PARKES GOLF

By PETER BRISTOL

Saturday’s Results

Saturday was the Butta Beef Butchery Short Course Championship for ‘25. The Butta Beef team have a great association with the PGC and we thank them for their ongoing support of our golfers and club.

The Short Course event was reignited by Denis Howard a few years back and is an event that is enjoyed by all, as the men play off the red tees and the ladies off the yellow tees. It changes the whole perspectives and lowers everyone’s handicap for the day.

72 starters teed it up for a great event with the only issue being a very gusty wind predominantly from the north west.

On the scratch side for the men the standout was Rob Hey. Whilst he has been playing well we haven’t seen the real Rob for some time but on Saturday with conditions tough and the field strong Rob stood up and fired a sizzling 69 off the bat.

This included 4 birdies and a great eagle on the par 5 13th, but also included 3 bogeys which slowed him down somewhat.

He had a par round on the front and a 3 under on the back.

Aaron Wilkie and Blake Parker hit par rounds, as we all expected them to be at the pointy end. Aaron had a rusty 38 on the front with 4 bogeys and 2 birdies but after bogeying the 10th he hit 5 pars and finished with 3 birdies for a 34 back 9.

Blake was the opposite coming out of the gates firing with a 2 under front, with 4 birdies and 2 bogeys. On the back 9 a birdie, bogey and a double kept him to 38.

Zac Kelly was kept to a 1 over round this week and John Green was next in with a 3 over.

In the net event, Rob was the winner but this time it was very tight with a 3 way countback needed to decide the winner.

The great thing for PGC was that there was 2 juniors in the decision with Max Mulligan Dwyer and Jack Kaden both firing below their handicaps to get their 69s as runner-ups.

Zac Kelly is turning out some great juniors via his coaching clinics, and they are now starting to reach their potential. Peter Picker was just outside the winners with a 70 and President Peter Magill, Dave Brown and Blake Parker all on 71.

In the ladies’ scratch Kris Smith was on top at the finish with her 88 four better than Colleen Staples with Kaye Jones a further shot back.

In the net event Colleen managed to match Kris’s 74 but went down in a countback to get the runner up prize. It was a tough day in the wind for the lady golfers, but they all played well in the conditions.

The other large highlight on the day was the hole in one recorded by Rob Rea on the 17th. It was only a wedge shot and Rob was more interested in looking for his golf tee than watching the flight of the ball but the ever reliable Phill Smith was on hand to commentate and confirm that indeed the ball did go in the hole.

Well done Rob – he joins a very exclusive club and gets entry onto the Drillcube Electronic Honour Board.

The Nearest The Pins on Saturday were – the Idlerite 1st by Joe Davies at 553cm, the Griffins Leading Edge by Max Keith at 115cm, the Parkes Ready Mixed Concrete 9th by Blake Parker at 73cm, the Max Keith Carpentary 11th by Matt Knighton at 433cm and the Parkes Security Storage 17th by Rob Rea at 0cm – hole in one.

The Money Hole was won by Matt Knighton at 433cm.

Ball winners were Peter Picker 70, Peter Magill, Dave Brown, Blake Parker, Tony Jackson 72 c/b, Trevor Chatman, Ron Hetherington 72.

On Sunday the Bridgestone Shootout was held. The Bridgestone is the handicap event that runs in tandem with the BDC Scratch shootout.

There was a strong field and with handicap playing a large part it was hard to pick the winner prior to tee off. The event has 19 starters with a player, having the worst score, dropping off after each hole. Early on this is mainly decided by a chip-off.

Over the first few holes the casualties failed in the chipping department with Scott Winter, Richard Hamilton, Richard Hutchinson and Peter Bristol all biting the dust.

Things started to tighten with Peter Kaden, Tony Evans and then Chris Downes leaving the playing group. A surprising loss on the 8th was club captain John Green exiting.

John was very much in the bookies sights as he was the low marker, but a double bogey saw him head to the BBQ. Sean Sloan couldn’t make it past the 9th – or was that a convenient place to park the cart?

A double bogey on the 10th saw Dave Brown depart after a chip off. On the 11th the ever reliable Gordon Pritchard packed up the chipper for the day.

Dustin Littlewood had a net 7 on the 12th to depart followed by Ian Ward losing his way up the par 5 13th. On the 14th Michael Riley, who had been playing well to that point had a net 7 to fade away.

The other man who is always below the radar, Trevor Chatman had a double bogey back into the wind on the short 15th to exit. This left Lindsay Elliott, Phill Smith, Peter Magill and Ben Coultas.

All very good golfers and all very good at utilising handicap as their friend. On the 16th Phill lost the rudder and was 3 shots behind the other 3 – it was a shame to lose him this late, but the other boys could now take the ear plugs out.

On the 17th a chip off between Peter and Lindsay saw Lindsay leave the event. Ben Coultas had been a bit rugged early in the event and was in most chip offs but the further the event went the better he got.

Peter suffered early in the event from a late night with the Thomson boys but was actually playing well. So down the last they went.

Unfortunately, Peter struck some trouble and an 8 on the par 5 was too many for Ben’s bogey and Ben was crowned the Bridgestone Shootout winner for ’25.

Thanks to Bridgestone and all the participants for making this another memorable event and one all the golfers endeavour to qualify for.

Next Saturday’s event is an 18 hole stableford event so get your entries in.

VETERANS GOLF

By JOHN DWYER

Hosts West Wyalong gave their rivals a golfing lesson on the way to winning the major prizes at last week's monthly Lachlan Valley Veterans golf competition.

With 48 players on board for the 18 holes, local golfers won both the A and B grade events while the club easily won the Miller/Coles teams event.

Brett Whittaker had a couple of points to spare in winning A grade, with his round of 37 points two better than Grenfell's Steve Grace.

The locals took the quinella in B grade with Peter Haworth (39 points) winning on a count-back from Ed Scott.

In the teams points score West Wylaong returned 115 points, nine better than Parkes on 106 followed by Forbes (103), Grenfell (101) and Condo (95).

The nearest-to-pins saw Condo's Jim Clyburn the A grade winner on the third, while Forbes' Frank Hanns first shot of the day was his best to take B grade honors.

Peter Haworth finished his day in style to win B grade on the 11th and teammate John Lewis the A grade winner. Jan Myers from Grenfell was the Associates winner on the 11th hole.

The ball sweep went to 32 points. Parkes and Forbes winners as follows: 35 - Alan Rees and Les Little (F) and Mick Bond (P); 34 - John Dwyer; 33 - Ken Sanderson (F); 32 - Lindsay Elliott and Ian Ward (P) and Barry Shine (F).

The twin-towns Christmas Party in Forbes is on Thursday, 4 December. Two weeks later a 2-ball Ambrose will be played in Forbes on Thursday the 18th. Get organised now with a player in form as hams await the winners.

Another reminder that subs for both clubs are now due - Forbes $10, Parkes $15.