Thursday 29th September 2016 was to be the final Round of the Thursday Championship but was cancelled due to inundation of several greens. The final round will now be played on Thursday 6 October. Shotgun Tee off at 9.00am.
Click on results button below
Today’s event sponsored by Marg Raynor.
Top two qualifiers to play off in final.
Click on Read More button for results
As the fairways begin to dry out, the run is coming back to the Course. Many very good under par scores are being recorded at the moment and with that, the Top Gun Top 19 field is in continuous motion as players drop out and others climb the ranking.
It’s good to see the recent excellent results obtained by Marea Maher and Karen Bear to climb back into the Top 19, joining Coral Gray.
The minimum qualifying score for the Top Gun final at the moment has risen to 35 points with a back nine score of 21.
As always, some of the better scores recorded don’t belong to registered Top Gun players. So if you are one of those playing well at the moment, remember it’s never too late to join up. Do so before you hit the next great qualifying score.
| Position | Surname | First Name | Best Score |
| 1 | Waters | Peter | 40 |
| 2 | Hughes | Norm | 39 |
| 3 | McLennan | John | 39 |
| 4 | Smith | Andrew | 39 |
| 5 | Maher | Geoff | 39 |
| 6 | Brown | Rod | 39 |
| 7 | Clemann | Doug | 38 |
| 8 | Cathie | Bruce | 38 |
| 9 | Maher | Marea | 38 |
| 10 | Murchie | Ian | 37 |
| 11 | Gray | Coral | 37 |
| 12 | Hams | Craig | 37 |
| 13 | Hutton | Bruce | 37 |
| 14 | Gill | Frank | 37 |
| 15 | Bear | Karen | 37 |
| 16 | Wallace | Denis | 37 |
| 17 | Edney | Allan | 36 |
| 18 | Bear | Colin | 36 |
| 19 | Baker | Ian | 35 |
For full results of today’s Stableford event click on results below;
Thursday the 22nd Sept. saw the final of this year’s Hyland Cup, Leongatha Golf Club’s Men’s Handicap Matchplay competition.
From the original 39 entrants, the final was a contest between Barry Stevens and Colin Bear.
The front nine was shared and both players tested each other out with some great golf. Colin then won the long par 4 -11th hole to be one up. They then halved the 13th and 14th.
Barry put his drive from the 15th tee into the trees on the dogleg and had to chip out sideways, and Colin played down the middle and won the hole to put him 2 up with 3 to play and looking like a winner.
On the tricky par 3- 16th hole, Barry put his tee shot to within 1 metre of the pin, while Colin was off the green to the right. Colin got his ball up and down for a par, but Barry sank his birdie putt to cut the lead to 1 down.
The 17th saw both players about 20-30 m short of the green for two. Colin used his Texas wedge to putt his ball within about 5 metres of the flag and two putted. Barry chipped, finishing closer to within 1 metre of the flag. Again Barry sank a lovely putt to win the hole and square the contest. At this stage the golf was first rate and worthy of the Hyland Cup final but the pressure was building on both players.
Then came the 18th hole. Both players hit good drives to the right of the fairway, before Colin hit a long second shot to an ideal position left onthe fairway at the dogleg leaving a perfect approach position to the green. Barry pulled his second shot right and short of the corner and could only chip his third shot past the corner and his ball came to rest behind the bunker.
Barry then skinnied his chip shot over the bunker and through the green towards the clubhouse quite some distance from the green and was in trouble.
Colin was a chip and a putt away from taking out the Hyland Cup. He played his pitch shot towards the green but came up short and put his ball in the bunker left of the front of the green.Unfortunately for Colin, he took four shots to get out the bunker and make the green.
Barry is not one to miss a second chance, and played a great chip shot up the embankment and finished within a metre of the hole, so Colin conceded the match to Barry. That’s what we love about matchplay, it’s not over until it’s over.
But a great contest between two good golfers resulted in a win on the 18th for Barry Stevens. Well done to Barry, Colin and all those who played in this years Hyland Cup.
Colin Bear (left) congratulates his opponent and winner of the 2016 Hyland Cup, Barry Stevens.
Thursday 22 Septembr 2016 was the second round of the Mark Edwards Thursday Championships. Played in very pleasant weather conditions, the Course seemed to beat us up yesterday despite the odd cheer echoing across the valley from some distant green, where a birdie putt or chip was holed.
Merv Stubbs and Craig Hams recorded their best rounds and the best rounds for the day, each with 37 points followed closely behind by Ian Murchie and Alan Edney, each with 36 points.
I’m sure there were plenty of players who crafted a very solid first round, and who turned out to play with high hopes of emulating that feat, but are today thinking about yesterday’s lost opportunities.
The current Leader Board for the top 10:
| Surname | FirstName | Score | Score | Score | Rank |
| HAMS | CRAIG | 34 | 37 | 71 | 1 |
| Luck | Paul | 37 | 34 | 71 | 2 |
| Moor | John | 37 | 33 | 70 | 3 |
| Bassett | Andrew | 34 | 34 | 68 | 4 |
| Mc Lennan | John | 39 | 29 | 68 | 5 |
| Murchie | Ian | 32 | 36 | 68 | 6 |
| Maher | Geoffrey | 39 | 28 | 67 | 7 |
| Baker | Ian | 35 | 31 | 66 | 8 |
| Hobson | Peter | 32 | 34 | 66 | 9 |
| Smith | Andrew | 34 | 32 | 66 | 10 |
But don’t let yesterday deter you from giving it another big go next Thursday, our final round.
History shows us that in 2013 Mike Gordon clinched the Thursday Championshp with a first two round total of 72 without playing a third round. He narrowly beat Ray Burton (71) who came home on the last round with 35 points.
In 2014, Norm Hughes finished his third round with a 37 points to win with a two round total of 75, two shots clear of fast finishing Andy Bassett with 39 and Geoff McDonald with 37 points.
In 2015, Peter Waters hit 33 points on his third round to match Dylan Clark’s two round total of 71. Unfortunately for Dylan who couldn’t play a third round, his first round of 41 points (best score of the Championship) was supported by a 2nd round card of 30 points and Peter won the Championship on countback after having the better 2nd card score.
Whilst I have included the Top 10 – two round scores as of yesterday for your information, beneath this list are another 38 players who have a single round total of 32 points or better. Since the best score to date had been a round of 39 points, any one of these 48 players could grab a Championship victory without breaking the best single score round to date.
There’s another 25 players who have single round scores of 31 points or less and any one of those players could also snatch victory by crafting this years Championship best single round score of 40 points or higher. I’m getting giddy just thinking of the possibilities.
In other words, it’s never over until it’s over. I hope to see all 73 other Thursday Championship challengers out on on the course next Thursday for the final round. Good Luck.
To view today’s results click on the READ MORE button and click on Thursday’s Results hyperlink:
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