A strong field of 142 players enjoyed perfect conditions recenlty for the annual Northparkes Charity Golf Day. In excess of $26,000 was raised for local charity Can Assist. This event has raised in excess of $110,000 for Can Assist over the last nine years.

The winners were Jarrod Kemp, Justin Ward and Tony Lock with a nett score of 56.83. The best gross score went to Blake Smith, Myles Smith and Blake Parker with a handy 63 off the stick.

Men’s longest drive on the 8th hole went to Brad Scott, Ladies longest drive went to Cathy Kelly, and straightest drive on the 18th went to John Kemp. The 1st hole nearest the pin went to Myles Smith. The 4th hole nearest the pin went to John Dwyer, 6th hole nearest the pin went to Wade McConnell, and 11th money hole was won by Phil Barnard at 5m.

The event sponsors included Northparkes Mines, Westrac, BKT Tyres, Concentis, Epiroc, Telescope Tyres and Batteries, Forefront, Advanced Profile Solutions, SEW Eurodrive, EBRO Valves, Whittaker Contracting, Reliable Conveyors, Castrol, Pirtek, Pybar Mining Services, Parkes Services Club, Schneider Electric, Applied Industrial Technologies, Griffins Leading Edge, Park Engineering, C & R Earthworks, Norbar Torque tools, Inland Distributors, Supagas, Littlewoods Smash Repairs, AC Industries, JG Cobblestones, Toshiba and Auslec Forbes.

By Mike Wood

After play in Forbes last Sunday the Division 3 side of the Parkes Golf Club were the only team guaranteed a spot in this weekend’s semi-finals of the CWDGA Pennants. Parkes secured three semi-final berths from four divisions with Divisions 2 and 4 both earning the wins they needed to gain a spot in the finals.

“Outperforming many of the bigger clubs such as Duntryleague, Mudgee and Bathurst is very pleasing for us,” said Parkes  Golf Club captain, Peter Dixon. In a very tightly contested competition, Parkes topped Pool B in Division 2 after a 5-0 victory over Cowra. Brendan Chambers claimed a comprehensive 4 and 3 victory, and Phil Barnard secured a 2 and 1 victory.

Joe van Opynen continued his unbeaten run to win 2 and 1, and Tim Burke scored a 3 and 1 victory. John Green won his match 4 and 2, and Division 3 topped their pool with a 3-2 win against Bathurst.

With the help of an eagle three on the 15th hole, Todd Jayet remained undefeated with a big 5 and 4 win. Peter Bristol (3 and 2) and Jake Hodge (19th) gained the two wins to claim the tie for Parkes.

In Division 4 Terry Walsh secured one of the biggest wins seen in the CWDGA competition winning nine of the 11 holes he played. Dr Dave Harwood claimed a comprehensive 6 and 5 victory, while captain Jarrod Kemp claimed the vital win 1 up to secure the tie.

Division 1 played their final match of the year against a strong Bathurst team, going down by a narrow 3-2 margin.
Lachlan Buesnell (2 and 1) earned his second victory, Rob Hey (2 and 1) claimed his match, while Denis Howard (3 and 2), Peter Dixon (3 and 2) and Aaron Wilkie (2 and 1) were beaten.

Divisions 2, 3 and 4 will play their semifinals in Dubbo this Sunday. Division 2 will play Mudgee, Division 3 play Wentworth and Division 4 play Wellington.

By Denis Howard

Parkes golfers were out in force last Saturday, wearing pink in support of breast cancer awareness. With the help of Jane McGlashan selling pink cupcakes and raffle tickets, and under the guidance of Leone Stevenson, Parkes golfers raised $1,100. Playing a stableford sponsored by Totally Workwear, Trevor Chatman took out the men’s competition by two points, scoring a blistering 44 points.

Denis Howard and Ron Hetherington were next best with 42 points apiece, followed by Brett Cowling and Charlie Allen who both scored 41 points. Riall Harrison and Wayne Parker both scored 39 points to lead home a group of
players on 38.

In the women’s competition Colleen Flynn and Cathy Kelly claimed top spot comfortably winning by five shots over Kaye Jones and Lynne Guise – 67.25 to 72.25. Next best were Frankie Cock and Margaret Hogan on 76.5, followed by Colleen Staples and Lyn Davison with 78.125.

By Denis Howard

Last Saturday’s Irish team stableford event, sponsored by Paul Thomas and Ken Ryan, was a big hit with 63 players in action. Victor Gaidzionis, Brett Cowling, Rod Kiley and Luke Greenwood made the most of the unique scoring method to claim the win with 100 points. They combined brilliantly, and importantly on the right holes, to win by eight points.

Playing as a team of four, all golfers played out each hole as they would in an individual stableford, but that was where the standard scoring finished. On the first six holes, only the best stableford score of the four players was recorded.

On the next five holes, only the best two stableford scores were recorded. On the next four holes, only the best three
stableford scores were recorded while on the final three holes, all four scores were recorded.

Next best in the competition were Peter Magill, Rob Cheney, Bernard Provan and David Stevenson with 92 points. They were followed by John Green, Mark Kelly, Brian McPhee and Jarrod Kemp on 90. Rod Luyt, John Pearce, Bill Warren and Tom Delmenico finished in fourth position with 86 points.

The last of the voucher winners, also with 86 points, were Ron Hetherington, Trevor Chatman, Wayne Tucker and Lindsay Elliott. Ryan Thornberry won the individual on 40 points. Nearest the pin winners: Chris Goodie – Idlerite-Tyrepower 1st hole -585cm; Ross Smith – Griffins Leading Edge – 230cm; Bernie McCabe – The Dirt Doctor Landscaping 6th hole – 408cm; Robert Cheney – Harvey Norman 11th hole, 90cm (very nearly a hole-in-one, also won the money hole); Peter Magill – Westlime 15th hole – 474cm; Dub Rodgers – Parkes Readymixed Concrete 9th hole – 630cm, and Aaron Wilkie – PJL Group 18th green – 110cm.

By Denis Howard

Forbes golfer John Betland followed in his brother’s footstep and kept the SCT Logistics Parkes Open Golf Tournament crown in the family on Sunday. He survived a three-hole playoff against long-time adversary Robert Payne from Duntry League in the strongest field ever in the tournament’s 43 year history.

After 27 holes of intense golf, Betland and Payne finished on one over par 107 and were forced into a three-hole playoff dominated by Betland. On the first hole both players missed the green and after playing deft chips Betland
calmly sunk his 2.5m putt, while Payne missed from 2m.

On the second hole Betland hit a massive 285m drive, while Payne’s drive missed the fairway to the right. Betland played his third shot to about 5.5m and calmly sank the putt for a birdie 4, while Payne putted for a bogey 6. On the third and final required a miracle and hit a magnificent approach shot finishing some 3.5m from the pin, however Betland wasn’t to be outdone as his approach found the green some 4.5m from the pin.

His birdie putt finished just 30cm from pin and he calmly sank the putt to secure his second SCT Parkes Open Tournament victory after winning in 2011. Betland and Payne said the Parkes Open was one of the premier country tournaments if not the best.

The Parkes Open proved to be one of the closest finishes as six players battled for the honour. After the initial 18 holes defending titleholder Steve Betland opened up a one-shot lead as he turned at 1 under par 70 to lead his brother John by a mere shot. Robert Payne and Justin Sutton of Parkes were one shot back while tournament favourite Mark Hale was a further shot away on 73.

By Paul Thomas

The Parkes Open Golf Tournament will see the strongest field in its 43-year history competing on Sunday. The SCT Logistics 27-hole event has attracted 144 players with 44 of them off handicaps of 8 or less. According to Parkes Golf
Club’s Tournament Director Paul Thomas this has forced officials to change the A grade field from its normal 10 handicap to the lower limit of 8.

The field also includes eight golfers off handicaps of square or better, while over half are off handicaps of 4 and below. The Harvey Norman B grade field will be for players on handicaps of 9 to 15, and the Video Brokers C grade field will be for players on handicaps of 16 to 27.

Three former winners will be playing with titleholder Steve Betland of Forbes, his brother John who plays Pennants out of the strong Moore Park Club in Sydney despite still residing in Forbes, and DuntryLeagues’ multiple winner Robert Payne.

Mudgee golfer Mark Hale will start as favourite slightly ahead of Robert Payne, and the Australian’s James Brownlow with the Betland brothers certain to be in the mix. The local club’s major hopes include reigning club champion Mitch McGlashan and Justin Sutton.

Sydney clubs have again supplied a large quantity of the field and it will be interesting to see how the strong field of visitors handle the undulating and tricky greens. In the minor grades, local players are hoping to gain success with Denis Howard, David Stevenson and junior golfer Lachlan Buesnell the major contenders in the Harvey Norman B grade restricted to players on handicaps of 9 to 15.

By Paul Thomas