Mens’s champs
THE first two rounds of the 72-hole men’s club championships was played at Coomealla at the weekend with Nathan Gard going out strong on day one.
A par round of 72 saw him sit one shot ahead of Greg Rhodes on 73 with Troy Neville a further shot back in third on 74.
Andrew Stewart played into contention with an opening round of 75 as did Justin McPhee, who shot out of the gate with a 33 on the front nine only to give them all back and some on the back nine.
Wayne King was the star performer on day one with 75 to play into contention three shots back from the leader, with playing partner Steven Portelli also having a day out with 77.
James Daly threw his hat in the ring with an opening round of 76 and blast from the past Robert Pallot showed that he still has what is needed to contend with an opening round of 77.
The only other golfer to break 80 on day one was Mark Hann who opened his championship account with 79.
Day two saw the cream rise to the top with Rhodes shooting 70, and six shots in front, at the halfway mark.
Neville was able to hold his own shooting 75 to sit in equal second with Daly who backed up his opening round of 76 with a score of 73. Gard wasn’t able to keep up the form of day one but kept in touch with the leader after a 78 to turn the halfway mark on 150 and seven shots behind. Mark Hann’s 73 on Sunday was a marked improvement on day one but will need to improve even more this weekend if he is to pick up the nine shot deficit he has from Rhodes.
Any golfer sitting six shots ahead halfway through a 72 hole tournament would be in a commanding position but the quality golfer of Rhodes’ ilk would see this margin almost impossible to chase down.
For any of the golfers looking to pick up the shots on Rhodes over the weekend, I expect anything other than a sub-70 score on Saturday will be good enough to be in contention on Sunday.
Ladies champs
ROUND 1 of the 54-hole ladies club championships at Coomealla also teed off on Saturday with Sue Laird taking a massive lead after day one.
A score of 76 has her eight shots ahead of Lee Bottomley on 84, with Nia Whittle two shots further back on 76.
A similar situation to the men’s leader, the class and ability to win from Laird is going to make it near impossible for her to be chased down and if it can be done it will take some extra special golf from either Bottomley or Whittle to do so.
The second round will be played today with the final round to be played this Saturday.
Volkswagen scramble
THE Volkswagen Scramble (formally known as the Holden Scramble) will be played on October 6.
Information from the official website stated the format for the event this year was a four-person, elimination format Ambrose where all team members tee off each hole and then the team chooses the shot they are going to use.
The golfer whose shot is taken is eliminated from participating in the next shot with the player only being eliminated for the one shot following his/her selected shot.
This process continues up until the ball is on the putting green, and then all four players have the opportunity to sink the putt.
All four players tee off at the next hole and the elimination process begins again until the ball is placed on the putting green.
Each team member’s tee shot must be used at least three times per round. The eliminated player cannot take a practice shot during the time they are eliminated.
In order to be eligible to compete in the Volkswagen Scramble all amateur players must hold an official Golf Australia (GA) handicap.
Players with a Golf Australia handicap that has been set to provisional are not eligible to participate in the Volkswagen Scramble.
The maximum GA handicap is 36.4 for males and 45.4 for females.
The maximum daily handicap is 36.0 for males and 45.0 for females.
The four team members’ aggregate GA handicap must total at least 32.0.
The maximum aggregate GA handicap is 112.0.
The maximum aggregate GA handicap for the women’s only Volkswagen Scramble is 132. A maximum of two single figure handicap (9.9 or less) players based on individual’s GA handicap are allowed in each team at the local/district event.
To determine the net score on the day of the local event, team members’ GA handicaps are adjusted as per the Slope rating of the tees being played from to determine their daily handicaps.
The aggregate daily handicap is divided by eight to determine the team daily handicap. The resulting figure is then subtracted from the team’s score for the Ambrose 18-hole event.
This has always been a fun event to play in with the chance to qualify to the regional final and then onto the national final from there like our Coomealla team did last year.
To enter you need to go onto the official website www.vwscramble.com.au/event where you will need your golflink numbers, surnames of all players in your team as well as email addresses.
This now puts Rhodes back on top of the Order of Merit for Senior golf in Australia earning him the number 1 national ranking again after missing events earlier in the year due to health.
Rhodes has a big schedule coming up for the rest of the year playing as many events as he can as well as multiple national representation events.
Rhodes South Australia State champ
GREG Rhodes has continued on his winning ways, taking out the South Australian Senior Amateur Championship last week at Naracoorte Golf Club.
With rounds of 71 and 73 Rhodes took a three shot lead into the final round and in tough conditions just held on by one stroke after finishing the tournament with an 80.
Rule of the week
THIS week I would like to focus on practising on the course before a round and what you are allowed or not allowed to do.
5.2
Practising on Course Before or Between Rounds
For purposes of this Rule:
• “Practising on the course” means playing a ball, or testing the surface of the putting green of any hole by rolling a ball or rubbing the surface, and
• The limitations on practice on the course before or between rounds apply only to the player, not to the player’s caddie.
a)
Match Play
A player may practise on the course before a round or between rounds of a match-play competition.
b)
Stroke Play
On the day of a stroke-play competition:
• A player must not practise on the course before a round, except that the player may practice putting or chipping on or near his or her first teeing area and practice on any practice area.
• A player may practice on the course after completing play of his or her final round for that day.
The two points I would like to highlight in this rule is that it states that the rule does not apply to a caddy.
This means a golfer who has played a round in the morning can then caddy for a golfer on the same course in the same field that afternoon.
This is a question that sometimes gets asked with the answer often being: I’m pretty sure you can/cannot. Now we know that this can definitely happen.
The second point is surrounding using the designated practice area at your course before you play.
One factor that all Golf Clubs need to make sure they have considered is that their practice area is clearly marked so that golfers know where they can and where they cannot practice within the rules of golf.
If you would like to read more about this or any other rule you can do so at www.randa.org
If you have any golf related topics you would like me to look at or have a rule change you would like me to explain you can contact me at mildura@houseofgolf.com.au
