Sport
8 October, 2024
R&B golfers keep tradition alive at Stawell Golf Club with weekly fixture
R&B golfers keep the fun going with stableford competition.
For nearly 40 years, the Stawell Golf Club has become a hive of activity on a Tuesday morning as the R&B golfers ply their trade.
Originally a competition for retired businessmen, the R&B is affectionately known as the 'Rugged and Buggered' group, with players' backgrounds as varied as the pin placements.
Organiser Des Pickford said the group has rarely missed a week since it started in the 80s.
"The camaraderie is great," he said.
"We tee off every Tuesday at 10am or about 9am when the weather warms up.
"For three weeks of the month, we run a stableford competition; on the last Tuesday of each month, we do something different."
Pickford said the competition could be an Ambrose, a three-best ball, a par three only event or even a 'cross country' course.
"The cross country course is a lot of fun," he said.
"You could be hitting off the first hole tee and putt at the tenth. We have a map of cross-country holes where you might have to hit a tree.
"But we designed each hole to have a bail out shot, so you might be able to hit it wider and lower and not be disadvantaged too much."
Playing in groups of four, the golfers chat between holes, complementing good shots and encouraging the bad.
Lefthander Laurie Wadge said he enjoys the weekly hit out.
"I used to play a lot when I was a kid, but I hadn't pick up a club until I was in my 50s," he said.
"I work in the disability sector, and a client of mine wanted to learn how to play, so we came down to the Stawell Golf Club and started teeing off.
"I got the bug and haven't missed it since."
In September, the R&B group hosted a veterans tournament featuring 58 men and women from across the Wimmera.
"We had players from everywhere - Horsham, Warracknabeal, Ararat, Grange - play in a stableford competition," Pickford said.
"The veterans competition is for man and women 55 years old and older and is played around the region."
Pickford won the A grade category with 40 points, while Geoff Blachford finished runners-up with 35.
Ross Chandler won the B Grade with 39 points, and Ferie Masieo came second with 37 points.
The C grade winner was Greg Shultz (43 points), and Erin Shultz was the runner with 38 points.