Saturday’s Men’s comp was the 18-hole Monthly Medal. There were 61 players in the field, which was quite good when we consider the last weekend of the school holidays, the attention of Grand Finals football, and the many events occurring around the town.

It was apt that the sponsors were Robb’s Jewellers, as there was many a bright crystal among the course conditions and the scoring. The winner of the A Grade Monthly Medal (22 players) was Peter ‘Ecky’ Dawson with a Nett score of 68. To produce his par round, Ecky’s shot 2-under for the front 9 and 2-over for the back 9. A bogey-bogey start to the back 9 put the pressure on him but he recovered well. This was surely a practice round with Ecky’s eye on the Championships commencing next week.

Rob Webb did very well, shooting a balanced 41 for both 9’s to finish Runner-up on nett 70, by count back. Rob was cruising on the front nine, then really whooped up with an eagle on the 6th. In B Grade (23), Cameron McMillan played steady golf to finish with a nett 70. His score on the 11th was a little untidy, but for the other 17 holes he was always around his handicap.

Runner-up was William Gordon (71 nett) who also was tidy, matching Cameron hole by hole except on the 4th and 13th, where he was a little astray. These two Junior players are really demonstrating the high calibre and depth of our Junior members. The C Grade (16) Monthly Medal very clearly showed that you do not need to be long to be a winner.

Frank Hanns took the honours with a carefully constructed nett 70, finishing one shot better than Runner-up Craig Myers. They played at opposite ends of the day, indicating that the conditions were very fair throughout. Craig found it better to score well by playing the fairway beside where he should have been. He met many players that way, but did not see much of his playing group.

The ball sweep went to 72 on count back and was shared by those above plus: 70 – D Bayley, 71 – S Grallelis, Andrew Drane, N McMillan, R Nixon, B Shine, 72 – A Rees, A McDonald, I Bown. Well done guys. Nearest the pins were: 9th – Anthony Gordon; 18th – Ron Morris. Anthony got his ‘2’ but Ronnie missed out. There were five 2’s scored all day, with the 9th hole being most prolific.

Jack Clarke needed his ‘2’ to try to stem the flow of lost holes for the “Keno Stakes”. He hoped his ‘2’ would pressure his opponent to miss his, but Stevie G held his nerve to get his and keep the foot hard down on the Keno stakes. There was some consistent play by many players. One consistency stands out markedly – 5’s on every hole on the back-9. Brian Everest achieved this feat, thankful that he had a good front-9 to make his card look respectable. The worst of it was 3-putt on the last hole to complete the set. Sunday’s play was an 18-hole Stableford
Medley. It was a small but lively field, with many players ‘absent on Grand Final duties’. However it was a good mix of men, ladies and visitors.

The winner was Jill Cripps with 39 points, just ahead of Rob Lea on 38 points. Unfortunately the scores took a dive from there, despite the good playing conditions. The ball sweep went to 33 and included Jill, Rob, and Mitchell Andrews (33) on count back. No 2’s were recorded, so the NTP’s are pretty lonely – 9Th: J Cripps; 18th: F Smith. This was a good day for the Ladies.

On Monday 5 October, which was a public holiday, there was also a Stableford Medley. There were 21 players who obviously wanted some fresh air after the Grand Final television watching blitz. The Duncan family must have been really happy with the AFL result, because they all were in good spirits, although Essendon did not play.

The winner was Biana Duncan, with 47 points, and ahead of Niel Duncan on 45 points. Briana was quite tidy on the front-9 but scored better on the back-9 despite having a ‘wipe’ on one hole. Scoring ‘4 pointers’ on the 10th, 14th and
16th holes really did the job and it was good golf all around.

The NTPs went to – 9th: N Duncan, 18th: E Hush. Niel got his ‘2’ but sadly Eileen missed out. Other 2’s, were scored on the 9th by J Cripps and the 1st by N Duncan, who luckily avoided the ‘A par on the 1st hole leads to a bad round’ rule. On Thursday 1 October, the Vets played a 12-hole event at Forbes in delightful conditions. Encouraging numbers of 32 players participated, with 19 from Forbes, and 13 from Parkes.

The winner was Milton Cartwright (F), with 27 points, a little lower than the conditions may have seemed likely. Runner-up on 26, by count back, was Dave Williams (F). The Bradman Award went to Allen Affleck (P) who just did not seem to get any rhythm going. He did manage more than one point per hole, just. The NTP’s went to – 9th A Grade: P Bishop, B Grade: T Edols; 18th A Grade: B Toole, B Grade L Byrne.

The Mick Miller Shield emphasised that when Forbes turn it on, they really turn it on. The field was fairly even, but it was an emphatic result for Forbes, with 151 points to Parkes 133. That was a real treat for the Forbes boys who have faltered over recent weeks. There are some very important AGM’s coming up. The Mens Committee AGM is scheduled for Thursday 15 October, at the Forbes Sportman’s Hotel. The following week, the FGA AGM is to be held on 21 October, also at the Sportsman’s Hotel.

Saturday’s game was a 4-person Ambrose. In all 72 players took to the course in 19 groups. Not all groups had the full complement of players, but all were encouraged by the sponsor Alby Callaghan to play with lusty strokes and much gusto. The winners were the group of Ron Hurst, Shirley Redfern, Fleur Wells and Phil Wells, returning a score of 56.8 nett (rounding to the nearest decimal point, not the multiple decimal points that some tried to use).

Three birdies (one on the notorious 7th hole) and three bogeys gave a level par score, but their handicap really helped. For the record, a group comprising some of the ‘battlecruisers’ of the membership enjoyed the conditions so much that they knocked 10 shots off par. Yes, their 62 scratch was made up of 10 birdies and no bogeys. A run of five birdies to finish the front-9 helped. And who were they? Daniel Bayley, Peter Dawson, Kim Herbert, Michael Wood are the battlecruisers, leaving the label of battleships to the Betland boys.

The ball sweep went to 58.8 nett and was shared by the winners and: 57.6 – T Morgan, J Morgan, S French, A McDonald; 58.5 – P Dawson, D Bayley, K Herbert, M Wood; 58.7 – J Haley, R Taylor, B Monaghan, L Byrne; 58.8 –
S Garvey, T Griffiths, L Godden, B Carpenter. Some very close results through all that.

Nearest the pins went to: 9th – Randall Grayson; 18th – Peter Dawson. The 2’s story is interesting. There were 7 scored overall, but one group got three 2’s, missing out on the 1st hole. Guess who that group was! Good to see the Forbes Roving Golf Ambassador, namely ‘Digit’ McAuliffe, who came from Nelson Bay GC via Thailand, playing on
the weekend. It is always good to see Digit playing here, as he maintains his Forbes ‘roots’ and supports us very well.
Sunday’s Stableford Medley was also well supported with a field of 20. The scores matched the conditions – really good all round.

The winner was Cameron McMillan with 40 points, showing the results of some very intensive practice sessions. Runner-up was Ron Morris with 39 points, who missed a good chance for a win courtesy of a ‘7’ on the 15th.
The ball sweep went to 38 points and included: Cameron and Ron plus 38 – Neil McMillan, Peter Grayson and Ray Taylor. The NTP’s were: 9th – N McMillan, and 18th – B Monaghan, of whom Neil got his ‘2’. Other 2’s went to Briana Duncan (9th) and Neil Duncan (3rd).

Through last week, the Vets had a ‘Week of Golf’ at Parkes, which comprised 54 holes at Parkes and a lay-day played at Forbes. Vets players came from as far afield as Hervey Bay (Qld), making up a field of 55 overall. A good contingent of Forbes players tried their best. Some basic results are: 54-holes: A-grade Scratch to G Brambly
(Hervey Bay) 104. 54 holes: B-grade Scratch to Rod Luyt (Parkes) 120. 36-hole Stableford: A-grade to Barry Shine
(Forbes) 69 points. 36-hole Stableford: B-grade to Rob Lea (Parkes) 64 points. There were 18-hole events run on the Mon, Tue and Thu. The best Forbes effort came from Ted Morgan, with 39 points in Tuesday’s event.

The Lay-day at Forbes, attended by 34 players, was a Medley event. Milton Cartwright, playing alongside two ladies, pulled a winning score of 41 points. In 3rd place was another Forbes player, Fleur Wells with 38 points. This week the Vets are playing a 12-hole event at Forbes. The usual 12:30 pm assembly for a 1:00 pm start. The weather promises to be extra nice so get out there and enjoy it.

Some news items for you: All players are encouraged to wear an item of pink clothing on Saturday 10 October.
This is to register support for Cancer Research and the good work that local support groups, like Can-Assist, provide to cancer sufferers. You can wear a pink hat, or pink socks, or a complete Pink ensemble, but please get into the spirit of it. And I am pleased to announce the result of the Mixed Foursomes event. You may remember that when this was played the Scratch result was a tie, and thus a play-off was needed. With four players all having different commitments it was hard to get them back together to ‘finish the job’.

On Monday 28 Sep Andrew Dukes and Sally Crosby battled it out against Jeff Haley and Ethel Coombs, over 18 holes. At the end of the day the victors were Andrew and Sally with a Scratch score of 76. Unfortunately it was not a good day for Jeff and Ethel who had quite a few problems in their round. A couple
of shots into the water on the 4th helped their score creep up to over 90.

Thus, for the 2015 Mixed Foursomes, A Dukes/S Crosby are the Scratch winners, and J Haley/E Coombs are the Handicap winners. What a marathon.

Good Field at Golf
The format on Saturday was a 4BBB Stableford Medley, sponsored by Cahill’s Footwear. There were 67 in the field, making up 34 pairings. The winners were the pairing of Craig Barrett and Peter Grayson. They did team well,
scoring a number of 3-pointers and a 4-pointer to more than cover the three misses they had.

Runners up on count back were the Woods, father and son, with 46 points. They showed brilliance with birdies on the 7th and 15th holes, and managed no less than 2-points on every hole. The ball sweep went to 43 points and was
shared by those above and: 46 – A Callaghan/ Chandler, 45 – Rhodes/Finn, Baker/F Smith, Newport/Drane 43- J Cripps/Taylor, Edols/Cartwright, Morris/Kirkman.

Nearest the pins went to: 9th – B Chandler; 18th – R Taylor, but neither got their ‘2’. Across the whole field there were only two 2’s scored, and both on the 9th. They went to the Callaghan/Chandler and L Godden/ Carpenter pairings.

Sunday’s Stableford Medley was well supported with a field of 27. The winner was Jordan Brett with 43 points,
and showing a desire to put an early tan on his legs. Runner-up was Peter Dawson with 42 points, on count back from Rob Webb and Michael Wood Jnr. The ball sweep went to 36 points and included:
42 – Rob Webb, Michael Wood Jnr,
38 – Kevin Vale, 37 – Ray Taylor, 36 – Ethel Coombs, Scott Kirkman, Shane Sallaway.

Don’t forget the “Golf Open Day” on Sep 27. Players are encouraged to come along and help any visitors, and also to encourage anybody they know who may be interested to come along and have ago. The fun starts at 10am.

Successful Junior Golf Camp
During this week Daniel Newton, Head Professional at Forbes GC, has been running a Juniors Camp. The main group attended on Monday and Tuesday, while a session for newer golfers was run on Thursday.

There were 21 Juniors registered on the Mon/Tue camp. Monday had a series of coaching classes, then the Juniors were assigned into groups to play a 7-hole Ambrose event. The results for that were:

Division 1 – Will Gordon/ Harry Leadbitter with 30 shots.
Division 2 – Matty Duke/Jack Nadin/Fred Stuckey with 35 shots.

Tuesday had more coaching sessions for the newer starters, and the “Juniors-on-the- Move” 9-hole and 6-hole events. The results for those events are:
9-Hole Division 1 winner: Brianna Duncan.
9-Hole Division 2 Winner: Gus Hooper.
6-hole Handicap Winner: Alec Mclean.

Despite a cold wind the juniors really showed enthusiasm throughout the coaching sessions and their play.

After two delays because of bad weather, the Mens Foursomes Championship was finally held over two days last weekend. Saturday played the first round with a field comprising 40 players in 20 teams. The first round Scratch leaders were Steve Betland and Mark Collits, who finished the day with a par 72 round. Close on their heels were Andrew Dukes and Shane Sallaway, 7 shots adrift.

The first round Handicap leaders were Betland/Collits with a nett 70. Not far behind them was Craig Barrett and Allan Rees on nett 72. The ball sweep went to 73 and was shared by those above and: 72.5 – B Squires/P Kay,
R Morris/S Kirkman, 73 – B Carpenter/B Shine.

Nearest the pins went to: 9th – A Dukes; 18th – M Collits, of whom only Mark got his ‘2’. In fact, there were only two 2’s scored all day, with Morris/Kirkman bagging one on the 3rd. On Day Two, Dukes/Sallaway got off to a flyer with a 1-under 35 for the first nine.

They lost shots on the 13th and the 15th but still returned with a Scratch 76. Runnerup for the second round were Betland/Collits, with a somewhat untidy 78. The Day Two Handicap winners were Morris/Kirkman. They improved their scratch score by five shots from the previous day and finished with a 67 ½ nett. Behind them was the pairing of Bown/Newport, finishing with 71 nett. The ball sweep went to 72, and were distributed by: those above plus P Dawson/R Taylor. The NTP’s went to: 9th – P Barnes; 18th – M Spice. No-one scored 2’s that day.

The Results for the Overall Championship
are:
Scratch Winners – Steve Betland/ Mark Collits 150.
Scratch Runners-up – Andrew Dukes/Shane Sallaway 155.
Handicap Winners – Scott Kirkman/ R Morris 140.
Handicap Runners-up – Ian Bown/ Graham Newport 146, on count back.

The Sunday Stableford Medley was available for those men and ladies who were not involved in any of the Championship events. The winner was Milton Cartwright with 40 points, and showing a welcome return to good form. Runner-up was Tom Edols with a tidy 36 points. They both enjoyed the splendid conditions.