It’s an ill wind that blows nobody some good.
And for Mount Gambier Golf Club member Rob McIntyre, the wind can keep blowing as hard, and for as long as it wants to.
After the 73-year-old won the Thursday stableford competition at Attamurra on September 2, in what was one of the windiest days of the year, he said playing in the wind did not particularly bother him, but playing in the rain did.
Well, last Saturday it looked like he was going to get a decent dose of both.
Just as he was due to tee off on the first hole in the Par event, a torrential downpour forced a halt to proceedings, with everyone, especially McIntyre, hoping it would only be temporary.
And while the downpour did pass through, the gale force winds stayed all day and made life very difficult for the players.
Except for McIntyre and Moryn Sullivan it seemed.
The pair finished on +4, three shots clear of the field, with only three other players managing to beat their handicaps on the day.
And after the judge examined the print it was McIntyre who got the nod on a countback, thanks to a superb +5 on the back nine.
“I said to the guys I was playing with before we teed off that +4 would be good enough to win considering how windy it was,” he said.
“I certainly did not think that was going to be me after I had -1 on the front nine.”
That score included dropped shots on the 3rd, 4th and 6th holes, and pluses on the 5th and 9th thanks to regulation pars.
While that average front nine provided no hint of what was to come on the back, a chip-and-putt for par on the par-three 10th hole got him back to square for the round.
A missed short putt for par on the par-five 11th cost McIntyre the chance to get to +1, but he quickly made up for that with pars on the 12th and 13th holes, moving him to +2 and within reach of his winning prediction of +4.
A three-putt for a half on the 14th was a missed opportunity, but that was the last mistake he made.
A par five for a half on the 15th was followed by a birdie on the par-three 16th after he sunk a putt from about six feet, before a half on the 17th and a birdie on the 18th saw him in at +4 thanks to a one-over par 37 on the back nine.
And while McIntyre did his best work on the inward nine, Sullivan’s round was almost the exact opposite.
Playing off a 13 handicap, Sullivan was very well placed at +4 on the front nine after a 39 off the stick, but finished his round on the same score after dropping a shot on the par-four 13th but picking it back up on the tough par-four 17th.
McIntyre’s score saw him take out the top prize in A Grade, while Sam Letizia, one of a trio of players to finish on +1, grabbed second on a countback from Richard Gosling.
Sullivan easily claimed the honours in B Grade, four shots clear of Bryce Cutting, while a score of -1 was good enough for Des Guerin to win C Grade by a single shot from Kym Sykes.
The wind may have made life difficult for the players on Saturday, but Thursday’s stableford competition was played in near perfect weather, and it was reflected in the scores.
No less than 17 players in the 100-strong field beat their handicaps, Wayne Davison leading the way on 42 points.
Twice a runner-up in August, the 19-handicapper showed the benefit of daily practice, and a new rescue club, finishing one point ahead of Terry Janeway.
Starting his round on the 10th tee, Davison had a superb 25 points on the back nine, his only blemish being a double-bogey six for one point on the par-four 14th.
There were plenty of highlights, however, including three-points pars on the 12th and 13th.
He recovered from the setback on the 14th to pick up another three points thanks to a par on the 15th, and added a four-pointer on the par-three 16th after putting in for a birdie from off the front edge of the green.
Another four points after a par four on the 17th and a three-point par on the 18th gave Davison 25 points from 39 off the stick, and a couple of career highlights.
“I hit my new rescue club for my second shot on the 17th and went through the back of the green for the first time, and finishing the nine with three pars and a birdie was the first time I have ever made par (or better) for four holes in a row,” he said.
Rather than try to match that score on the front nine, Davison decided to go on the defensive, confident that another 18 points would be good enough for victory.
“I tried to swing easier and slower and not get into too much trouble,” he said.
The plan almost worked … he finished with 17 for the nine, after double bogeys for one point on the 5th and 6th, and a three-point par on the 9th.
The total of 42 was one more than runner-up Janeway could muster, the 11-handicapper shooting 78 off the stick to record 21 points on the front and 20 on the back.
A quartet of players – Setio Prajogo-Shanahan, Joel Mann, Des Guerin and Sam Mainwaring – were a further two shots back after signing for 39 points.
Playing off a two handicap, Mann shot a one-under par 71 off the stick, while Prajogo-Shanahan was on track for a fantastic round with just three holes to play.
Starting his round on the 10th tee and playing off a one handicap, he shot a superb 33 off the stick on the back nine before five pars and a birdie in his first six holes on the front had him at four-under.
But unfortunately the par-five seventh proved his downfall despite a monster drive leaving him just a five iron to the green for his second shot.
Two consecutive shanks saw him wipe the hole, before he recovered with two-point pars on the final two holes to add 17 points on the front nine to his 22 on the back to take third on a countback.
