Club gears up for event of the year, Parkes Open

A great day for golf as our Saturday ritual rolled in again. The course is magnificent shape as the greenkeeping boys add the finishing touches before the Parkes Open next weekend. The greens are quickening up and showing their character thus keeping the golfers honest. This week’s event was a stableford and the Coachman Hotel was our sponsor again and we appreciate their ongoing support and sponsorship. There were 83 starters including 8 visitors with a few of the hot Forbes prospects for the Parkes Open amongst them, getting an early course viewing. Again this week the winner came from the early starters with Matt ‘Leftey’ Wright showing his win from a few weeks back wasn’t a flash in the pan. Matt recorded a great score of 41 points with an outward 38 off the stick and also starting his round off with a birdie – the golfer’s delight. Matt struggled coming back to the clubhouse with a 43 off the stick but his 23/18 split couldn’t be caught on the day although there were a few serious challengers. Tony Hendry, hitting off before 8.30 also, found the conditions to his liking and played his best golf for an extended period to record 40 points. Tony went out gathering 19 points and flew home with 21 and just failing to catch Matt. Another who had to get directions to the podium due to the time past from her last visit, was Marg Hogan who also excelled on the day with her 39 point haul. There were 5 golfers recording 38 points with 2 exciting juniors in Benji Wu and Jack Kaden feeding off each other to get to the mark. Duncan Constable and Matt Lawryk were happy to capture some form a week out from the Big Dance and Mark Kelly came home with a 2 over back 9, which he is still catching up with a few last members who haven’t heard the story. There were four players on 37and 8 players meeting their stableford par round, so 20 happy faces at least in the clubhouse. Some interesting rounds came from Blake Parker shooting an even par round off is 1 handicap and starting to figure strongly in the Pro’s little black book for the trophies on Sunday evening. Club Pro Zac Kelly had 2 birdies on the front nine and then he shot a 4 under 32 on the back to sharpen his game for the Pro shootout at the Open. Caleb Hanrahan from Forbes shot 38’s on both sides to get himself primed for the Open also highly favoured Aaron Wilkie shot a 1 over back 9 as he gets a few rounds in leading up to next weekend. The Nearest The Pins on Saturday were – the Idlerite Tyrepower 1st by Duncan Constable at 7m, the Griffins Leading Edge 4th by Peter Picker at 110cm, the Parkes Ready Mixed Concrete 9th by Blake Parker at 85cm, the Max Keith Building 11th by Adrian Whittaker at 200cm and the Parkes Security Storage 17th by Rob Lea at 217cm. The Money Hole was won by Rob Lea at 217cm. Ball Winners were – Marg Hogan 39, Benji Wu, Mak Kelly, Duncan Constable, Matt Lawryk, Jack Kaden 38, Blake Parker 37 c/b. The Parkes Open nominations have closed and any requests for entry are now via the PGC ProShop. At this stage we have a full field which is a credit to the Match Committee lead by Captain John Green and all other organisers and is a salute to our great major event sponsors SCT, Bridgestone Mining Solutions Australia and Truserv and all our other supporting sponsors. Make your way to the PGC to view some elite golf and enjoy the largest event staged for the Parkes Open in its great history. Starting next Thursday with a Lachlan Valley Vets day, then followed on Frid by the Bridgestone MSA Fourball and then the 2 round Parkes Open on the weekend, a great variety with the best of local, regional and metro golfers.