The Men’s Individual Stableford on Saturday, sponsored by a franchise of Grayson, Earl, French and Haley was contested by a smaller field of 50 players but did not lack in hot scoring.

In the A-Division, Phil Duke and Laurie O’Connor both finished on 40 points, with Phil Duke declared the winner on count back. The B-Division was hotter still, with Bede Tooth producing a scorching 46 points and well ahead of runner-up Steve Grallelis on 42.

The ball sweep went to 37 points on count back, going to: 46 – B Tooth; 42 – S Grallelis; 40 – P Duke, L O’Connor, F Donohoe; 39 – A Rees, D Rhodes, T Callaghan; 38 – D Bernardi, B Parker and 37 – R Smith, B Carpenter.

The NTP’s went to: 9th – P Kay; 18th – B Carpenter, where only Bruce converted for a ‘2’. We extend a warm welcome to a new arrival in Forbes, Royce Rutland. He enjoyed his golf but still could not finish without a ‘miss’.

Bob Borger played the shot of the day. His drive on the 11th was so low that it hit the Ladies tee marker in front of him, bounced skywards and only just made the mown fairway.

In Sunday’s Stableford Medley, a small group battled for the honours. The winner was Robert Hey (Parkes) with 40 points, closely followed by Greg Webb on 39 points. The NTP’s went to: 9th – R Hey; 18th – nil. Alas, not a ‘2’ in sight.

Forbes golfer, Digit McAulliffe competed in the NSW Senior Open, held at Thurgoona Club, in Albury. His day 1 score of 76 was quite competitive but his day 2 was ten shots worse, where his 86 dropped him back in the field.

Forbes welcomes its new Golf Pro, Ben Gear, due to start on 26th November. He shall be here to ‘meet and greet’ players during the Nissan Classic.

By Short Putt

The October Monthly Medal, sponsored by Forbes Concrete, was played on Saturday, 6th October with the field of 77 relishing the chance to earn themselves a medal.

The A-Grade winner was Shane Sallaway, with a fine 68 nett. He turned in 38 and then produced a blistering 34 on the back-9 to ensure a great score. Runner-up was Andy Dukes with a nett 70. He too had 38 on the front-9 but then his concentration faltered on the back-9.

The B-Grade winner was Stephen Uphill with a nett 70. His front-9 was ‘easy as’ but the back-9 was a stumble. Mark Watts finished runner-up with a tidy 72 nett. The C-Grader’s saw a tight battle separated by count back. Bruce Chandler managed a nett 73 after a scattered scoring start, and got the nod ahead of Frank Hanns.

The ball sweep went to 75 nett on count back, going to: 68 – S Sallaway; 70 – A Dukes, S Uphill; 72 – M Watts; 73 – P Owen, B Chandler, T Morgan, G Pymont, F Hanns; 74 – B Ashton, D McAuliffe, K Herbert, D Bayley, B Parker, J Coulthurst, P Kay; 75 – M Collits, I Bown, T Griffiths, G Webb and E Gaffney. The NTP’s went to: 9th – D Bayley; 18th – S Sallaway.

The visitors participating included Lee Grierson, John Boyle (Tathra Beach), Peter Owen and David Carmody (both Maroochy River). They enjoyed their time here.

Once again there were ‘if only’ moments. If only Brad Ashton had not scored a triple- bogey, or Lee Grierson had not had a mixed scoring game they may have been winners.

The Stableford Medley on Sunday, 7th October had a good field, with Ray Taylor the winner on 40 points. Runner-up was Julie Hurkett with 39 points.

There was no ball sweep. The NTP’s went to: 9th – Jill Cripps, and 18th – Richard Smith.

The Wallace Cup has reached the semis with matches being: Ash Tucker vs Neil Mc- Millan and Stephen Uphill vs Niel Duncan. The Men’s Club Championships began last weekend and will be played over two weekends combining four rounds of play. On Saturday, 20th and Sunday, 21st October the club champs continue. Players are reminded that there will be a seeded draw for the top eight in each grade for Sunday’s play.

There are daily prizes (sponsored by Pool Magic) and the big prize at the end (sponsored by Lachlan Commodities), so do not despair if your first game is a shocker.

Players are advised that the course will revert to the local ‘Play the Lie’ rule. The course condition has improved sufficiently to allow a return to our normal local rule.

By Short Putt

Saturday’s competition was a 4BBB Stableford Medley event, sponsored by Cahill’s Footwear. The field of 84 players were keen to master the blustery conditions to earn a prize.

Three pairs finished on 49 points, with a count back sorting them out. The winners were Greg Webb and Brian Doyle, and runners-up were Alf Davies and Laurie O’Connor. The unlucky pair to miss out were Sarah Black and Louise French.

The ball sweep went to 46 points, going to: 49 – G Webb/B Doyle, A Davies/L O’Connor, S Black/L French; 48 – D Earl/B Tooth, P Pymont/F Donohoe, J Carpenter/V Lane; 47 – P Maher/M Spice, G Drane/R Pluis; 46 – S Sallaway/D Churchill, L Little/M Westwood, B Hodges/S French.

The NTP’s went to: Ladies 9th – J Hurkett; 18th – E Coombs, Men 9th – J Carpenter; 18th – P Duke. The visitors included Stuart Hayes (Murrumbidgee), Kevin Robinson (Buninyong), Ray Pluis (Wagga Wagga), John Doyle (Tathra Beach) and Gerry Shelly (Bacchus Marsh).

Sunday had bright sunshine and a chill in the air, but once again a good band of players enjoyed the conditions.

The winner was Ron Morris, with 39 points. Runner-up was Brett Thomas with 37 points. There was no ball sweep. The NTP’s went to: 9th – Stuart French; 18th – Barb Drabsch. No 2’s by anybody. At the Parkes Open the pairing of Steve and John Betland were one of four pairs that finished at 2-under in the 4BBB on Saturday, but they missed out on count back.

The Open, played over 27-holes on Sunday had a full field of over 140 players. The winner was P Kirwin (Cowra) who finished 1-under after 27 holes. Runner-up was J Cowan from Orange on 2-over. Third was Steve Betland on 3-over, with John Betland finishing 4th on 5-over. Another Forbes golfer among the prizes was Cam McMillan who picked up an A-grade Handicap prize. Well done guys.

By Short Putt

On Saturday, 53 players contested an Individual Stableford event, sponsored by Marg Hurst in memory of her dear, Ron Hurst.

The A-division winner was Tony Cogswell, with 42 points. Runner-up was Doug Churchill with a good 39 points. In the Bdivision, Peter Tisdell won with a score of 43 points. Runner-up was Bob Borger with his 42 points.

The ball sweep went to 37 points on count back, going to: 43 – P Tisdell; 42 – T Cogswell, R Borger; 40 – G Webb, M Watts; 39 – D Churchill, R Morris; 38 – P Kay, G Collits and 37 – P Cowhan, R Nixon, L Little, P Grayson.

The NTP’s went to: 9th – P Pymont; 18th – M Watts.

The best story of the day goes to Tony Cogswell’s ‘2’, scored on the 10th hole. His tee shot was slightly left, from where he drew his second around the trees. The ball flew as he had hoped, landed, rolled and disappeared into the hole. His jubilation was shared by all in his group.

Sunday was a beautiful Spring day, which was enjoyed by a small but energetic field in the Stableford Medley. No doubt the show had tired a few regulars out.

The winner was Bruce Carpenter, with 33 points. He nudged in ahead of Rod Besgrove on count back. There was no ball sweep.

The NTP’s went to: 9th – Bess Shields; 18th – Rod Besgrove. An enjoyable day was had by Kevin Rivett, a visitor from Portland GC. He was in the mix with the front-runners but unfortunately missed out on count back.

By Short Putt

The September Monthly Medal, sponsored by McFeeter’s Motor Museum, was played on Saturday with the field of 68 returning some variable scores.

Barry Shine won the A-Grade with 72 nett, on count back from Alf Davies. Both were consistent scorers but the handicap helped Barry.

The B-Grade saw Garry Collits defend his title from last month, proving that a good holiday lasts a long time. His 69 nett was a good margin ahead of runner-up Scott Kirkman on 73 nett.

James Morgan blitzed the C-Graders with his 62 nett, but unfortunately for him the medal went to Don Ridley with 68 nett.

James still gets his prize though.

The ball sweep went to 75 nett on count back, going to: 62 – J Morgan; 68 – D Ridley; 69 – G Collits; 71 – B Squires; 72 – B Shine, A Davies, R Besgrove; 73 – S Kirkman, M Cartwright, R Taylor, B Doyle; 74 – S Sallaway, D Bernardi, S Grallelis, A Borger and 75 – J Zannes, R Morris, D Churchill.

The NTP’s went to: 9th – J Morgan; 18th – S Kirkman. Scott scored the only ‘2’ of the day. Danny Acret was the lone visitor, enjoying the company of old friends if not the weather.

With the greens under renovation it seemed that 3-putts were the norm as well as challenging. The ‘borrow’ was sometimes difficult to determine and putts bobbled hither and tither. But the greens were generally receptive to high approach shots. ‘At Card Draw for the Day’s Comp’ went to Paul Kay.

By Short Putt

Saturday saw the playing of the American Foursomes, sponsored by Milton Cartwright, and which there is usually much amusement. Many of the 24 pairings were intent on producing some very good scores.

The winning pair comprised of Simon Houston and Shane Sallaway, who returned a score of 69 5/8 nett, on the back of the best stroke score of 70. This was Simon’s last game as the Forbes head professional, and he was very pleased to finish as a winner. Simon and Shane scored three birdies on the front-9 to turn in 33, and then finished with a 37 on the back-9.

Runners-up were Dan Bayley/Kim Herbert on a nett 71, scratch 77, with their handicap very nearly got them home, but in the end it was a case of too many bogeys.

The ball sweep went to 72 ¼, going to: S Houston/S Sallaway, D Bayley/K Herbert, P Dawson/B Thomas, R Borger/ P Barnes and B Carpenter/ F Hanns. The NTP’s went to: 9th – A Grierson and 18th – P Dawson.

While the recently scarified greens ensured the pins were vulnerable to good chips, the vagaries of scared lines and grass tufts played havoc with many short putts.

The pair of Peter Barnes and Bob Borger used a beautiful tee shot on the 1st which had easily found the green, but then they four putted. If it was not the putts that caused problems it was the dry creek bed that found players in difficult positions.

By Short Put

Over the weekend, the third staging of the Sand Grass Greens Championships was held at Grenfell and Forbes courses. The event, managed by GolfNSW and sponsored by Forbes Shire Council, was attended by over 70 players, travelling from 16 clubs across regional and city NSW.

The first round was played at Grenfell on Saturday. A brief shower of rain did not help the putting on the sand greens but conditions improved as did the scores.

The Round 1 Men’s Handicap winner, on count back, was Ash Whitechurch (Grenfell) with 38 points. The Ladies Handicap winner was Sally Mitton (Grenfell) with 35 points and also a winner in count back. The NTP’s went to: 9th –Men – A McDonald (F), Ladies – nil; 18th –Men – Z Kelly (Parkes) and L McCutcheon (Trangie).

On Sunday, the players were at Forbes playing on grass greens. The Round 2 Men’s Handicap winner, on count back, was Geoff Read (The Ridge) with 36 points.

The Ladies Handicap winner was Chantelle Greaves (Dunedoo) with 39 points.

The NTP’s went to: 9th –Men – B Shine (F), Ladies – J Fletcher (F); 18th –Men – Gerry Bassingthwaite (Cootamundra), Ladies – V Forsyth (G).

The 36-hole event prize winners were:

Men

• 36-hole Scratch winner: M Hale (Mudgee) 67 points.

• 36-hole Scratch runner-up: G Harding (Young) 51 points.

• 36-hole Nett winner: B Hughes (Grenfell) 65 points.

• 36-hole Nett runner-up: I Bown (Forbes) 64 on c/b.

Ladies

• 36-hole Scratch winner: C Greaves (Dunedoo) 52 points.

• 36-hole Scratch runner-up: L Harding (Young) 43 points.

• 36-hole Nett winner: K Solberg (Dunedoo) 71 pts.

• 36-hole Nett runner-up: V Forsyth (Grenfell) 66 pts.

There were also prizes for a team event, where the prizes were $500 from GolfNSW to go towards junior promotion programmes at the club. The winners were:

• 1st: Grenfell (V Forsyth, B Hughes, C Johnson, A Whitechurch).

• 2nd: Forbes (S Grallelis, I Bown, A Rees, G Drane).

• 3rd: Cootamundra (G Bassingthwaite, G Byrne, G Ward).

By Short Putt

Saturday was the Monthly Medal, sponsored by Bernardis Marketplace, and contested by a field of 56 players.

The A-Grade winner and medallist was Paul Pymont with a nett 70. Runner-up was Andrew Dukes, who after being 3-over after 15 holes, had a few bogeys to finish with nett 72.

The B-Grade winner of the voucher was a visitor from St Georges Basin, Brian Druett, who scored 68 nett. Runner-up and winner of the Monthly Medal, was Garry Collits with 70 nett.

The C-Graders were led by Geoffrey Drane with a 70 nett followed close behind by Rod Besgrove on 71 nett.

The ball sweep went to 73 nett on count back, going to: 68 – G Druett; 70 – G Collits, P Pymont, G Drane, S Uphill; 71 – R Besgrove, B Thomas, R Webb; 72 – A Dukes; 73 – A Borger, B Tooth, P Kay, A Alley, N McMillan, B Carpenter. The NTP’s went to: 9th – Brian Everest; 18th – G Newport.

We welcomed a group of golfers from St George’s Basin. Some of them joined the comp while others played socially but they all enjoyed themselves.

Play on Sunday was the LVDGA Mens Keno 4BBB, with 46 players covering representation from Forbes, Parkes, Grenfell and West Wyalong clubs. There was no Stableford Medley.

The winners of the Handicap event and heading to the State final at Bonville were the pairing of Richard Nixon and Niel Duncan.

They finished with +8. Andrew Dukes and Michael Spice were runners-up on +7, ahead of Ralph Baker and Steve Grallelis on count back.

The Scratch event was dominated by Parkes players with Mitch McGlashan and Zac Kelly coming first on +4 and Myles and Blake Smith runners-up on -2.

By Short Putt

Saturday was the inaugural competition for the Kristie Carpenter Perpetual Trophy, an Individual Stableford Medley for handicapped and social players, and sponsored by Terry Griffiths and Veronica Rebellato.

The overall winner was Mark Collits, decided by count back from four players who all finished on 40 points. In presenting the trophy, Veronica was full of excitement by Mark’s win, making reference to his and Kristie’s close friendship over many years.

Prizes were awarded for the men (presented in two divisions), the ladies and for social players:

• Mens Division 1 winner: Mark Collits 40 pts

• Mens Division 1 runner-up: John Betland 40 pts

• Mens Division 2 winner: Geoff Drane 40 pts

• Mens Division 2 runner-up: Brett Slack- Smith 38 pts

• Ladies winner: Jenny Hubbard 40 pts

• Ladies runner-up: Bess Shields 38 pts

• Social winner: Geoff Tilley 30 pts

• Social runner-up: Veronica Rebellato 27 pts

• The ball sweep went to 37 points on count back, going to: 40 – M Collis, G Drane, J Betland, J Hubbard; 39 – B Carpenter, A Dukes, M Haley; 38 – T Griffiths, B Shields, B Doyle, M Cartwright, J Carpenter, B Slack-Smith, A Callaghan and 37 – S Grallelis, R Nixon, B Drabsch, I Bown.

• The NTP’s went to: 9th – Ladies: J Hubbard, Men: B Carpenter and 18th – Ladies: B Drabsch, Men: P Dawson.

Scoring overall was pretty good with some eagles and many birdies being marked on the cards. Terry Griffiths had the best 9-hole Stableford with 25 points on the back-9. John Betland recorded the best scratch score, a 5-under par 67, shooting 32 on the front-9.

By Short Putt