A one-under par round of 71 off the stick was good enough to give Mount Gambier Golf Club champion Darren Bilney victory in the 99th South East Open at the Attamurra course on Saturday.
It was his third win in the prestigious event, the first leg of the region’s Triple Crown, after success in 2014 and 19.
Bilney started his round on the 14th hole and a par, birdie, par start put him in good shape before a bogey on the 17th brought him back to even.
He bounced back quickly with birdies on the 18th and 1st, but uncharacteristic bogeys on the fourth and fifth brought him back to even par and gave former winners Hayden Schroder and Anthony Williams a sniff.
As it turned out, Bilney parred holes six to 12 before closing with a birdie on the difficult 13th to sign for his 71.
Meanwhile, consecutive bogeys on the 5th, 6th and 7th cost Schroder dearly and eventually finished second with a 74, one shot ahead of Williams.
Despite the good conditions just seven players in the men’s field of 114 managed to beat their handicap. The ultra-consistent Rob McIntyre was one of those and he took out A Grade with a net 70, one ahead of Josh Knowles.
B Grade was hotly contested with Leigh McManus, Darren Griffen and Gordon Clark all posting net 68.
McManus took the honours on a count-back. Veteran David Turnbull triumphed in C Grade with a net 71, one ahead of Ian Ewert.
Bob Dalgarno and Lyndsay Coleman also showed age hasn’t wearied them by taking out last Thursday’s Spring Tournament Niblick event with a combined +11 in the 4BBB par format.
The pair defeated Darren Coxon and Matthew Dixon on a count-back, with 89-year-old Neil Richardson and playing partner Wayne Sampson coming third with an extremely creditable +9.
The other two legs of the South East Open – the Wayne Scutter Memorial at Blue Lake and the Robe Village Classic – will be played on November 14 and 15 respectively.
