Sports reports: Geoff Pearson swaps the lounge room for the golf course

This story includes contributions from Michael Potts, Terry Hann and Derek Vanderzon.

Sick of being told to get on the course and play, noted couch potato Geoff Pearson has swapped his view of the eighth fairway from his newly built home for a close-up look of all 18 holes and profited grandly from doing so.

Scoring a fine 36 points in the midweek competition gave him the confidence to back up on the Saturday for the big one: a Stableford event with a field of 104 competitors.

Well, he just happened to win it and really annoy those who had told him to play.

On a windy old day with scoring tough going, he tallied 38 points to be clear on top of the leaderboard.

It wasn't a round without incident, however, and copping non-stop querying of his 34 handicap from jealous playing partners all day was just the start of it.

To annoy these whingers further, Pearson sliced his drive on the ninth but wild enough to end up over the water and safely on the eighth fairway.

Not content with that slice of luck, he then topped his next shot into the water but with sufficient force to see the ball skip four times on the surface of the hazard before ending at the front of the green.

A chip and a couple of putts and bingo, another three points, thank you very much.

This also gave him a monster 23-point front nine that ultimately won him the day's pro comp for good measure.

A shank off the 15th tee saw him then hit his head on a branch of the nearby tea tree that had gobbled up his ball.

Fighting on courageously, though, he completed his round, stumbling to the line, but his 38 points was all he needed to win the day.

A trail of money that fell from his pockets from the club back to his house was an indication of just how much he had won for the day.

Mario Grande was travelling okay after nine holes but a quick visit to the barbecue at the clubhouse didn't quite go to plan.

Reaching too close to the hot plate, he sizzled his hand, which caused him major discomfort for the remainder of his round, which didn't yield many more points.

Club lawyers are sleeping restlessly this week while Grande considers his options.

This Saturday will be the club's annual Christmas "greenkeeper's revenge" event.

Players will be faced with many obstacles and unusual situations throughout their rounds as the ground staff have the last laugh before Santa comes to town.

Everyone will be welcome.

Murray Bridge summer darts season concludes

A grade

• Mannum Club 7 defeated Launchers 5

B grade

• We're Sexy and We Throw It 7 defeated Mudskippers 6
• Consolation: Dart Addicts 7 defeated the Kings 5

Levi Alexander sets a record at Murray Bridge Speedway

Levi Alexander has raced to a new track record during a Modlites feature event at Murray Bridge Speedway on Saturday night.

Alexander took almost three seconds off the mark previously held by Chris Ferguson on his way to winning the 15-lap event.

The night also featured round three of the Street Stock Series, with current Australian champion Nathan Thorne taking out the feature event.

With a first and a second placing during the heats, Thorne has put his competitors on notice leading up to his title defence here in Murray Bridge on February 6-7.

Wade McCarthy also had a great run in the Modified Sedans Series, claiming the preliminary feature before going on to win the main feature event.

Joel Chadwick (wingless sprints), Mark Caruso (360/LS sprintcars), Nick Hall (V6 sprints) and Brodie Reichstein (junior sedans) were the other feature event winners on the night.

Racing will return to Murray Bridge Speedway on Boxing Day with round one of Sprintcar Speedweek.

Twenty contracted drivers will feature in this year’s series, including Lockie McHugh, Brock Hallett, Jy Corbet, Grant Anderson, Marcus Dumesny and New Zealand’s Max Guilford.

Local trainers take home wins at Gawler races

On December 13, three local trainers took home the chocolates at the Gawler races, including:

• Smother ridden by Todd Pannell and trained by Michael Hickmott won the Gawler Arms Hotel Maiden Plate.
• Snoopy Now ridden by Jacob Opperman and trained by Darryl Hewitt won the Irongate Australia Handicap.
• Cielao ridden by Jessica Tzaferis and trained by Michael Hickmott won the Bronwen Darrall Memorial Handicap.

Mannum's finals prospects look bright in Lower Murray bowls

Tailem Bend have given Jervois a lesson with a 73-37 thumping, getting up on all three rinks with a clinical performance at home to end their rivals recent run of good form.

Duane Edwards, Merv Stevens, Con Jones and Bernard Naulty were off to a great start with the first nine shots in six ends against Shawn Hicks, Heather Fromm, Bruce Smith and Neil Morris, and went on to win 26-9.

The visitors were never in the contest, managing to win successive ends just once, and only six ends for the day as the home side took total control.

Travis Schenke, Rob Hales, Matt Kowald and Kevin McDonald were no less convincing as they raced to a 20-3 lead over Graeme Herbert, Jeremy Scannell, Graham Schenke and Stuart McCulloch after 11 ends, with Schenke and Hales inflicting plenty of damage.

A four on the 3rd, and a five on the 9th ensured their ascendancy in the first half, and although Herbert restricted them to only three singles over the last ten ends while adding nine shots himself the damage had been done.

The final score was 23-12.

Sam Shepherd, Keith Wood, Steve Gordge and Grantley Byrne overcame a slow start to win 24-16 over Derek Vanderzon, Tim Hicks, Shane Fromm and Graham Fromm. 

Vanderzon was out of the blocks with a 10-0 lead after five ends, but things turned quickly with Wood hitting the mark with his upshots, and Shepherd adding sots to score the next 13 shots, including a five to take the lead 13-10.

A four on the 16th gave Shepherd a seven shot break before Vanderzon responded with three singles in a row, but a three to Shepherd clinched the win.

Mannum were also winners on all three rinks as they shored up their finals prospects against RSL who would need a major form reversal to make the finals.

David Kempe, Ron Van Tijn, Graham Leathers and Peter Wegner capitalised on a good start to win 24-12 over Jason Sipos, Matt Wynne, Brenton Sinclair and Gary Daniel.

Kempe took the first five ends for a 6-0 lead, but Sipos had clawed back to within two shots after 12 ends in a low scoring contest to that point.

A four to Kempe broke the contest open, and a five on the penultimate end blew out the final margin.

Terry McDonnell, Marty March, Graham Wakefield and Gary Odgers were in early trouble, falling to 13-4 deficit  after eight ends against David Graham, Noel Kneebone, Greg Hopgood and Max Wilkin before launching a stunning comeback.

Over the next six ends McDonnell added three threes, two fours and a single to take a commanding 22-13 lead. 

Two singles and a four to Graham gave him some hope, but another four to McDonnell restored a buffer and he went on to win 28-21.

Gavin Pfeiffer, Tom Towns, Ian Windebank and Colin Campion dominated most of the contest, but in the end just held off David Thiele, Karen Kneebone, Ian Schubert and David Newell 18-15.

Pfeiffer opened with a two and a three and led by ten shots after 13 ends.

A four on the 16th to Thiele breathed life back into the contest, but Pfeiffer hung on for a three shot win.

Murray Bridge completed a trifecta of three rink winners with a 72-50 win over Karoonda at Karoonda.

Darren McIntosh, Tony Trewren, Troy Penhall and Paul Smart continued their imperios form with a 34-15 win over Ian Symonds, Belinda O'Malley, Tarryn Turner and John Wegner.

After a tame start with both sides scoring a brace of singles, a six to McIntosh gave him an early break, but Symonds quickly cut the deficit to one shot with a two and a three.

McIntosh again broke clear with three, four and four to lead by 12, but Symonds responded immediately with a four himself as 26 shots were scored in just six ends.

Mcintosh then went on to win eight of the final ten ends, albeit at a more sedate rate, before a five on the final end gave him a resounding win.

The other two rinks were much closer, with Andrew Stasinowsky, Brian Traeger, Helen Lindner and Ben Traeger emerging 20-17 winners over Erin O'Malley, Garry Mason, Damon Fromm and Malcolm Waechter. 

Just nine shots were scored over the first eight ends before a six to O'Malley gave her a five shot lead.

Staz quickly regained the lead with the next seven shots, including a four right on the break.

O'Malley briefly regained the lead, but a three to Staz on the 16th was the final lead change as he went on to win 20-17.

Bruce Attrill, Charlie DiSanto, Brian Leckie and Aaron Jones needed every one of their eight shot lead approaching the break to hold off Rowan Zadow, Len Symonds, Jayden Turner and Tony Ricks by one shot, 19-18. 

Three successive twos from the 11th end got Zadow back into the contest, and he managed to edge ahead by one shot going into the final end.

But Attrill, who had scored in just two of the previous ten ends secured the win with a two on the final end.

Mypo smash Meningie by 200 runs in Murray Towns cricket

Ramblers 3/98 defeated Monarto 9/97

• Ramblers best: Eli Woidt 45, Chris Kropinyeri 3/24
• Monarto best: Lithmin Thenuka 16, 1/16, Harry Miles 1/18

Jervois 4/117 lost to Mannum 10/198

• Jervois best: Camron Jorgensen 61, John Zadow 5/17
• Mannum best: Zak Muirhead 47, Dwayne Krollig 1/7

Tailem Bend 10/182 lost to Wanderers 5/184

• Tailem best: Umesh Badu 83, Lucas Piggott 3/40
• Wanderers best: Benjamin Trenorden 82, Tom Watkins 4/10

Mypolonga 5/259 defeated Meningie 10/49

• Mypo best: Aaron Zrim 79, Riley Walton 5/7
• Meningie best: Cameron Reid 2/53, 13, Tom Rankine 11

Email your sports reports to peri@murraybridge.news.