had a day out in B grade with +4 after his round and again, only a few blemishes on his back nine to score 39 off the stick.
Runner-up in B grade was Roger Walker (18) on 0 and Ron Munro (22) filled the podium at -2.
All three placegetters in C grade had -1, with Peter Norgrove (25) beating Shaun Lawry (26) and Neil Chisholm (38) on a countback.
Ray Power collected the jackpot on the 11th hole, although I’m not sure there would have been a whole lot of money in there with recent tournaments seeing players getting in close.
Dale Rogers won it all on Saturday with 40 points in the Saturday Stableford competition.
Dale had an impressive three birdies on his way around the course and collected points on every hole.
The fog was as thick as soup in the morning, with the early birds having to do more than their usual share of distance calculations with their rangefinders not working in the conditions.
It was tough going – and cold.
Ken Gregory (8) again played well in A grade and scored 38 points, ahead of Bobby Kelly (8) on 35 points and John Hirst (7) on 33 points.
James Downing (15) was the clubhouse leader on 36 points for much of the day after teeing off in the early field.
James finished second in B grade in the end, with Allen Woolstencroft (13) snagging third with 35 points.
Stuart Brumby was the sole local amongst the winners in C grade after finishing third with 34 points.
Dale Smith almost holed out on the 11th, when he got up to the hole he found his ball only 23 centimetres away.
Sunday rounded out the weekend of golf with a 4BBB competition.
Hamish Giudice (12) from the Lalbert Golf Club teamed up with Rick Harding (10) to claim the win with 43 points, with no more than bogies on the card, along with a couple of birdies, seeing them finish clear on top of the table.
Matthew Battenally (22) and Brenton Halligan (12) finished second on 42 points while Tony Miceli (17) and Mark Grant (12) were third on 42 points also.
There was consistently one in each pair who contributed substantially to the team score, but I’ll not share the secret as you will have to find out who from the men themselves.
MURRAY DOWNS LADIES
EXCITEMENT levels are gaining momentum, with the annual Golden Putter tournament on the agenda next week.
Full fields will tee off in the Silver Putter on Wednesday and the Golden Putter on Thursday.
Carolyn Zambelli found the benign winter conditions to her liking on Wednesday by posting the best score of the day, scoring 36 points from her 25 handicap to win division one by one point ahead of Jude Simmonds (25).
One point also separated the division two leaders Tracy Hooper (33) with 34 points and Mandy Amezdroz (39) with 33 points.
Michelle Holt and Robyn Bett led the ball pool, while Pam Blohm collected the jackpot for her shot on the 11th hole, with the other nearest the pin winners being Melissa Caffrey, Tamika Hogan and Jude Simmonds.
Barb Clark (31) scored 39 points and Eilleen Willox (23) scored 35 points to lead Saturday’s field, with the next best being Olive Spitty (-2) and Mandy McCallum (37), both with 34 points, while Kristy Gordon and Mandy McCallum hit the most accurate shots to the 2nd and 11th holes to win the nearest the pin’s.
Jill Brown (16 points) and Marie Cruickshank (15 points) were able to hit the ball out of sight on a very foggy Friday morning to win the Golden Girls competition, while Sheila Beard claimed the nearest the pin prize.
NYAH WEST
DAY three of the Nyah West Club Championships was played last Sunday and saw the leader Andrew Flanagan, increase his lead to eight strokes, with scores of 83-91-81=255, ahead of Michael Watson with 86-91-86=263, John Manser with 87-92-88=267 and Dennis Pretty with 93-95-95=283.
The daily stroke event was the monthly medal, which went to Michael Watson (86/11/75) on a countback ahead of Andrew Flanagan (81/6/75).
The nearest the pins were won by Michael Watson on both the Goodyear Autocare 2nd hole and the Rutherford Street Tyres 16th hole, Eli Dickeson won the Nyah West Pharmacy 12th hole and John Manser won the Nutrien Ag Solutions/Landmark 15th hole.
No eagles were scored to disturb the Country Tracks 4WD Swan Hill Eagles Nest.
Entries are now rolling in for the Wealth Architects sponsored 4BBB Stableford tournament for both men and ladies with or without a handicap on Sunday, June 29. Please phone 0417 128 519 to enter.
VETERANS
THE Northern District Veterans Golf Association Stableford competition was held at the Tooleybuc Sporting Club on Tuesday, June 17, with this month’s event held last Tuesday.
The day promised four seasons in one, although it didn’t rain during play, so I guess three out of four wasn’t too bad.
The results saw Jean Youl win the ladies section on a countback ahead of Rowena Henry, with both ladies scoring 31 points.
The ball pool went to Kerry Gammon, also on a three-way count back ahead of Joyce Boyd and Lisa Zanker, all on 24 points.
In the men’s section, Fred O’Bryan claimed victory with 40 points, ahead of Kevin Lane on 33 points, with the ball pool going to Kevin Chase with 32 points.
The nearest the pins for the ladies went to Lisa Zanker (1st/10th), Jean Youl (5th/14th), Kerry Gammon (7th/16th) and Lisa Zanker (9th/18th).
For the men, the winners were Graeme Brierley (1st/10th), Kevin Chase (5th/14th), Col Wilkie (7th/16th) and John Manser (9th/18th).
The winners of the pen awards were Lorraine Bray and John Manser with 22 points.
Next month’s event will be played at the Lakeside Golf Club, on Tuesday, July 15, with a 9am assembly ahead of a 9.30am tee-off.
