Asmaller than usual field of 85 entered the Steeline Monthly Medal on Saturday at Mount Gambier Golf Club.
Overall winner was A Grade (-9 -10) player Hayden Schroder (0).
Schroder’s outward nine was an even to the card 36 having shot seven pars, and a single bogey and birdie.
He then followed this up with a further seven pars and two birdies on the inward nine to score a two under the card 70.
Kevin Cook (9) was runner-up on a countback from Schroder, also finishing two under his handicap with 38 shots on the front nine followed by 41 on the back.
The B Grade (11.0 – 16.0) winner was Darren Earl (16) who like Cook was the unlucky loser of the countback to Schroder.
Earl was two under his handicap when starting his back nine before adding three pars, five bogies and a single double bogey on the par 3 10th to stay at net 70.
One shot back in B Grade was Peter Lock (14) who started his round being a couple over at the turn.
A double bogey on the tough par 3 10th, had him at three over, before a string of pars and bogeys had him fire an impressive 40 off the stick on the back to finish at a net 71.
This was just enough to edge Paul Kenny (15) out of the runners up spot on a countback.
A countback was required to finalise the result in C Grade (17.0 – 45.0) with Kevin Lennon (20) and Max Tollner (20) both finishing at 1 over with net 73s.
It was Lennon who stormed home on the back nine with a 44 off the stick, which included a birdie on the last.
Tim Kenny (10), Jeff Olafsen (9) and Jim Leane (11) were the only other players to better their handicap with net 71s.
We also like to acknowledge the perseverance of those who struggled during their round, with disasters occurring on holes.
IR (21), KC (12) and GS (19) all had a 10 on a hole with PJ (38) achieving the feat twice.
While PP (15) and IE (21) went one better by unfortunately having an 11.
Twenty-four balls were given out for scores of net 76 points or better on a countback.
Nearest to the pins went to Peter Collie (17) on the eighth hole and Michael Rees (10) on the 16th.
Meanwhile, another large field of 95 players tackled the Thursday stableford competition.
Blue Lake GC visitor Russell Christian found the conditions to his liking, posting an imposing score of 43 points.
Russell’s opening nine was not anything out of the ordinary with 17 points.
Starting the back nine spurred him into gear, firing a three over the card 39 strokes to add another 26 points.
Four bogies, four pars and a birdie was a great feat for someone with a 20 handicap.
Three points back in runner-up spot was Jeff Hodge (12) with 40.
Hodge played solidly on the front nine to amass 21 points.
His back nine could only be described as unpredictable, as he went from ecstasy to agony, with two birdies, three pars, one bogey and 3threedouble bogies to finish with 19 points.
Another point back was Wayne Sampson (23) with 39 points followed by Jud Wheatley (8), Shane Brooke (3) and Leigh McCracken (13) all on 38 points.
Thirty-five points or better on a countback was required to win one of the 18 balls with pro shot winners being Mike Griffiths (15) on the eighth and Tim Maclean (13) on the 16th.
