Head Greenskeeper Daniel Christian must have felt like playing Santa on Saturday, setting up favourable tee and pin placements for the Blue Lake Golf Club’s Stableford event.

Many players took full advantage of the favour, the best being Adrian O’Donnell with his 43 points being a clear outright winner.

O’Donnell (28) got off to the best start with an opening par giving him three points straight off the break and with his generous handicap he even cashed in.

From then on it was three’s all the way to turn with 23 points.

The back nine was just as good, scrambling points on the 10th and 11th before righting the ship with two successive three point holes.

His only stumble came on the par 3 16th hole, the only wipe on his scorecard.

Adding another 20 points over the back nine saw him a comfortable winner with 43 in total.

In A Grade Gavin Coon showed why he has been elevated to the grade taking the win with 41 points.

Coon also started well with pars on the first two holes, but kept his best for a great par on the difficult fourth hole giving him a well-earned three points.

His round was slightly tempered with just the one point on the 12th but he bounced back well from that to finish with three pars and a birdie over the last four holes for 22 points.

It was tight for the minor placings with Trevor McLean (5) and Marc Dalton (1) being separated by just a single point.

David Johnston set the bar high early with 41 points on the board just before lunch time and he held on for the B grade win despite some late chargers.

Johnston took care of the relatively ‘easy’ holes before upping the ante with a birdie on the 14th to show what he is really capable of.

His 41 points was a clear winner but it was a lot closer for second and third with James Roughana (13) and David Adkins (13) tied on 39 points.

With an extra ball prize for the best back nine, early starter Adkins thought he had it with his closing 22 points holding on for the novelty event but Roughana just pipped him late in the day with 23 points over the inward nine, thanks largely to his birdies on the 10th and 15th holes.

It was a battle of the new and the old for placings in C grade with some of the newer members in Jamie Burnett and Jordan Williams taking first and second ahead of life member Doug McPherson taking third place.

Burnett (22) was consistent with splits of 20 and 19 points, scoring on all but one hole while Williams (25) was either walking off with 3 points or none at all.

In total he had 10 three point holes but it was the 4 non scoring holes that stopped him claiming the win.

While he did not finish in the prize list Daniel Christian cleaned out the eagles nest once again with his two on the 12th.

The fields for the ladies Saturday events continue to increase at the Blue Lake Golf Club.

The Stableford competition featured close to 20 starters and the winner, Beryl Mahoney, was well received after returning to the course following a recent spell due to an operation.

She put her best foot forward on Saturday, finding the secret to winning a stableford event, by scoring on every hole.

Starting with an opening three points Mahoney made sure she did not have to do too much walking on the fifth by parring the hole.

She would have been ecstatic with her 19 points over the front nine but went even better over the inward nine, once again starting with a three point hole before closing with another 21 points.

Mahoney needed all those 40 points to see off second place Lee-Anne Medhurst (25) on 39 points.

Medhurst would have already felt like a winner with her birdie on the first but the jubilation did not last long, scoring nothing on the second.

She bounced back well with either three or two points from then on in to turn with a creditable 21 points.

While she managed to score on every hole on the back nine she could not quite catch Mahoney.

Perennial prize winner Rosemary Martland added to her bounty once again, this time with third place with 38 points.

With the days getting warmer and more run on the course, it’s no wonder better scores are arriving throughout the various competitions and that was certainly the case in Tuesday’s Stableford competition with Curtis Coppetti a runaway winner with 43 points.

Coppetti, playing off a generous 23 handicap, cashed in with two of his pars on the outward nine earning him four points each.

His other two pars were worth three points each and while he could not add any more four point scores on the back nine he still scored consistently, returning splits of 21 and 22 points.

Another player who can often make a mockery of his handicap, Brenton Speck (19) finished in second place with his superb 40 points.

After closing with a pair of double bogeys on the front nine Speck could have been excused for dropping his lip but instead he bounced back with an excellent 40 off the stick for 22 points.

David Lock proclaimed on the first tee block he was not feeling well but that did not stop him from walking off with 40 points, just missing out on second place in a count back with Speck and Doug McPherson.

McPherson was the unlucky golfer who had to settle for a ball prize after his 40 points.

Dan Christian made short work of the 15th, going over the top of the trees for an eagle.

But it could have been even better, his tee shot rattling the pin but unfortunately not dropping in the hole.

While he was rapt with his eagle he was slightly disappointed not to have attained the holy grail of an albatross.