It was a thrilling finish at the Mount Gambier Golf Club with only one point splitting the top five players in the men’s stableford competition on Saturday.

The 110-player field was led by three players who all returned with 38 points after their round.

Des Guerin joined single-figure handicappers Adrian Ballintyne and Jeffery Hodge in the countback for the overall victory.

Only one point split the trio across the back nine and a bogey on the 18th ensured Hodge secured the honours.

His consistent round included 10 pars and a bridie on hole 11, while Ballintyne was the runner-up with three under-par scores on the first, eighth and 15th.

Hodge and Ballintyne also led the A Grade leaderboard with Peter Lock just a single point behind followed by Tim Kenny and Bryan Pink.

Another three-way countback was required to find the B Grade victor after Michael Atwell, John Shirley and Barry Kuhl all collected 36 points.

Kuhl was eventually presented with the prize for his round characterised by six pars.

A bridie on the par five 15th hole ensured Atwell was the runner-up followed by John Shirley, who could not back up his outstanding 20-point front nine.

The C Grade title went to Guerin.

He started on the front foot with 20 points already on his scorecard at the turn before he registered 18 on the back nine.

Lachlan Rees was in a position to challenge for the win, but was forced to wonder what could have been after a pickup on the last hole left him one-point down.

Digger Richardson led a three-player countback for third place on 36 points.

The 15-player field in the women’s Saturday stableford competition was fronted by Jan Shanahan.

Shanahan’s round was boosted to 38 points thanks to three consecutive pars before heading to the clubhouse.

Julie Robinson and Gemma Winterborn filled out the minor placings with 35 points each.

Another nail-biting finish took place in the men’s Thursday stableford event with the top 10 players covered by just two points.

Jack Peacock was eventually crowned after a five-way countback for the win.

Playing of a 21 handicap, Peacock blitzed the back nine with 21 points to increase his total to 38.

Nick Seager and Mike Griffiths completed the podium, while Boycee Boy and David McPherson also complied 38 points.

Last Wednesday was the annual Veterans Day, which was greeted by 31 women on the course.

A total of 29 players were eligible to win the Veterans’s Slaver in the stroke round and the gross winner was Faye Mainwaring with 90 off the stick.

Mainwaring enjoyed an eight-shot margin back to runner-up Helen McIntyre.

The net winner was Carol Davis, who played a solid round of 74.

Runner-up Heather Barry won a countback with Kathy Ewer and Libby Altschwager after they all scored net 75.

The Super Veterans division went to Bev Pedlar with 98 off the stick from Yvonne Shirley with 104.

The net winner was Pauline Paterson with 74 followed by Lois Harvey and Yvonne Shirley.

As there were only two non Veterans playing, Kerry Pedlar claimed the prize with net 74.

The Veterans Salver is determined by the best net score from both divisions and Davis nudged out Paterson on a countback with 74 to claim the silverware.