Around the Greens

AUTUMN conditions continued to deliver across the region, with calm weather early in the week giving way to welcome rain on Sunday and a mix of tight scoring and standout performances at Curlewis, The Sands, Anglesea and Torquay.

At Curlewis, a strong week on course coincided with a pivotal result in pennant. The club’s men’s division 1 side kept its finals hopes alive with an emphatic 6–1 win over The Sands on Sunday 3 May, before results elsewhere confirmed a place in the semi-finals.

The women’s division 1 team also remains in contention, sitting second on the ladder ahead of a decisive final round at Anglesea.

Despite near-perfect conditions for most of the week, scoring proved tougher than expected. Only three rounds of 40 points or more were recorded across 453 competition rounds.

Saturday’s results reflected that trend, with Coral Priestley (women’s) and Mike Fraser (men’s C-grade) winning with 38 points, while Doug Parkin (A-grade) and Adam Casey (B-grade) claimed their divisions with 37. Paul Ryan took out D-grade with 33 points.

The best score of the week came from visiting player Ryan McLean, who posted 42 points to win Tuesday’s open competition. Junior Lachie Halloran continued his strong form with 40 points in Wednesday’s men’s event, matched by Jude Ryan in Friday’s open competition. In team play, Peter Perez and Phil Cumming dominated Monday’s fourball, finishing well clear on 49 points.

At The Sands, a consistent run of high scoring featured throughout the program. Nixon Lim (13) set the tone on Monday 27 April with 43 points to win the medley stableford, while Craig Spry (18) matched that total later in the week to take out Friday 1 May.

Wednesday 29 April produced depth across the grades, with Scott Davison (10), Brett Jones (14) and George Richards (28) all winning with 40 points in their respective divisions. Thursday’s women’s par event was tightly contested, with Norma Schultz (24) edging Julie Gavin (30) on countback at +1.

Saturday 2 May saw solid stroke rounds across the men’s competition, with Mat Mackay (6) leading A-grade on 69 and Fletcher Mackay (13) winning B-grade with 72. Allison Bell (23) claimed the women’s stableford with 34 points. The week wrapped up with Brian Gilligan (4) winning Sunday’s medley stableford on 36 points.

Anglesea also enjoyed strong scoring across multiple formats. Wednesday 29 April’s men’s stableford was led by Jack Steven (14) with 42 points, while Ross Harrison (21) followed with 41 in B-grade.

Thursday 30 April’s women’s stableford delivered two of the best rounds of the week, with Sue Caldwell (42) posting 44 points to win C-grade and Julie Taylor (20) taking A-grade with 43.

Vida Brenner (21) secured B-grade on countback with 39 points.

Saturday 2 May’s monthly medal saw Warren Pollock (16) win with a round of 69, while Pete Ryan (12) claimed A-grade on 70 on countback. Stableford honours went to Garry Beurteaux (12) and Geoff Lewtas (18), both with 38 points in A- and B-grades respectively.

Vida Brenner added to her strong week by winning the women’s stroke with 69, while Robyn Schepers (29) took the stableford with 36 points.

Sunday 3 May’s par competition saw Andrew Daffy (5) win the men’s event on countback at -2, while Chris Creasey (24) claimed the women’s competition with +4.

At Torquay, another full schedule produced competitive scoring across all grades. Monday 20 April’s medley stableford was won by Cary Callaby (28) with 40 points, while Wednesday 22 April delivered some of the best rounds of the week, including Anthony McKenzie’s (13) 44 points in B-grade and James Deans’ (8) 42 in A-grade.

Thursday 23 April saw Aaron Mucey (11) win the men’s stableford with 40 points, while Carolyn Anderson (39) led the women with 42. Friday’s par event produced a strong +6 from John Nestor (26) in B-grade, while Erin Blackley (36) won the women’s competition on +1.

Anzac Day competition on Saturday 25 April featured the Gordon Hepburn Memorial Trophy, claimed by Sam Colman (19), while David Fischer-Mills (22) and Nicky Quinlan (43) led the Legacy Day men’s and women’s events.

The week concluded on Sunday 26 April with more high scoring, highlighted by Fiona Tait’s (35) 45 points in the women’s competition and Joe Cengic’s (14) 42 points in B-grade, rounding out another competitive stretch of golf across the region.