The Stark family has started 2022 with a bang, Andrew winning Thursday’s stableford competition at the Mount Gambier Golf Club and son Jordan taking out the first Monthly Medal for the year on Saturday.
Playing off a four handicap, Andrew shot an even-par round of 72 off the stick to finish with 40 points, one clear of a group of six players on 39.
That included Ross Bond who took second on a countback, his round not helped by a wipe on the par-four 9th.
The player in that group of six who must have thought it was going to be his day was Joe Clements.
The three-handicapper got off to an absolute flier, picking up four points after making an eagle three on the par-five 1st hole, and doubling that with a birdie on the par-four 2nd.
Two more birdies on the 4th and 5th saw him move to an incredible five under the card after five holes, and 16 points,
He dropped one shot after a bogey on the par-four 6th, but still finished the front nine with 23 points after a 32 off the stick.
He could not maintain that on the back nine however, shooting a four-over par 40 to add 16 points to his tally, unfortunately finishing with a three-putt on the final hole.
While Clements’ round was a tale of two different mines, Stark was a model of consistency.
He picked up 20 points on the front nine thanks to an even-par 36, and mirrored that on the back with another 20 points thanks to a second even-par 36.
Stark parred his first six holes and then picked up four points thanks to a 25-foot putt for birdie on the par-five 7th.
Unfortunately, he gave one shot back on the 9th after missing a three-foot par putt.
“I actually missed two other birdie putts from inside three feet, so it could have been a really special round,” he said.
With one bogey (on the 11th) and a birdie on the 18th, his back nine was good enough to take the top prize.
While he could not back that up in Saturday’s Monthly Medal, the family name was again on top of the leaderboard thanks to son Jordan.
Playing off a 20 handicap, the 24-year-old shot a net 69 to edge out Adam Barnes, the pair being the only players in the 107-strong field to finish with sub-70 net rounds.
Jordan, a fly-in, fly-out mine worker who plays with plates, pins and a rod in his left leg after an industrial accident, split his round 44/45.
As well as winning the Monthly Medal on a countback, he also took out C Grade by one shot from Andrew Birks.
Barnes had some consolation, his score good enough to win B Grade by two from Peter Miller.
And in A Grade it was Peter Fox whose net 71 gave him victory over Sam Letizia on a countback.
Saturday also saw the Barney Larkin Medal of Medals decided, with all Monthly Medal winners from 2021 eligible.
The winner was David Pick who shot an 82 off the stick to finish with a net 72.
The achievement capped a great first full year playing golf for the former top cricketer who reduced his handicap from 16 to 10 and will no doubt be in single figures very soon.
