Ron Roberts, a regular visitor to Iluka from Laidley Golf Club in Queensland, is the 2018 36 hole Open Champion by virtue of two consistent rounds of 73 at the weekend. He established a narrow lead of two shots on Saturday and extended it to five shots on Sunday to head Grafton’s Matt Wurthing 146 to 151 for the title. Iluka’s Matt Campbell fired a career best on Sunday to finish on 164 and take over the lead in B Grade, one shot ahead of Mark Andrew who was the first round leader. The C Grade race was an all-Iluka affair in the finishing straight and it was Jim Kentwell on 184 who took the title in a photo finish with Jim Lowe, also on 184. The 36 hole nett events were won by Andrew Clarke on 133 in A Grade from Maclean’s Gregor Simpson whose putter refused to work for him for most of the weekend. In B Grade Jim Wride on 142 finished ahead of Bob Oddy on 144, while in C Grade Peter Gleeson needed a countback to win from John Caldwell, both on 144 nett. In the separate 18 hole event on Sunday, Greg Harvison fired an excellent 69 to win the A Grade gross and to show he would have been a real force to be reckoned with had he played both days. In B Grade Matt Campbell shot 77 on his way to the 36 hole title and it was a similar story in C Grade when Peter Gleeson’s 90 (on a countback) took him to the lead in the 36 hole event. Doug Hudson from Maclean won the A Grade nett event with 65, Mark Andres won B Grade with 62 and Theo Shepperd took out C Grade with 69. The Sunday nearest the pins were won by Alan Weick on 1/10, Fraser Marsh on 6/15 and Greg Harvison on 8/17. Balls were won by Sam McDonald on 67, Rod Smith 67, Alan Donaghey 68, Brenden Payne 68, Gregor Simpson 68, Rick O’Connor 69, Ron Roberts 69, Alan Weick 70, Jim Kentwell 70, Andrew Clarke 70, Bob Oddy 70, Jim Cazalet 70 and Matt Wurthing 70. Saturday’s first round resulted in Ron Roberts winning the gross in A Grade with 73, Mark Andrew best in B Grade with 87 on a countback and John Caldwell in C Grade with 92, also on a countback. The nett winners were Andrew Clarke with 63 in A Grade, Joel Power in B Grade with 69 and Jim Lowe in C Grade on 69. The nearest the pins were won by Gregor Simpson on 1/10, David Morgan on 6/15 and Josh Arndell on 8/17. Ball winners were Tim Arndell 63, Gordon Farrell 67, Gregor Simpson 68, Fraser Marsh 69, Jim Kentwell 70, Josh Arndell 71, Jim Wride 71, Rick O’Connor 71, John Phillips 72, Matt Campbell 72, Maurie Watt 73 and John Robinson 73. Visitors from 21 clubs compete over the two days and shared in the $750 worth of trophies sponsored by The Anchorage Holiday Park, the Iluka Caltex Garage and the Iluka Wellness Centre. Chris Richards