WHERE else would you be playing a major Tournament with Tee-up on the Fairway (albeit only the First), enduring bushfire smoke and ash from Gumma during your Sunday round, testing your nerves and putting skill with super fast greens described by some as having been sprayed with silicone, combined with some challenging pin placements, and all with great springtime weather – only at the Island for our annual “Island Classic” 36 hole tournament over the weekend. The Tournament and this week’s featured sponsor was Midcoast Trucks and BCIB Insurance Brokers sponsored the daily Classic competitions.

Tuesday was the 8th round of the monthly “Island Challenge” Medley Stroke with some very good golf scores as our players seek to improve on their best 5 scores for the year to be in contention for the grand prize – a Drive, Play & Stay Golfing Package at Cypress Lakes, all sponsored by Toyota Genuine Service. Joe Street (17) scored net 68 to win on countback from current series Leader Colin Habgood (10 – Kempsey), who has improved his best of 5 scores by another 10 shots. Stephen Carr won Gross with 70. The best Lady player was Heather Gray (26) with net 71.

Other players to win a sleeve of balls were Geoff Brooks and Peter Shepherd net 69. NTP’s to Rodney Kinnear (Kempsey) on 5, Geoff Harris on 7, Geoff McCann on 8, Joe Street on 13 (228cms), Colin Habgood on 15, and Philip Mander won the Pro Pin Jackpot on 18. The Race to the Hunter Valley has Colin on 346, with Steve Carr very close behind on 348, then Stephen McNeil 360 & Judy Boyle 371 – with another 7 players still to get their 5th round in, and many others just needing a below Par round to boost their placings, the race is far from over – watch this space!

On Wednesday, the Women played a Single Stableford. Penelope Evetts (24) from Royal Hobart won Division 1 (0 to 24) with 39 points from Denise Paluch (18) 38 points. Judith Boyle (25) won Division 2 (25 to 30) with 38 points from Robyn Jones (30) on 37 points. In Division 3 (31 to 45), Dianne Hopkins (43) won with 37 points from Jennifer Ainsworth (34) with 36 points. Other good scores from Dianne O’Leary, Narelle Delaney, & Kerrie Jackson with 36 points, and the Ball Rundown to 34 points on c/b. NTP’s to Lisa Guest, Coral McCann & Bryony Brownlie on 5, Thea Kimber won the “Pizza This” voucher on 13, and the Pro Pin Jackpot on 18 was won by Martine Murray.

Thursday’s Medley Stableford attracted over 100 players, with some visitors scoring well. Colin Wormleaton (7) won Division 1 (0 to 15) with 39 points on c/b from Michael Richards (7) from Kempsey. In Division 2 (16 to 21), Wolfram Jirzik (18) scored 38 points to win from Brian Kelso (20) from Asquith on 37 points. Colin Dunne (26) top scored for the day with 41 points to win Division 3 (22 to 45) from Frank Taylor (25) with 40 points. Other good scores from Colin Morse (Royal Canberra) 39, Lee Fewings, Trevor Peter & Colin Habgood (Kempsey) 38, with the Ball Rundown to 33 points on c/b. The “Ecomist” loaded Stubby Holder on the 2nd Green was won by Trevor Peck, other NTP’s went to Greg McCoy on 5, Colin Wormleaton on 7, Garry Johnstone on 8, Colin Wormleaton got the “Pizza This” voucher on 13, (137 cms), Michael Richards got Stu’s ball on 15 and Glen Crow collected the Pro Pin Jackpot on 18.

The Island Challenge Open 36 Hole Stableford took place over Saturday and Sunday, with 59 visitors competing the Saturday’s great field of 160 golfers. The overall 36 Hole Winners (scratch) for 2023 were Timothy Murray from Armidale 69 and Sue Brooks from Nambucca 39. Net Winners were Stephen Carr (Division 1 – Nambucca) 72, Robert Else (Division 2 – Wingham) 69, Paul Constable (Division 3 – The Grange) 78 and Jan Harris (Women – Nambucca) 72. Full result details of major trophy winners, ball rundowns and NTP’s are available on the Club’s website and member’s Portal. Uncollected Trophies will be held at the Club Office for 1 month, and golf balls are available for collection from the Pro shop.

Our Greens are currently undergoing a major renovation, and will be back in play from Wednesday, so expect them to be substantially slower than last week! Our normal schedule of Competitions resumes from Thursday 31st with the popular Open “Dolphin Day” Medley Single Stableford, the Men’s Monthly Medal stroke on Saturday, and our “Island Sunday” Open Mixed 4BBB Stableford from 11am on Sunday.

See you on the Island.

By Geoffrey MCCANN