Weather and form align for Euroa’s autumn golf season

EUROA LADIES GOLF By DEBRA COX Wednesday, 2 April saw fifteen women play 18 holes in the weekly competition under fabulous autumn skies. We were also pleased to welcome back four of our nine-hole players. This week, the scores reflected the ideal playing conditions with some impressive results. Erica Mercer won the day with 37 points, closely followed by Levenia Redfern on 36. There was a five-way tie for line balls between Lorraine Ellis, Mandy Edwards, Gail Allen, Robin Lied, and Freda Edwards, all finishing on 32 points. We are all making the most of the good run on the fairways, although it certainly helps if you can hit straight. Nearest the pin: 8th to Erica Mercer, 12th to Levenia Redfern, and 18th to our newest member, Faye Mollison. A great result for Faye, and no doubt the first of many. Drive and Pitch: 5th to Gail Allen, 15th to Lorraine Ellis. Saturday, 5 April – Stroke and Monthly Medal. Saturday’s competition featured Stroke and the Monthly Medal, sponsored by Drummond Golf. B Scratch was also up for grabs. Once again, fifteen women took to the course and the scores were even better than Wednesday’s. Annette Smith claimed the Monthly Medal with an exceptional net 68 — a brilliant result, particularly given that she has only recently returned to the course after six months off. Jean Duff was runner-up with a net 70. Gail Allen and Jenny Thompson also had podium finishes with net 71. Michelle Grady won B Scratch. Least putts went to Grace Eddy with 28. Drive and Pitch: 8th to Sarah Bullen, 12th to Annette Smith, and 18th to Grace Eddy. 5th to Freda Edwards and 15th to Jenny Thompson. Wednesday, 9 April – Par Round. Next Wednesday and Saturday will both be Par rounds — the gods of golf clearly have a sense of humour scheduling two in a row. We all wish Judy McLean a speedy recovery following her mishap on Wednesday. Judy, if anyone can wear a moon boot with style, it’s definitely you. Eleven players turned out for 18 holes of the dreaded Par format. The nine-hole competition was also well supported with seven players contesting Stableford. It was a tight finish in the Par round, with three players finishing on plus one. One of our newest members, Faye Mollison, won on a countback from Annette Smith and Erica Mercer. A fantastic start to Faye’s golfing journey. Kae Lummas was the best of the 9-hole players, returning a solid 18 points. Nearest the Pin: 8th to Deb Cox, 12th to Annette Smith, and 18th to Kae Lummas. Drive and Pitch: 5th to Michelle Thomson, 15th to Gail Allen. Saturday, 12 April – Stableford Switch. Saturday was originally scheduled as another Par round, but in a stroke of wisdom (and absolutely no self-interest), our captain Sarah Bullen changed the format to Stableford. Mary Dewis led the field with an excellent 38 points. Gail Allen and Sarah Bullen both returned 37 points, with Annette Smith rounding out the winners with 36. Nearest the Pin: 8th and 18th to Jenny Thompson, and 12th to Erica Mercer. Drive and Pitch: 5th to Annette Smith, 15th to Gail Allen. Next Wednesday, the Easter Bunny is coming to the Club for a fun 12-hole round. May Hamilton will be providing hot cross buns, and Freda Edwards will be distributing chocolates to the winners. STRATHBOGIE GOLF CLUB By KRISTEN MOORE LAST Saturday we had a good field despite many regulars being unavailable. A stroke round was played for the April Monthly Medal. There was a tie for the Monthly Medal, with Greg Roberts and Anthony Newham both finishing with a net 68. After a lengthy countback, Anthony Newham was declared the winner. The ladies’ winner was Bec Newham with a net 75. Lineball prizes went to Greg Roberts (68), Rick Brodie (71), Phil Raftery (76), Victoria Fry (76) and Wally Dunn (76). Nearest the pin winners: 4th hole – Victoria Fry. 8th hole – no winner. 15th hole – Chris Bennett. 17th hole – Ria Pearce. Drive-and-pitch winners were Anthony Newham (men’s) and Victoria Fry (ladies’). The least number of putts was recorded by Anthony Newham with 26. The straightest drive was won by David Kennett. Our pennant team of Aaron, Nathan, Mick, Phil and Barney lost to Alexandra at Yea, 3–2, with Aaron and Phil claiming wins. Next week will be a Stableford round and the first round of the Wally Dunn Trophy. What a cracker of a day Saturday was – the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and the scores were red-hot once again. Peter Smith clearly enjoys returning to play at Strathbogie whenever he can, finishing with an impressive 40 points to win the men’s competition. Kerry Hewlett took out the ladies’ competition with a solid score of 34 points. Lineball prizes were awarded to: David Kennett – 40 points. Greg Roberts – 39 points. Mick Dixey – 37 points. Kevin Chenhall – 35 points. John Moore – 35 points. Nearest the pin winners: 4th and 8th holes – John Moore. 15th hole – Greg Roberts. 17th hole – Visitor Christian Treloar. Drive-and-pitch winners were John Moore (men’s) and Victoria Fry (ladies’). The straightest drive was claimed by Grant Pearce. Next week, the men will be teeing off from the red markers. Phil Fry is on duty. Also, a reminder that our monthly dinner will be held on Saturday, 27 April. Please get your bookings in early, as last month we reached capacity and had to close bookings. Our pennant team recorded its first win of the season, defeating Yea at home, 3–2. Congratulations to Nathan Macauley, Phil Fry, and David Kennett on their match wins. EUROA GOLF CLUB By RICHARD JOHNSON DALE McIntosh’s net 71 saw him crowned the April monthly medal winner, finishing one shot ahead of Neal Healey on 72. Cam Roper followed on 73, with Paddy McCarthy and Jackson Walker equal on 74. Another junior member, Walt Pedder, claimed Division two with a fine net 75, which could have been much better if his putter had behaved. Laurie McMartin had no such issues, using the flat stick only 22 times to win the putting prize on the much firmer and faster greens. These challenging conditions tested many Division two players, with a dozen of them returning cards with Bradman scores. Better scores were recorded during the Wednesday competition, with Keith Seebers winning on 38 points. Matt Mills finished on par for the round, returning 37 points off a plus one handicap. The scratch pennant team returned to the winner’s circle with a 3/2 win over Woodend at Alexandra. The restricted handicap team were less fortunate, going down to Broadford on their home course. The Birdies and Eagles draws begin next week, with a couple of tickets still available. A week of par events was held at Euroa Golf Club. On Wednesday, 21 players took on the course in lovely autumn conditions. Jackson Walker continues to impress, recording another Division one win with a score of plus two from his handicap of 10. Paddy McCarthy finished square. In Division two, Walter Pedder continued his winning run with a plus six, ahead of fellow junior Alex Burton on plus three. Charlie Walker was the best of the more seasoned players, finishing on plus one. Saturday featured the qualifying round of the Murphy Motors four-ball event. The winning pair was Charlie Walker and Ian Sutherland, who combined perfectly to return plus nine—one better than Paul Jones and Paddy McCarthy. Ian Horwood had a strong day, taking home two nearest the pins as well as qualifying for the playoffs. The matches to be played before Monday, 13 May are: Walker and Sutherland vs Roper and Flavel. Seeber and Rosenbrook vs Farmer and Bubeck. McCarthy and Jones vs Healey and McMahon. McNair and Gilbert vs Horwood and Johnson. The first prize in the Eagles and Birdies competition went to Nicholas Watson. Next week’s event will be Stableford. NAGAMBIE GOLF CLUB By DAVID LOVE IT was a near-perfect summer’s day at the Nagambie Golf Club in mid-April, with the daytime temperature reaching 30 degrees. Local players enjoyed the unseasonably hot conditions, with 30 teeing it up for a Stableford event. Just as hot as the temperature was winning golfer Ryan Ezard, firing three birdies in his round to record a score of 41 points and take home the Seymour Club matchday voucher. Ezard was long from the tee and precise with his wedges, enabling him to shoot his first sub-80 total in golf. Runner-up was Ben Cassar, also on 41 points, with a round inside 80 shots. Cassar’s recent form has been good, but Sunday was exceptional. Third place went to the dashing Doug Neville—more of a four-ball specialist than an individual event contender—who turned out a rock-solid 38 points. Nearest-the-pin prizes were awarded to Dean Brown with a well-weighted high iron onto the 3rd; 'Ravishing' Rhys Shepherd, who blasted away at the 8th; and Rod Wilson, displaying high-quality iron play to claim both the 13th and 16th. Next week’s golf will be held on Easter Sunday, with a Par event scheduled. B. Leviston will be on office duty and J. Mills in the bar. AVENEL GOLF CLUB By LYN CARRACHER IT has been a hive of activity at Avenel Golf Club in recent weeks, with preparations in full swing for the official opening of the golfing season. Members and friends have dedicated many hours around the course, which is now in excellent condition and expected to improve further with some decent rainfall. The Friday twilight series concluded recently, following a successful run over summer. Participation numbers were strong, with several new members joining the ranks. Rachel Smith and Samantha Hannigan have both taken to the game with enthusiasm and have shown significant improvement since picking up their clubs. Both have claimed multiple wins during twilight and are expected to continue their good form into the main season. The final round of twilight was Stableford, played off the front nine short course. The winner was Sam Hannigan, who had a standout performance with 22 points. Word is she had a lesson from Sam at Mooroopna, and it appears to be paying dividends. Runner-up was Campbell Smith, who also played an impressive round to finish with 21 points. Nearest the pin on the 5th went to Campbell, while Captain Jed Smith claimed the drive and pitch on the 7th. The opening day for the 2025 winter season took place on Saturday, marked by a two-person Ambrose. The field was welcomed by Vice President Bill Eddy, who invited Marlene Hull to officially open the course. Marlene reflected on more than 40 years of playing golf at Avenel, a sport she was introduced to by chance but which has become close to her heart. After formally declaring the season open, she continued tradition by making the first putt of the year. Many thanks, Marlene. Visitors from Shepparton and Euroa joined the competition. It was the Shepparton pair of Ymer Memhet and Colin Basham who took out the scratch with an impressive score of 69. Runners-up were Scoota Donovan and Dennis “the menace” Neville with 70, followed by Emily and Craig Flavel on 74. Handicap winners were Jed and Rachel Smith, with a score of 70 net 60.25. Runners-up were Shane Myers and Corey Pilcher with 73 net 65. The trio of Dave Fullager, Dee Wright and Marlene Hull finished with 78 net 65.67 and also claimed a ball prize. Nearest the pins went to Marlene Hull on the 5th (she also made the putt), Colin Basham on the 8th, Corey Pilcher on the 14th, and Rachel Smith on the 18th. The Avenel Imperial Hotel $50 voucher was won by Marcus Steers. The men’s pennant team travelled to Broadford on Sunday to take on Woodend. Unfortunately, the Broadford course is currently in poor condition and play was tee-up throughout—something unfamiliar for most players. The team went down 4–1, with Mark Hannigan the sole winner. Campbell Smith was unlucky, narrowly losing on the 20th hole. Saturday’s game will be Par off the short course, followed by pennant hosting duties on Sunday, starting at 11am. All members are kindly asked to bring a plate to share for afternoon tea. NAGAMBIE LADIES GOLF By KARYN THOMPSON THERE were nine players for the beginning of our Winter Competition. It was a Stableford round, and the winner of the 18-hole competition, the Monthly Medal and the Seymour Club Voucher was Karyn Thompson on a countback from Jane Bow with 33 points. The nine-hole winner was Jane with 18 points. There were no nearest the pin winners. Balls down the line for 18 holes went to Karyn and Jane, both with 33 points. Balls down the line for nine holes went to Jane with 18 points and Moz Fowler with 16 points. Results – Wednesday, 9 April. It was a round of stroke with eight players. The winner of the 18-hole competition was Monica Hurley on a countback from Karyn Thompson, both with 77 net. The nine-hole winner was Karyn with 39 net. Nearest the pin on the 3rd was Karyn. Balls down the line for 18 holes went to Monica and Karyn, both with 77 net. Balls down the line for nine holes went to Karyn with 39 net and Monica with 39.5 net.

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