Scone Golf Report: Oct 10 – 12

By Ross Banks

THERE was 13 ml of welcome rain which fell late on Friday, October 11 at Scone. The golf course will benefit greatly from the natural watering. The Saturday golfers needed to be wary of where they travelled and the shoe cleaning mats were out. A field of 35 played an 18 Hole Individual and 2B Stableford for the Tom and Kevin Thompson Trophy. The winners were Shane Davis and Jodie Ihle with a great score of 49 points. The runners up were George Campbell and Garry Carter with 44 points on a countback. The best individual score was Col Solway with 42 points.

NTP on the 4^th / 13^th was won by Tony O’Neill at 1.08metres. The 8^th / 17^th went to Brenan Reeves at 2.8metres. Balls went to Mick Alsleben 40, Phil McGuirk 38, Stuart Dawson 37, Alan Wood 35, Joel Woods, Matt Hobbs, Charlie Wintle,  Jim Hobbs 34 and Tom Thompson 33 on a countback.

The men’s Club Championships are to be played over the next two weekends, October 19, 20 and 26, 27. This Saturday’s event will be an 18 Hole Stroke for the Herb Phelps Memorial Day sponsored by Bill Pumpa. Round 2 on Sunday will be sponsored by Jim Elder. The Championships will be played in three grades with scratch and nett divisions in each, and likewise in the senior division. Full information about the Championships is available on the noticeboard at the Club.

In A Grade defending Champion Mac Dawson will be challenged by Michael Haynes, Matt and Will O’Donnell, James and Justin Smart. In B Grade Brad Hockley will try to defend the title from Joel Woods, Matt Langan, Wayne Hedley and Charlie Wintle. In C Grade those in contention are David Adams, Shane Davis, George Davidson, Kevin Thompson and George Campbell. In the Seniors defending Champion Mick Alsleben will be tested by Derek Field, Jeff Harrington and Steve Morse.

Last Thursday, October 10 at Scone Golf Course the ladies played an 18 Hole Stableford for the Kathy Robinson Trophy which proved to be a good contest on the fairways. It was fabulous to welcome back Doon MacCallum whose busy life has been occupied away from golf for quite some time, so it was pleasing to see her back swinging a club.  The course provided a challenge to most of the players with the winner of the Kathy Robinson Trophy, Lyn Banks having 35 points.  Julie Leckie was Runner Up with 33 points on a countback from Narelle Rutter. It was also great to see Narelle back on the course after a couple of months break with an injured arm, and settling straight back in to bringing home a good score on her first day out.  Ball winners were Narelle Rutter 33 and Cheryl Clydsdale 31points.  Nearest the Pin went to Julie Leckie on the 8^th hole. Sincere thanks to Kathy for sponsoring and we were sorry she was not able to join us on the day.

The last of the semi-finals of the Scone Ladies Putting Championship was played last week with Dordie Bragg taking out the win against Lyn Banks. Dordie now meets Julie Leckie in the final.

Four Scone ladies went on tour last week to play in the Mudgee Ladies Open and after a 9 hole practice in bleak and miserable conditions the afternoon prior, they woke to a glorious day for the main event.  Julie Leckie won the Division 1 Nett with a score of 74, and both Julie and Lyn Banks both took out the Nearest the Pin on two different Par 3’s.

All the lady golfers are excited for next Thursday, October 17, which will see the much anticipated Scone Golf Club Ladies Open on our new course.  Following months of enquiries up and down the valley as to the date of our Ladies Open, this has transpired into a full field of over 60 players with some clubs now on a waitlist to attend.  The Scone Ladies Committee, and particularly Captain Lyn Banks, have put much effort into making sure the day will be enjoyed by all players attending. We are looking forward to making sure our new course leaves the best impression possible for everyone involved.  As always, these days would not be possible without the support of our much valued sponsors and our special thanks go to our major sponsors Pam and Charlie Manning, Isis Motel Scone, Ray White Scone, Kev Bailey Building, Muswellbrook Pro Shop, Scone Chemist Discount Centre and Beryl Phelps.