The annual Pybar Handicap Shootout was contested on Sunday, September 13 by 19 eager golfers who qualified through the five rounds.
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Pybar managing director Paul Rouse attended to watch his event and present to the winners.
Club captain David Stevenson congratulated and thanked Paul for his continued support of the Parkes Golf Club and this event in particular, over 15 years now and counting.
Paul in reply congratulated the PGC and the qualifiers, and committed to supporting the event for next year.
The golfers were in praise of the event and format, saying it was a highlight in the annual program of events and all that spots were valued.
As is the norm, the bookmakers struggled to match form with 'on the day' performance and the shock to most was that low marker Jack Elliott was involved in a chip-off on the first hole and unfortunately exited the competition.
On the second hole another of the A graders Warwick Wright had a poor hole and was lost to the field.
On the downwind third hole there was a nine-way chip-off as the competition started to heat up. Unfortunately for Tim Baker, he was furthest from the hole and his longer handicap was wasted and he exited.
The par 3 fourth hole didn't trouble most but Mark 'Engine' Wright struggled, and he left the field to contemplate 2021.
On the fifth hole Rob Cheney had a shocker and no further pressure was applied to the rest of the field as he left just failing to reach double figures on the hole.
On the sixth hole most of the field had a par and there were even some birdies but Josh Kearney couldn't compete with that, although he had some padding in the handicap and became the next bystander.
The group then stood atop the seventh tee and drove down the long par 5 into the wind.
Unfortunately, one of the best A grade long game players Riall Harrison could not hold it together and lost out to handicap as his double bogey was the worst score.
Downwind eighth was supposed to be easier but there were some errant drives off the tee and none worse than Ron Hetherington who was playing off the seventh side of the trees and couldn't get himself back in the chase, and bailed-out with a double bogey.
On the ninth the field was looking forward to getting out of the wind and having some lunch but they again had to contend with the headwind.
Two of the bigger hitters faced a chip-off after double bogeys with Phil Barnard remaining seated at the turn.
After being refreshed and the wind starting to abate, the field set off down the 10th.
Max Keith was still a little rattled from the chip-off on the ninth and 3 putted the 10th to leave the contest.
On the par 3 11th with the breeze helping the golfers captain Stevenson could not survive a chip-off following his bogey on the comparably easy hole.
The 12th was playing easier now and it was time for the game to get serious.
Gordon Christie had been flying under the radar to this point and using the 17 handicap to his advantage.
Unfortunately, an out of bounds took him to chip-off that he did not survive.
The long par 5 awaited the players. It came as a surprise that one of the big bombers wasn't able to subdue the par 5, with Anthony Riach losing a chip-off and facing a long trip back to the clubhouse.
As the players headed to the corner with the par 4 14th, the field was shrinking and the contest became a bit more intense.
At this point only Richard Hamilton wasn't an A grade player of the remaining field.
As it was Blake Parker recorded a double bogey here but still had the chance to redeem in a chip-off but couldn't do so.
On the par 3 15th one of the real shocks of the day came when Todd Jayet 4 putted to end his chances for this year.
As the team loaded up for the long par 5 only four players remained, and it had really become a shootout.
Two of the combatants recorded a par and with handicap turned it to a birdie, while Luke Clarke and Rod Kiley recorded bogeys, turned into pars with handicap.
Therefore, losing the chip-off excluded Luke from the last two holes.
The 17th always presents as harder than it looks, and this was the case for Richard Hamilton who had plugged on valiantly all day only to record a double bogey and thus exit with some pride.
This left Rod Kiley and Brendan Chambers as last men standing to battle up the 18th with all at stake.
In what should have been a relatively simple par 4 for the two A graders, both recorded a bogey and to finalise the 2020 Pybar Handicap Shootout, a chip-off was required with the whole day's play depending on the one shot.
To his credit Brendan Chambers held his nerve and won the chip-off to become a back-to-back winner of the Pybar event.
Rod Kiley fought hard all day and at times under pressure but to his credit, he pushed the ever-consistent Chambers to the very end.
The PGC congratulates all the participants, umpire Paul Thomas and club captain David Stevenson for the conducting of the event and once again thanks to Paul Rouse and company for making this great event available to the golfers.
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