Two comps were ran simultaneously with a group of men playing Stableford and a group of women playing Mulligans .   A fun day was had by all with echoes of laughter to be heard across the course.
Winner for the Mulligans round; Jenny Hartley 89/30/59

Men’s winner; Hugh Williams 37 points (27)

A strong field took to the course for the October Medal and the 2016/17 Medal of Medalists. The conditions were almost perfect for golf, virtually no wind, clear skies and well cut fairways and greens however, if you did stray off the fairway and into the trimmed but thick rough it was quite a challenge to get the any distance on the ball and have it back into play.  Accuracy was key to success on the day and once on the green there were no excuses for three putts.   The Medal of Medalist field included numerous previous club champions so the competition there was going to be fierce.  Despite the beautiful spring day and the top condition of the course only two players were able to break their handicaps with one, the October Medalist, really showing the “youngsters” just how it was done.  On a beautiful mid spring day the results were;

Winner & October Medallist; John Laing – 104/33/71 from Les Gaunt – 80/5/75, Tony Freeman – 96/20/76, Mick Nicholls Jnr – 96/20/76, Rob Rea – 94/18/76 & Mal Mottram – 87/11/76

Women’s Winner; Darlene Baker – 93/21/72

2016/17 Medal of Medallists; Les Gaunt – 80/5/75

Least Putts – Dean Jones – 25

NTPs; 1st – Hugh Drummond, 15th – John Moody & 16th – Mick Nicholls Jnr

Women’s Singles Knockout Semi-final; Elaine Scanlon (33) D Wendy Gosden (36) – 2 up

2016/17  RGC Medal of Medallists Darlene Baker & Les Gaunt.

RGC Capt Scott Williams with October Medalist John Laing

The RGC team of Darlene Baker, Lorraine Robb, Beryl Cole and Wendy Gosden made the marathon trip to Marysville for their tournament.   The course was in great condition and the rhododendrons were flowering beautifully.  The team had a good day with Lorraine being runner up in C grade (37) – 33 pts and Beryl and Wendy equal 3rd with 31 pts. Darlene played very well except for one horror hole and unfortunately she was playing stroke as she was in B grade.  Everyone agreed the journey was well worth it as Lorraine came home with a raffle prize as well.

Under very heavy skies the field took to the course to play the October Medal  and the 2016/17 Medal of Medalist. With rain threatening for most of the round it was pleasant to get through without getting wet. When out of the slight wind it was at times quite humid but at other times a bit chilly.  The recent rains resulted in some areas of casual water and a number of areas that resulted in very little run. The fairways remain in wonderful condition with a great covering of grass. The greens have come up a treat after the recent work on them and were a pleasure to putt on. Lorraine can vouch for that,  recording eight one putts for the round and winning the putting.  Another highlight of the day was an eagle on the 260m, par 4, 9th by Darlene who holed her second shot from ~110 metres out. Results on the day –
Medal of Medalist;  Darlene Baker 98/21/77
October Medal; Darlene Baker 98/21/77 from Elaine Scanlon 116/32/84 & Beryl Cole 112/27/85
Least Putts; Lorraine Robb – 29

An early start, 5.30 am saw Wendy Gosden and Lorraine Robb off to Kew Golf Club to represent Dalhousie District in the GolfVic RWH 4BBB state final.  Lorraine started well playing very consistently then Wendy stepped up and played some great golf to pick up points. The course proved very challenging especially a couple of holes where deep bunkers swallowed the numerous golf balls.  The Dalhousie team combined well to score 40 pts, equal 11th place out of 36 teams. A big thank you to Bruce Robb for his efforts as both chauffeur and caddy.

Players headed to the tee under clear skies and a steady wind blowing from the south-west.  The John Laing Shield, now in its 22nd year is always a closely fought event and this round was no exception.  The incredible spring growth  saw well trimmed but very thick rough and dense fairways; mowing twice a week will be “de rigueur” for the next few weeks at least.  As the round progressed the wind strengthened and moved to the west resulting in some approach shots blowing up and ending well short or flying well over the green; club section proved to be very tricky.  A number of golfers returned good scores and at one stage there  was a three-way count back, until the final group made their way back to the rooms.  On a cool, windy day the results were;

Winner; Bob McLennan – 84/13/71 from Mick Nicholls Snr – 98/25/73, John Laing – 107/33/74, Rob Rea – 92/18/74 & Les Gaunt – 79/5/74

NTPs; 1st – Mick Nicholls Jnr & 15th – Bob McLennan

The Quarter Finals of the John Laing Shield (Handicap Match-play) will be;

1. Bob McLennan Vs 8. Ron Walker

3. John Laing Vs 6. Mal Mottram

2. Mick Nicholls Snr Vs 7. Kev Dunn

4. Les Gaunt Vs 5. Mick Nicholls Jnr

It was a clear, warm and slightly breezy day for the second round of the 2017 Singles Knockout qualifying.  The course was in stunning condition, but it was disappointing to find many unfilled divot marks especially ~80m out from the green on a number of holes.  The greens were the best they have been for over 12 months, thanks to the efforts at our recent working bee.  Again many members were out on the course repairing irrigation, cutting the fairways and rough and fine tuning the fresh water tank on the work shed.  On a great day to be out in the fresh air the results were;

Winner; Jenny Hartley – 111-30-81
Least Putts; Pam Drummond & Jan Harver 24 putts
Qualifying for Singles Knockout Match Play
1 v 4  – Jenny Hartley Vs Jan Harver
2 v 3  – Elaine Scanlon Vs Wendy Gosden

Jenny Hartley, Wendy Gosden and Elaine Scanlon  represented RGC at the 2017 Trentham Plate.  Due to poor weather forcing a reschedule the Plate was run as part of the Trentham Tournament this year.  The day was perfect; warm, still and sunny. Trentham’s course looked beautiful with all the flowering shrubs and trees including the spectacular rhodedrum on the 18th tee.  86 players participated in the event.  The RGC team found putting on the greens a bit of a challenge and one team member added the additional problem element, bunkers. Our team nett score of 243 was mid field however Jenny brought home the raffle.

Helen Dennett, Kilmore G. C., returned an 86 scratch  to take out Open Champion and Veronia O’Sullivan Woodend a 66 nett to win the silver tray for best nett score of the day. Lancefield G. C. won the Trentham plate with a 218 nett team score.

The round began on a beautiful, sunny mid spring afternoon, there was a steady northerly breeze blowing but nothing to really effect the golf.  The greens had recovered well from the scarifying and were generally true if a little slower than expected.  A great deal of work had been done to keep the rough under control by 22mm of rain during the week meant a few fairways had been too wet to be mown using the fairway mower so the rough mower was lowered and did a reasonable job.  As the round progressed the wind blew up and caused a few problems over the final nine holes.  The format, multiplier stableford saw some teams pick up 12 pts on one hole and zero on another.  Two teams ran neck and neck all afternoon and it was a fluffed putt on the 17th than made all  the difference.  On a stunning spring day the results were;

Winners; Michael McCarten (13)/Anthony Lakey (21) – 71 pts from Shannon Wright (14)/Michael Nicholls Jnr (22) – 70 pts.

Individual; Michael Nicholls Jnr (22) – 44 pts from Ron Walker (23) – 39 pts

NTPs; 15th – Jim Patton, 16th – Michael McCarten

Romsey Golf Club  was represented by Darlene Baker and Wendy Gosden at Sanctuary Lakes for the final of this state wide tournament. The day was overcast but warm with the wind only gusting on a few holes.  The fairways were in excellent condition and the greens were very slick causing more than a few problems for the field. The Darlene and Wendy managed to avoid most of the bunkers and, while two that did trap them, escape was secured and a score was registered for those holes.  On a very challenging course the RGC team scored a very creditable 33 pts, equal 8th on the day