Next Week’s Details

There’s a rumour SoS might read the blog this week even if he won’t admit it.

There’s even a rumour he read last week’s blog because this week he took my advice and played a nice little conservative non-hero namby pamby scungy drive off the 17^th tee, without going for the green as he usually does.

Result? He made a neat par 4 rather than last week’s double bogey.

Another nice nerveless par on the last and SoS signed for a Net 67 and a one stroke win in the February monthly medal.

Congratulations SoS!

I didn’t make it in time to get a fresh winner’s photo (and SoS who played in the first group and had to leave early obviously isn’t as cocky as Gordo, so I didn’t get a winner’s selfie from him either). So, apologies for having to re-use the old SoS Flamengo photo.

Two other blokes might have knocked SoS off if it wasn’t for the ifs, buts and maybes, some karma and CJ muttering The Curse.

Rob played well all day apart from a dodgy 7 on the 13^th. His par putt on the 18^th would have made his round a Net 66 but it slipped by and he was a bit careless with the one on the way back and signed for a 68.

He said at the time “that has just cost me the medal”. He was only half right. The par putt needed to go in. If he made the tiddler for bogey and matched SoS’s score, SoS would have won on countback.

Standing on the 16^th tee, everybody in his group knew that Craig was going very very well. But the generally agreed club etiquette is you can know it, you can think it, but if you’re playing in a group with somebody going well, you certainly never ever say it out loud.

Unless you are a club legend with rights to say whatever you want. “Geez Craig, you’re going well” says CJ to Craig on the 16^th tee after Craig had banked another solid par on the 15^th.

It’s not clear whether Craig was shaking his head on the tee after that statement, knowing he was doomed, but by the end of the 16^th when he struck some unlucky tree trouble and signed for an 8, he was not only shaking his head but shaking the proverbial finger (or was it a fist) at CJ.

CJ reckons there was a bit of triple karma involved as well as The Curse. On the 5^th, CJ’s ball finished in an unlucky, impossible position next to a tree and Peps was reported to be pissing himself laughing.

On the 6^th Peps then found himself in an unlucky impossible position next to a tree, and CJ pointed out the karma involved.

Craig was laughing there too at Peps and CJ warned “be careful Craig these things come in threes.”

So be it karma or The Curse, Craig had to settle for Net 70 and equal third, joined by Peps and Bobby.

The 3 Championship points for Peps snuck him to the lead for the Club Championship in what is a very tightly bunched field. Peps has also hit the lead in the Eclectic.

CJ who managed a tidy 5 on the 16^th (but an 8 of his own on the 8^th) picked up 4^th placed points with 72, followed by Steve and Brendon in joint fifth with 73. Brendon also won the NTP ball on the 12th.

Matty won the NTP ball on the 18th and was just out of the points on 74.

Others who win what my daughter calls the Everybody Wins a Prize (EWP) Participation Certificate were Raj, Mark and Nalin.

Only 12 players all up, down on last week’s 21. Birdies total 9, including Peps on the 3^rd (pin stayed in same place this week) Nalin on the 9^th and Matty on the 14^th and 17^th (Matty also had a pair of 7’s on the 5th and 11th – how did you manage that Matty?)

But the big bird that was nearly an eagle was Rob on the 10^th, a great drive and then 9 iron that so nearly went in. It is this week’s goal/mark of the week entry for the Most Remarkable Shot of the Year (MRSY) Trophy.

Honourable mentions to Matty and Marc who both had well struck shots flying beautifully until hitting trees and powering a long way backwards, in Matty’s case to behind where he started, in Marc’s case to just in front of the ladies tee on the 11^th.

Best Power Shank (BPS) of the week was a no contest. Take a bow Nalin, off the 15^th tee into the tennis club car park.

NEW COURSE RATINGS BLACK AND BLUE

Being a Monthly Medal the field played from the “Black (back) Tees” which are white of course.

Next week, and for most rounds other than Monthly Medals or the 3 week December Stroke-Play Championship, we will be playing off the Blue Tees.

CONCENTRATE NOW PLEASE FELLAS

And here you need to CONCENTRATE FELLAS because we have some BIG CHANGES with the “rating” of the course for which holes are hardest and easiest and therefore WHICH HOLES YOU WILL GET STROKES ON.

There now two different course cards, one for Black Tees and one for Blue Tees (there’s also another card for Red Tees but let’s not worry about that one).

The changes in hole ratings for the Black Tees are kind of irrelevant to us because we will always be playing stroke when using the Black Tees.

So, let’s focus on the new Blue Tee card, compared to the old card we are used to.

Hopefully you can see the side by side photo ok. If so, you should be able to see Old and New and clock the changes.

12 holes have a different “rating” than previously. 6 holes have stayed the same.

In summary:

• 1. First was rated 10, now 10 (no change)
• 2. Second was rated 2, now 1 (swapped with the 13^th which was 1 now 2)
• 3. Third was rated 8, now 4 (agreed, it’s harder than an 8 rating for sure, although I reckon it should be 5 not 4, the 8^th is harder than the 3^rd from the blues I reckon)
• 4. Fourth was rated 7, now 17 (no joke, you read that right, was 7 now 17, the 4^th is now the second easiest hole on the course from the blue tees apparently, which shows how good we are because we have now gone 5 weeks without anybody winning the NTP Pro-pin there – next week 5 weeks of money on offer on the second easiest hole on the course!)
• 5. Fifth was rated 15, now 11 (it’s got a bit harder for everybody except Porks and SoS who birdied it this week)
• 6. Sixth was rated 11, now 7 (it’s got harder too apparently)
• 7. Seventh was rated 4, now 12 (yep, another no joke, was 4 now 12, I suppose lots of blokes who used to get two shots there don’t really need the 2 shots, so maybe they’re right)
• 8. Eighth was rated 6 now 6 (no change, personally I find the 8^th harder the 3^rd but what would I know. Note the 8^th is rated 3 on the Black Tees card, so maybe I ain’t a total golf dunce)
• 9.Ninth was rated 12, now 8 (it’s got harder, I agree, tricky shot into the green up the hill and you can get some tricky putts there too)
• 10. Tenth was rated 5, now 5 (no change, although a very easy hole for Prez Priems today)
• 11. Eleventh was rated 13, now 15 (agree, it’s too easy for blokes off 13 to get a shot there)
• 12. Twelfth was rated 18 now 18 (no change)
• 13. Thirteenth was rated 1, now 2 (agree, when the old back tee was there on the 13^th – on the hill behind the 12^th green – it was definitely the hardest hole, but with new forward tee, it’s no longer tougher than the 2^nd)
• 14. Fourteenth was rated 17, now 14 (given the number of times Harry hits it in the hazard there off the tee, not to mention the difficult green for putting, I agree the 14^th is a bit harder than it looks)
• 15. Fifteenth was rated 16, now 13 (agreed I reckon like the 14^th it’s harder than it looks, especially when you shank it from the tee)
• 16. Sixteenth was rated 3, now 3 (no change)
• 17. Seventeenth was rated 14 now 16 (agreed, blokes off 14 getting a stroke there used to irritate me)
• 18. Eighteenth was rated 9, now 9 (no change)
• 19. Nineteenth, according to the Consumer Beer Index (CBI) when the club started in 1986 it was approximately $2 for a can/stubby of beer – I made that up, it’s just a guess – with maybe 5 choices. Now the club is charging us $8.50-$9.50 a can/stubby and I counted about 25 choices in the fridge today before I gave up from choice stress and had a wine instead.

Ok now for this week’s lecture and your homework for next week.

Know your exact handicap before you tee off.

Make sure you grab the Blue Tees card from the clubhouse not the Black Tees Card (the holes ratings are different, for example the 4^th is rated 14 on the Black Tees card and 17 on the Blue Tees card; the 8^th is rated 3 on the Black Tees card and 6 on the Blue Tees card etc. etc.) so to say again, make sure you use the Blue Tees Card. If you mark your card with a Black Tees Card on a Blue Tees day, I will murder you.

Score your stableford points carefully and correctly according to the new ratings.

PS. Harry are you having apoplexy? I assume the new ratings means we will have to change some of the computer code in your fancy handicapping “sandpit”? If this can’t be done before the round next week, no stress, we will work it out somehow, even if next week’s results need to wait a week for you to get home and get over your jet lag.

By the by, any members out there who are ok on ‘under the hood’ computer coding? If so, let me and Harry know. We might have a rewarding volunteer job opportunity for you.

PPS. Impressed with the scorecards this week. Only one error. A bloke who had wrong handicap on his card. He was 9 not 8 so under Harry’s rules, rather than me disqualifying him, he was elevated from out of the points to fifth. I won’t name and shame him because of his high office and my sensitive approach to trans-Tasman relationships.

Cheers, Michael G

Results for Saturday, 07 Feb 2026
1st Stephen O’Sullivan (67) 2nd Robert Priems (68) 3rd Craig Cameron (70) 3rd Bob McDonald (70) 3rd Andrew Petricola (70) 4th Chris Priems (72) 5th Steven Gervasoni (73) 5th Brendon Mitchell (73)

Seniors Results: 1st Robert Priems (68) 2nd Craig Cameron (70) 2nd Bob McDonald (70) 3rd Chris Priems (72)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 12th Brendon Mitchell BallPin No 2 – 18th Matt Hunt

It was still Saturday morning when my phone pinged and a blinding photo of a bloke in a colourful shirt hit my phone screen.

Playing in Group 1, our Par comp winner on 31 Jan signed for +6 and promptly and thoughtfully sent me a photo tagged “This week’s winner photo”.

His cockiness was well founded.

Fellow traveller in Group 1 Peps had signed for +3 and that was as close as anybody got.

Peps left one out there in the form of a rare birdie on the second, one of those “double pluses” he only gets a single plus for in a normal par round. Nice drive, tidy draw with a 9 iron second into about 12 feet and in went the putt.

SoS joined the party at +3 to share second. Without knowing the details, there was the usual SoS “boom or bust” on his card for the 17th. This time 6 a loss. I assume he went for the green and hit it into the SoS pond.

No doubt, despite him getting a stroke there and it only being a par round, popping it down the fairway like a normal person, pitching it on for a 4 for a plus and signing for +5 rather than +3 would have been far too boring an approach for our SoS.

JQ, also in stellar Group 1 got to +3 after 13, but wobbled a bit on 14/15 and signed for +2 and third place points.

Along the way JQ hit this week’s entry for the Most Remarkable Shot of the Year Trophy. His drive on the 17th went high, wide and way left and was heading towards Hays Paddock on the other side of the freeway.

Somehow it hit something and spat out back on the fairway from where John hit a great shot into about 10 feet but unfortunately missed the birdie. I am calling this entry for the MRSY Trophy, the Hays Paddock Priemsy.

We should possibly add a BPS trophy as well – Best Power Shank. In which case Brendon’s effort off the 18th (also lucky not to finish in Hays Paddock) was a contender this week. Somehow he still managed a par and in doing so – with minus 7 – avoided the joint NAGA prize this week by one shot.

We won’t mention the names Porks and Josh as the NAGAs at minus 8.

However those two boys did win another prize each. Josh won the NTP ‘ball’ on the 12th where he beat a bloke named Matt. In scrubbing Matt’s name off the NTP sticky, Josh added some eloquent sledging which can’t be printed in a family friendly blog like this one.

Porks won the ball on 18. He’s got a lot of balls has Porks.

Nobody won the Pro-pin on the 4th. Everybody who hit the green, but not within the required 5 metres, kept standing around waiting for our new greenskeeper to come and move the pin closer, but no deal this week – it seems after some quiet intervention from Peps to club management that we might be returning to pins being organised before we tee off and not moved during play.

The Pro-pin money on the 4th is now a triple (Harry’s definition) or quadruple (Michael’s definition) jackpot. It’s 4 weeks of money – Harry and Michael can agree on that.

Back to the points.

Bobby played well for square and 4th. Joining Bobby was the New Old Reliable Andrew V who has now hit the lead on his own in the Club Championship, albeit by just a point, with some quality cattle chasing close behind, including Matty who snuck in a handy point for 5th with minus 1, shared with Nalin.

Matty is leading the Seniors and has snuck into second in the Vardon and third in the Eclectic. Like Arsenal in the Premier League, is Matty is on for quadruple? Andrew V might also be on for that too.

Although both of them might have to watch out for Stan on the comeback trail. It was lovely to see Stan turn up and say hello after the round, feet firmly on the ground.

Harry likes to put in total players (21) birdies (9) – including CJ with one on the 4th and one on the 10th which is a fair effort – and birthdays. Happy birthday again Prez Priems.

Others that played but without a mention so far were: on minus 2 Rob, CJ, Steve; minus 3 Blighty and Craig; and then came Targe, Raj, Kenny, Wazza and the previously mentioned Brendon, Josh and Porks.

New member Heath put in his third card and his handicapped adjusted scores across three rounds were 98, 97, 95, slightly better than actual stroke scores of 108, 108 and 109. Unlike this week’s stroke Monthly Medal round where every shot counts, for handicapping, anything higher than a double bogey is counted as a double, so for example Heath’s 10 on the 9th in Round 3 is counted as a 6. Welcome again Heath. Have fun with your handicap of 29.

Thanks also to Harry for organising Heath’s handicapping admin while doing his ‘Pella/Tabaqat Fahl’ archeological dig in Jordan.

A quick google tells me human occupation there stretches back over half a million years, that’s 500,000 years, including a Roman theatre and bath house from about the Year 150.

Have fun digging for dirt in the bath house Harry!

If we don’t get rain here soon you’ll be in very familiar territory when you get back in a couple of weeks. As Peps said last week, without rain, the now very brown Ivanhoe fairways will soon be dust.

Results for Saturday, 31 Jan 2026
1st Gordon Hill (+6) 2nd Andrew Petricola (+3) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan (+3) 3rd John Quinlan (+2) 4th Bob McDonald (□) 4th Andrew Vogan (□) 5th Matt Hunt (-1) 5th Nalin Samaranayake (-1)

Seniors Results: 1st Gordon Hill (+6) 2nd Bob McDonald (□) 2nd Andrew Vogan (□) 3rd Matt Hunt (-1)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 12th Josh Hunt BallPin No 2 – 18th Ryan Porker

Finally fellas, the quality of scorecards this week was, not for the first time, bloody abysmal.

No less than 7 out of 20 cards were signed with incorrect scores.

Where I played growing up as a kid (Northern) all 7 of you would have been disqualified for signing an incorrect card. It’s not rocket science to get your card right.

1. Check your handicap before play

2. As a marker, keep your own scores super accurately and then check what the person marking your card has put down. If there is a difference, check it, and get your card correct BEFORE you sign it and hand it over.

Otherwise, under Harry’s generous “no disqualification” approach, Harry and I have to fart around checking all the discrepancies.

I won’t name names this week, but I will in future.

I know we ain’t playing for sheep stations, but please show Harry and I some courtesy and get your card 100% right every week in future please!

15 blokes turned up.

It was hot.

Course is “browning-up.”

A bit of fear for next week if the extreme heat comes as predicted and there’s no rain this week.

They were out watering greens while play was on today. Many greens were wet with puddles!

Let’s start from the bottom up.

The eight who missed the points were Prez Priems NAGA 23, Marc 24, Dan 26, Steve G 28, Targe 30, Porks 30 (who didn’t drive the 5^th this week, about 20 metres short and didn’t quite drive the 11^th either). Also, Gordo 31. Enough said about them.

We especially won’t mention Steve’s 9 points on the back after turning on 19, or Porks being the first man ever to have 3 birdies but still miss the points. He also gets a special mention for banging his drive on the 2^nd into a tree and having it rebound to just in front of the ladies tee.

But we can talk about Heath, a mate of Rob’s who put in his second card.

108 off the stick for Heath today (the same as his first card) but the way handicapping works anything over a double bogey gets counted as a double. So Heath’s 8 on the 4^th today becomes a 5 etc. Adjusted, the handicapper will give him a 97. His first card 108 converts to 98, so expect Heath to start with a handicap of about 30 after his next card.

Welcome Heath!

Sharing 5^th on 32 were two old stagers SoS and Peps – fist pumping for the Championship point after the round (but did it too quickly for me to get the photo).

Peps might have gone one better but suffered the same fate as Porks a few weeks ago on the 3^rd. The new Saturday morning groundskeeper seems unable to get himself organised to change the pins before play and insists on doing it while we are playing.

Like Porks, Peps hit a nice shot in close on the 3^rd and was thinking birdie before the hole got moved and he found himself with a longer birdie putt.

The groundsman wanted to do the same on the 4^th, our NTP Pro Pin hole, and was told in no uncertain terms to cease and desist.

There were a range of discussions in the Proshop after the round about the issue and Peps is going to follow-up during the week. If it happens to me next week (when I hope to back from injury and playing again) I’ll make a citizens arrest using my normal calm never ever angry on the course approach to diplomatic public relations.

PS. The Pro Pin on the 4^th has jackpotted again, so three weeks worth of money on offer there next week.

Andrew V is putting his hand up to be the New Old Reliable. Despite his chopped handicap after last week’s win, Andrew was in the points again with 33 and 4^th place on his Pat Malone.

His 2 Championship points were enough to sneak him past Porks into the joint lead in the Championship race, joined there by today’s 3^rd placegetter.

Matty had 5 points on his card after 6 holes, including a wipe on the 6^th. He was seen mumbling away to himself on the 7^th tee and his partners wondered if he might need a straight-jacket and some therapeutic intervention.

The “good talking to myself” was a resolve to get his act together and par the rest of the course off the stick. And he did, birdieing the 7^th and 14^th with just two bogeys to go with 8 pars and the result was 34 points and 3^rd place.

Nalin returned to form with 37 points and second place. But for a “touch of the Harrys” – a few putts that shaved the hole and refused to drop, Nalin could well have had 40+ and given our winner a better run for his money.

Along the way Nalin hit a shot that is the third entry for a new annual club trophy I want to donate, Most Remarkable Shot of the Year.

Second entry was Porks driving the green on the 5^th last week.

First entry was Heath’s drive on the 9^th the week before.

This week it was Nalin’s second on the 3^rd.

Put the kettle on and settle in, even without my usual embellishments, it’s not a short story.

Nalin’s drive on the 3^rd went so far right (and short) that his playing partners didn’t even bother to offer help him look for it. Nalin hit a provisional from the tee (which he hit well) assuming he wouldn’t find his first one.

But while his playing partners showed no interest what-so-ever in helping him look for the ball, Nalin wandered down the line just in case and sure enough, there it was, in the right rough, but playable about 80 metres from the tee.

The plan was a 7 iron down to the corner and pitch it on from there.

Nalin took his usual big swing and it came out flush. On the TV they might have said “oh he has got a flyer from the rough there” but it was heading dangerously right straight towards the big tree.

He’d hit it well and it had plenty of height and it brushed leaves of the tree then hit a branch with a glancing blow that corrected its line a bit to the left and to the absolute amazement of his partners it finished on the green!

He took three putts of course (but being in the first group he was putting to the “original” pin, not the later moved one). If the pin had been moved earlier, he surely would have made the birdie putt.

Meanwhile that 7 iron is in the book as this year’s most Remarkable Shot so far. That’s the one to beat.

The handicap of our winner this week had snuck out to 9.4 before today (which is only one bad round away from going to 10). 9 is probably at least 3 or 4 more than a player of his talent should be on. With so little lead in his saddle bags, Brendon cantered home in the heat with 39 points, easing up towards the finishing post (22/17). And only a very minor handicap adjustment down to 8.

Ever gracious, the up-standing Brendon doing the scores report speech at the presentation noted it was a “popular victory”.

Speaking of graciousness, Heath hit the shot that deserved to win the NTP ball on the 18^th but due to a technicality he graciously let the previous closest, Peps, take the prize. Peps graciously accepted the offer. Raj won the NTP “ball” on the 15^th.

The field had a total of 8 birdies. I don’t do birthdays. Apologies to who I have missed, which might have included Prez Priems a week or so ago. Belated happy birthday Rob.

Results for Saturday, 24 Jan 2026
1st Brendon Mitchell (39) 2nd Nalin Samaranayake (37) 3rd Matt Hunt (34) 4th Andrew Vogan (33) 5th Andrew Petricola (32) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan (32)

Seniors Results: 1st Matt Hunt (34) 2nd Andrew Vogan (33) 3rd Gordon Hill (31)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 15th Rajesh Mahto BallPin No 2 – 18th Andrew Petricola

Despite sharing today’s first prize, Wazza looked for a while a bit like Blighty last week at the round after party.

Before regrouping with a big winners smile for the photo, Wazza was looking more than a touch disappointed with his finish over the final two holes that cost him outright victory.

Indeed, if this was a tournament on the telly (and Andrew V and Wazza were in the same group – which they weren’t, Andrew V was in Group 1 and Wazza in Group 3) the leaderboard would have shown Wazza with a six-stroke lead standing on the 17^th tee.

Wazza had played well all day, apart from wipes at the 6^th and 9^th and had clocked 38 points in his first 16 holes, including 3 x 4-pointers.

Having blown away the field to this point, both with his tee-to-green work and on the greens, Wazza’s nearest challenger, Andrew V was on 32 points after the 16^th.

After banging another good tee shot down the 17^th into what commentator Jack Newton used to call “the Mayor’s office”, Wazza somehow managed to take 7 for a wipe.

Meanwhile Andrew V, who confesses to doing some serious practice on his chipping and pitching lately (there is a rumour of paid professional help involved) floated a beautiful pitch to about 4 feet on the 17^th and sunk the putt for a 4-point birdie. Andrew had earlier hit an even better pitch into a foot or so for a birdie on the 11^th.

A four shot swing and Wazza’s lead is suddenly two on the 18^th tee!

Andrew V then piled on the pressure with solid 3 for 3 par on the last. Wazza, after having a treacherous chip from the back of 18 to the bottom tier pin, managed to sneak it down to about 10 feet.

Perhaps not realising that 2 putts from there would be enough to win outright (the electronic scoreboard behind the 18^th wasn’t working again today) Wazza gave the first putt a good run, just missing on the high side and then missed the one on the way back!

The end result, Andrew V and Wazza in joint first on 39 points. Congratulations gents, two great rounds. Not sure for Andrew V, but I think it might have been a PB for Wazza. Guessing it won’t be long before he beats it again.

And for Eclectic fans, as it happens, in a coincidence I bet has never happened before, or ever will in future, Andrew V and Wazza’s joint first scores propelled them to joint first in the eclectic – Wazza’s Eclectic improving from Gross 75 to 71 and Net 55.1 and Andrew V’s went from Gross 71 to 67 and Net 55.1. Gordo is not far behind on 55.5.

Targe like Andrew V also stormed home with 7 points in his last two holes to claim 2^nd place on 36 points.

CJ, playing his 1,166^th round for the club, had his putt for par on the 18^th lip out and came off shaking his head mumbling that absolutely rare never before heard golfing epitaph, “what might have been” (or words to that effect). Earlier on the back 9 a couple of chips had lipped out and ….. we all know the story ….. left a few out there etc. etc.

He was happy enough to bank 3^rd placed points in both the general Championship and the much more competitive harder to win Seniors Championship.

Gordo was on fire early with 5 x 3-pointers on the front 9, turning with 21 points. But he could only manage 12 points on the back and a share of 4^th place with 33 points.

Porks matched Andrew V with two birdies on the back 9 (these were the only 4 birdies the field could manage). Porks 33 points was good enough for a share of 4^th with Gordo, with the 2 Championship points enough to sneak him into his customary first place on the Championship leaderboard.

On any other day, the talk about Porks big hitting would have been his drive on the 11^th that finished a few inches off the green, with his eagle putt very nearly going in. The drive actually clipped the trees on the way through, so Porks maybe over-clubbed there with a Driver.

Earlier on the 5^th, Porks and his playing partners didn’t seem worried about teeing off while the group ahead, Targe, CJ, Dan, Kenny were putting out. That was until it came off the club like a rocket.

Targe remained calm over his putt as Porks ball rolled past him to about 10 feet from the back pin. There was a bit of confusion before Dan clarified that it was Porks ball from the tee. Of course he sunk the putt for the eagle 2 and the Eagles Nest.

Harry if you are off your bike yet over there at the Tour Down Under, how many bloody times has Porks won the Eagles Nest? Ditto the other regular culprits Brendon and Peps? There should be an Eagle Tax on those blokes. Maybe an eagle should be added to the list of crimes to buy a round for playing partners?

No eagles for Old Reliable Craig but he was in the points again despite his handicap being 3 strokes less than last week. His 32 points was good enough for 5^th placed points in the main championship, but like Gordo, he missed out on the harder to get Seniors points.

Steve, Nalin, Ken and Dan didn’t have their best days.

Steve’s finished with one of unluckiest bounces I have ever seen on the 18^th. A good tee shot hit the ground just a bit short of the green on a good line to the front pin and I thought with a good bounce this is going to be very very close.

However, there was a big metallic bang and the ball jumped high in the air and about 30 metres to the right and back down the hill. It had hit a grate that wasn’t sitting flat and the effect was like bouncing off a trampoline in the wrong direction.

One of the stragglers didn’t make it into the 20’s with his score and was a clear NAGA with 18 points. He said he had more shanks than points and CJ confirmed this saying he had never seen a worse case since a time many years ago when Stewie Clark had a bad run with the shanks.

We like to be encouraging here on the blog, rather than name and shame, and so I won’t name names. Let’s just say I hope the good doctor finds some golfing medicine this week and comes back fit and firing next week. I will bet he is in the points next time he plays.

NTPs were Jackpot for Propin money on the 4^th. CJ “ball” on the 15^th and Porks on 18.

Results for Saturday, 17 Jan 2026
1st Warren Capes (39) 1st Andrew Vogan (39) 2nd Targe Mifsud (36) 3rd Chris Priems (34) 4th Gordon Hill (33) 4th Ryan Porker (33) 5th Craig Cameron (32)

Seniors Results: 1st Andrew Vogan (39) 2nd Targe Mifsud (36) 3rd Chris Priems (34)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 15th Chris Priems BallPin No 2 – 18th Ryan Porker

Eagle’s Nest Results: Eagle – 5th Ryan Porker