The Club Championship the event was held over the past two weekend and seen as the biggest event on the clubs calendar . Two main trophies are up for grabs , the Open Champion for the player with the lowest number of strokes and the Handicap Champion for the person with the lowest score after deducting their handicap . Last year 3 people tied for the handicap trophy , the Player Guide was reviewed and it listed 3 methods of doing the countback , 2 of which changed the results , this put the club in a difficult space so a change in policy whereby multiple winners could be awarded was decided.

WEEK 1

Week one was its usual self with the serious contenders out early in different parts of the practice facilities warming up and concentrating on what was ahead without saying a great deal . This included Open favourites Craig Markham , Dave Ovel, Mike Patton and Basil Musca. The Lakes-Island combination over the two weeks was well received as a few struggle with the Pines first few holes early in the day ! . The first 9 this week was the Island, and as expected the inform Mike put together a great round with Craig and Dave not far behind . Mike made the turn only one over and made birdie on the Lakes 1st to be even after 10. Craig and Dave were not far behind , 4 over after nothing seemed to want to drop with both having 4 or 5 birdie putts lip out and the same with a few Pars . On the par 3 Lakes 3rd Craig was caught between clubs and after a change the ball went into the bunker in an awkward spot causing another 3 to get out and finishing with an 8 . a plugged drive on the next resulted in another double and his event was pretty much done and dusted and Mike Patton rolled on . A couple of doubles had Dave fall away slightly with the wash up being Dave and Craig 8 and 9 shots of the pace with Mike finishing 79 with a triple in the closing holes. On the handicapping side of things Mike was well in front on 67 , with Rob Mizen and Basil on 71 with Trevor , Mike Newman , Hammo and Lui right amongst it.

WEEK 2

With the handicapping prize well and truly up for grabs the Open was a one horse race barring a disaster with Craig , Basil , Dave and Lui looking at 2nd and happily a win if it presented itself . Mike kept it flowing parring the first 4 and playing consistent golf but Craig was looking a bit dangerous turning with 39 and Dave Ovel turning with a 40. (both still 8 and 9 shots off the lead as mike turned with 41) Mike then had a little scare on island 2nd, 3rd and 4th, where he had a bogey, double bogey and treble bogey. Dave and Craig were back within the mix here now only 2 & 3 shots back. then the par 5 5th on the Island seemed to be the thorn in everyone’s side with Craig getting an 8 and Dave an 11 which gave Mike the breathing room again. Craig missed a simple birdie on the last to finish with an 80 and Mike on 85 to win by 4. The Handicapping race was still very much close with Trevor playing really well until 3 wipes stopped him in his tracks . Hammo and Steve Heron just ticked over nicely playing to handicap whereas Nigel Smith was putting together his best round with 26 points at the half way point . Crunching the numbers at the end of the game saw a tie for the handicap champion , Gary Hammond and Steve Heron . well done guys with the Mike Patton coming second.

Open Champions: Mike Patton (Champion) and Craig Markham (Runner-Up)

Handicap Champions: Joint Winners Gary Hammond and Steve Heron

Other news - Constitution

After the game a meeting was held to discuss and vote on the constitution, basically this is a document outlining the clubs procedures , roles and responsibilities. It was originally drafted by Dennis Scoble and recently a copy was requested by the dept. of commerce for which they can check against our day to day operation if need be. A special thanks to Laurie whom read through and made the appropriate adjustments which will bring us up to date with our current practices . He identified some areas that had been overlooked previously such as complaint resolution and the way in which the club now utilises electronic voting and golfing apps . Without this sort of behind the scenes input the club would not be a ‘Club ‘ and it covers the indemnity / liability should a member cause damage to property. So , a big thanks to Dennis for the original draft and to Laurie for conducting the review process and making the adjustments and submission. The result of the meeting was the Constitution was passed , a copy will be available on the website and has been sent to everyone via email.

Winners:

Open Champion

1st: MIKE PATTON (164)

2nd: CRAIG MARKHAM (168)

Handicap Champion

1st: STEVE HERON and GARY HAMMOND (142)

2nd: MIKE PATTON (144)