EUROA GOLF CLUB By RICHARD JOHNSON After a week of weather that the whole district wanted badly, 14 division one players took on the cold, wet and windy conditions and acquitted themselves well, with three of them finishing better than their handicaps. Only six division two players were prepared to give it a go and none got within eight shots of playing to their handicap. Paddy McCarthy claimed the day with 37 points, one better than Lucas Paul on 36. Matt Mills shot the round of the day, parring the course from his plus one handicap for 35 points. Dale McIntosh and Matt Mills took home a tidy payout, sharing the two ball rollover pool. John Gilbert was on target again this week, collecting another nearest the pin on the eighth, while Cam Roper claimed both the fifth and the 12th. Tehan George and Co were the sponsors of the weekly events for the last week of winter golf, while spring golf gets underway next week with a stroke monthly medal round. NAGAMBIE GOLF CLUB By DAVID LOVE The Nagambie golfers encountered blizzard like conditions throughout their round on Saturday, with freezing wind and scattered showers ensuring scoring was difficult and comfort levels were low. But as the old saying goes, when the going gets tough the tough get going, with Phil Hageman winning the day’s par event with a -4 result. Hageman’s gritty determination, combined with some handy wild weather golf, saw him win by one. Runner up went to Gary Bow on minus five, beating Glen Evans on countback, also on minus five. Bow and Evans are two well credentialed golfers in the tough going, both finishing their rounds off strongly. Next week’s golf at Nagambie will be a stroke monthly medal event. On office duty will be J. Ezard and in the bar B. Leviston. AVENEL GOLF CLUB By LYN CARRACHER Avenel’s tournament weekend has come and gone. The weather threw in a curveball, meaning we couldn’t get the mowers out during the week, and a lot of the sand was washed away by heavy rain, but all in all the course held up pretty well. On Saturday it was the Pioneer Park 4BBB par with 20 pairs braving the wintry conditions. This year the Pioneer Park Shield and men’s winners were a team from Mallacoota, Chris “Magic” Caeger-Watson, and Craig Groome, who combined for a fantastic plus eight. Runners up for the men were Alex and Campbell Smith on plus five in a three way countback over Mark and Rayden Hannigan, and Willie Wheeler and Mick Gibbons. The ladies winners were Emily Flavel and Grace Eddy (both from Euroa), who combined for a great plus seven, with Lyn Carracher and Carol Hopkins (Mallacoota) being runners up with plus four. NTPs went to Sam Hannigan on the fifth, Craig Flavel on eight and 18th, with daughter Emily taking the 14th. Sunday was the men’s 18 hole open tournament with a decent field of 48 taking to the course. The A grade scratch winner was Luke Heard from Alexandra with a fine 74, one clear of Euroa’s Ed Carracher. The A grade net winner was Shane Black with a new PB 76, net 68, to street the field. Mick Doyle (Mt Macedon) won nine holes out and Ed Carracher nine holes in. The B grade scratch winner was John Moore from Strathbogie, with 82 off the stick. John first came to our tournament over 50 years ago and was a very deserving winner. Adam Harrap won the B grade net with 72. Nine holes out went to Kenny Morrison (Mallacoota), with Alex Smith winning the nine holes in. The C grade scratch winner was Graeme Pool (Beechworth) with 91, and Chris “Magic” Caeger-Watson won the net with 73. Nine holes out went to Greg Clements (Yea), and nine holes in was Bernie O’Hare (Nathalia). The junior scratch winner was Euroa’s Sam Mills with 84, and net was Rayden Hannigan with 71 net. Nearest the pins went to Luke Heard on the eighth, Dale Smith on 14th, and Justin Ryan on 18th. Mick Prorock was the drive and pitch winner on both the 7th and 17th. Thank you to everyone who helped in the kitchen, behind the bar and BBQ, bookwork, on course and in between. We’re a small club with some great volunteers. Special thanks to La La (Greg Hopkins) and the 12 Mallacoota crew who came along and made it a memorable weekend. The Sand Rake Challenge now stands with Avenel holding a 30-shot lead heading into the return leg at Mallacoota in Melbourne Cup week. This Saturday we have the semi finals of the men’s matchplay for the club championship. It is also the monthly medal for those not in the matchplay. Good golfing to everyone. STRATHBOGIE GOLF CLUB By KRISTEN MOORE This week we started off with lots of trees down on course, thanks to the rain and winds over Friday. On Saturday we played Stableford and had to wear lots of woollies to keep warm. Winner of the day was Phil Fry with 34 points on countback from Nathan Macaulay. Line balls: Nathan Macaulay with 34 points Eleanor Barns with 33 points Nearest the pin winners: 15th: Grant Pearce 17th: Jim McAlister Drive and pitch winners: Men’s: Nathan Macaulay Ladies: Kristen Moore Straightest drive: Kerry Hewlett Next week will be stroke and monthly medal. Tee off time will be back to noon and Kristen Moore will be on duty. Also, after 52 years of playing golf in the Avenel tournament, our captain John Moore won the B grade scratch. Nathan Macaulay also won the raffle three times to collect three six packs of beer. Under extreme difficulties with no power, Shae cooked our Indian curry night dinner. There was a great turnout of people who very much enjoyed the meal. We would like to thank him for a very successful night and a job well done.
