After combining to win the four-ball competition the previous week, newcomer Stephen Wyte and club captain Peter Waters showed it was no fluke by backing up to take out this week’s Thursday and Saturday individual competitions respectively at the Mount Gambier Golf Club.
Playing off a 34 handicap, Wyte posted 43 stableford points to beat Sam Mainwaring by two on Thursday, with David Cameron another point back in third place.
And then Waters came out in Saturday’s Monthly Medal and finished with a net 68, earning a spot in February’s Medal of Medals competition after beating David Anderson, Bryan Pink and Matthew Bowering on a countback.
Waters said he could not remember the last time he won a Monthly Medal, but guessed it would have been at least 30 years ago.
“Wins are pretty hard to come by, especially a Monthly Medal,” he said.
“So I was pretty pleased to win one of them.”
Playing off a 12 handicap, he was steady on the front nine, finishing with pars on the 1st and 8th holes, and bogeys on the other seven to make the turn with a 43 off the stick.
“The score did not reflect it, but I was actually swinging pretty well on the front nine … my radar was just a bit off,” Waters said.
That was not an issue on the back nine, however.
He started with pars on the 10th and 11th, but had a tricky third shot over the corner of the bunker on the par-four 12th.
Hoping to escape with a four, he did even better than that, his pitch shot rolling straight into the cup for a birdie three.
He followed that with a regulation par four on the 12th, admitting it was the first time he had achieved that for longer than he could remember.
“You just need that bit of luck at the right time,” was his humble assessment of that superb start to the back nine.
He knew he was on track for a good score, but certainly was not confident of winning because Pink was playing in his group and was also having a good round.
And when the 10-handicapper birdied the 18th hole Waters admitted he thought he might have been pipped at the post.
A quick check of the cards, however, showed a pair of net 68s with Waters taking the honours courtesy of his one-over par 37 off the stick on the back nine.
As well as winning the Monthly Medal, Waters also took out first place in A grade, edging out Anderson on a countback, with Pink relegated back to third place.
Bowering, who also finished with a net 68, won B Grade by a single stroke from Damian Smith.
And in C Grade it was Kev Lennon, who finished second in the four-ball the previous week, taking the honours from Jack Peacock after shooting a net 69.
Meanwhile on Thursday it was Wyte who came in with 43 points to follow up his victory with Waters the previous Saturday.
He also started modestly, finishing with 19 points on the front nine after wiping the third hole.
But he made up for that on the inward nine, securing five three-pointers and a four-point par on the 13th.
His only single point hole for the back nine came on the par-four 18th after a double bogey, but even that did not derail his victory bid.
Mainwaring split his round 19/22 to take second place and would have been pleased with his 39 off the stick on the back nine.
Special mention must go to Richard Gosling who finished in fifth spot with 39 points off his three handicap after shooting an even-par round of 72.
He made 16 pars for the day, making up for a bogey five on the 5th hole with a birdie on the par-five 15th.
