SATURDAY once again provided perfect winter golf weather at the Attamurra course for the 111 players who contested the Spiderman SE men’s stableford competition.
Some who played thought the greens staff must have had a bad week, as they provided some devilish pin placements, particularly on the ninth and 14th holes.
Again it was a B Grade (11-16 handicap) player who carded the best score of the day, with Matthew Dixon (15 handicap) signing for 40 points.
Dixon’s card had splits of 20 points on both nines, with the highlight a birdie on the par 3 eighth hole.
The win made up for Dixon who lost last week’s competition on a count-back.
Second place in B Gade went to Nick Atwell (16), who started off the better, with 21 points on the front, before a triple-bogey eight on the par 5 11th hole slowed his momentum.
In A Grade (-9 – 10) Jeff Olafsen (10) with 39 points, was one point clear of Darren Bilney (+1) on 38.
Both had 17 points as they turned for the outward nine and even though Bilney shot a remarkable four-under the card 32 off the stick for 21 points, it was not enough to overcome Olafsen who added 22 points.
C Grade (17-45) saw Nick Wilke (18) take the win with 38 points.
Wilke started his round on fire, racking up 24 points on the front nine, consisting of four bogies, four pars and a birdie.
Unfortunately, he was not able to maintain it on the back nine as he collected another 14 points.
One point back was Jamie Agnew (23) with 37 points.
In contrast to Wilke, Agnew started slowly with 15 points on the front before finding form and adding 22 for the back nine.
Only one other player was able to better their personal handicap on the day, with Hayden Schroder (10) posting 37 points.
Players required 32 points or better on a count-back to win one of the 34 balls given out.
The pro shots went to Dixon on the eighth hole and Paul Braithwaite (17) on the 16th.
Meanwhile, mixed conditions greeted the 74 players in the field for Thursday’s stableford competition and as has been the case lately, there were a number of players who could consider themselves unlucky, as they were on the wrong side of a count-back.
Three players finished their respective rounds with 39 points – Paul Bowen (22), Leigh McCracken (12) and Neil Quirk (14).
It was Bowen’s better back nine of 21 points that gave him the overall win to claim the $80 pro shop voucher.
McCracken and Quirk both had splits of 19 and 21 points, but it was McCracken who had the higher points tally on the last six holes which allowed him to claim the runners-up prize of a $40 pro shop voucher.
McCracken’s last six holes consisted of five two-point holes and a single three-pointer for 13 points.
While Quirk had three three-point holes, he also had three singles for 12 points.
Three players finished one point further back – Daryl Taylor (13), Archy Arch (12) and Jim Leane (8) all on 38 points.
Arch was possibly on course to sign for the winning score until his only wipe off the day on the par 3 16th hole.
Veteran Barry Brooke (13) continued is recent good form as the only other player to better their handicap with 37 points.
Players needed 35 points or better on a count-back to win one of the 11 balls handed out and pro shot winners were Jeff Olafsen (10) on the eighth hole and Daryl Taylor (13) on the 16th.
Olafsen was able to sink his putt to gain the extra birdie ball.