Winners are grinners
Originally published in The Nyngan Weekly
More than a hundred competitors flocked to Nyngan last weekend to compete in the 2021 Men’s NSW Sand Greens Championship.
It was local David Rose who took out the title against more than 100 competitors from across the state.
The Nyngan Golf Club was busting at the seams, with competitors using Friday to fine tune their skills.
International golfers Tahnia Ravnjak and Kristalle Blum spent one-on-one time with players, away from their usual international tours. The ladies gave players small corrections to help boost their game before the tournament kicked off on Saturday, November 20. The two-day tournament was a race against the weather as wild rains forecast for Sunday meant play was quick, but not rushed.
Golf NSW regional manager Gary Begg said they were incredibly lucky to have all competitors beat the rain on Sunday, which really set in at about 1pm.
“There’s a few people that had a couple holes to go and they got a bit wet, but the main group of the field got finished. The forecast was for a dreadful day. People last night didn’t think we’d finish at all but looking at the radar last night, I was confident we’d get a little bit in, but we’ve done a lot better than what we anticipated.” While Mr Rose took home the championship for the men’s grade, Paul Besgrove from Dunedoo took home the NSW Veteran Golfers Association championship.
Retuning this year was the awarding of the Junior Sand Greens Champion- ship, after three young boys travelled to play.
Young Joey Walker from Warren took home the title.
The trio received nothing but praise from the men’s and veterans’ fields, who were all pleased to see children in the game.
Though he could not take home the title, shot of the day went to Mark Jelley on the 18th hole.
With a one-in-a-million shot of bad luck, Mr Jelley managed to end up behind the tee after his first shot.
“I had my driver out to do my superb 300 drive, but unfortunately there was a hunk of metal that people put in the way,” laughed Mr Jelley.
“We went bang, we heard the ‘clang’ and after that, nothing for quite a long time. I turned around and unfortunately I saw a ball 150 metres behind me.”
Mr Jelley was in good spirits about the shot, saying though he had hit trees before, this was a first.
After many years away he was par- ticularly happy to be back in Nyngan after spending time working on proper- ties here in the 1960s. Mr Jelley even made a foray into local journalism for a time back in the day, taking photos for the then-local paper. Golf NSW chief operating officer, Graeme Phillips, said it was a fantastic weekend, weather and all.
“We’ve had 126 golfers from all around New South Wales. They have all been extremely happy to finally be able to travel and get out.
“It was fantastic not only to come here, but to be able to socialise and catch up with all of their mates.”
COVID-19 delayed the competition earlier this year, but Mr Phillips said it did not impact participation at all.
“These guys put these events in their diaries years in advance. So, to change the dates for them... certainly does have a small impact on numbers to but to still get over 120 out here at this time of year it’s really great.”
Mr Phillips said that Golf NSW had not considered that rain would be their concern and instead were focussed on potentially 40-degree days.
Despite some players finishing drenched, the entire field managed to complete the course and file their scores.
Though the champion had barely been announced, Mr Phillips said that players would already be looking to book in for the 2022 championship.
“I actually choose to come and play in the event as well because I love the attitude, the country people, and particularly those who play on sand greens, have. It’s extremely refreshing that the important part of the weekend is to enjoy the company of the people you’re with. It’s not necessarily about the pristine condition of the golf course or the score.”