The pleasant winter weather conditions on Saturday enticed another excellent field of 110 players to the Mount Gambier Golf Club.
In A Grade (-9.0 – 10) Matthew Knowles (6) posted the best score of the day with 40 points.
Knowles only managed 17 points on the front nine, but a one under the card 35 off the stick had him rack up a further 23 points.
Five pars with three birdies on the 12th, 13th and 15th holes was only undone by a double bogey six on the 14th.
One point back was Nic Clayton with 39 points.
Clayton like Knowles waited till the back to play his best golf with splits of 18 and 21 points.
Daryl Hutchins (17) took out B Grade (11-16) with 38 points.
Hutchins scored 20 points on the front with three pars, five bogies and a solitary double bogey on the second hole.
A triple double six on the par 3 10th hole failed to add any points to his score, before finishing the last eight holes with 18 points.
One point further back with 37 points was Jason Millhouse (13), who of late has consistently found himself near the top of the leaderboard.
Splits of 18 on the front and 19 on the back shows Millhouse is continuing to play solid golf.
As is common lately, a countback was required to determine the winner in C Grade (17.0 – 45.0) with Darren Earl (18) prevailing over Brad McDonnell (26).
Earl has struggled with his golf of late and found himself in C Grade for the first time in many years.
There are reports from his playing group that his hard work is starting to play off with the return of consistent ball striking.
Bar a few penalty shots and some suspect putting, Earl could have signed for a much higher total.
McDonnell continued his good form over the last few months, and surely will see his handicap continue to drop as we head into the warmer months.
Jason Mann (8) and Ben Canala (28) both ended up on 37 points.
Canala, a visitor from Sandy Creek Golf Club in the Barossa Valley, no doubt enjoyed the conditions at Attamurra and will be keen to return.
Thirty-five balls were given out for scores of 32 points or better on a countback.
Andrew Stark (3) won the pro shot on the eighth hole, with Trevor Younghusband (5) taking out the 16th.
Meanwhile, a good-sized field of 90 players headed to the Attamurra course on Thursday, which included visitors from Portland and Warrnambool.
Scott Whicker (16) took out the stableford competition with 39 points.
Opening with two pars, three bogies followed to have Whicker at 12 points after five holes.
Double bogies on the next two holes slowed his momentum until he closed out the nine with a pair of pars to turn on 20 points.
The back nine was a similar story for Whicker with two double bogies, three bogies, three pars and a birdie on the par 5 15th, to add another 19 points.
A countback was required to determine the runners-up spot with Wayne Davison (13) and Terry Janeway (13) both finishing with 38 points.
Davison’s even splits of 19 on the front and back had him take it from Janeway with 20 on the front and 18 on the back.
Shane Brook (3) was one shot further back on 37.
Thirty-four points or better on a countback was needed to win one of the extra 16 balls handed out with pro shot winners being Jim Douglas (34) on the eighth and Tim MacLean (14) on the 16th.
