Cypress Lakes’ Max Wallington and Scone’s Lyn Banks have won the Hunter River District 2025 Sandgreens Championships played at Merrriwa Golf Club today.

While it was Lyn Banks’ second Sandgreens title, it was a first for Wallington and he was relieved to win in a countback over Kurri’s Josh Stig, after a poor start.

“I was six over through four holes and I ended up finishing the day six over, it was a slow start but we got there in the end,” he laughed.

“It was interesting, it’s only my third time playing sandgreens and it was a bit cold at the start.”

Both Wallington and Stig shot 78 and Wallington admits he took a while to settle into the sandgreens style of play.

“You can’t land it on the greens as much, so obviously you don’t get as much reception but once you get used to it, it’s pretty normal.”

Normal is not the word Lyn Banks would use to describe her day at Merriwa.

“Problematic as it always is on sandgreens, nothing you do frequently, so you go out there with a bit of plan knowing what you’re trying to do and just stay out of trouble,” she said.

“I just wanted to hit it straight today and bump a little 8 or 9 iron onto the green and then hope to have a nice scrape and then possibly get it near the hole.”

Banks is no stranger to sandgreens having won the title, also at Merriwa, in 2018. Today she shot 86 to defeat the Vintage’s Liz White by three strokes.

“The more you play this sort of thing you better you get, I have played here a number of times,” she said, adding “this is the greenest it has been in a long time, usually you hit it and the ball keeps running and running, but it wasn’t like that today.”

In the nett Championships, Branxton duo Mick Barrett with 37 points and Leanne Daniels with 30 points took the honours.

Champions Lyn Banks and Max Wallington

Winner Max Wallington from Cypress Lakes

Winner Lyn Banks from Scone

Nett Champion Leanne Daniels from Branxton