After the conclusion of the Central West District Golf Association Pennants preliminary rounds last Sunday, crunch time has arrived for Parkes’ top two sides.
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Divisions 1 and 2 face stern semi-final challenges this Sunday at Wellington and Duntryleague respectively.
Division 1 enjoyed a bye last week to finish second in Pool B and will be fresh to take on the highly rated Dubbo side at 9am Sunday.
Dubbo finished top of Pool A and will be a difficult task for a Parkes team only locals gave much of a chance at the start of the season.
Parkes has been led by arguably the form player of the Pennants competition in Matt Egan.
After missing Round 1, Egan has scored convincing victories over the best players in the Central West.
He has defeated Duntryleague’s Robert Payne, who last weekend shot 10 under on his home course, former Parkes Open champion Paul Bright, and Cowra star Michael Haydon.
Egan will be joined in the Division 1 side by an in-form Mitch McGlashan, Allan Jewell, Luke Hodges and Rob Hey.
Hodges has been the surprise packet for Parkes since his return to competition golf.
Hodges and the other likeable left-hander in the side, Allan Jewell, have been in some tough and exciting matches this season.
If Parkes secure a win over Dubbo, they will face the winner of the other semi-final between hot favourites Duntryleague and fellow Orange club Wentworth.
The Division 2 side needed to win on home soil last weekend to qualify for the semi-finals, a feat they achieved in emphatic fashion.
Their 5-0 victory over arch-rivals Duntryleague, the side who knocked them out of semi-final contention last year, saw Parkes not only qualify but claim top spot in the pool.
They take on a Wellington side who will be no pushover on Sunday.
Steve Edmonds continued his great form with another big win last weekend and will hope to repeat that form again in Orange.
Despite a hiccup in Bathurst, Edmonds has scored impressive wins in each of his other outings this season.
Experienced pair Peter Dixon and John Green, along with Edmonds, have been the backbone of the Division 2 team and head into the finals in excellent form.
Parkes won this competition two years ago and are out to gain a measure of revenge after a disappointing last season.
They only suffered one loss during the preliminary rounds this season, in Round 1 when they went down to Bathurst 3-2, ironically at Duntryleague.
The team to contest Sunday’s semi-final at Duntryleague teeing off from 8am includes, Peter Dixon, John Green, Steve Edmonds, Ken Cobcroft and Tom Casey.
Denis Howard has been named as reserve.
In the second semi-final, fellow Lachlan Valley club, Forbes, will play Dubbo.
Anyone interested in supporting the players during the matches can do so with club members urged to give the players their backing. Caddies are most welcome.
