Parker’s form puts rivals on notice

Saturday was the September Telescope Tyres / Hankook Masters Monthly Medal with Parkes Toyota as our day Sponsor and Parkes Caravans as the Ladies sponsor. Huge thanks to Sean Sloane at Parkes Toyota and Troy and Jodie Thomson at Parkes Caravans for their ongoing support of golf in Parkes. A great outing on our first Spring Saturday for this year. There were 75 golfers participating on our layout with 9 visitors. In the A grade men’s scratch Blake Parker was back and firing and proved too good for the opposition with a 74 off the stick. This score played to his handicap on the day with a birdie and an eagle on the front nine and 2 birdies on the back – unfortunately he had 2 doubles in the round as well. With this current form he looks set to compete with the highly ranked visitors for the SCT Parkes Open. The only player to match this score was Max Powell from Duntry who had a 4 birdie blitz on the back 9 to have a 32. Club professional Zac Kelly, as expected, was the lowest scorer on the day with a 1 under par 71 with 2 eagles and a birdie on the front for a 32. Aaron Wilkie was also back on the course and recorded a 78 with a 1 over on the back 9. No other A grader managed to break the 80 mark. In the net event Max Powell recorded a 70 and the lowest Parkes player was Blake Parker picking up the double with Rob Hey next closest on 74 and Ron Hetherington and Wayne Powter sitting on 75. In the B Grade Medal scratch event Dylan Hood was the runaway winner with an 84 off the stick which would have beaten a lot of the A graders home. His front nine was a bit ragged with a 44 but the back nine was closed out with a 40. Chris Downes, Phill Smith and Ian Phipps were all hovering but were 4 strokes behind. Wayne Tucker and Aaron Huppatz and Joe Davies were all on 89 just showing that the course wasn’t giving up anything on the day. Dylan was the clear winner in the net event with a very good 70, and no doubt some handicapping interest aroused, with Wayne Tucker and playing mate Trevor Chatman both on 72. In the C grade Medal scratch event the winner was Tony Jackson, who was returning from a travel layoff, and was the winner by 2 strokes with his 95. The split was a bit untidy with a 51/44 but it showed the potential is there for the future. Brendon Simpson chased hard but 2 doubles in the last 3 holes left him 2 short. Next in were the Tonys – Hendry who was happy to break 100 and Evans who is happy to be back chasing the little white ball. In the net event Tony Jackson was again the winner by 2, beating home young Josh Riley with Brendon Simpson and the best dressed golfer in Gordon Pritchard 1 further back. The Griffins Leading Edge putting competition was won by Blake Parker with 26 putts. The Norman family sponsored Wally Norman Vets Medal was won by Wayne Tucker on 72 net. The Nearest The Pins on Medal Saturday were – the Parkes Ready Mixed Concrete 1st by Rob Rea at 513cm, the Griffins Leading Edge by Brendan Hill at 45cm, the Western Temporary Fencing 9th by Wayne Powter at 70 cm, the Max Keith Carpentry 11th by Max Powell at 294cm and the Parkes Security Storage 17th by Max Powell at 424cm. The money hole was won by Max Powell at 294cm. Ball winners were Trevor Chatman 72, Chris Downes, Aaron Huppatz 73, Rob Hey 74, Ron Hetherington, Phill Smith 75.