Club champs get underway

For the men at Carterton last Saturday was the first round of qualifying for club championships.
There will be three rounds, the two best to count, played over three consecutive Saturdays.
Last Saturday the best nett round of the day was accomplished by Ray Clarke with his nett 65 winning the lower handicap group.
In that group Adam Brunton finished in second place with his nett 67 while both Fraser Smith and Stu Ingham came in with nett 68's.
Four players ? Keil Stechman, David Wills, Nigel Bain and David Ross ? all returned nett 69's.
In the higher handicap group Tom Bingham took the honours but only on countback from Chris Connor, Frank Delaney and Gary Spicer with all four players scoring nett 67's.
George Rink was on his own in fifth place with his nett 68 with Trevor Clayton just one shot further adrift.
Both Ian Gordon and Gordon Dragovitch scored nett 70's.
The Marquis of Normanby Hotel Men's Nearest the Pin competition was won by David Wills and the "All Teed Up" ball for the men by Daniel Schmid.
Five men ? Barry Bentley, David Ross, Barry Hare, David Castles and Warren Birdling ? all scored holes in two.
WOMEN ? SATURDAY:
The women played a Robson Cup, LGU round, with an additional putting competition.
June Prince returned the best nett round of the day with her nett 67, winning the bronze division in the process.
In that division Bev Tregurtha was runner-up with her nett 71 but only on countback from Marge Robson.
The silver division was won by Corrie van Zanten with her nett 71 with Barbara Birchall in second place on nett 72.
Val Edwards required fewer putts than anyone else ? just 27 for the round.
The Nearest the Pin competition was won by Beth Gordon.
Of the women playing only Sandra Gillies was able to achieve a hole in two.
SUNDAY:
Only a small field contested the stroke competition on Sunday, September 11, but low scoring was the order of the day with Allan Heffer's nett 66 being two shots better than the scores posted by both Lyn Evans and Fraser Smith.
Russ Morgan completed the prize winners' list with his nett 69 while David Wills, on the same score, was the unlucky player to miss out on this occasion.
No player was able to score a hole in two.
VETERANS:
The annual Mitre 10 tournament was held at Carterton on Tuesday, September 13, and this meant that the veterans group paid their annual visit to Manor Park.
Both the Mitre 10 tournament and the Manor Park visit were very good events, enjoyed by all participants, in excellent weather on both sides of the hill.
On this occasion the Manor Park visit was made more memorable by the presence of a good number of ladies from Carterton making the trip.
WOMEN ? WEDNESDAY:
The Captain's versus the Secretary's teams stableford competition was played on Wednesday, September 7, with the Captain's team running out narrow winners.
The best individual score of the day was Flo Watkins' 42 points, winning the bronze division.
Marge Robson was runner-up in that division with 40 points from Sue Braiden, 39, Caral Rink, 37, Susanne Fuller, 36, and Linden Shute, Val Willis and Bev Tregurtha, all on 35.
Nadine Jansen won the silver division with 35 points, on countback from Corrie van Zanten, on the same score.
Nadine also won the "All Teed Up" ball for the day.
FOOTNOTE:
One of the more bizarre occurrences at Carterton happened a couple of Saturdays ago.
A group of players had just completed the sixth hole and were proceeding along the path, through the very attractive garden area (thanks to the very hard work of the ladies of the club) towards the seventh green.
Very unexpectedly an opossum fell out of the vine entwined willow tree alongside the path.
After, I understand, a moment or two (or three) of confusion a call went up to dispatch the animal forthwith.
One of the players used one of his clubs ( an iron) to great effect and solved the problem with considerable expertise.
I was not told just which club was selected nor how many strokes were required!
Who was the player?
Well it was a man and he's not a bad sort of a chap really!