Davies delight at Deep Creek

Michael Banger watches his tee shot sail towards the green on the par-three second hole at Deep Creek Golf Club. 311878 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

DEEP CREEK GOLF

The sun was shining and barely a breath of breeze could be felt as players enjoyed perfect weather conditions for Saturday’s stableford event at Deep Golf Club.

A handful of players made the most of the ideal conditions, with six players scoring in the 40s and a further three bettering their handicaps.

But there was a significant standout on the day with Ricky Davies (15) about to kiss his handicap goodbye after his exhilarating round of 44 points claimed the A Grade victory by four shots.

Davies finished well clear of Graeme Durran (19), who would have been confident of success after signing a card in the 40s.

The B Grade competition was also a high-quality affair, with Lyriq Bester (20) scoring 41 points for a one-shot victory over Stephen Van Ingen (31).

Balls down the line went to 36 points with those scores being achieved by Blaze Bester and Peter Reilly with 40, Brian Webster 39, Rod Beard 38, Steven Van Roy 37, and Ciara Davies, Duncan Campbell, Rob Nobelius and John McDonald with 36 points.

Sharp-shooters winning nearest the pins were 2nd: Terry Bull (1.95m) and 16th: Peter Reilly (3.5m).

The golfing week kicked into gear last Monday when Daryl O’Grady scored plus-6 in the par competition to record a one-shot victory over Tom Reid.

A round of square with the card was required to win a ball down the line with Levi Sua 4up, Pat Ellerton 2 up and Kel Trickey 1 up playing better than their handicaps, and Leigh Burton, Tony Sheahan, Noel Boyd and Chris Dalton all finishing dead-square.

Nearest the pins went to 2nd: Rodger Parker (1.5m) and 16th: Noel Boyd (2.3m).

Ominous clouds gathered and then exploded on Wednesday, with the mid-week stableford competition being shortened due to a heavy downpour.

Geoff Percival (12) handled the tricky conditions best, scoring 29 points to win the day on a countback from Levi Sua (11).

Down the lines went to Leigh Burton 28, Stewart Macdonald 27, Bob Naismith 25, Ron Zomer 25 and Neville Taylor 24, while Chris McConnell won the SuperComp Front 9 with 18 points.

Nearest the pin went to the wily veteran Ron Zomer, who struck his tee shot on the second hole to 1.77 metres.

The ladies stepped out in overcast conditions on Thursday, which soon burned off to become a great day for golf.

Suzanne Van Strien (8) struck her opening tee shot perfectly down the middle and continued her great play to finish with 35 points and a three-shot win over Julie Cheng on 32 points.

Leah Barker, with 30 points, also played a tidy round, while Van Strien capped off a great day at the office with nearest the pins on the second (0.56m) and 16th holes (2.10m).

The nine-hole winner was Nola Kerslake (58) with Ginny Carter winning a ball down the line.

And the golfing week ended on Sunday with long-time member Brian Bateup (24) scoring 42 points to romp away with a three-shot triumph.

Bateup, who many years ago played one of the best rounds of golf the club had seen – shooting level par off the stick with a healthy handicap – was back to his best in a terrific display of Sunday golf.

Down the lines went to Kelsey Davies 39, Matt Hogan 38, and low-handicapper Harry Elyasie with 36 points.