The Parkes Prostate Cancer Group is having an ‘Awareness’ Charity Golf Day on Saturday, 8th October on the renovated course. The day includes a longest drive competition for men and women, nearest the pins and a few other surprises. 

Paul Lewin of Bugman has stepped up to help sponsor the day, as well as the Parkes Services Club. (More about their sponsorship next week.) Funds raised on the day will be used to invite prostate cancer specialists to Parkes meetings and will increase the possibilities to have more Prostate Cancer Nurses in our area.

“The support of ‘Bugman’ is greatly appreciated and goes a long way in promoting our cause,” said Michael Lynch of the Parkes Prostate Cancer Group.

Only a handful of Forbes golfers endured the conditions on the weekend to play their competition games. On Saturday the Men’s comp was changed to an 18-hole Individual Stableford. Division 1 was won by Phil Wells with 31 points. Runner-up was Dave Earl on count back from Neil McMillan after both scored 29 points.

The Division 2 players had the advantage of more handicap to play with. The winner was Nick Ryan with a scorching 42 points. A long way back was runner-up Bede Tooth with 35 points.

The NTP’s went to: 9th – Glen Hooper; 18th – Phil Wells. The 3rd Hole Super Pin went to Nick Ryan. The Ball Sweep went to: Rob Scott (31), Dennis McGroder (30) and Neil McMillan (29).

The Sunday Stableford Medley winner was Walter Bergmann with 30 points. There was no ball sweep. The NTP’s were a mix with nobody hitting the 9th, but Jesse Hamilton grabbing the 18th.

It is the Parkes Open this weekend, and hopefully the weather will not affect it.

At Forbes it is the Golf NSW 2-P Ambrose Medley tomorrow, and a Stableford Medley on Sunday.

By Short Putt

The Saturday Men’s golf Individual Stableford, sponsored by Gunns Traffic Control, had a field of 54 starters in Forbes.

The Div-1 winner was Jack Dobell with 39 points. Runner-up was Kim Herbert with 37 points.

Div-2 was won by a player in good form, Reggie Murray with 40 points, the best of the day. Runner-up was Matt Coles with 39 points.

NTPs: 9th – Matt Coles; 18th – Greg Webb; 3rd Hole Super Pin – Matt Skene with a shot to 2.46m.

The Ball Sweep went to 33 points on count back. 

By Short Putt

In changeable weather the Forbes Golfers had mixed fortunes with good scores recorded in the morning, while afternoon scores were affected by the weather.

On Saturday the golf competition was a 4BBB Stableford Medley, playing for the Bob & Daine Doolin Memorial trophy. A small field of 48 starters braved the forecast conditions, producing a wide range of scores.

The overall winners were the pairing of Jean and Warwick Judge, who scored 45 points. Jean’s handicap was very beneficial for their scoring and allowed her to contribute most of the scores. They faltered on only one hole, scoring a ‘7’ on the 4th but still managed one point.

The runners-up were Scott Kirkman and Doug Churchill with 44 points. They teamed well, sharing the scoring load, but really shone on the back-9 with 24 points. Single-pointers on the 5th and 9th holes held them back from a win.

The NTP’s went to: 9th – Ladies: Carolyn Duncan, Men: Jeff Haley; 18th – Ladies: Nil, Men: Doug Churchill. The 3rd hole super pin went to Allan Rees with a shot to 4.4 metres.

The Ball Sweep went to 40 points, with most pairings scoring under par. The visitors included: Valarie and Wane Turner from Beerwah who were passing through from Queensland.

There was no Sunday Stableford Medley due to the inclement weather.

This weekend the Men’s comp is an 18-hole Individual Stableford, sponsored by Gunns Traffic Control, with a Stableford Medley on Sunday. The Peak Hill Open is listed for Sunday, 28th August but not confirmed.

By Short Putt

Allan Rees displayed a masterful management of handicap scoring to over-power the course and blitz the field of 62 players in Saturday’s Men’s Individual Par in Forbes. 

Playing in Div-2, Allan was +5 at the turn, but a couple of missed putts dropped him back to +4 at the finish. Runner-up was Jacob Reid with +2 and the second best score of the day. 

Div-1 was a tight contest with the better scores coming from the morning players. Rob Hey (Parkes) was the winner on count back from Rob Webb after both finished on +1. They had mirror-image scores on the front and back 9s. 

A total of 73 Forbes golfers used a beautiful winter’s day on Saturday to score well in the 4BBB Stableford Medley with Richard Smith and Reggie Murray the overall winners. 

They combined experience and youth to score 48 points, comprised mainly of 3-pointers. Their 25 points on the back-9 was the best of any pairing. 

The runners-up were Heather Davidson and Ev Uphill who were very pleased with their 44 points. They also had a good back- 9 scoring 22 points. 

The NTP’s went to: 9th – men: C Hanrahan, women: S Crosby; 18th – men: H Callaghan, women: S Crosby. The 3rd hole super pin went to Peter Dawson with a wide shot to 5.7m distant. 

The ball sweep went to 40 points on count back. Visitors included: Lee Grierson (Wollongong), Chris Smith (The Australian), John Adam (Macquarie Links), Walter Bergmann, Ross Nattrass and Aaron Whittingham (Antill Park GC). 

The winner of the Sunday Stableford Medley was Henry Nash with 39 points, ahead of runner-up Josh Coulthurst on 33 points. There were no NTP’s, enabling the ball sweep to go to: 31 – S Betland; 30 – S Nash, L Grierson and J Cripps. 

This weekend the men play an 18-hole par event, while the women play a par event for the ‘Fran Smith Memorial Trophy’. 

The course will be closed for social play on Sunday for the women’s ‘Xmas in July’ event. Take note of the following programme changes: Callaghan 4-Ball Ambrose on 4 Sep, Roylances Cup 10 Sep, VW Scramble on 25 Sep, NSW Vets Regional Event on 17/18 Oct, Forbes Nissan Classic on 19/20 November. 

By Short Putt 

Last weekend’s golf rained out, so here is what happened at the Parkes Golf Club the previous weekend:

The April Telescope Tyres & Batteries/Hankook Masters Monthly Medal was contested with a field of 94 players.

In A grade, Myles Smith came out and hit a great round of 75 off the stick beating home Jack Elliott on 78 and 3 others on 79, Phil Bishop, Anthony Riach and John Green. The club pro Jake O’Brien also recorded a 78 on the day. Myles clearly benefited from the excellent striking and also took out the nett event with a 68, but only getting in by a stroke to Phil Bishop and Rob Rea. Myles had a highlight on the 7th hole the par 5, known as Sheedies, when he recorded a rare eagle.

In B grade Jarrod Kemp produced a solid 84 off the stick to take out the scratch award leading home Rod Kiley and Peter Amor both shooting 85s on the day. In the nett event veteran Richard Hamilton, who hadn’t had many rounds of late, found the break the right ingredient to record a 69 with Jarrod also shooting the same score and unfortunately losing the double on a countback. Peter Amor was one stroke in arrears.

In the C grade it was another in the veteran class in Ross Smith nailing the scratch with an excellent 87 beating home Ken Keith by a stroke with Ryan Edwards back on 90. Ryan reversed the order in the nett to record the day’s best score of 66, and in so doing taking a stroke off his handicap, beating Ross home by 2 strokes.

In the Wally Norman medal Phil Bishop’s 69 was the winning nett score. In the Griffins Leading Edge Putting competition Ross Smith dined out yet again with his 25 putt round being the best of the day.

The memorial trophy day for Terry Sheridan and Charlie Allen held on Saturday had 89 players contest the sought-after trophy in a Stableford format at the Parkes Golf Club.

The winner was Matthew Littlewood with a tidy score of 42 points. He achieved this off his daily handicap of 21 but will be 2 shots lighter on his next outing. Craig Matthews, who recently joined the club, was next in with a 40-point haul, but had to win that on a countback from Aaron Huppatz.

Four players had 39 points: Aaron Drabsch, Mark Kelly, Jake Hodge and Josh Cheney. Anthony Scott from Canowindra had 43 points and won a ProKonnect voucher.

In the women’s event the winner was Lynn Dvison with a 32 point haul and defeated Sue Holman on 30 points.

The Nearest the Pins this week were – Idlerite Tyrepower 1st by Phil Bishop at 323cm, the Griffins Leading Edge 4th by Josh Cheney at 178cm, the Dirt Doctor Landscaping 6th Aaron Huppatz at 68cm, the Parkes Ready Mixed Concrete 9th by Peter Bristol at 176cm, the Harvey Norman 11th by Joe Davies at 100cm, the Westlime 15th by Denis Howard at 5cm and the Central West Glass 18th Peter Boschman at 185cm. The lucrative 6th hole was won by Aaron Huppatz at 68cm this week.

Ball winners: Aaron Huppatz 40, Mark Kelly, Jake Hodge, Aaron Drabsch, Josh Cheney 39, Warren Blatch, Garry Paddison 38, Nym Dziuba, Paul Thomas, Jarrod Kemp, Tom Delmenico, John Green 37.

By Peter Brist