On Saturday, the second and final round of Castlemaine Golf Club’s Gold Letter Event, The Frank Edwards Par Trophy, was played.
Stevens stole the show in a round of ups and downs, while Toohey came from the clouds.
After 36 holes of toil, trouble and tumult, Ross Stevens emerged triumphant after going into the second round with a two-point advantage over Jason Thompson and Greg Crowe.
Stevens might have had a few nerves coming into the second week, but didn’t show them as he took control of the game early, recording a +3 on the front nine. At the turn, he was a good four shots clear of nearest rival Crowe who looked relaxed and was striking the ball beautifully on what was his first full day of retirement.
Whether conscious or not, perhaps the thought of the win then started to weigh more heavily on Stevens’ mind as the first sign of stutters crept in. Returning to the clubhouse he came home with 0, 0, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1 and 0 to drop six shots and open the door for the chasing group. What a ride!
But the buffer he had built over the first 27 holes was just enough. Crowe went -3 on the second nine, Thompson went -2 for the day, and Wayne Toohey accelerated to +1, but it wasn’t quite enough to overtake Stevens’ overall lead. He finished -1 for the two rounds, winning by one point over Wayne Toohey who took out second place on countback (-2). Congratulations Ross!
In the day’s individual competition, it was Mark Brackley (13 & 0) scoring the win over Peter McCoombe (10 & -1) in A grade.
B grade saw Andrew Wilson (16 & 1) power home to win on countback over Wayne Toohey (21 & 1).
Place-getters were Sam Grimes (14 & -1), Jason Thompson (8 & -2), Brad Sturgess (16 & -2) and James O’Brien (-1 & -3).
Jeremey Bottomley dropped three birdies, while others plonked in for Glenn Carroll, Martin Cross, Greg Crowe, Sam Grimes, Callan Haynes, Garry Moore, James O’Brien (2), Matt O’Brien (2), Greg Sinclair and Wayne Toohey. NTP on the seventh was posted by Ross Stevens, and Greg Crowe scored the honours on the 12th.
The club also ran an 18-hole Irish Three-Ball on Saturday – a mixed team game – with teams drawn on the day. The team that led the field home was Geoff Margary, Jo Deppeler and Megan Carroll who scored a healthy 68 points, a good margin ahead of the runners-up, Ian Shields, Jen Dyer and Leonie Auhl (63 points), with three teams sharing third place (59 points). It was a fun day, and the club will do it again on Saturday July 30.
Pollard perfection!
More than 35 players turned out again on Thursday to compete in the midweek par competition, with plenty of great scores on display. In fact, eight players made their way into positive territory, going better than handicap and proving that on any day, anything is possible.
The best of the bunch was Daniel Pollard (5), one point clear of Matt O’Brien (4) who had a day-out of his own, recording a +4 and a round of two under.
In B-Grade, James McLeish (19) went +1, winning on countback over Tony Strong (17 & 1). Tony started the day strongly, birdying the first and keeping the tune going from there.
Other great rounds were posted by Lachy Brown (8 & 3), James O’Brien (-1 & 2), Gavin Lang (7 & 1) and Jason Cordy (5 & 1).
Birdies dropped for Jeremy Bottomley (2), Sam Grimes (2), Klai Jermyn (1), Brendan Josey (2), Gavin Lang (1), Kerin Lourey (1), Peter McCoombe (1), James O’Brien (4), Matt O’Brien (2), Daniel Pollard (3) and Tony Strong (1). Adam ‘The Snake Man’ Leslie scored nearest the pin on the seventh while Lachy Brown went closest on the 12th.
On Tuesday the club welcomed a visitor, Gwen Parsons (16 & 28). Gwen scooped the pool, not only coming in first, but also the Maxi IGA voucher for nearest the pin on the 12th! Just one behind was Swee Ho (28 & 27). A good field of 15 enjoyed some sunshine for a change.
Tomorrow is the men’s July Monthly Medal stroke, nine-hole stableford – and chicken parma, salad and chips in the clubhouse at 6.30!
This week’s results wrap is brought to you by Saw & Core concrete cutting, Castlemaine.