Whitaker boys put together unbeatable scores

PARKES GOLF By PETER BRISTOL Saturday’s Results Saturday was the 4th round of the Summer Competition sponsored by BWR Accountants and Advisors. It was a straight Stableford event with 60 starters in oppressive conditions again. Thanks to the members for supporting the club and the sponsors whilst we battle this heatwave. A good initiative by the Club Captain and Pro Zac Kelly was a shotgun start at 8:00am to get the majority of players out and back in before the heat really hit. Most of the field took this option. Once again this week the Whitaker boys shone out with Adrian putting together an unbeatable 52 points and Barry a great 45 points. Whilst the boys are just coming back to competition golf and have the luxury of a soft handicap the handicapper will no doubt slash some further strokes off this week and bring them back to the field. Adrian did have a great back nine of 39 strokes and Barry had an outward nine of 40 strokes. Other notable scores were three 43’s by Nathan Johnston hitting an 82 off the stick which included 3 birdies in a row on the back 9, John Green hitting a 70 off the stick with 3 birdies on the back 9 and John Dwyer getting accolades unseen since his days as the stella forward for Rovers, for an 86 off the stick. There were 20 players who hit their handicap par of 36 or better as the course dries out and there is favourable run for all. On Sunday the Central Western Districts Pennants commenced with the 1st round at Duntryleague in Orange. Parkes was represented in Divisions 1-4 and looking to be competitive in all grades. The No1s unfortunately went down to Cowra 3-2 with only Aaron Wilkie with a great 7/5 win and Rob Hey with another good 6/4 win getting up. The No 2s started off their season with a 3-2 win over Cowra with Aaron Gaffey a 2/1 win, Luke Clarke winning on the 18th and Mickey Thomas getting up 2/1. The No 3s kicked off their campaign with a 3-2 win over the Cowra side with junior Taj Harrison leading the way with a 6 /4 win and Justin Middleton a 4/3 win and Ben Coultas getting the side home 2/1. Unfortunately the No 4s never recorded a win across their 5 games but are confident better things lay ahead for the team. Three games were won by 1 and the other 2 games by 2 so were very close. The Nearest The Pins on Saturday were – the Idlerite 1st Rob Hey at 535cm, the Griffins Leading Edge 4th by Scott Winter at 286cm, the Parkes Ready Mixed Concrete 9th by Chris Downes at 243cm, the Harvey Norman 11th by Chris Downes at 197cm and the Parkes Security Storage 17th by Gordon Pritchard at 148cm. The Money Hole was won by Chris Downes at 197cm. Ball winners were Nathan Johnston, John Green, John Dwyer 43, Tom Young, Joe Davies 40, Fletcher Matthews 39. Next Saturday is the Telescope Tyres February Monthly Medal with day sponsor being the Coachman Hotel. VETERANS GOLF By JOH DWYER The day was hot and scoring a degree hotter when Forbes' Steve Edwards put together a great round of 40 points to take the honors at last week's twin-towns golf competition played at Parkes. The forecast 42 degrees saw player numbers down - 20 teed-off for the event - and carts the order of the day however the general consensus was "it was not all that bad on course". "The temperature was 37 degrees when play finished and an hour later 44 degrees; playing early definitely paid off," said Parkes club captain Rob Lea. Runner-up and only a point back was the consistent Ted Morgan from Forbes with 39 points, with Murray Jackson two points back in third place. Murray and his brother Tony were welcomed as much needed new blood to the Parkes vets, while Steve Grace and Lennie Wilkes made the trip from Grenfell to enjoy 18 holes on the Parkes course. Parkes had a rare win in the twin-towns shield by 215 points to Forbes' 196. Forbes' Alan Rees was a happy man in breaking his duck to win the encouragement award, and the balls he won - he also got nearest-to-pin on the fourth hole - made up for what was a struggle over the 18 holes. Parkes players won the remaining NTPs with Mick Bond the B grade winners on the fourth hole and Lindsay Elliott and Tony Jackson the A and B grade winners on the 11th hole. The ball sweep went to 35 points with winners as follows: 36 - Dale Stait (P); 35 - Rob Lea, Mick Bond and Ken Keith. Forbes hosts this week's twin-town event - registrations from 9am for the 9.30 shot-gun start.