Early on there was a concern as to whether the game would proceed, but the right decision was made to get things under way and thanks must go to the greenkeeper, Graham Croad, for allowing carts to traverse the very damp course.

There were especially two starters who must be headlined (so to speak) for the effort they put in to lead the way home and 'twas the pairing of Hilary Dew and John Inder that we are talking about.

Hilary, of course is the reigning Club Champion and hits the ball a mile (so to speak) and while it might be a little secretive, it was the left-handed John who gained the spot through that toss of the balls -a regular process.

"All I had to do was to chip and put well and I played my part," was John's claim to fame response when asked the logical question. And he did give his all when they eagled the par-5 ninth hole, whilst both registered chip-ins along the way.

Eagles or chip-ins featured in their 3-under par 53 off-the-stick for a 46.25 nett round,a feat that not any of the remaining teams could even think about really challenging.

To be fair, the runners-up, David Griffin and Rod Maher, deserve praise for their 59-51 result and were just the one good of the Dan Cater-Steve Trott and Mal Blanch-Wayne Simmons teams.

A new ball also went to the top grade combo of Chris Gorman and Graham Schasser for their 53 nett.

Nearest the pin at the Alan Macdonald Memorial $100 Hole-in-One at the par-3 third hole were Griffin (A) and Steve Cameron (B). And Barry Pearson joined Dew and Inder as chio-in performers.

Tuesday's 14-hole Stroke & Putting event doubles as the first round of the 42-hole 2021 Club Championships, as well as the March Monthly Medal in all three (A, B & C) grades.

Dew is joined by Ron Ingall (B) and Milton Riggs (C) as grade champions and they, too, will be defending their titles when play gets underway today at 9am.

Memory has it that the opening round of last year's Championships was played the first Tuesday of March prior to the Coronavirus pandemic that forced the game of golf to be abandoned here, there and everywhere.

The final 28 holes were contested on June 30 and July 7 with all three winners leading throughout.

Any visiting veteran golfers will be made more than welcome to take part in today's event and good advice is to give the Club a call of 65626291 early morning.

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Macleay Argus. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, SIGN UP HERE.