After spending the last few months letting his handicap slide ready to pounce in the Spring, Peter Walker has claimed a victory. Walker, who was used to winning regularly, has had a lean trot up until to now. Most thought age had caught up to the man who turns 77 next Thursday, but he defied the critics to post a stellar 4 up to win the A-Grade at Penola Golf Club on Saturdy. On a day where less than 20% of the field finished on the right side of square, Walker showed all his guile and ability to head the 24 strong field.

Golfers were greeted by glorious conditions, with most failing to take advantage of a lack of precipitation and wind. Walker did take a while to warm up after scoring losses on the first two holes. He found his form after this, with a run of six wins in eight holes from the fourth onwards, setting up the win.  He even managed two birdies along the way which would have given him 42 points on a stableford round.

Finishing runner-up in A-Grade was Chris Holden with a good return of 3 up. This was an impressive effort for someone who hasn’t spent much time on the course since fatherhood. He had 10 pars showing he is a still a major contender come club championships.

Peter Lunnay and Leo Price had to be separated by countback as they were the only other players to finish up for the day. Lunnay just got the nod for third with three plusses on the back nine.

Price was good in patches and started brilliantly with 39 on the front nine to be two up, but fatigue set in and he dropped crucial holes on the back nine.

Paul Harmer was the only other player not to finish in the negatives, finishing square and in 5th place.  

In the B-Grade, Pete Bullock finished square, which was enough for the win, as everyone else around him struggled to win holes. At one stage it looked like Bullock was going to blitz the field. A combination of super driving and solid approaches saw him collect five wins in six holes before peaking at 4 up. However, the excitement of thinking the money was heading to the POW saw him collapse and four losses in a row brought him back to square.

Mark Edwards was the best of the rest finishing two down.  A poor patch in the middle of the back nine undid all his good work on the front nine.

John Foggo (3 down) and Curt Evans (4 down) rounded out the placings.

The Patrick of Coonawarra nearest the pins were won by the usual suspects, Jock Agnew (7th), John Wilkinson (9th) and Pete Bullock completed his successful day with the best 2nd on the 12th.

Ant Mathys claimed the prize for the Redman’s  progressive nearest the pin, getting within 1.4 metres. 

The chocolates went to Andrew Hutchesson with his 9 down effort, as he formed part of the super group with Ant Mathys, Don Ferguson and Jock Agnew who combined to finish 25 down for the day.

Next week it is back to a stroke round, with the PPH&S Monthly Medal.  


Full results here.

Andrew and Greg Hutchesson have combined well to score 46 points and win the four ball better ball stableford competition at Penola Golf Club on the weekend.
In the strangely named competition that has teams of two competing, the competition was very strong, with good scores coming from most of the field.
A solid field of 20 players competed in the event and were met by very pleasant conditions and lightning fast greens that were in the best condition in memory.
But the Hutchessons didn’t have it easy, taking out the competition by just one point over the team of Mark Edwards and Curt Evans, thanks mainly to Greg’s 38 points, which included four birdies, three of those on the Par 5’s.
Edwards and Evans formed a last minute team and combined well to finish on 45 points.
Evans again played well for his 37 points with Edwards adding a few good holes of his own to ensure a good spread of points.
But only a single point on the sixth hole may have cost them the win.
The team of George Kidman and Sam Hill finished third with 45 points after starting strongly with six three-pointers on the first six holes.
Naracoorte visitors Brad Davies and Mick Pannell enjoyed the course to score a combined 44 points for fourth place.
Pannell looked in ominous form and once he gets a few more cards in, his handicap might be down somewhat.
Nearest the pin were won by John Wilkinson (7th), Edwards (9th) and Davies (16th) and the best second on the 11th was taken out by David Boyd.

Full results here. 

Weather has played havoc with the Penola women golfers in recent weeks but a nine-hole stableford competition was scheduled and nine keen golfers took to the course.
Rosalie Hunt took the honours with 18 points after a chip in on her first hole of the round gave her a good start to the day.
Karen Hunter was runner-up with 16 points.

A countback was required to decide the second round of the Penola Golf Club’s Captain’s Trophy last weekend.
Tony Gleeson managed the better back nine and was awarded the honours over Don Ferguson, who both finished with 38 points.
With the course a touch damp under foot a field of 19 golfers took to the course, with the sun shining and an icy breeze blowing, making scores difficult.
Gleeson’s back nine earned him 19 points while his consistency – with no wipes – helped his score to keep growing.
With his 16 handicap he managed seven pars which helped seal the win – but form like that may well come under the watchful eye of the handicapper.
Ferguson was not as consistent, starting with two double bogeys before paring the next five holes, while a birdie on the ninth from a very thin approach shot also netted him nearest the pin for that hole.
On the back nine Ferguson was a little erratic off the tee but managed to keep scoring with a double being his worse hole.
In third was Greg Hutchesson who was having a good round of 36 points, with his putter doing majority of the work.
AN NTP on the seventh was to be one of his two birdies for the day.
Again he had a bad patch with three doubles in a row, all but knocking him from the running for the win.
Peter Walker cam in next with 35 points, a birdie on the 12th the highlight.
In the B grade John Wilkinson came out the victor with 36 points.
After parring the first wo holes he slowed a little in the wet and double bogeyed the next two before playing to his handicap to finish the nine.
A rough patch in the middle of the back nine casued him a few headaches, but with no wipes he had done enough to stay in front.
The runner-up was David Boyd with 35 points, who had a disastrous start to the day with his first drive being a little left of centre, but on all of his next five holes he scored five points.
An up and down back nine saw two wipes but they were cancelled out by the four pars and the birdie on the 17th.
Horrie Foggo made a welcome retuen with 34 points with Mark Edwards next in with 33.
The other pro shots went to David Murray on the 16th, a rare highlight for his day, and Curt Evans getting the best second on the 11th.
The next competition will be a four-ball-better-ball stableford comp with hopefully a break in the weather. 

Full results here.

Jeremy Briggs has shrugged off drizzly conditions to be the standout performer in the Penola Golf Club’s Rabobank Monthly Medal.
Briggs was impressive considering the less than perfect weather, shooting 77 off the stick for a net 68.
He has been in solid form recently after shooting 72 on the Queen’s Birthday and began the monthly medal in fine form, parring the first six holes before the par threes cost him three shots on the front nine.
However, he continued his good form on the back nine with seven pars for 38 off the stick, hitting six greens in regulation and needing only 27 putts to be in ominous form for the championship in October.
Despite the conditions 27 enthusiastic golfers ventured out for the competition, with George Kidman another top performer.
Kidman played steady golf for net 74, including six pars during his round and showed glimpses of the form that he is capable of given a calm approach.
Don Ferguson finished third with net 76 thanks to only 26 putts, including just 11 on the front nine.
Pete Bullock is quickly turning into the monthly medal specialist after back to back wins following his score of net 70.
Despite a shaky start he still managed 19 stableford points after hitting three pars to make up the early lost shots.
He chimed in with back-to-back pars on the 16th and 17th to come home strongly.
Shane Anderson finished runner-up with net 74 after a solid 42 on the back nine.
He finished with back-to-back pars of his own and showed enough to finish on the scoresheet.
Curt Evans continued his stellar form and a move up to A grade didn’t faze him as he finished third in good company.
He again showed patches of great golf with long drives and solid putting and chipping.
His 26 putts was enough to win the putting competition, thanks largely to chipping out on the second and 10th.
Sam Hill won the C grade, something he has made a habit of, with net 73.
Despite an eight on the first, Hill regathered his composure to keep plugging away.
He managed to sneak in three pars along the way and took home the prize.
David Strother finished runner up with net 76.
He performed best on the greens with only 28 putts, including knocking one in from off the green on the 16th.
Trent Nankivell finished third after scoring net 76 in a steady display.
The nearest the pins were won by David Murray on the seventh and Jock Agnew on the ninth.
Murray added to his prize collection with the best second on the 11th.
The powerful hitters were out for the longest drive with the winners being Jeremy Briggs, Andrew Hutchesson and Sam Hill for their respective grades.
Visitor and one of the sponsor representatives, Neville John, didn’t go home empty handed, winning the chocolates for his efforts.
The club also welcomed Mikey Redman for his first game.

Full results here.