Drenthen beats the odds to par win

Drenthen beats the odds to par win

Robbie Drenthen blew an absolute breath of fresh air into an otherwise dreary Saturday of Par competition at the Blue Lake Golf Club.

Drenthen, off an advantageous handicap of 25, had his struggles early with regular wipes on the outward nine, but put that behind him after the half way mark.

Turning square with his handicap, Drenthen soon realised his game needed a quick servicing which he soon put into play with a pair of plusses over the 12th and 13th holes.

A stumble on the 14th gave one of those back but he then charged home with three more plusses over the last four holes to finish with +4 and take the outright win.

Proving that Par golf is just not for the higher handicap players, Michael Watts was another who stormed home with a great finishing nine.

Watts (11) had a similar run to Drenthen, turning square but quickly got a score on the card opening his back nine with a brace of pars earning him an equal amount of plusses.

Despite giving two of those back to the course Watts finished with two pars on his way to a +3 score to take out the A grade win.

Tim Bates (6) tied Watts in A grade with the same score but built it differently, having a blinder of a front nine before faltering on the inward journey to miss out on the win in a count back.

Bates had two birdies in an awesome run of four straight plusses out of his 35 off the stick which was square with the card.

He added another birdie on the 15th but an inward nine of 38 was only good enough for -1.

Both playing off a 34 handicap, Adrian O’Donnell and Dieter Rostig finished tied on +3 and had to rely on a count back to decide the winner of C grade which could not have got any tighter.

O’Donnell’s birdie on the 15th helped get him to +1 over the back nine, a score matched by Rostig.

Both had +1 over the last six holes which is the next decider in the case of a count back requiring scorers to look at the last three holes, of which they both also had a +1.

It came down to a single difference of +1 for O’Donnell compared to a half for Rostig that decided the winner.

In B grade it was James Roughana who made the most of the improving weather conditions with his +2 on the back nine being good enough to take the win.

Roughana (13) showed glimpses of his ability with four pars on each nine for splits of 0 and +2.

A one-over bogey on the last was good enough to score a half which saved him from a fast finishing Derek Sargeant (13) who marched home with an amazing five plusses over the last six holes including a birdie on the 15th.

Sargeant had to settle for second place after just falling short with +1, which was always going to hold him in good stead in case of a count back and that is just what happened after Todd Lewis (18) also had +1.

Sargeant’s finish was too strong for Lewis who tried valiantly with his own four plusses over the last five holes for a +1 total.

When you’re playing off a four handicap Par is not usually your favourite event but Zeick Dalton took a liking to it with his round of +1.

Finishing the front nine with birdies on seven and nine for a +2, Dalton would have been keen to keep the momentum going but his 38 off the stick on the inward nine was only good enough for -1.

Luckily he held onto third place in A grade after Scott Manning butchered the last three holes of his round, wiping his plus total to +1 finish and losing out to Dalton in a count back.

Rounding out the C grade placings was Matt Dwyer taking third prize with his +1 total highlighted by a birdie on the second and four plusses over the last six holes.

Pro Shots were taken out by Alan Stewart on hole 5 and Stephen Easterbrook on the 16th while NTP winners were Dalton (A), Quinn (B) and David McKenzie (C).

Bates picked up an extra prize for his win in the novelty Best Front 9 event.

Scoring was difficult in Saturday’s ladies Par event at the Blue Lake Golf Club with only one person finishing in the positive.

With showers and constant drizzle putting a dampener on the day it took something special to master the course and that is just what Fiona Punton brought out.

While her score of +1 might not look great on paper, it was worth a lot more in the conditions where every golfer struggled.

Punton (28) made it look easy initially, scoring pars at will to put four plusses on her card early and looking to add to those on the inward nine.

However, golf, just when you think you have the game mastered, has the capacity to bite you and bring you back to reality and it almost came completely undone for Punton.

Getting her score to +5 after 11 holes Punton would have felt like celebrating but the golfing gods gave her a run of five straight wipes to stall her game.

She still finished with a par on the 18th to record a +1 total and take the win.

The vivacious Viv Wilson returned to the winner’s circle with her second place prize.

Also deserving of accolades in a tough day Wilson (36) parred the 15th for a plus which she followed up on the 16th for splits of -1 and 0 to take the silver medal.

Lesley McPherson hung onto third place despite a sputtering finish which wiped three plusses off her card.

It was a bit of a roller coaster opening nine, matching some great golf on the first, third and fourth for plusses.

Unfortunately for McPherson she had too many non-finishers over the inward nine that saw her come in with -2.

Punton took out the novelty event with her front nine score being the best.

Easier scoring was reflected in the easier tee block and pin placements on Tuesday’s mid-week stroke competition.

Taking the most advantage was West Gambier Cricket Club past premiership player David Lock who found the key to a win with a par, birdie start getting him well under way.

While he could not quite maintain that blistering start he settled in for a long innings with an easy 43 off the stick over his outward nine.

Despite finding trouble on both the par threes on the back nine, Lock split them with a par on the 15th to steady the ship, finishing the day with a round of 90-24-66.

A Grade’s Bob White chased hard but playing off a seven handicap there is not much room for mistakes.

White made very few of them, just the five bogeys on his round, one of which was negated by a birdie on the 12th.

His closing 36 off the stick was good enough to take second in a count back, just edging out evergreen Colin Stratford and Ben Pudney.

Stratford also birdied the 12th but just when he thought he had the chance to catch Lock trouble struck on the 17thwhere he had a triple bogey 8 to dent his chances.

Pudney was the unlucky golfer to miss out on any silverware after he butchered the 13th.

He showed his ability on the front nine with a par on the 6th followed by a birdie on the very next hole and if he can cut the red ink off the bone he will shave strokes off his handicap.

Pudney had to settle for a ball prize along with Colin Ferguson who birdied 4 holes on his way to splits of 37 and 36, as well as John Millhouse, Brett

Perryman, Cory Davis, David Adkins 69, Bruce Tichbon and Keith Ransom 70.

David Lovie won 4 balls for his Pro Shot on the 5th while White also won the daily novelty event, showing his prowess with the putter.

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