Last weekend the Donald golfers celebrated a milestone in the club’s history when they hosted their annual three day tournament which was also their 100th – and what a weekend it was!

Friday dawned bright and clear for the men’s and ladies’ fourball Stableford event. Twenty-one pairs of ladies competed and 25 pairs of men followed them on to the course. A short, sharp shower half way through the day didn’t daunt any of the players and they all managed to finish their rounds in time to enjoy a delicious afternoon tea.

Winners are as follows (all players are from Donald unless mentioned otherwise) Ladies’ Fourball, Lyn Boyle (Birchip) and Venita Walder (Warracknabeal) with 46 points. Runners-up, Lindy Morgan and Heather Hogan (Birchip) with 42 points on a count back from Kerry Wood and Gill Fawcett (Wyche-proof). Nearest the Pin on 3rd, Lindy Morgan; 7th, Leonie Boxall (Sea Lake); 14th, Lyn Boyle; 16th, Vicki Bainbridge (Wedderburn).

Men’s Fourball, “A” grade: Pug Cullen and Brett Schofield (Charlton) with 44 points. Runners-up Bernie and Terry Fradd (both Horsham) with 43 points. “B” grade: Mark Lovett and Jamie Weston (both Warracknabeal) on 45 points. Runners-up Dick Gallagher and Trevor Basset (Deniliquin) 44 points. Nearest the pins were: 3rd, John Neville (St Arnaud); 7th. Peter Kelly; 14th, Scott Wright (St Arnaud); 16th Sam Craig Snr (Xavier).

Saturday was the men’s 27-hole stroke event and ladies’ 18 holes sponsored by Drummond Golf, Ballarat. Winners were as follows: Ladies 18 holes, scratch, Mandy Male (Lake Boga) 80. Runner-up, Kerry Raven 83. Handicap, Lindy Morgan 74 nett and runner-up Kerry Wood, 76 nett. Nearest the Pin 3rd, Ev Adams; 7th, Michelle Healey (Midlands); 14th, Kerry Wood: and 16th Lorraine Maddalena (Yarrambat). Men’s stroke, 27 holes scratch, “A” grade, Liam Skrypko (Xavier) 109; runner-up Peter Kelly 116; “B” grade, Peter Bartholemew (Stawell) 132; runner-up, Sam Craig Snr (Xavier) 135. 27 holes Handicap, “A” grade: Brett Kelly; runner-up, Ron Thoulis (Berriwillock), “B” grade, Robert Male (Lake Boga) 108; runner-up, George Wood, 112.5. 18 holes, scratch, “A” grade, Tim Steele (Xavier) 73; Runner-up, Terry Fradd (Horsham) 79. “B” grade, Joel Foster 85; runner-up, Geoff Harvey 90. Handicap, “A” grade, Luke Kelly 71; runner-up, Justin Foster 72. “B” grade, Colin Cullen 72; Runner-up, Dylan Burchell (Bendigo) 76. Nearest the pins (donated by Bev and Harry Payne): 3rd, Joel Foster; 7th, Steve McGregor (Xavier); 14th, Luke Kelly; and 16th, Ross Ackland (Barwon Heads).

Sunday

Mixed Ambrose (Sponsored by Drummond Golf, Ballarat). Lady luck was on the club’s side on Sunday with the mid-afternoon storms skirting around the course and only dropping a small amount of rain on the players.

“A” grade winners, Robert and Mandy Male (Lake Boga) 65 nett; runner-up, Tony Holt and Owen Bailey (both Wedderburn) 65.25 nett. “B” grade winners, Peter Kelly and Kerry Wood 63.5; Runner-up, Andy Sheehan and Andy Griffiths (Torquay) 66. Nearest the Pins (donated by Jean Hogan): 3rd, Kerry Wood; 7th, Owen Bailey (Wedderburn); 14th, Bernie Fradd (Horsham); 16th, Mandy Male (Lake Boga). Nearest the Pins over the tournament (donated by Andrew Bayles): 3rd, Kerry Wood, 1.27m; 7th, Peter Kelly, 1.12m; 14th, Bernie Fradd (Horsham); and 16th, Ross Ackland (Anglesea) 2.14m.

It was great to see four of the five the Fradd siblings playing in the tournament – Terry, Bernie, Michelle and Suzanne. Their parents were Jill and Frank Fradd and the family left Donald when the siblings were quite young. They were delighted to see their Uncle Mike’s name on the Life Members’ Board in the clubhouse.

Thanks to all those who helped to make the tournament the success it was; those who prepared the course, the caterers, kitchen helpers, the match committee, the bar persons and our sponsors. The winner of the raffle – 2 nights’ accommodation at the Donald Motor Lodge, (thanks to Kerry and Ned Raven) was Luke Clark. Second prize of a hamper of local goodies went to Margie Quick and the third prize hamper went to Lyn Boyle, of Birchip.

Eighty golfers celebrate 100 tournaments

Eighty golfers and ex-golfers celebrated Donald’s 100th golf tournament at a dinner on Saturday night with many of them coming back to Donald especially for the occasion. It was wonderful to have seven of our current Life Members with us for the evening. They were Bob Baker, Peter Barbetti, Peter Kelly, Robert and Mandy Male, Joyce Pearce and George Wood. Of those seven, five are still playing golf.

After the first course was served, guests were given the opportunity to tell some memories of their time as a Donald golfer. Jenny Leishman read a letter written by Phil Scambler, who was unable to attend. Phil was a Donald High School teacher in the 1970s. Shirley Evans entertained with a poem she’d written about one of the lady golfers’ trips away. Leigh Hardingham regaled us with stories of trips to local golf tournaments as a young golfer accompanied by several senior golfers. Bev Gilmour related her experience when she achieved a hole-in-one quite a few years ago when golf balls were made of strings of rubber wrapped around a small ball of a dubious liquid. As a memento for Bev, the ball had been mounted on to a wooden base using a screw which had pierced the inner ball. One very hot day the ball exploded and ricocheted around Bev’s lounge room spraying the dubious liquid all over the walls.

Following those stories the anniversary cake was cut by our most senior golfer, Brenda Brennan, aided by our most junior member, Abe Beavis. Many thanks to Abe’s dad, Sam, who made the cake for the occasion. There are 80 years between Brenda and Abe, which just proves that you’re never too old or too young to play golf!

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 30 August 2024.