By Ron Hottes
Wednesday 20 December, 2-Person Ambrose and Wednesday Christmas breakup:
With a high-spirited field of 50+ heading out to tackle Warburton’s beautiful course under perfect skies, everyone always knew there would be some impressive scores coming in. The daily winning pair were the proven father/son combination of Paul and Sean Kennedy. P.K. and Bruno more than matched the course, shooting a 65 off-the-stick for a Nett 59.75, a very impressive result for 2-Person Ambrose. Well done, Kennedys. Good mates, Peter Fox and Michael Pinkster also posted a superb Nett score of 60.50, to take home the runner-up vouchers ( Pete and Michael had the best raw score on the day -a great 64). The five NTP winners listed were Mario De Vincentis (3rd), Jaiden Lever (5th), Ray Gilmore (9th), Alan McDonald (12th) and Ken White (15th).
Twilight:
A quick resume of the results for this last Twilight before Christmas saw Paul Osbourne coming out on top with 22 excellent points. Good shooting, Ossie. The daily runner-up was Steve Patrick who posted a solid 21 points. Balls trickled down to 18. NTPs went home with Peter Whitehead (1st), George Brown (3rd), Clinton Toohey (5th) and finally Jason Kennedy (9th).
Top 10 standings: Jack Sheehan is leading the way with a very impressive 33 points. Pacey Luttgens is hot on his hammer with 31. Those two have cleared out for Paul Osbourne and Geoff Fall are equal third with 24 points. Then to make up the Top 10, in order, are Matt Maloney, Peter Fox, Junior Spenceley, Clinton Toohey and finally, Brayden Millar. The chasing pack, just outside that group includes Simon Spenceley, R.J Hendy, Ash Hall, Shane Campbell, Steuart Hawke and Danny Fox.
Saturday 23 December, Par:
A surprisingly big field for almost Christmas Eve attacked the course with gusto. Andy Lockey had a welcome return to good form, posting a +4. This was good enough to earn him the top voucher, although only just as a countback was required to split him from runner-up Dale Horrobin. Dale’s +4 was also a pleasing and improved effort, but he had to put up with the second-place prize. Balls extended down to -1. The NTPs were won by Ken White (3rd), ‘Happy’ Gilmore (5th), Chris Leighton (9th), Daryl Ward (12th) and Joshua Hin (15th).
Wednesday 27 December, Stableford:
On a pleasant day for playing golf, and with a surprisingly large field playing, ‘Old Man River’ Hubbard posted his best score for a while with 38 points. This was good enough to take home to Val the A-Grade prize. Great work, Allan. The A-Grade runner-up was Andrew Ford, a regular guest from Ringwood G.C. He recorded a solid 37-point round. But, the round of the day went to Peter Bell, with a most impressive 43 points. Great shooting, Belly. The B-Grade runner-up prize went to Laurie Doyle, who recorded a 38-point result. Balls in both grades extended to 33. NTPs went home with ‘Happy’ Gilmore (3rd), Ian ‘Junior’ Garside (5th), Barry Maltman (9th), Clint Toohey (12th) and Ryan Wilson (15th).
Twilight: Again, another surprisingly big field turned out for the Christmas Twilight. And, feeling very ‘Christmassy’ was Sam Dennis, who recorded a 22-point nine, his best for this season thus far. Paul Kennedy continued his excellent run of form, to grab the runner-up prize, with 21 well-constructed points. Good job, P.K. Balls only reached 18 this week. The 3 NTPs available went to Lance ‘Gator’ Atwell (10th), Geoffrey Fall (12th), and Peter Fox (15th).
Saturday 30 December:
The final competition day for 2023 was played in regular heavy showers but with otherwise pleasant conditions ensuing. Another larger-than-expected field attacked the course, with many posting fair-to-good results. But, at the top of the heap was current Club Champion, Michael Batten, who returned a very impressive 38 points(off a very low handicap). Mitzi’s win, though, was no walkover, because Sean Kennedy also posted a 38-point round. Bruno had to accept the A-Graderunner-up voucher after a tight countback was called for. In B-Grade, Jordie Burge returned a 34-pointer, and he also survived a tight countback, just pipping Des Ray for the top prize. Good work by both men. In both grades, the ball rundown reached 32. Your Loyal Scribe managed 31 points. The NTP wins went to John Hall, who recorded his fourth hole-in-one, including his second on the third hole. Congratulations, John, from all at Warburton G.C. a popular result. The other NTP winners were Geoff Fall (5th), Ryan Wilson (9th), Dale Horrobin (12th) and Clint Toohey (15th).
