The Saturday comp saw a stableford being played in very cold and damp conditions.

The score of the day came from the B grade with Curt Evans having 42 points. He played extremely well with no wipes for the day. His front 9 yielded him 20 points with a par on the 6th earning him 4 points a highlight. That was just a prelude to what was to come with 5 pars in a row on the back 9 giving him a healthy 22 points.

The runner-up was Ant Mathys with 36 points who has been enjoying his golf of late.  He was consistent with 18 points on both sides of the course, showing that his time on the course is now reaping the rewards.

Pete Bullock had 35 points to come in third and is finding some of his form returning. Apart from the 3 wipes, he scored well enough on the other holes to again be among the winners at the end of the day. David Strutters came in fourth with 32 points.

The A grade saw Chris Holden win on countback with 35 points. Chris had a great start on the back 9 with 6 pars to have 21 points at the turn. He slowed considerable after the break and could only manage 14 points.

Peter Lunnay had a good day too for his 35 points and managed his card well to score on all holes. A slow start with 3 double bogey’s soon gave way to some better golf to go into the break with 16 points. The next in on 33 points was Lindsay Storer also on countback over Jock Agnew.

The Patrick’s of Coonawarra NTP’s went to Jock on the 9th and Curt took home the 16th and also the best 3rd on the 17th. Andrew Hutchesson won the 7th and also took home the Redman Wines progressive NTP on the 13th.

A special mention must go to Don Ferguson who arrived for an earlier than normal tee off. Upon unloading his golf cart went to the back seat to grab his clubs. To the mirth of his playing partners, Ferg then dashed off home to grab his clubs nestled neatly by his back door.

Next week will be the Heyward’s Hotel Monthly Medal with the following week being the 27 hole foursome championship.

Full results here.

The final of the Vonnie O’Dowd foursomes was played in good conditions.

Judith Georgeson and Claire Larkin won the championship defeating Sue Kilsby and Gail Stephenson 5/4.   This is the eighth occasion that Judith and Claire have won the foursomes.

The other women played a Canadian and the winners were Ros Lynn, Nan Mann and Rosalie Hunt.

On 4 June the Koraneen Monthly Medal will be played and this is the 3rd qualifying round for the Championships which commence with the quarter finals on 11 June.

The Penola Golf club handicap pennants side travelled to Millicent on Sunday to contest the final of the southern zone against the Mount Gambier team.

Having gone through the minor rounds undefeated Penola was in top form and would have started slight favourites. The weather was surprisingly good which made for an even contest for all players.

The first group headed out with Curt Evans taking on Phillip Hedley with Curt getting a one shot advantage with handicap. Curt got out to an early lead and kept his head against his more experienced opponent and finished the match on the 17th to be 3 up.

Pete Bullock was next to follow taking on Dave Boyce with 3 shots up his sleeve. After a shaky start Pete managed to get back on track and was even going down the 18th. He lost the hole and this gave the Mount the win to tie things up.

The third pairing saw John “Smooth as” Wilkinson battle a young Ben Robinson with John having the one shot extra. After a hectic warm up session the night before he keep his head down  to get the win also on the 17th to finish 3 up.

Andrew Hutchesson, with a 6 shot advantage, took on Klint Malin and after his first drive was lost just off the tee was trying everything to keep up but after four holes found himself four down. But in the true Dominator spirit he just kept plodding along and managed to tie it up heading down the 18th. He kept his resolve and his opponent conceded the hole after a couple of mistimed chips.

The battle of the team captains saw Greg Hutchesson up against Mike Cutting with Greg getting an extra 5 shots. Greg got into the contest early to be 3 up before Mike came back to be one down on the turn. This was as close as the match got with Greg slowly edging away to win after the 15th to finish 4 up.

So now Penola will travel to Naracoorte to take on the Northern zone winners in Padthaway with tee off from 10.00. With an unchanged line-up the Penola boys will be doing their best to come home winners but it will all depend on the day.

The 5th and final round of the Club Stableford trophy was contested on Saturday with ideal golfing conditions.

 In the A grade Greg Hutchesson had an outstanding day out to finish winner and have score of the day. His 41 points saw him 4 shots clear of his nearest rival and this was set up with an even par back 9. He continued this onto the front but a little tree trouble on the 5th slowed him temporarily before he got back into his rhythm to finish off strongly.

Grant Stephenson survived a countback over Andrew Hutchesson with both having 37 points. Grant had a consistent day and managed no blemishes which helped him over the line. Bill Cheers was next in with 36 points.

In the B grade John Wilkinson also had a good day to finish with 40 points. His round was consistent and managed to score on all holes with a highlight being a birdie on the 9th. His form of late has seen him regularly featuring in the winner’s circle and was last seen celebrating late into the night, not ideal form leading into a pennant final the following day.

There was clear daylight to the runner-up with Mark Edwards having 35 points. He has been enjoying his golf of late with a win not too far away. The other places went to Allen Meyer on 34 with Brad Mathys then on 31.

The Patrick’s of Coonawarra NTP’s went to Lindsay Storer on the 9th and visitor Stephen Colbert on the 16th with Blue Kuhl having the best 3rd on the 17th.

This week’s NAGA went to Pete Bullock with a paltry 23 points but it could have possibly gone to Leo Price who had a little trouble on the 1st with four putts. This may not seem that bad but after he made some challenging hole placements was the only player who really struggled on that hole.

Next week will be a stableford round and good luck to the Handicap players on Sunday.

Full results here.

The Open Day was held in good conditions on 22 May. There were 63 entries with clubs represented from Penola, Mount Gambier, Kingston, Millicent, Naracoorte, Dartmoor, Heywood, Port MacDonnell, Keith, Blue Lake, Lucindale, Kooyonga, and Casterton.  Sponsors, Patrick of Coonawarra ,donated the beautiful trophies which were presented by their representuives Matt Stephenson and Nicole Clayfield.

With another warm autumn day a field of 29 golfers competed for the 2nd rd of the President’s Par Trophy.

Andrew “Senior” Hutchesson had a great day out finishing an impressive 6 up to win the B grade and have score of the day. He managed to keep his head down all day and after wiping the first hole Senior then kicked into overdrive, having 4 pars and a birdie before dropping another hole before the turn.

Senior continued around the front 9 managing not to wipe any holes and had 3 wins early to keep his winning smile, which seemed to grow larger as the day wore on.  His nearest rival was John Wilkinson who came in with a score of 3 up. ‘Smooth as’ has hit a little form recently and if he could manage to keep the wipes off his card would have been pushing for the top prize.

Paul Harmer hit a little bit of his old swing and finished with a well compiled 1 up with Mal Redman finishing square. Both players had a good back 9 but were also a little wasteful around the front.

In the A grade Grant Stephenson came out victorious with a score of 3 up. He had a very up and down front 9 with 2 wipes slowing his scoring early till he hit the turn where he was playing one shot better than his handicap.

The runner-up was Greg Hutchesson with a 1 up score being the best he could do. A strong back 9  could have looked better apart from a couple of reckless holes. The front 9 was a very mixed affair with wipes on every second hole undoing any good work on the previous hole.

Chris Holden made a rare appearance and finished square at the end of the day. He too was a little erratic which seemed to be the order of play for the day with Leo Price rounding out the final spot with 1 down.

The Patrick’s of Coonawarra NTP’s went to visitors from Attamurra, Joe Clements on the 7th, Matt Knowles on the 9th with Stephenson taking home the 16th. Jock Agnew was the best 3rd on the 14th with the NAGA award going to the President Stump Murray with an uninspiring 6 down.

Next week will be final round of the Club Stableford trophy.

Full results here.

Penola Golf Club president David Murray has survived a countback to take out the A Grade division in the fourth round of the club stableford trophy on the weekend.

On a perfect autumn day, 29 golfers took to the course for the competition with Murray finishing even with Grant Stephenson, both with 39 points, but Murrays’s back nine separated the pair.

He used his handicap to the limit with pars on holes where he got shots on, reaping the best rewards.

His only blemish was a very shaky double bogey on the easy 17th which yielded him just one point.

Stephenson on the other hand had a stellar patch of golf on the front nine, scoring 21 points, with a birdie on the fifth the highlight.

He continued the form on the back nine but a double bogey on the last hole put an end to his run.

Blue Kuhl and Andrew Hutchesson made up the next spots, both having 37 points.

Kuhl experienced trouble on the front nine with two wipes not helping before heading out.

He then hot overdrive and after six holes was square with the card, giving him 17 points, but two double bogeys’s and a bogey finish only just got him the four points to win.

Hutchesson was doing about the same as Kuhl but was having trouble on the longer par fives, with double bogeys being a feature.

In the B Grade another countback was required with David Strother beating Mal Redman on 37 points.

Strother played consistently all day and managed to score on all holes with some gun barrel straight drives.

Redman was playing his usual casual approach to the day while Trent Nankivell made a welcome return with 35 points.

The Patrick’s of Coonawarra NTP’s went to Leo Price on the seventh, Allen Meyer the ninth and Tony Gleeson on the 16th.

Dean Moore had a glimpse of some old form to win best third shot on the 14th.

This week’s NAGA went to David Boyd.

A meagre seven points out on the front nine came from only three holes while the rest did little to help his score.

This week will be the second round of the president’s trophy before Penola hosts the final round of Pennants at home on the Sunday.

Full results here.

With the Penola Golf Course in top condition a field of 21 golfers competed in the Prince of Wales monthly medal and the first qualifying round of the club championships.

Scoring was difficult with a strong southerly blowing but a few still managed to break their handicaps, with the stand-out performance of the day coming from Sam Hill, who put in a faultless display of golf to win the C Grade.

The A Grade saw a tight result, with a countback needed to determine the winner. Leo price took the honours over John Mossop, both with nett 71’s.

Price was a bit off on the front nine with 43 off the stick, using up almost all his handicap, but after the break he was a different player, firing off three pars before a disappointing three-putt.

However, he finished the back nine even with the card.

In contrast Mossop was more consistent, but a little carelessness on the greens was the determining factor.

Peter Walker placed third, again beating Greg Hutchesson on countback, both on nett 76.

In The B Grade a modest Shane McFlanders came out victorious with a nett 70, which was surprising for him after a practice round early in the week was nothing to trouble the scorers.

A triple bogey on the 17th was his only major hiccup, with both sides of the card mirroring each other.

Just two shots behind him on nett 72 was Graham Pope, who after a very shaky eight on the first may have thought he was in for a long day, but he managed to get back a few shots before the turn.

His back nine was a lot better with a birdie on the 13th one for the highlight reel.

Peter Bullock was next in with a nett 74, slowly coming to terms with his new handicap.

A key to his good card was only 12 putts on the front nine helping to keep his card from blowing out.

Mark Edwards was back in fourth with a lazy nett 79.

Sam Hill’s C Grade victory saw an 86 off the stick, returning a nett 64 thanks to some exceptional chipping and putting.

A chip in birdie on the seventh was a highlight, and with only five double bogeys, his card sees him currently well positioned for the finals come September.

Curt Evans was runner-up with a nett 70, who could have had a better score had he got the putter working a little better.

His back nine set him up to be more than competitive with only 40 shots before his wayward 52 on the front nine.

There was daylight back to the next placegetters, with Ant Mathys beating David Strutherland on a countback with nett 76.

Both players had a little trouble getting to the greens but both were reasonable with the putters.

The long drive was out on the third and with a helping breeze at players backs was always going to see some long balls hit.

Price won the A, Andrew “Senior” Hutchesson won the B and Curt Evans the C.

Price claimed another prize with the best third shot on the 14th, missing the birdie putt from three foot.

Nearest the pin on the seventh was Greg Hutchesson and Sam Hill hit a top shot on the ninth to take the honour.

He also won the putting comp with only 25 putts.

The special NAGA award went to “Senior”.

Full results here.