Saturday presented a perfect day for golf at the great PGC layout with only an early morning dew stopping the best of scoring.

There was a large field of 87 golfers with a sprinkling of visitors to play for the Max Keith and Michael Thomas trophy.

The boys present this opportunity annually and the members appreciate their generosity.

The round also doubled as the 4th round of the Bridgestone Mining Handicap Shootout, the Handiskins 4th round and a round of the All-In Cup, so a lot to play for.

It wasn’t expected that the score of the day would come from the 1st group out given how dewy the fairways were but that was the case.

Nick Strudwick celebrating the unleashing of the new Srixon clubs on the PGC layout fired a handicapper’s delight of a 44 point haul.

Although having 2 double bogeys on the front, the round also included 2 birdies and then a 41 coming home added the points up from his daily handicap of 20.

So, the handicapper will no doubt slash some of those strokes off, but it will assure him of a place in the Bridgestone Mining Shootout and also give him the opportunity to qualify for the Handiskins final with another good 5th round.

Sitting back 5 points in arrears was Ken Keith shooting a good 88 off the stick and trying to get away with his son’s prize.

Ken had 6 pars and was hitting the ball mainly down the cut section making the game easier.

Chasing hard on Ken’s heals were junior Jack Kaden and Myles Smith both recording 38s.

Jack had a 50/41 split so could have really had a good score with a better front 9.

Myles has just blended straight back into some serious golf form after a long break from the game.

He shot a 38/37 and will figure in the feature events coming up in the 2nd half of the season.

Micky Thomas trying to salvage his own trophy kept his outstanding form going with a 37 including 4 birdies and keeping his handicap steady on 5 now.

There 2 Wentworth visitors and John Green on 36, meaning only 8 players played to their handicap from the large field, so these players obviously played well.

In the Handiskins competition Nick Strudwick’s 44 was a standout but none of the other leaders really got any forward momentum.

The leaders are below the normal standard this year, so with 1 round remaining a lot of players can still qualify for the final.

Peter Bristol has taken the lead on 102, with Justin Middleton on 101, Rob Hey on 100, Peter Magill and Trevor Chatman on 99.

Normally 108 will get you in the final, from past years’ experience, but there could be some qualifiers this year short of that figure.

The Nearest The Pins on Saturday were – the Idlerite Tyrepower 1st John Green at 959cm, the Griffins Leading Edge 4th by Garry Bryson at 241cm, the Parkes Ready Mixed Concrete 9th by Craig Dunn at 84cm, the Max Keith Building 11th by Ian Phipps at 39cm and the Parkes Security Storage 17th by John Green at 39cm.

The Money Hole was won by Garry Bryson 241cm. Handiskins NTP was won by Ian Phipps.

Ball winners were – Jack Kaden, Myles Smith 38, Micky Thomas 37, John Green 36, Scott Kennedy c/b 36.

This weekend is a medley Stableford sponsored by Elders Insurance and is the 5th round of Handiskins and for those eligible the All-In Cup.