THEY were one of the last pairings to reach the sanctuary of the clubhouse after a humid day out on the fairways, however it was worth the wait both personally and from a team perspective.
The father and son combination of Paul and Mark Ballard have helped Coota pull closer to arch rivals Young in the race for this year’s Scott Fuller Shield after posting an excellent score of 50 points on their home course on Sunday.
Their efforts, combined with the deeds of the remaining 27 teams to step out for the host club, has seen Coota take its two round aggregate to 86.36, bridging the gap on Young who averaged 42.93 in their second round played at Temora on Sunday which, added to their 44.93 from the opening round, gives them a total of 87.86.
The third and final round on Sunday, February 12 will see Coota join rivals from Gundagai at Tumut, while Young will have the home course advantage against Harden and Temora.
Put simply Coota teams must
average 1.5 points better than their Young counterparts to continue their five year stranglehold on the trophy.
By contrast if Young were to keep their noses in front it would be the first time they have won the coveted trophy for more than a decade.
Beginning their day on the 15th tee, the Ballards made an inauspicious start with a two-point bogey to Paul.
Pars on the 16th to Mark and 17th to Paul, both for three points, were
followed by another bogey on the 18th for a one-pointer for Mark and, having collected nine points in their first four holes, the pair would have had no
aspirations as to what was about to unfold.
Paul, who plays off a handicap of 24, made the most of his mark by
parring the 327-metre first for four points and doing the same three holes later on the fourth.
Between them they would par all but one of the front nine holes, sharing the honours at four apiece while Mark (a 10-marker) bogeyed the third, to give them 26 points for that stretch, 35 in the bank with five to play and the realization a good round was in the making.
Paul again took full use of his
handicap, knocking his second to just shy of the green on the 10th and
chipping and putting for another par and four points.
He maintained his momentum with pars on 11 and 12, before Mark bogeyed the 13th for two points and parred the tough 14th for three, the latter of which essentially gave them victory on the day.
Two teams, Heath Harrison and Allan Bear and Doug Caldwell and Jason Stevens-Jones were sitting
pretty in the club with 49 points to their credit, only to be knocked off late.
Harrison and Bear were awarded the runners-up prizes due to a better back nine haul, 26 points compared to Caldwell and Stevens-Jones’ 24, with Bear (29 handicap) the star out the back for his side featuring on the card seven times including four pointers on the 11th and 14th.
Harrison (13 marker) birdied the first for four points, however the pair were left to rue a one-pointer on the 12th as one better would have given them victory.
Stevens-Jones also cashed in on his handicap of 31 to feature 10 times on the card with six of them (1st, 2nd, 8th, 10th, 11th and 13th) all four pointers from pars.
Caldwell, the lowest marker of the top three local teams on eight, wasn’t a complete passenger on the ride, parring five of the eight holes he figured on, however all five saw him without a shot so they were two point collects.
Gundagai brought the minimum number of eight teams required
for their club and averaged an even
40 points, while Tumut were again docked points for not sending
sufficient sides eventually seeing them average 32.1.
Harden are third in overall rankings on a two round total of 83.40, however it’s obvious this years title is a race in two between Young and Coota.
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