Golfers who turn a run of average form into a victory on tour or in their club competition often point to reasons like a new driver, new putting grip … or even a new positive attitude.
But after taking out Saturday’s stableford event at the Mount Gambier Golf Club, Brad Von Duve gave some of the credit for his win to a new right hip.
The 57-year-old underwent the procedure seven months ago, and as well as returning to the winner’s circle, is also now down to a 13 handicap.
And that’s the lowest he’s been on since giving up cricket and becoming a member at Attamurra about six years ago.
“It took me a while to get over the operation, but I’m now feeling much better physically … which helps a lot,” Von Duve said.
“My front nines have actually been pretty good for a while, but I have been falling apart on the back.”
His front nine was strong again on Saturday, racking up 21 points thanks to a 40 off the stick.”
That was helped by a birdie on the par-four 4th hole, sinking an eight-foot putt for four points after a superb seven-iron from just short of 140m.
He probably should have picked up one extra point after finishing the opening nine with a three-putt bogey on the par-four 9th hole.
Despite that good start, a repeat of his recent struggles on the back nine again loomed large after a disastrous par-three 10th hole.
He actually had a relatively-straightforward uphill putt for par from about 12 feet after playing out of the bunker.
Inexplicably however, be walked off the green with zero points after needing four putts to get down.
Fortunately he was able to put that behind him, adding another 18 points for the remaining eight holes thanks to four pars and four bogeys.
His 39 points was the best score of the day, and four clear of the runner-up in B Grade, Peppi Pace.
The winner in A Grade was Grant Harvey who signed for 38 points, one ahead of Jim Leane.
Playing off a 12 handicap, Harvey struggled on the front nine, managing only 14 points after just one par, six bogeys and two doubles for a disappointing 46 off the stick.
The back nine was a different story though.
He opened with four straight pars for 12 points, and added 12 more on the final five holes for a total of 24 after birdies on the 16th and 18th and just 36 off the stick.
C Grade was taken out by Haydn Dow who compiled 37 points to be one clear of Adam Barnes.
While Von Duve paid some of the credit for his win to a new hip, the winner of Thursday’s stableford competition had an even more left-field reason for his success.
After celebrating the birth of his fifth grandson Alby just two days earlier, Patrick Dempsey said the adrenaline was still pumping during his round.
Playing off an 11 handicap, Dempsey, who has had six top 10s this year without winning, accumulated 40 points to finish three clear of Darren Coxon, Andrew Noble and Rob McIntyre.
That quartet were the only players in the 81-strong field to beat their handicaps despite the fairly benign conditions.
Dempsey did not set the world on fire on the opening nine holes with just 17 points, but he kick-started his round on the 10th, holing a 15-foot downhill putt for a four-point birdie.
Three-point pars on the next two holes, and another birdie on the par-five 15th put him in a position to par the back nine.
That was until he decided to play conservatively on the par-four 18th hole.
“I took an iron off the tee but did not hit it that well, was over the green for two and was lucky to get up-up-down for a bogey and one point,” Dempsey said.
As it turned out, his 23 points on the inward nine for a total of 40 was still good enough to win the day.
Three-handicapper Darren Coxon finished second on a countback after shooting 74 off the stick, while Noble and McIntyre did not help their chances by each having one wiped hole on the back nine.
