Saturday’s 9 Hole Stableford once again proved that shorter golf may actually suit quite a few members… particularly Athol Stephens, who is beginning to look far more like a sprinter than a long-distance runner.

Athol produced a cracking round to lead the way, clearly thriving in the fast-paced 9-hole format. Whether it was the reduced opportunity for golfing disasters or simply the influence of playing alongside resident Pro Mitch Newport, Athol certainly showed his mettle out there. Rumours suggest Mitch may have offered a few words of wisdom during the round — although by the closing holes Athol was striking it so well the coaching relationship may have briefly reversed.

The scoring overall remained very solid, and the competition at the top of the leaderboard was tight throughout the afternoon.

Men’s Prize Winners

1st – Athol Stephens – 22 pts – $26
2nd – Corey Sinteur – 22 pts – $22
3rd – Mike Rivers – 21 pts – $17
4th – Andrew Gunn – 21 pts – $17
5th – Adam Patchett – 20 pts – $13
6th – Rex Duncan – 19 pts – $10

Nearest the Pin honours went to Tim McCormick after an absolute beauty of a tee shot. The natural question heard around the clubhouse afterwards was of course: “I hope he got his 2?” Sadly, for the duration of our winter 9-hole competitions there will be no Twos, Birdies or Nett Eagles running — so Tim will unfortunately have to settle for a $20 Life Pharmacy Wilkinsons voucher, admiration, applause and possibly replaying the shot in his head several hundred times this week.

The battle for the special prizes was nicely balanced today though, with one of the ladies stepping up to claim Longest Putt on Hole 8 and restoring some order to proceedings.

The ladies competition also produced some excellent scoring. While nobody quite managed to keep pace with Athol’s sprint finish, any Stableford score beginning with a “2” deserves serious kudos in anyone’s books. The ladies continue to set a very high standard week after week and are clearly enjoying the new format.

Ladies Prize Winners

1st – Marie Wilkinson– 20 pts – $22
2nd –Julie Grant– 19 pts – $15

Longest Putt Hole 8 – Nola Pratt- $25 Neat Meat Vouchers

A big thank you to everyone for your patience while we continue working through the DotGolf setup changes alongside the course adjustments. We appreciate everyone rolling with the new format, and judging by the smiles, laughs and scoring, the winter 9-hole season is settling in beautifully.

See you all next Saturday!