While par round competitions are often not the most favoured event to play in, at least 20 players scored better than their handicap on Saturday at the Blue Lake Golf Club.
Justin Ploenges was the best with his outstanding +9 being a clear winner.
Ploenges (17) did not set the world on fire early, opening with four halved holes before earning his first plus on the easy par 3 fifth hole.
That opened the flood gates with another three plusses to complete the front nine.
Keeping the red ink off his scorecard over the back nine was the glue to his performance, with just three bogeys scraping a half for each of them.
He also managed to add an astonishing five more plusses from his 38 off the stick to be a runaway winner by four in the Jens hotel sponsored event.
A count back was required first off in A grade to separate the smooth swinging Steve Jelly (10) and the hard working John Millhouse (11) after both finished on +2.
Millhouse tried valiantly to extend his recent birthday celebrations but could not quite catch Jelly who is in hot form and held on for the win thanks to his much improved back nine of +3.
Tim Bates added a touch of light blue on the 17th for his only birdie of the day to finish +1 and take third prize.
Normally in par golf a score of +5 should be enough for an outright win but Stephen Smith had to survive a count back in B grade.
Former Club Captain Matt Jennings and Graham Burke both reached the score too, but Smith cemented the win with three plusses over the last five holes.
The good scores continued in C grade with Mario Mancuso (27) building a winning score of +5 thanks to regular pars through his round.
A break from golf and a holiday in the apple isle did Alan Stewart the world of good, opening with four straight plusses including a birdie to take out second place.
The Saturday field of women golfers continued to increase in the Jens Hotel sponsored Par round.
Lesley McPherson also benefited from a holiday in Tasmania to be a runaway winner with her fantastic +7.
McPherson made the most of her handicap (32) on the front nine, turning with +5 helped by two pars.
Her only other minus came on the 16th but she managed to add another +2 to her score for the win.
Second place getter Lynn Annand continues to defy her age, always looking at bettering her game.
That was clearly evident on Saturday with her smooth swing setting up scoring chances on the majority of holes with just two wipes on the front nine being her only blemishes on the day.
A good field of 62 golfers faced the starter for Tuesday’s mid week Par competition and it was Eric Driscoll who finally realised the potential he’s been threatening to show for some time.
Driscoll (13) can hit a long ball but can also have trouble controlling that power, often needing to waste a shot on a recovery effort.
After starting with a plus he immediately gave that straight back with a double bogey on the second but his length proved advantageous on the par 5 third hole where he only needed four strokes to get a plus.
Epitomising his game he then dropped the next two before rallying, taking until the ninth hole before registering his first halved hole.
Driscoll’s back nine was a lot more sedate, negating his two dropped shots with two plusses before a birdie on the last saw him finish +3 and take the win from Dan Christian.
