Payne was on track to take out the Highlands Golf Club A-grade championship on Saturday but was disqualified from the event.

Payne was disqualified by the Australian Golf Union because of an illegal drop he made in the second round.

In his absence, Richard Crawford shot a terrific round of 73 to clinch the title by 16 shots with a total score of 290.

Scott Wunderlich, Ross McKell and Cameron Fraser all finished second on 306.

Highlands’ Golf Pro Larry Canning said Crawford was wrapped to win.

“He is a bit of an unknown quantity, this is his first championship win,” he said.

Canning said Payne handled the situation like a true gentlemen.

“Darren earned a lot of respect for the way he handled the situation. I would not have been so diplomatic.”

“Richard said he would have preferred to have had Darren play the last round.”

In B-grade junior Tye Worden won with a total score of 326 and the runner-up was Graeme Peterson with 344.

The C-grade champion was Peter Bartlewicz, with a score of 366 and Tony Marks was the runner-up with 368.

In the juniors, Mitchell Clarke won with a total of 318 and the runner-up was Steven Millbank with 322.

oIn other golfing news, Paul Knock won the Bowral Pharmacy Cup at Bowral Country Club on Saturday.

This popular event is well supported by sponsor Bowral Amcal Pharmacy and Paul Pettiford and is played for the Bowral Pharmacy perpetual trophy and trophies in all grades.

Knock, playing off a handicap of 16, had a superb scratch round of 78 for a net score of 62.

The scratch winner in division 1 was Alan Bray with 72.

Tom Flint won division 2 with a scratch round of 82 for a net 64. The scratch winner was Terry Miller with a score of 90