Wee Waa golfer David Avery continues to go from strength to strength in the sport and on Sunday he added another trophy to his growing cabinet when he was crowned the 2021 Narrabri Open champion.
Just short of 100 golfers took to the immaculate Narrabri Golf Club course for the club’s annual men’s open day, with 94 players contesting the 18-hole event.
One of those was Avery who was competing in his 10th Narrabri Open.
The 27-year-old Wee Waa man shot a four-over par 75 to win the event for the first time.
Avery started the event on the 10th hole and shot a par round across his first nine holes before going four-over across his last nine. He finished tied with Coonabarabran golfer Pat Cain who also finished with a four-over par 75.
That forced the two golfers back out onto the course for a playoff on the 18th hole. Avery parred the playoff hole with four shots, while Cain completed it in five as the Wee Waa golfer won not only his first Narrabri Open, but also his first playoff.
“We both (Avery and Cain) came in with a 75 so we had to do a playoff down 18,” Avery said.
“He had five and I had four.
“That was the first playoff I’d played and I was pretty nervous. There was a bit of a crowd there watching us too.
“I was hitting my approach shot and the last thought that went through my head was ‘don’t hit this into the crowd’ and I left it a bit short.”
Avery’s Narrabri Open victory was his second major win at the Narrabri Golf Club this year after he and his father Greg Avery teamed up with Dean Hamblin and Les Bonney to claim the 2020-21 Narrabri Volkswagen Scramble event in February.
The Wee Waa golfer admittedly did not have his best day with the clubs at the Narrabri Open but was pleased to get the job done.
“I started off the day pretty well,” he said.
“The first nine I played I had a par round then I didn’t play my best across the next nine but I scrambled pretty well.
“I only had one birdie all day and I wasn’t playing my best golf, but like I said I was just able to scramble pretty well which really helped.
“It was good to be able to get the job done in the end.”
One of the Narrabri Golf Club’s annual men’s open’s major sponsors was Max Orman Toyota which put up a $10,000 prize for a hole in one on the 16th.
Avery was full of optimism as he approached that hole, however, he missed out on that prize.
“I pushed it right, really far right,” he said.
“I didn’t even get anywhere near it to be honest.”
None of the 94 competitors in Sunday’s event were able to sink that shot to earn that prize, with Rod Kirk coming closest.
The 16th hole was Kirk’s last at the Narrabri Open. The Narrabri man, who played well on the day to finish with 77 off the stick and finish as the A-grade nett runner-up with 71, struck the tee shot well but the ball stopped two feet from the hole.
A full list of results from Sunday’s Narrabri Open is as follows:
A-grade:
Gross winner – David Avery with 75, gross runner-up – Zak Woodward with 76, nett winner – Steven Parish with 70, nett runner-up – Rod Kirk with 71 (countback).
B-grade:
Gross winner – Pat Cain with 75, gross runner-up John Fenton with 77, nett winner – Andrew Steiger with 62, nett runner-up Steve Jones with 67.
C-grade:
Gross winner – Brad Matheson with 84, goss runner-up – Colin Parkes with 93, nett winner – Les Bonney with 60, nett runner-up – Jim Hatton with 74.
Nearest to pins:
Fifth – Ben Russell, eighth – Damien Galvin, 12th – Zac Woodward, 16th – Rod Kirk.
Long drives:
A-grade – Damien Galvin, B-grade – Ken Nolan, C-grade – Rod Hall.
