Once again perfect conditions greeted the field of 115 golfers who took to the Mount Gambier Golf Club to contest a stableford round on Saturday.
The challenging layout of the Attamurra course reigned supreme over most golfers, with only 10 managing to play to their handicap or better.
This also resulted in the scores for each division being extremely tight, with a solitary point separating the top two in C grade, and countbacks being required in both A and B grades to determine the winners,
C grade (17 – 45) players dominated the best scores for the day filling the top three spots.
Zayne Young (19), Paul Braithwaite (19) and Peter Jones (18) all started their rounds well, with 20 points on the front nine.
Young strung together some excellent golf with a par on the par 4 third hole, followed by a birdie 3 for four points on the par 4 fifth hole.
Two more pars followed on the sixth and seventh holes to bring in 20 points.
Solid golf again on the back nine, with once again a run of four holes scoring three pointers starting on the par 5 15th, to add another 21 points to his total for 41 points.
Braithwaite started his inward nine impressively, birdieing the tough par 3 10th hole for four points.
His only blemish really was a one point double bogey on the 12th hole, to have him score 20 points for a total of 40 points, one behind Young.
Jones was also consistent on the back nine, apart from double bogies on the par 5 11th and par 3 16th.
Jones signed for very respectable 18 points which had him finish on 38 points.
Phil Walters (20) was the only other player in C grade to play to his handicap.
In A grade (-9 – 10), it was an even closer tussle, with Brenton Massey (2) from the SA Police GC requiring a countback to take out the win from local Hertz proprietor Shane Brook.
Massey started off in an up and down fashion, with five pars, a birdie and three bogies on the front nine, to score 16 points.
But he got into his stride on the back nine, shooting a one under the card 35 off the stick, with six pars, a bogie on the 13th and birdies on the 12th and 15th holes for 21 points and an overall total of 37.
Brook, playing off three, started the round well, paring all holes on the front apart from a birdie on the eighth to go out with 20 points.
While he dominated the par 5s on the back nine with birdies, five bogies on other holes saw him come home with 17 points for 37 points.
Hayden Schroder (0) and Nick Black (7) were both one back on 36 points.
Similarly, in B grade (11 – 16), a countback was required to separate the only two players to play to their respective handicaps.
And just like A grade it was a case of early ripe – early rotten.
Peppi Pace (15) made the most of a brand new set of clubs on his opening nine. five bogies and four pars had him out with 21 points.
The confidence in the new clubs must have been high, as he tallied eight points on the first three holes of the back nine.
Bogies on the tough 13th and 14th holes had him in a great position with 33 points already on his card.
Not sure whether it was the St Kilda connection, but the wheels seemed to wobble over the last four holes, only adding another three points for a total of 36.
Darren Earl (16), who was playing with Pace, started out respectively on the opening nine, pars on the fifth and sixth holes were undone by a triple bogey on the par 5 seventh, eventually turning with 16 points.
Coming home Earl played consistent golf and with the help of three points on both the par 5 11th and 15th, and also the par 3 16th and par 4 17th, he had evened up the points with his playing partner.
With the superior back nine score, Earl took the win.
Thirty-six balls were handed out requiring 33 points or better and Andrew Stark (3) won the only pro shot for the day.
