Joe Clements is fast making the Mount Gambier Golf Club’s senior championship his own.

The 54-year-old shot a 75 off the stick on Sunday to put his name on the trophy for the second time since he became eligible for the event in 2017.

That year he finished equal second, before taking the title the following year with an outstanding two-under par 70.

He missed the 2019 edition, but was back last year where he was a runner-up again, beaten on a countback by Andrew Stark when a play-off was not held to decide the winner.

This time around he had three shots to spare from Stark who also has an impressive record in the championship after winning in 2016.

Playing off a four handicap, Clements started his round on the 18th hole in the shotgun start format, making pars on the 18th and 1st, before rolling in a 20-footer for birdie on the par-four 2nd to go one-under.

He finished the first nine at even par after making up for bogeys on the 6th and 7th with his second birdie of the day on the par-three 8th hole with a putt from about eight feet.

He dropped shots on the 10th and 14th, but got back to one-over for the day with another birdie on the 15th. A par three on the 16th placed him in an unbeatable position coming to his final hole of the day, the long par-four 17th.

Just off the green for two, he inexplicably bladed his chip across the green, needed another chip and then two-putted for a disappointing double-bogey six to finish with his three-over par 75.

“The 17th should have been a bogey at worst. The way I played I really should have parred the course,” Clements said.

“I made a couple of long putts, but I left way too many short.

“The greens were just a bit slow for me.”

While he was still happy to win for a second time, Bernie Jennings was thrilled to get her name on the women’s trophy for the first time.

Playing off a 19 handicap, she had no problems with the speed of the greens, rolling in putts from all over to shoot an 84 off the stick.

That was one better than 12-marker Kerry Pedlar and also broke a five-year run of shared victories by sisters Faye Mainwaring and Helen Gregory.

Jennings, who started her round on the 1st hole, had her only blemish of the day with the flat stick on the 2nd hole, three-putting for a double-bogey six.

She quickly got back on track, finishing the front nine with 41 off the stick, equivalent to four shots under her handicap.

While her back nine was not quite as good, she made another long birdie putt on the 17th and followed that with her third birdie of the day on the 18th, rolling in a curling, downhill putt to finish with 43 on the back nine.

While her net 65 was the best net score of the day, Jennings said she was not confident 84 would be good enough to claim the overall title.

As things turned out it was one ahead of Pedlar who split her round 42/43 to fall short by the barest margin.

2021 Seniors Championship results:

Mens Champion: Joe Clements 75, runner-up Andrew Stark (c/b) 78.

Women’s Champion: Bernie Jennings 84, runner-up Kerry Pedlar 85.

Men’s age group winners: (50-59) Shane Brook net 76 (c/b), runner-up Kent Comley; (60-69) Haydn Dow net 67, runner-up Patrick Dempsey net 68; (70+) Graham Allen net 66, runner-up Ross Anderson net 74.

Women’s age group winners: (50-69) Helen McIntyre net 68, runner-up Leanne Hunt net 70; (70+) winner Maxine McGregor net 72, runner-up Helen Gregory net 74.

Meanwhile relative newcomer John Gee continued his recent run of good form by topping the leaderboard in Saturday’s Par competition with an incredible +9.

After having limited opportunities to play while working as a radio operator in Adelaide, Gee has reaped the benefit of playing regularly since retiring to Mount Gambier, reducing his handicap by 10 shots in recent months.

He left the challengers in his wake on Saturday, racing to +6 on the front nine before picking up more shots on the 10th, 11th and 12th.

At that point an almost-unheard-of double-figure result looked certain, but he could not add to the tally over the final six holes.

HIs +9 score was easily good enough to take out C Grade, however, finishing four shots ahead of the evergreen Eric Roughana who will turn 95 in two weeks.

Playing off a credible 27 handicap, Roughana could have shot his age if not for pick-ups on the 8th, 9th and 15th.

On a day of great scoring that saw 32 players match or beat their handicaps, Jim Leane signed for a +6 to take out A Grade by two shots from Rob McIntyre.

And Roger Davis also produced a +6 to take the honours in B Grade by two shots from Matthew Bowering.

Meanwhile a lesson from Club pro John Martin paid immediate dividends for Bryan Hunt who compiled 41 points to take out Thursday’s stableford competition.

Struggling to stop his irons fading recently, a stronger right-hand grip proved the answer with the 15-handicapper shooting an impressive three-over par 39 on the front nine for 22 points.

His back nine was not quite as good, but 42 off the stick was good enough for another 19 points, the total of 41 putting him one ahead of runner-up Darren Coxon.

Playing off a four handicap, Coxon shot a superb even-par 72, a one-point bogey on the easy par-four 18th hole costing him victory.