IPGC Golf from The Haven
Monday, May 8, Pattavia – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Bruce Hilde (16) 40pts
2nd Drew Niblock (17) 40pts
3rd Murray Edwards (19) 34pts
4th John Tallett (26) 34pts
5th Dave Edwards (13) 34pts
6th John Carlin (18) 33pts
With the week including a Bank Holiday on a Wednesday, the schedule was unusual starting out at Pattavia where the course was found to be playing far easier than many times recently. The greens were playing at around 8 on the stimp-meter and the CSS remained at par for a change.
Bruce Hilde, having waved goodbye on the previous outing, then spent the weekend at the range and seemed to have broken the habit of a lifetime and listened to someone as he returned to the group with a completely new approach and returned his best card since joining the group four years previously. He still needed to win a count back to take the day’s top honours, which he did with a better 17 to 16 to leave his playing partner Drew Niblock in second place.
Murray Edwards also had to win a count back with one of his playing partners, John Tallett, with a better 19 to 17 giving Murray third place and leaving John in fourth, with Dave Edwards also involved in the count back in fifth after he returned 16 over the last nine on the card.
John Carlin had a very respectable three over in sixth place.
There were no 2s in the first division but Bruce Hilde completed his cleanup for the day with the sole one in the second division to clear out the rollover pool.
Wednesday, May 10, Treasure Hill (yellow tees) – Stableford
CSS 72 NC
1st Darryl Kellett (14) 31pts
2nd Dave Edwards (13) 31pts
3rd Shane Heavey (20) 29pts
4th Hal Hart (18) 25pts
5th Ray Smallwood (25) 25pts
A trip to Treasure Hill, even playing from the yellow tees at just under 6,400 yards, is always a real challenge, with the CSS usually rising at least two and quite often being a non-counting event for upward revision. But this day was both well attended as the value for money on a Bank Holiday put many of the gougers in the area to shame. The scoring was no easier however and no surprise to find that when all the results were in, the day would be a non-counting once again.
The best of the day were Darry Kellett and Dave Edwards at five over handicap and who needed to be separated by a count back, which Darry won with a better 12 to 9 over the last six after they had tied the nine on 17 apiece.
Shane Heavey slipped almost literally into third place another two shots behind the leading pair while Hal Hart took fourth and Ray Smallwood fifth, the former winning a count back with a better 12 to 11 over the last six after tying the nine at 15 each.
Apart from the difficulty of the course design it was in excellent condition allowing for the rain interruption earlier in the round.
There were no 2s in the second division but Darryl Kellett stroked in a beauty on the short sixth hole to sweep the rollover pool clean in the first division.
Friday, May 12, Phoenix (Lakes & Ocean) – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Larry Gibb (21) 36pts
2nd John Carlin (18) 34pts
3rd Jon Batty (7) 34pts
4th John Tallett (26) 33pts
5th Mark Lang (6) 32pts
6th Mark Cooper (11) 32pts
With ominous rain storms in the offing there were a few no-shows from the projected field but apart from a slight sprinkle prior to the start of the competition the day stayed fine and overcast, giving good conditions for golf and with the course having stood up well to the week’s heavy rain the scoring was very reasonable.
Larry Gibb took a well appreciated win, as shown by the warm applause following the announcement of taking the top step of the podium, after he had returned a level handicap score to win by two. There was a count back for second and third places, which John Carlin edged over Jon Batty with a better m19 to 14 after Jon had suffered an uncharacteristic drop off in form through the last six holes.
John Tallett continues to be the nearly man as he took fourth place with yet another round in his buffer zone.
Mark Lang won another count back, this one with Mark Cooper with a better 17 to 16 to take fifth spot and leave Mark the last step.
It was interesting to note that most of the players have now understood how to play the redesigned 6th hole on the Lakes course, as evidenced by the top six cards returned, where the gross scores were one birdie three pars and two bogies which garnered 14 points.
Murray Edwards cleared out the second division rollover pool in the 2s whilst Jon Batty and Mark Cooper celebrated sharing the first division pittance.
