There has been a significant change to the restrictions relating to the COVID-19 situation which apply to the use of golf carts. Commencing Wednesday July 1, two players will now be able to use the one cart for all golf competitions and social play. The relaxation of this restriction will no doubt be welcomed by all players and make life a little easier for those having to administer all our golf activities. the remaining restrictions are to remain in place until advised otherwise by Golf NSW and State authorities.
Sponsors of last Saturday’s monthly mug, Ton & Jason from Grafton Ally Fabrication would be pleased with the turnout of players with just under 140 taking up the challenge for the mug. The scoring was very tight at the top of the leader board with just five shots separating the top 23 players, resulting in the excessive use of the c/b procedure to sort out the various winners on the day.
That was the situation in deciding the overall and mug winner, with two players, Al McLeod (23) and Jeff Hackett (6) both completing their rounds with a score of 69 nett. In the end it was Al who finished on the right side of the countback process and was awarded with the overall win. Jeff had to settle for the win in A Grade as a consolation to go with his mid-week overall win in Tuesday’s competition; r/up went to Jeff was Jacob Cox (3) with 71 nett on a c/b.
Dennis Pye (12) no doubt had a more than profitable day with his score of 70 nett which gave him the win in B Grade. His regular playing partners would have suffered a rather substantial financial penalty as a consequence; r/up to Dennis was Danny Pachos (12) also with a 70 nett.
The leaders in C Grade, Billy Heath (18) and Brett Paxton (20) both completed their 18 holes with 73 nett and that was the order they finished in.
The scoring in D Grade was a little more defined with Aiden Langford (28) a clear winner in that grade with 71 nett from Bill Byrnes (23) with 74 on a c/b. With 18 players all finishing on 76 nett the c/b process went into overdrive to decide the pro-ball winners. As a result, seven players from that particular group of players received a ball for their effort, as did those on 75 or better.
Due to the restrictions required because of the Coronavirus, there are no NTP trophies on offer at this time. However, that did not concern Neville Gilbert (13) who produced a hole-in-one on the 1st. Unfortunately for Neville the jackpot does not apply currently due to the COVID-19 circumstances.
For the first time in a long time, we were able to conduct a formal presentation of trophies for Saturday’s competition at which time the various winners were recognised, but it allowed for the appropriate recognition of our sponsors and allowed those present to extend their appreciation to those sponsors. Hopefully, the presentation of trophies will now return on a permanent basis for the benefit of both the successful players as well as our much appreciated many sponsors.
Next Saturday will be the annual Don Bellamy Memorial Day, which will take the form of an 18-hole 4BBB Stableford for which Wendy, Jon and Mark Bellamy will provide the trophies. It is more than appropriate that Don Bellamy is recognised and honoured in this manner as he certainly was a great supporter of Grafton golf, not only as a player, but also as a sponsor. Nominations for this event will be strong, therefore get your entries in as early as possible.
A total of 95 players participated in last Tuesday’s Veterans/Members competition with Jeff Hackett (7) and Steve Summerell (14) sharing the best score for the day with 70 nett. Following the required c/b Jeff was awarded the win and Steve the 1st r/up spot. In the members competition Jackson Grieve (4) was the members 2nd r/up winner behind Jeff and Steve.
In the Veterans competition, Peter Gibbons (14) claimed the 2nd r/up spot, again behind Jeff and Steve with 36.
Pro balls went down to those on 32 in the members competition and 31 in the Vets.
The Thursday competition was also well supported with 71 players taking the challenge with a visiting Gardiners Run Golf Club member taking the honours, Adrian Lees (3) with 39 on a c/b from Brian Dougherty (18) and Clint Corbett (7) with 38 who was awarded the 2nd r/up spot.
Pro-balls went down to those with 32 on a c/b.
The 2020 Herron Stakes day is scheduled for next Tuesday which nearly always attracts a capacity field. Due to the importance of the day, there will be no scheduled Veteran’s competition; also, all nominations must be made online. There will be no provision for a walk up start, which is to become a normal playing condition for all future Tuesday and Thursday competitions.
For those players involved with the T.G.I.F. group, your next competition is scheduled for Friday July 17 with golf to commence at 11am. For any information relating to T.G.I.F. golf competitions contact co-ordinator, Neil Hayward.
Ray Hopwood