IPGC Golf from The Haven
Monday, May 22, Mt. Shadow – Stableford
CSS 75
1st Jon Batty (7) 41pts
2nd John Carlin (18) 32pts
3rd Brian Beaupre (6) 30pts
4th Hal Hart (18) 28pts
5th Larry Gibb (21) 27pts
6th Markku Tynell (23) 27pts
With all the recent heavy rain it is not surprising to find many of the courses have not had a chance to do much mowing, leaving the greens, and especially the rough, very tough to handle.
It was therefore even more impressive when Jon Batty retuned a gross 74 over the short, but always difficult to handle Mountain Shadow course, playing from the blue tees as usual. On his way to his lifetime best score he racked up three birdies, eleven pars and five bogies and after taking the day’s CSS of 75 into account it meant a reduction of 1.6 to his 7 handicap, giving him the category 1 status achieved by very few golfers.
Trailing well back in second place was John Carlin who is at last managing to play consistently in the buffer zone as his putting becomes a little better.
Third place went to Brian Beaupre a couple of shots away and two ahead of Hal Hart in fourth.
Larry Gibb failed in his declared mission to sweep the 2s pot clean but won a count back over Markku Tynell for fifth place with a better 14 to 12 score over the back-nine on the card. There were no 2s in either of the divisions.
Wednesday, May 24, Pattana A & C (yellow tees) – Stableford
CSS 73
1st Paul Durkan (8) 37pts
2nd John Carlin (18) 35pts
3rd Brian Beaupre (6) 33pts
4th Hal Hart (18) 33pts
5th Ray Smallwood (25) 32pts
Another wet morning greeted the day’s hopefuls but on arrival at the course the weather stayed dry and overcast, making for good conditions climatically but still the course played to its most difficult with the rough particularly punishing.
Newcomer Paul Durkan underlined the quality of his 8 handicap while winning on his first outing with the group with a one over return against a CSS of 73 for the day.
John Carlin again proved to be second best this time just two points behind and once again in his handicap buffer zone.
Brain Beaupre made sure of a mention in his last game with the group when he won a count back over Hal Hart with a better 19 to 16, with Ray Smallwood just one behind in fifth place
Once again there were no 2s in the second division but Darryl Kellett and Paul Durkan shared the first division pool.
Friday, May 26, Pattavia – Stableford
CSS 72
1st John Carlin (18) 36pts
2nd Mike Dabanovich (12) 36pts
3rd John Tallett (26) 31pts
4th Mark Cooper (11) 29pts
5th Larry Gibb (21) 29pts
Having heard that the original course scheduled was undergoing some important renovations to the greens, the day’s event had been switched to Pattavia where the contenders had to wait for half an hour before the torrential rain eased off and a start could be made, albeit in light rain.
But the course was left a little bedraggled and very wet with again the rough extremely tough and the greens noticeably slower than usual. The latter actually helped the scoring, at least of the leading two players.
John Carlin at last broke his run of bridesmaid’s placements with a well-deserved win after prevailing in a count back over Mike Dabanovich, scoring a better 22 to 20 to leave ‘Dabber’ in second after a fine back-nine which would normally have been good enough.
John Tallett took third place some five points further back but two ahead of a count back for fourth and fifth, which Mark Cooper won over Larry Gibb with a better 12 to 10 over the last six after they had tied the nine on 16 apiece.
Once again there were no 2s in the second division but Mike Dabanovich made up a little for losing the count back when he had the sole one in the first division.
