Whitaker holds off Wu in countback finish

Once again, the weather gods provided an excellent day for golf with a crisp but sunny day opening up for the 75 participants that chose to play the BWR sponsored day on Saturday. Big thanks to the long term supporters of golf in Parkes in the BWR team from all the members and guests. Sunday/Monday's rain will freshen the course up and have it in peak condition leading into spring. As has been the case of late the early golfers set the pace for the field. Barry Whitaker shot a blistering 40 points to be the clubhouse from the 1st group out in the morning. Barry shot a 43/40 split with the back 9 contributing 22 points to his tally. The 15 handicap will now be a thing of the past for him. This was going to a tough target for the field to reach but young gun Ben Wu, visiting from Trundle, did just that with very handy 41 on the front 9, coming home with a 43 off his 16 handicap. Hitting off after the frost had cleared meant he was getting more of the course run and then taking advantage of his short game skills. Unfortunately, the weaker back nine put him behind in the countback stakes on the day. With two challenging scores logged it was up to the rest of the field to chase these down. Mitch Cambourn and Wayne Parker were up to the challenge with Mitch having an untidy 7 over front nine but scintillating on the back 9 with 5 birdies netting him 22 points for a 38 total. Wayne was his usual consistent self with a 41/41 split off his 12 handicap but started off indifferently with birdie, double, birdie, par so it could have went anywhere after that, but he also fell just short on 38 points. Matt Lawryk, having a rare outing, shot a solid 39/38 to compile his 37 points and also gather some confidence coming into the Parkes Open next month. Youngster John Fowler had 20 points on the outward nine and looked the goods but faded to only gather 17 on the back 9. David Stevenson could have been on the podium but for the 3 misses he had in his round. Having 21 points on the front with a miss and only 16 on the back but he has been hitting them better of late which is building confidence. It was also good to see some other regular players in good form with Dale Matthews, Phil Smith (Snr) and Brian Hogan (Snr) all recording 36 pointers. Also of note was the 3 over round from Blake Parker which will help to keep the form going for the Open in months’ time. Note to members to make sure you get your nominations in as the field is already starting to fill. The Nearest The Pins on Saturday were – the Idlerite Tyrepower 1st no won, the Griffins Leading Edge 4th by Dave Chambers at 226cm, the Parkes Ready Mixed Concrete 9th by Blake Parker at 48cm, the Max Keith Building 11th by Matt Lawryk at 128cm and the Parkes Security Storage 17th by Brendon Simpson at 148cm. The Money Hole was won by Matt Lawryk at 128cm. Ball winners were – Mitch Cambourn, Wayne Parker 38, Matt Lawryk, John Fowler, Dave Stevenson 37. Next Saturday is a 2 Person Stableford with an Individual in conjunction. VETERANS GOLF By JOHN DWYER A big field, multiple scores hot on the heels on the leaders and a count-back to decide the winner - that was the scenario at last week's twin-towns veterans golf competition played at Parkes and won by local Lindsay Elliott. It was a good return for Lindsay and fellow Parkes player John Ivey who both carded 38 points with Lindsay getting the decision on a count-back. There were three players on 37 points, while another four recorded even-par 36's to their handicaps in a day of high scoring. Parkes provided 26 of the players, while Forbes with 16 and three visitors made up the field. The visitors included former Parkes golfer Adam Ferguson who played with Anthony Rogers from Condobolin and Kade Sharp, the grandson of popular Parkes vet Dale Stait. Given the weight of numbers Parkes won the twin-towns shield 222 points to Forbes' 212. The A grade nearest-to-pin winners were the Forbes duo of Alf Davies and Don McKeowen, while Parkes' John Fowler (his first prize in some time) and Rob Cunningham were the B grade winners. The ball sweep went to 34 points with winners as follows: 37 - Ken Keith and John Fowler (P) and Don McKeowen (F); 36 - Gordon Pritchard and Peter Boschman (P) and Les Little and Trevor Williams (F); 35 - Alex Mackinnon and Steve McAlister (F); 34 - Dale Stait, Phill Smith, Barry Whittaker and John Dwyer (P) and Ted Morgan (F). Barry "Scadger" Parker from Forbes was a "popular" encouragement award winner. This week it is back to Forbes with nominations taken from 8.45 for a 9.30 start.