Masterton 9-hole kicks off

Saturday nine-hole golf has arrived at Masterton Golf Club with the introduction of a competition for men and women on the Saturdays when the 18-hole men's interclub teams are playing.
We already have an active nine-hole competition on Wednesdays and it is hoped this new initiative will cater for many members who do not have the time on the weekend due to family and sports commitments to play a full 18 holes.
The competition is held over the registered "green" nine-hole course (holes 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18) so cards are kept and used for handicapping purposes.
Last Saturday, eight members took part in the inaugural Saturday competitionand the winner was Allan Williams on 20 pts, runner-up Terry Harrison with 19 and third Bill Sangster with 18.
The next Saturday nine-hole day is on Saturday with tee-off at 2.30pm so let's get a big number of our members there.
Our Wednesday nine-holers played a Stableford competition in near perfect conditions which resulted in some great scores.
Lorraine Jones was the winner with 24 pts from Sue Williams with 23. The longest drive went to Ginny Cameron.
The next round of the Wellington men's interclub was held last weekend with all four teams in action.
Our 36-hole team, playing in the Div 1 Otaki Cup competition, played Manor Park at Miramar and had a 10-5 loss.
Owen Lloyd was the best winner with a 6/5 win in his singles while other wins went to David Cook and Wade Walker, while Jason van Zanten had a half.
Brent Mackenzie and Brent Gibbs had a win in the morning foursomes with a half going to Troy Shaw and Joel Macklin.
In the 18-hole divisions, Div 3 played Te Marua at Te Marua and had a creditable 9-4 loss away. Winners in the singles were Simon Buckley, Murray Wolland, Ian Buchanan and Robin Carseldine, while Hira Renata and Nigel Udy had halves.
Kevin Mackay and Simon Buckley managed a half in the fourball.
The winner of the team's "chopper" award was Jeff Ogg, who was later seen out on the course practising.
Div 7 travelled to Featherston to play Featherston on their home course and came away with an invaluable 10-5 win away.
While getting almost a clean sweep in the fourballs, singles winners were Barry Smith, Mike Dixon, Toby Tuoro, Dennis Hogg and Adam Ross while Paul Fouhy got a half.
Toby Tuoro backed up his 67 last weekend with a 71 at Featherston.
Season debutante Dennis Hogg was the player of the day while the Rearender Trophy will spend the next week, in a big office in Wellington, on Leith Comer's desk.
Div 11 also played Featherston, and with the help of home course advantage, had a 14-1 victory. After a clean sweep in the fourballs, singles winners were Wayne O'Donnell, John Hopkirk, Steve Couvert, Jamie Brunton, Brian Pollock, Darryl Hart, Steve Hemingway, Paul E Williams and Innes Kennard with Brett Gould being the only player not to win. Darryl Hart's 7/5 win was the stand out result.
To top off a busy interclub weekend, the next round of the Marquis Shield was played on Sunday at Eketahuna and Masterton played Featherston.
Looking at the convincing interclub results of the day before, especially as two of the big wins were against Featherston teams, you would think Masterton would have a good chance of victory but, instead were beaten in the singles 8-3, and 4/2 in the fourball, meaning, on the new and yet to be perfected scoring system, our team still has zero points. How does this happen?
The simple explanation is the Wellington interclub is played off scratch (without handicap) while the Marquis is a handicap competition and our team has always struggled.
An example of the problem we have in this sort of competition is that, in the senior Marquis, Sam Forrester, who plays off +1 had to give his Featherston opponent, on a 12 handicap, 13 shots.
The upside of this dilemma is there is a separate competition off scratch and our seniors won the Workman Cup round against Featherston 4/0, and with two rounds to play are almost unbeatable.
On Sunday, the usual club day was held, attracting a reasonable field. The men played a Stableford round and the results were:
Group 1: 1 Dennis Hogg 37pts, 2 Hira Renata 35.
Group 2: 1 Michael Batley 36pts, 2 Harry Quinn 34.
The Alex McLeod Closest to the Pin on No 8 was Ray Verhaart while Roly Brown won the Nuview Nearest the Pin on No 18.
Next weekend sees all the 18-hole teams playing at home for the first time on Saturday, teeing off from 9.45am but gathering for a three-team photo at 9.30am. The 36-hole Div 1 team is playing Paraparaumu Beach at Manor Park, the Saturday nine-hole club day is being held again on Saturday afternoon from 2.30, and the Men's Club Day (which also includes women) will be on Sunday with a disc draw at noon.
This Monday was a fine day for the 41 vets who played a Stableford round. Results were:
Women:
1 Pam Sutherland 32pts, 2 Helen Falloon 28, 3 Pamela Andrews 28.
Men 1st Division: 1 Bob MacFarlane 28pts, 2 Kelvin Biggs 27, 3 Allan Kirkham 26.
Men 2nd Division: 1 Bob Tatham 29pts, 2 David Brenkley 29, 3 Brian Henson 29.
The Fagan Ford Nearest the Pins went to Sue Blathwayt and Bill Sangster.
Unfortunately, the long summer turned to custard on Tuesday and the women's club day was postponed so they will play a par round next Tuesday (instead of the advertised "free day".)
Off the Fairway
Astute readers will have noticed this article has not been written by Noel Preston. After 18 years' writing the weekly report, Noel has decided it is time to "retire" from this pleasurable task. Noel's articles have been read by many, golfers and non-golfers alike, and the contribution of "the golfing guru" will be sadly missed. Thank you Noel.
Congratulations to Alex McLeod who got a hole in one on No 13 last Thursday. By all accounts, it was a rather unusual "ace" but, as the saying goes, "it's not how, but how many".