MERRIGUM
Merrigum golfers played a stroke round on Saturday for the Privilege Cup and a spot in the next “Tiger Cup” play-off in March.
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It was a pleasant day for golf, but there was only one half decent score returned for the day and that came from veteran Phil Savage.
Phil won the day easily with a score of 90-20-70.
He was four shots ahead of his closest rival on what was a poor day at the office for the rest of the players on Saturday.
The good news is that Phil will have a shot less to play with next time he ventures to his home course.
John Fuller headed the ball competition with a round of 88-14-74 and he was joined by Tony Borrelli who won a countback with James Campbell and Bill Bray after all finished with 75 net.
Nearest-the-pins were won by Bill Bray on the ninth and 14th, while the accurate one John Fuller picked up the jackpot on the 12th.
The chook shed challenge was a tie, so jackpots to this coming week.
James Campbell was in sensational form on Thursday evening for the twilight competition, parring the long course to finish with a score of 38-3-35.
It was the first outing on the long course for the season and James made it look easy.
Bruce Brown was the runner-up with a score of 43-5-38.
Simon Doherty took the jackpot for nearest-the-pin on the ninth, while James Campbell was closest on the 14th.
Almost as outstanding as Jimmy’s par score was Andrew Wood’s phenomenal nine putts for the 10 holes.
He had one chip-in and the rest were one putts, but even that couldn’t get him into the two-point cut which was 39.5.
Saturday’s event is pairs Ambrose, the second round of the summer four-ball.
Sadly, we note the sudden passing of former member John Doherty at the weekend.
John gave as many hours as anyone to Merrigum Golf Club over a great number of years.
For a lengthy period, he watered the course, did much of the mowing and hole shifting, as well as the smaller jobs that he saw needed doing.
He was an indispensable member of our club, not only for his work contribution, but for the good-natured humour he brought with him to the club.
We extend our deepest sympathies to Lorraine, Craig, Michael, Simon, Brad and their families.
VALLEY VIEW
After several weeks of below-par numbers there was a surge in scoring in Saturday’s Stableford event, led by Debonair David Collins who (playing off a handicap of 14) took home the A-grade winner’s trophy with the day’s best score of 40 points.
David finished one shot ahead of Kelly Cheong and Peter Mangan, who both scored 38 points with Kelly, who is in red-hot form at the moment, taking out the countback for runner-up.
Mango had to settle for a ball in the ball comp along with Peter Noble with 38 points and Paul Kuiper with 37.
Paul Dickens backed up his net 69 from the final round of the championships with another 38 points to take out B-grade from Jeff “Cobba” Carnie with 35 points while Geoff Squires (34) and Gavon Armstrong (34) took home balls from the ball comp.
Helen Emery rounded out the excellent scoring with 39 points and a four-shot win in the ladies’ event from Leonie McMaster-Smith with 35 points while Helen Armstrong took the last ball in the ball comp with 34 points.
Julie Neale won the voucher for nearest-the-pin on the 15th while the nearest-the-pin trophies on the third went to Kevin Humbert (A-grade), Alan Curnow (B) and Clare Kerr.
Alan actually went within centimetres of winning a dozen jackpot balls (just outside the 1.5m range from the pin) with his first shot on the way to making a birdie.
While all this was going on, the final of the Isaac Four-Ball Match Play final was being played and in very tight match Tom Kerr and Lawrie Casey took out the title against Pooch McHale and Kevin Bauerle on the first playoff hole.
The club extends its sincerest thanks to the Isaac family and Albion Motors for their long-standing support of this honour board event.
Brendan Cardwell was Tuesday’s winner with 39 points while Pooch took the runners-up trophy with 35 points in a countback from KB as they did their best to tune up for the Isaac final.
Ball winners were KB with his 35 points along with Alan Curnow with 33 and Nobby with 32.
Ladies
While most of us complained about how hard it was to score well last Wednesday, Helen Emery quietly returned a gross score of 89, and we were impressed. This gave Helen a clear win in A-grade with net 73. But it was Anne Hawking in B-grade who returned an even better net score, 98-27-71.
The runners-up were Anne Churches 101-21-80 and Sharon Harrison 98-23-75.
Leonie McMaster-Smith had 117-36-81 in C-grade and was followed closely by the runners-up, Mary Cooke and Gill Thorsen who both had net 82.
Next Wednesday will see the start of our summer golf; tee off time of 8.30.
PARKLAND
Saturdays’ Ambrose was the final game of the current season. The Bendigo Locksmith trophies were well received with local identity Maureen Curling present to represent the company. The Gallivan Family are widely known in the district. Lyn Fraser and daughter Lana McInnes were the winners of the women’s section finishing with 53.5 net. Runner-up was Trudie Plumb and Lyn Berry on 55 net; this was after a countback from Mary Elliott and Bev Howard who were third.
Bob Troy and Max Jenkins who finished square with the card of 54 collected the main with a net 47.5. Runner-up was visiting pair Barry Williams and Tom McConchie on a net 49.75 after a countback from Troy Pearce and Aaron Baker. Fourth were Damien Eade and John Ellis with a net 50.75. Ball winners were Denise Hee/Sue Reid, Bev McLay/Faye Glover, Faye Roberts/Evelyn Cunningham, Gavin Connally/Russell McLay, Noel Bailey/Peter Fraser, Steve Walsh/Chris Harmer and John Thompson /Trevor Price.
Nearest-the-pins went to Max Jenkins on the first, Faye Glover ninth, Peter Fraser 18th. A special presentation was made after the day’s event with golfers of the year announced. Naomi Cartwright won the women’s trophy while John Ellis and Ray Coleman shared the honours for the men. The awards were sponsored by Hurley’s Hotel.
Wednesday golfers were playing for trophies supported by the Clements Family. Ray Coleman won A-grade with 37 stableford points while Lindsay Wickham was runner-up on 34 points. Ray Falla was third with 33 points. Greg Woods won B-grade with 36 points. Runner-up was Mal Baker with 35 points. Harry Wayland was third with 34 points. Kevin Jewell won C-grade with 37 points. Runner-up was Jim Miller on 35 points. Third went to Bob Ferguson on 35 points as well. Ball winners were Andrew Phillips, Ken Risstrom, Les Jones, Max Jenkins, Paul Newman, Ron Pope, Peter Fraser, Brendan Ryan and Paul Price. Nearest-the-pins went to Howard Teasdale first, Harry Wayland ninth for the voucher from Ky Pizza and Pasta, Ron Pope 15th for the voucher from Clive Coventry Funerals and Billy Ryan 18th for the voucher from Kyabram Main Street Butchery. The encouragement award went to Scott Childs.
MEMBERSHIP: Are you looking for a special present for a family member as a Christmas present? Why not consider a membership at Parkland. Enquiries can be made at the club.
BINGO: At long last bingo will get under way tomorrow night with eyes down at 7.30pm. The jackpot will be worth $900 in 55 calls.
Coming events: Saturday men’s and women’s Stableford. Privilege Cup/Magic Goblet. Sunday: Warramunda Charity Golf Day. Men’s and women’s two-person Ambrose event. Rolling start from 8.30am-1.30pm. Please book timeslots outside the clubhouse. Non-members and those without handicaps all welcome. Barbecue from 11am. Tuesday: Women’s stroke. 8.30am-9am Shotgun. Duty: P. Laidlaw, K. Bell, E. Cunningham, L. Bailey. Wednesday: (1st) Men’s stableford. 9.30am-10.
Women
Appreciation and thanks to local hairdresser “Hair@Heart” for the sponsorship of the secret partnered Stableford event, held last Tuesday, November 16 with 41 ladies participating.
Winning the day was the combined score of 67 stableford points played by Sue Reid and her secret partner in Faye Roberts off handicaps of 23 and 26 respectively. Following, and only two points behind were the efforts of Nola Arnold (16) and secret partner Jan Gentle (29) claiming the runners-up title with 65 points.
Ball winners: Di Bruhn/J Todd 62, B McLay/P Reyment 62, I Paynter/C Kelly 59, K Fanning/Di Day 59.
Nearest-the-pin on the first went to Denise Hee while Trudie Plumb with her second shot won nearest on the 15th.
The final of the Roma Fraser Memorial Brooch was also included in the day’s play, and from those eligible it was Faye Roberts with her individual effort of 34 points that gave her the honours in this event.
GOULBURN VALLEY VETERAN GOLFERS’ ASSOCIATION
The Goulburn Valley Veteran Golfers’ Committee has regretfully decided to cancel our last scheduled event for 2021 planned for Valley View Golf Club on November 29.
After an interrupted 2021 program the GVVGA committee has prepared a syllabus for 2022 that will commence at Parklands Golf Club on January 31, 2022 with a 4BBB event and 8.30am assembly.
The Annual General Meeting will be held at the conclusion of play and we invite you to consider nominating for a position on the committee. Nominations may be submitted on the day of the meeting, or you may contact the secretary up to two days prior by text or email.
Your committee is ageing and some long serving members deserve a break.
As you are aware Rich River has withdrawn from our roster but all of our other host clubs have committed to working with us in 2022 and we thank them for their continuing support.
The syllabus and membership cards for 2022 will be available for the normal $20 fee, so arrive early to allow a little extra time for registration.
The COVID-19 pandemic is still with us so all players in 2022 will need to be double vaxxed and abide by all COVID-safe regulations that are relevant at that time.
Have a merry Christmas and we look forward to renewing the friendships and competition in the new year.
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