Scone Golf Report: Feb 19-23

By Lyn Banks

It was a pleasant day for golf on Thursday, February 20 at Scone for the start of the ladies 18 hole season. A great field of twenty players turned out for the Ambrose event sponsored by Sarah Howey. The course was heavy after all the rain but the fairways and greens were in good condition. Players started with a gift pack of balls but many were lost in the rough or in the creeks! Most ladies were grateful to have some friends in their team to rely as they ventured out for 18 holes.

The winners were Ann Cameron, Wendy Clift, Beryl Phelps and Lyn Banks who played well to have 2 over par equating to 63.25 nett. This was marginally better than Pam Manning, Julie Leckie and visitor Gillie Bennetto who finished on 64.34 nett. They also were a little ahead of Marie Murray, Kathy Robinson and Dordie Bragg on 65.67 nett. All the above players received balls.

It was lovely to see many players returning to the game along with a couple of newer players.

Next Thursday, February 27, the Scone ladies will play an 18 Hole Stableford kindly sponsored by Skin and Beauty by Kylie.

On Saturday, February 22, players contested a 2 Person Ambrose for the NAGA Cup and Mug sponsored by Red Palmer and Neil Clydsdale. A field of 38, which included four visitors, enjoyed a cooler day with a bit of wind to contend with in the afternoon. More of a problem was the long rough resulting in much searching for wayward shots. The winners were Wayne Hedley and Joel Harrison who had 65 nett to get their name for the first time on the long running trophy which commenced in 1987. They were closely followed by David O’Donnell and visitor John Espert who had 65 3/4 to be amongst the ball winners, along with Paul and Justin Smart, Brad Baker and Michael Jordan 66 1/4, Steve Morse and Tony O’Neill 66 3/4, Scott Reid and Brad Hockley 67, Gary Taylor and Phil McGuirk 67 1/4 and Mick Alsleben and Ross Banks on 67 3/4.

The recipients of The Mug were Jim Elder and Tony Pringle, and Paul and Justin Smart benefited from a lucky card draw for a prize for players who were at presentation.

For the second week in a row the NTP’s were won by the same player! It was Wayne Hedley’s day with shots of 3.57 metres on the 4th / 13th and 3.02 metres on the 8th / 17th. Joel would have been happy but they only made one of the birdie putts.

On Saturday, February 29, the event will be an 18 Hole Individual and 2B Stableford for Gary Brown and Scott Shann’s Trophy. It will also be the final round of the Summer Shield.

The Wednesday Yellow Tee Challenge on February 19 was won by Brad Hockley with 27 points. The runner up was Charlie Wintle on 25 points. 

In the Hunter River District Pennants on Sunday February 23 the Senior team were up early for the trip to Paterson. They played the host club which proved a challenge with only Ross Banks & Red Palmer managing a squared match whilst Charlie Wintle & Charlie Manning, Steve Morse & Col Solway were both defeated. The team is in equal second place and would likely need a win next week to make the semi-finals.

The A Grade team had a bye but Scone hosted the round with five players from eight clubs enjoying the course. The feedback again was positive from many of the visiting players with some having a practice round on Saturday afternoon to become acquainted with the layout.  

In the next round on March 1, A Grade travel to Branxton to play The Vintage and the Senior team have another long trip to Dungog to play Kurri in the final round of their division.

The ladies Hunter River District Pennant starts on Monday, March 2 with the round hosted by Cypress Lakes. Scone take on Muswellbrook in the six matches, with the first two being Scratch Matchplay and last four being Handicap Matchplay.