A field of 18 players braved the wintry conditions for the first round of the Captain’s Stableford Trophy at Penola Golf Club on the weekend.
With cold temperatures and intermittent showers passing through the course, only 14 dedicated golfers completed the day.
Curt Evans has been in some good form of late and he again cleaned up with 38 points to have score of the day and win the B grade.
Starting on the back nine he racked up points easily and after four holes was just one over the card and had banked 11 points.
A little trouble on the 14th saw him score nothing before firing home with 10 points, a birdie on the 17th being his highlight.
After the break he continued to rack up points until hitting the fourth with an errant drive and finding the bracken.
Conceding a lost ball his provisional left him behind a tree and with a couple of duffed chips, walked off with a wipe.
He then continued on his merry way to finish the front nine with 17 points.
There was clear daylight back to the next players with Shane McFlanders edging out Ant Mathys, both with 31 points.
Mathys found the back nine difficult in the conditions and only scored 12 points to lose the countback.
More daylight saw David Boyd returning to the clubhouse with a meagre 26 points.
A countback was needed to determine the winner for the A grade with Shane Anderson beating Greg Hutchesson, both on 33 points.
Anderson had a better back nine but with two wipe-outs being cancelled out by three pars and a birdie on the 17th.
He also had a good front few holes before struggling home on the last 4 holes, only scoring four points.
Hutchesson had a reversal of scores and struggles on the par 5’s, wiping the third and 14th.
He hit a purple patch on the front nine but was still a little wasteful finishing off the putts.
Paul Harmer was next in with 32 points, having a pair of consistent nines of 16 points.
His playing partner, George Kidman, came in next with a well fought out 28 points.
Next week will be the Rabobank Monthly Medal with a stroke round being the order of play.

Full results here.

The finals of the championships were played in good conditions on Wednesday 25 June.  Fortunately the forecast rains did not eventuate and the course was in great condition. In the previous weeks the volunteers had worked hard clearing branches which had fallen in windy conditions. One large pine tree had inconveniently fallen over the 14th fairway the day before the championships but that did not pose any major problems for the golfers who cleverly played their game around it.

The Women’s 36 hole Championship was played between a previous winner Claire Mossop and Penny Young in the first club championship final of her golf career.  These two women are very active club members and have played consistently good golf throughout the year. They were worthy participants for the major trophy.

They played a similar game with their accurate drives the same distance on most of the holes. In these games it usually comes down to the most accurate player with chipping and putting and Penny maintained her lead around the greens to give her the edge and record her first Club Championship.

The B Grade finalists over 27 holes were Jane Jenkins and Liz Copping. Jane is the very hard working Chairperson of the Women’s Match Committee and Vice president of the Club Committee.   Liz Copping has been absent and made a welcome return to golf in the last few years. She is fast regaining her good form of earlier years. They played consistent golf with Jane Jenkins finally winning the day.

Golfers and friends followed the players around and were there to congratulate them on completion of the games.  All were invited to share afternoon tea and toast the winners and runners up.  There were lots of golfing stories about past games, good shots and bad, all stored in the memories of players.

On 2 July there will be a Stableford competition and on 9 July Penola True Value Hardware Monthly Medal.

On 7 July the South Eastern District Foursomes will be held at Penola.

Golf SA Country Week will be held 22 to 24 July.

With the course looking absolutely pristine, scores had the potential to be very high when a field of 26 golfers took to the Golf course on Saturday. The weather was a little indifferent with a few showers breaking up the sunshine for the 3rd Rd of the President’s Par Trophy.

In the A Grade John Mossop was the standout, not just for his height, with a magnificent score of 7 up. This was thanks to a 36 off the stick on the front 9 with a birdie on the 2nd being a standout. A slight hiccup on the back 9 with a plus followed closely by 2 wipe-outs may have cost him the major prize, but he completed the last 6 holes with 2 birdies and 4 pars.

It was more than clear daylight to the runner-ups with 4 players all finishing on 1 up. After many a countback Leo Price with 4 up on the back 9  being more than enough to edge out Jock Agnew and then Lindsay Storer.

The scoring was just as hot in the B grade with Curt Evans finishing with 7up to share the top prize. A very hot front 9 set up the win with a 41 off the stick equating to be 6up on the turn. He started strongly out the back with a birdie on the 12th being a highlight to get him to 8up before he tired late in the day to drop back to 7up.

Runner-up was Horrie Foggo with 3up winning on countback from David Boyd. A bad start from Horrie of 2 wipes was soon forgotten as he powered back to the clubhouse to finish 2 up on the turn. Finishing 1 up on the back got him over the line from Boyd who was square on the same 9.

Boyd was having a day at the beach hitting half of the bunkers around the course. A well placed second on the 10th narrowly cleared the bunker by an inch and was sitting pretty on the edge. As Boyd walked toward the ball gravity took over and the ball fell back into the bunker.

Trent Nankivell made a rare journey to the course and finished the day at 2 down for the fourth place. NTP winners were John Gregory the 7th, Agnew on the 9th with Jeremy Briggs on the 16th.

The Naga went to visitor Ross Anderson who managed to play well enough to edge out quite a few other contenders 6 or 7 downs. Next week will be the 1st rd of the Captains Trophy before the following week being the Rabobank Monthly Medal.

Full results here.

On Saturday a large contingent of 30 players took to the course for the Heyward’s Monthly Medal. John and Libby Heyward have been long time sponsors and all players were keen to take home some of the great prizes up for grabs.

Fresh from his golfing training camp at Barnbougle was David Murray who managed to keep his ball out of trouble to win B grade and have score of the day. After a very shaky triple bogey on the first he then proceeded to play the next 8 holes to par thanks to 2 birdies on the par 5’s. He had a little trouble getting on the par 3’s, having bogeys with one putts.

The break hardly slowed Murray down but he still managed to keep up the good card with nothing worse than a bogey on the inward journey to finish the day with an 81 off the stick for a nett 66. Murray also took home the best 3rd on the 3rd to add to his already bulging prize haul.

There was clear daylight back to the runner-up with Pete Bullock returning with a nett 71. He has played some good golf over the past month and it won’t be long before he is among the winners. Making up the next places were Cheers Bill on nett 72 with Mark Edwards a nett 74.

In the A grade Leo Price managed to handcuff himself to the top prize and finished with a nett 69. He raced out of the blocks early and after 4 holes was 2 under par before dropping the next 2 holes. He righted himself with 3 pars to finish even on the front 9. After the break he came out a little slow starting with a double bogey and returned to the clubhouse with a 77 off the stick for the day.

In the runner-up spot was John Mossop with a nett 72 ahead of Don Ferguson on 73. Both these players hit off early to avoid the weather, although Ferg might still be feeling a little embarrassed after last week’s indiscretion. Jeremy Briggs made the final spot with a nett 75, beating 3 others on countback.

In the C grade David Strathers won on countback from John Foggo, with nett 73. Strath had a slightly better back 9 which was enough to get the nod from the adjudicator. A key to his success was his flat stick with only 13 putts on the back. The next places went to David Boyd with a nett 74 ahead off Jason Jackson on nett 76.

The NTP winner’s were Leo Price on the 7th with Jock Agnew the 9th. Peter Walker managed to get the best 2nd on the 12th. Greg Hutchesson had a good day with the putter with only 24 putts.

In the battle of the big hitters John Wilkinson won the B with Curt Evans winning the C. The A was won by Don Ferguson, the only A grader to hit the fairway, with some comedian changing it to Marg but we all know that she would hit further than that.

The prized chocolate for the worse score for the day should have gone to Dean Moore but an early departure saw the NAGA then go down the line to Tony Gleeson who had a touch of trouble on the 13th all but ending his day. That said there is a fair chance he will return to the top next week.

Next week will be the club’s 27 hole foursomes championship with a 11.00 tee off so please organise your partner beforehand.

Full results here.

On Sunday the Penola Handicap pennants team travelled to Naracoorte to take on Padthaway in the grand final. With wintery weather things looked like it would stay wet for most of the day but cleared out shortly after hit off.

The first pairing of Curt Evans and Eric Saunderson saw Curt immediately getting out to an early lead winning the first hole. This match was always going to be close with Curt giving away 11 shots and at the halfway mark scores were level. Both players were playing good golf with Saundie going 3 up on the turn.

Curt keep on fighting and with 2 holes to go was 2 down before he staged a comeback winning the next 2 holes, nailing a pressure putt on the 18th for par and forcing the match down the 19th. Curt had to give his opponent a shot on this hole but a brain fade from Saundie saw him waste 3 shots before reaching the green. This let Curt in and he made the putt to win the match and the deciding rubber to give Penola victory.

The next grouping was Pete Bullock and Troy Matthews with Pete having to give away one shot. Pete was keen to get a win as all his matches before have been close but he just hasn’t quite got the win. The match was close all day till Pete got the edge just after the turn and from there on keep up the pressure and it was to be Pete’s day though, as he played some very consistent golf to defeat the previously undefeated Troy winning on the 16th to finish 3 up.

John Wilkinson took on Brian Slape in the third match with both players having the same handicap it was going to be a tight contest. John won the first hole, the lost the next and halved the 3rd before repeating this again on the next 3 holes.

At the turn John had managed to sneak ahead by one and crept out to be 4 up coming down the 15th, having Bryan dormy. A half was all that was needed to finish the match giving John a faultless record for this year.

Andrew Hutchesson gave one shot to Scott Longbottom and both players came out firing early parring the first 3 holes before Scott won the next. This stirred Senior and he won the next couple of holes before dropping 2 to go 1 down at the turn.

From this point on Andrew was playing catch up and giving a shot on the 10th saw Scott par 4 of the next 5 holes, defeating the previously undefeated Senior on the 14th with the score 5 up with 4 to go.

The last group was the 2 team Captains of Greg Hutchesson and Paul Elsdon with Greg giving away 5 shots. Both players got away to a good start with Greg settling first early and after 6 holes was 3 up. He was hitting greens in regulation and putting well, with a birdie on the fourth was 1 under the card before bogey’s on 7th and 8th.

Going into the turn with a 3 shot lead Greg continued on but a spirited fight back saw Paul hanging on and slowly getting the match back to square on the 18th. This is where the match finished; with a result already decided there was no need to continue on.