Martin birdies 18th, bags medal

By ROSS MARTIN

AT Emerald Golf Club on Saturday, it was the beginning of spring and the September VGL (Victorian Golf League) Medal was on offer, which is a stroke round with the best net score for 18 holes being awarded the medal.
Jane Bunn was proven correct with her forecast of early showers, making playing conditions quite slippery and wet for the first hour of play.
Many experienced golfers were caught out by choosing to leave their umbrellas at home, or in their car boot, and in the process got very wet.
By end of play, the weather cleared up and there were many contenders, with six players all within two shots of the eventual winner Ross Martin (handicap 10) who won with a net 70, followed by Steve Town (13), Dean Shannon (17), John Carvill (18) all on 71; while Peter Clowes (16), Peter Glasscock (12) and Ian Scott (27) all with 72.
It should be noted that Ross had birdied the 18th to come in with the only score to handicap (net 70) of the day.
The higher scoring than usual was attributed to the course being setup longer than usual, playing from the very back tee markers – thanks to the newly appointed ‘Tee Location Consultancy Group’ of CH&M (Clowes, Hill and Morison).
Ross Martin (10) in winning the medal also won A grade, John Carvill (18) won B grade.
Nearest the pins on the 4th was J. Carvill 7th, J. Day 12th, L. Morison 13th, P. Glasscock, while R. Martin won the Pro-pin on the 18th.
In the ladies competition, Joanne Keys won convincingly with her newly appointed handicap of 26, followed by Brianna McCoy and Kendra Hill.
Next week, the competition is stableford.