COOTAMUNDRA golfers sent a clear message to their Temora rivals during the
second round of this year’s Scott Fuller Shield played at the local course on Sunday.
Grouped with Temora and Young for the preliminary rounds this summer, Coota was well off the pace following the first round held at Temora, however made huge inroads into the 65-point deficit on the weekend.
The host club’s top 10 pairs combined for an aggregate of 469 points and with Temora’s best 10 resulting in a total of 427, the
difference between the two clubs has been trimmed to 23.
Young could only send eight pairs to Sunday’s second round meaning all eight were included in their total of 328, however they are now more than 120 points behind Temora and out of the running despite the luxury of
playing the last preliminary round at home.
The Cootamundra charge was led by two-time Club Champion Brent Lange and one of the club’s keenest players Dave Browning who combined for 49 points.
Browning, who plays off a handicap of 20, was the star of the front nine, contributing to the card six times, five of which were pars which netted him anywhere between two and four points, while Lange (a 2 marker) chimed in with a brilliant birdie on the ninth for another four points to take the outward total to 26.
The pair shared the honours over the first four holes of the back nine to add another 10 to their tally before Browning took full
advantage of the two shots he receives on the toughest hole on the course, the par-4 14th, his par giving the team its third four-pointer for the day.
Lange then parred 15, 16 and 17 before booming a drive straight and long down 18.
Finding his ball in a slight hole, Lange was forced to play a bump and run shot which
finished just above the cup and he nailed the tricky down-hiller for birdie and another three points taking the final total to 49.
Three teams, Greg R and Greg M Lynch, Ron Rosengreen and Steve Delahunty, and Rodney Buttriss and James Gordon all
finished with 48 points and all three cards reveal some interesting reading.
Lynch junior literally did it all himself in the first half of their round, featuring nine times on the front nine for 23 points, the equivalent of four over for his 19 handicap.
It must be said the elder of the two could have had some same scores, however his son always seemed keen to put in first.
Lynch senior gained some retribution out the back when six of his scores were used as the pair fired seven three pointers and two twos to claim the runners-up mantle on a countback.
Rosengreen started the day on fire with a four-point birdie on the first and was still one under after three, he and Delahunty sharing the honours before the turn to finish with a front nine total of 24.
Another 24 points out the back, highlighted by a birdie to Delahunty on the 17th ensured they would be high up in the count in Coota’s top 10 and third overall on the day.
Buttriss made the most of what is a generous 29 handicap for the regular, starring eight times on the front and 13 times overall as he and Gordon returned nines of 25 and 23 points.
Other pairs to contribute to the team total were Graham Rumble and Roger Hart and Garry Mason and Russell Peck with 47, John Brooker and Ross Adams and Josh Hodge and Des Rowe 45, and Joe and Jim Bunworth and Steve Johnson and Geoff Forsyth who were the best of the 45-pointers.
All attention now turns to the third and final preliminary round to be played at Young on January 31 where the winner will face the
victor of the second pool which includes Tumut, Harden and Gundagai.
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