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The Lightforce Rally of the Heartland is taking place this weekend in the Burra/Hallett area. The golf club provided lunch for competitors, officials & guests in Bill Gebhardt’s hay shed at Mt Bryan. This has been a worthwhile fundraiser for the club. The ladies provided soup & salads while 4 of the men gave up their Saturday golf to cook the barbecue.  Peg Gebhardt, Di Day, Marj Wride & Helen Cleland served meals while those that gave up their golf were the mercurial Bob Taylor, Gordon “The Chook Man Kakoschke (considered the best pair of barbecue chefs in the Mid North), Dick Secomb & Dick Cleland.

The Mercurial Bob Taylor & his best buddy Gordon “The Chook Man” Kakoschke both scored 19 points in yesterday’s mulligans. The Chook Man had a brilliant start scoring 10 points in the first 3 holes. This unfairly went against him in the countback system which awarded the win to Bob for outscoring Gordon over the final 6 holes. David “Jack” Webster was third with 18 followed by Dick Cleland 17 & Andy Phillips 15. There was a battle to avoid the Mars Bar with Eddie “The Flying Dutchman” scoring 12 to Andrew Hall’s 11.

Chris “Critta” Waters won Tuesday’s stableford with 38 points. Critta has spent some months in the wilderness (if you have played with Critta you will know that this is literally the case) and it is good to see him in winning form once more. Dave “Robbie” Robinson was runner up with 36. Incredibly there was a gap of 6 points to the third placegetters, Bob Taylor & Neil Webster with 30. Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel scored 28 and Andy Phillips got the Mars Bar with 26.

The handicapper has taken a stroke off Critta & given one to Robbie.

In a bid to to qualify for the Club Championship playoffs injured colourful local identity Philip “Thomo” Thomson returned to the links too soon. Despite a sterling effort Thomo was unable to complete the round and is doubtful for round 3 on June 17.

Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel posted the best score today in wild conditions with a net 71. Runner up was Eddie “The Flying Dutchman” Van keulen with net 75. David “Robbie” Robinson & Michael “Tickers” Tickner scored net 78 followed by Gordon “THe Chook Man” kakoschke 79, Matt Opperman 80, Dick Cleland 81, the mercurial Bob Taylor 83, Bob Perry 86, Darryl Venning 88 & David “Jack” Webster 91. Based on these figures it seems to me that Jack should have received the Mars Bar. Captain Gus The Good Guy, however awarded it to Darryl Venning!

The mulligan field of 6 averaged 18.7 stableford points each despite windy conditions.

Dick Cleland showed his liking for these conditions scoring 24 points with the use of only 1 mulligan. The mercurial Bob Taylor was runner up with 21 points. Dick Secomb & David “Robbie” Robinson each scored 20 points. Both wasted an opportunity of  runner up with poor performances on the final hole (hole 2 in normal play). Robbie hit the drive of the day to be in the centre of the fairway 135 meters from the pin. A fine short iron to the centre of the green saw him with a chance of a birdie, but he eventually walked off with a double bogie 6 & 1 point. Dick on the other hand failed to score on the hole. Gordon “The Chook Man” Kakoschke scored 18 while Andrew Hall took the Mars Bar (score withheld).

Dick Cleland followed up Saturday’s win with 41 stableford points on Tuesday. The swiftness with which the handicapper acted in deducting the 2nd stroke in 3 days from Dick’s handicap was almost uncivilised.

Runner up was David “Robbie” Robinson, making a welcome return, with 36. David “Jack” Webster was next with 34 followed by Queensland visitor Ron Carlson & Russell “Gus The Good Guy Wenzel on 31. Gordon “The Chook Man” Kakoschke struggled with 30 points while Andy Phillips could manage only 29. Chris “Critta” Wters collected the Mars Bay with 26 after a very wild ride.

 

Dick Cleland Demolishes Field

Fancied A-graders Missing

Bookmakers’ favourite David “Robbie” Robinson & colourful local identity & crowd favourite Philip “Thomo” Thomson missed the 1st round of qualifying due to injury. There is some concern that Thomo may also miss the 2nd round.

B grader Dick Cleland took the honours today beating the A graders off the stick. Dick had a 83 gross net 65 to win the handicap round by 8 strokes. Runner up was leading A grader Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel with 84 gross net 73.  Gordon “The Chook Man” Kakoschke & the genial Bob Perry had net 74 followed by Neil Webster 75, Matt Opperman & Andy Phillips 76, The mercurial Bob Taylor 77, Darryl Venning 79 & Andy Spackman 80. Peter Weiss had a dnf after losing a ball on the 12th.

Championship Placings

A-grade: Russell Wenzel 84, Matt Opperman 86, Andy Phillips 88, Michael Tickner 89.

B-grade: Dick Cleland 83, Gordon Kakoschke 96, Neil Webster 99, Andy Spackman 101.

C-grade: Bob Taylor 101, Bob Perry 104, Darryl Venning 108, Trevor Austin 117.

The Mars Bar went to Trevor Austin with a net 86.

Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel won today’s mulligans with a superbly consistent display. The Good Guy’s round of 21 points was made up of 6 2’s & 3 3’s. Gordon “The Chook Man  Kakoschke, on the other hand, was all over the place. His score of 19 was made up of 1 scrub, 2 1’s, 2 2’s, 3 3’s & 1 4 pointer. The 4 points came with a birdie on hole 17 when The Chook Man took a mulligan after playing a poor shot & using a ladies club played the ball to within 30 cm of the hole. The rest of the field were not in the hunt, with next best being the mercurial Bob Taylor on 15, followed by Andy Phillips & Dick Cleland both on 14. A countback was required to decide the Mars Bar between Andrew Hall & Diick Secomb who both finished with13. The countback saw Dick consume the chocolate.

A dramatic change in weather conditions saw many players stay at home today. Only four players ventured out onto the links in high winds approaching gale force. Despite the extreme conditions the scores were surprisingly good. At the turn Andy Phillips lead with 18 points from Dick Cleland 17, David “Robbie” Robinson 16 & Russell “Gus The Good Guy Wenzel 15. On the back 9 Andy & Dick raised the stakes with Dick edging ahead until Andy leapt back into contention with a spectacular birdie on the 14th. In the end Dick came home in 22 to Andy’s 20 for a narrow win 40 points to 39. Robbie finished with 33 while Gus struggled on the back 9, collecting  the Mars Bar, finishing with 15 for the nine which included 6 points on the last 2 holes.

Numbers were down due to the clash with Mother’s Day, but those that did attend enjoyed perfect conditions. Some concern is held for the well being of colourful local identity, Philip “Thomo” Thomson who was forced to retire hurt after 18 holes.

Results were:

A Grade Championship

Tim Harvie [Copper Coast] – 120 [80/40], Chris Whittaker [Copper Coast] – 123, 81/42], Craig Jervies [Clare] – 125 [84/41], Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel – 126 [82/44], Bert Pearce [Kapunda] – 135 [85/50], Andy Phillips – 142 [95/47], Phil Thomson – DNF [95 / back spasms]

 

B Grade

David “Jack” Webster – 136 [90/46], Chris Waters – 148[101/47], Brook Burton [Blyth] – 150 [104/46], Bob Taylor – 166 [113/53], Andrew Rac [Gladstone] – 174 [111/63]

Handicap Results

A Grade: G Wenzel 109.5; C Jervies 110

B Grade: A Rac 121; B Burton 126

Veterans: Gus Wenzel 37 points

Nearest The Pin

Hole 4 – A Phillips; Hole 8 – C Jervies; Hole 11 – C Waters; Hole 15 – the club

Long Drive

A Grade – A Phillips [first drive of the day]; B Grade – The club

 

Mars Bar