BUNINYONG golfers Travis Tatt and Helen Pascoe have made this year’s Ballarat and District Golf Association 54-hole Open Championship a one-club affair, with the duo winning the men’s and women’s A grade scratch events.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Pascoe, now an eight-time winner of the tournament, blitzed the field with respective rounds of 81, 82 and 78 across Ballarat, Creswick and Midlands layouts.
Tatt closed out yesterday’s final round at Midlands with a disappointing 74 after opening his account with a 73 at Ballarat on Friday, followed by a spectacular 72 at Creswick’s treacherous layout on Saturday.
“I was pretty consistent across the three days – I didn’t really do anything spectacular but didn’t do anything atrocious either,” the plus-two marker said.
“The round at Creswick was probably the one that got me over the line, I gave myself eagle putts on each of the par 5s, which you need to be able to do because you’re going to have your fair share of bogeys around Creswick.”
Pascoe, playing off a two handicap, opened up a 16-shot lead after the first two rounds and blew the final margin out to 27 shots with a round of 78 yesterday.
“I was reasonably consistent over three days but I struggled with the putting until the greens quickened up on the last day,” Pascoe said.
“It’s sometimes hard to play to your handicap when you’re in a competition like this – if you manage not to have too many bad holes and try not to blow out too you’re always in with a chance.
Golfers were given a full array of weather conditions across the three days, with the opening round at Ballarat marred by rain for the first six holes, while a mixture of wind and heat quickened the greens at Creswick and Midlands considerably.
Mt Xavier’s Tim Steele shot 73 off the stick to win yesterday’s final round and finish second overall, while Ballarat’s Luke Murray, who was the leader after Friday, bounced back from a disappointing 88 on Creswick’s layout to finish with a 74.
Helen Haintz shot an 87 to finish runner-up in Sunday’s round, while Jill Morrison (who finished second behind Pascoe overall) and Nikki Prato shot 89 apiece to tie for equal third in yesterday’s round.