Next Week’s Details

With a faint whiff of high octane fuel drifting across from Albert Park, the nostrils of the rev-heads were twitching excitedly. Visions of soaring across the Yarra to take out the 50th Birdman Rally tomorrow were temporarily put on hold as were preparations of the costumes and floats for the Moomba Parade. Of course, dreams of being crowned King of Moomba had long since been extinguished, so at least some of the seventeen members who turned up were not being distracted by the multitude of distractions on offer this weekend. There should have been eighteen members, but it seems that one of our younger members had been out on the Hunt, and couldn’t quite make it. It mattered nought though, because we were joined by Kody on spec, and he was so impressed by our little band of bandits that he plans to get his three cards in and become our actual youngest member.

With the recent bout of rain, the course has really jumped out of its skin and looks a treat, except for the persisting bare patches that seem to have a ball attracting property. The water features were very much in evidence. There was a spout in the main dam to rival the Captain Cook Memorial Jet in Canberra, as well as the cute little fountain in front of the second tee. The water feature by the third tee was also in action. Plus, as a surprise addition, a new water feature came into action just as the second group were teeing off on the 9th. Apparently, AI decided that the tee could do with a bit of water.

Porks put in a couple of contenders for shots of the day, both on the 14th. His drive was so long that it actually went through the green, and finished in what was described as a tough lie in the long. He pulled out one of his trusty wedges, and proceeded to put it into the hole to clean out the Eagle’s Nest (again), and help himself to one over par on the back, seventy-one for the round, and net sixty-seven for the medal. In the process, he also grabbed back his top spot on the Order of Merit. Any bets on the length of run this time? Another shot that garnered a mention for shot of the round was JQ’s chip in for a birdie on the first. However, the shots that were waxed lyrical about most, were a couple by Kody, who, by the way, only took up the game late last year, A drive on the 13th reached past the penalty area on the left, while on the 16th he finished up by the big tree on the right. One to watch, you would have to say.

In a discussion about pace of play, Brendon had to own up to having to search extensively for his ball a number of times over the front nine. One such foray resulted in an Aunty Kate for the hole. And, by the way, there were a remarkable number of Aunty Kates plodded for the day. This came nowhere near Nalin’s effort on the 17th, where four into the penalty area and one lost/OOB resulted in a tally of fifteen. Anyway, Brendon got his mojo back on the back, which he completed just two over with three consecutive bogies to the 18th spoiling his chances of a win, but good enough to collect second place.

Rumour has it that Matt was one of the flyers at the Punter’s Club last weekend, and collected most of the nearest the pins as well. After being let down a bit on the front, he managed the back three over, and fitted nicely into third place. There was quite a gaggle to fill fourth with Harry, CJ, JQ, and SOS all finishing with seventy-three, while AndrewV brought up the rear of the points table.

The Nearest the Pins all went off. The jackpot ProPin on the 12th looked to be all but unbeatable when Harry blithely measured the distance to Pepsi at 0.95m only to be reminded that that was actually Pepsi’s second shot. The distance to Brendon’s first shot turned out to be 2.755m, which Brendon opined would not hold. There were a couple of close calls, but it did, and he collected today’s money, plus the $6 carried over from last week. AndrewV was probably pretty confident about the security of his claim on the BallPin on the 15th, but he hadn’t counted on SteveG who collected the ball, and added a birdie to our tally of nine. Craig was the only one to get onto the 18th for the Jackpot on offer there.

Harry thought his long putt for par on the 3rd should have rated a mention for one of the shots of the day as it ran true and hit the pin dead centre. Although, if it hadn’t done so, it could easily have been off the green. Another long putt of note was from Porks on the 18th, where he had taken three strokes to get to about 6m from the hole. Sinking that saved us from having to do a count-back for the Medal. Craig was pretty cranky with himself for striking the wrong ball on the 13th, although there were other ‘sins’ that didn’t help his score either. Pepsi started to show signs of the putting yips down at the Punter’s Club, which he put down to some of the excesses involved. However, they continued today, but he did spend time at the GP yesterday. Although the compulsory play rule for the Matchplay was waived, and most people opted to exercise that right, Marc and SteveG agreed that they would continue as planned. The result looked to be fairly nip and tuck for the first nine holes, but Steve suffered a bit of a lapse at the start of the back, and, by the 14th the match was dormie 4 in favour of Marc. Steve’s birdie on the 15th was a win to make dormie 3, and he needed to keep winning to bring the match to a chip-off after the 18th. A loss at the 16th brought the match to an end 4 and 2 in Marc’s favour. The Calendar will be reworked, and play in the event will resume, probably next week.

Results for Saturday, 07 Mar 2026
1st Ryan Porker (67) 2nd Brendon Mitchell (68) 3rd Matt Hunt (71) 4th Harry Boughen (73) 4th Chris Priems (73) 4th John Quinlan (73) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan (73) 5th Andrew Vogan (74)

Seniors Results: 1st Matt Hunt (71) 2nd Harry Boughen (73) 2nd Chris Priems (73) 3rd Andrew Vogan (74)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Brendon Mitchell BallPin No 1 – 15th Steven Gervasoni BallPin No 2 – 18th Craig Cameron

Eagle’s Nest Results: Eagle – 14th Ryan Porker

With most of the membership skiving off down to the Pen for a weekend of fun and frivolity (and some golf, apparently), there were serious doubts that we could scare up enough starters to have a competition. Fortunately, right on the deadline, the sixth registration clicked in, and six members headed off to tackle a nicely refreshed course, thanks to the storms that passed through the area during the week. There is a bit more rain forecast, and if we can get a few warm days as well, this could have the course in pretty good shape for the coming cooler weather as autumn, and eventually winter, descends upon us. Our six members were joined by Gavin, from the afternoon cabal, setting up seven for the first tee. Only six played the 18th, as one member had retired, but, as we had started with the required number, there was still a competition in play. Game on!

AndrewV has been the hot stock to watch over the last little while, and he didn’t disappoint as he cracked one straight down the guts from the first tee. Uh oh, thought the gallery, here we go again. And, that was almost the case. Dan’s drive from the first was pretty good as well, but in the end, both managed a minus for the hole. It was ditto for Dan until the third, but AV managed to get back to square in the same space. It wasn’t until the 7th that Dan managed to get a par and a plus on the card. However, from there on, he said goodbye to the negativity and played out the back nine for a plus three to take out the day in positive territory on plus 1.

Andrew does not seem to be at all fazed by his dizzyingly low handicap, and it could be speculated that there is a fair chance of it getting even lower in the near future. He, very cunningly, played exactly to his handicap and came second, a sure way to maximise your points without affecting your handicap. That, and playing often, is a surefire path to Championship glory. He did think, during the round, that the Golf Gods had it in for him, as a couple of stray shots whizzed by disturbingly close, with little evidence of a warning call. Thankfully, the offenders were not from our Club.

Steve reckons that he should get extra points for having put out the NTP markers correctly. Unfortunately, he will have to settle for the three points on offer for his third placing with minus one on the card. He did go close to having to shout for a draughtie from the 17th tee, which, maybe robbed him of some more points. Harry’s digging arm let him down a bit today, and he struggled into fourth with minus four, while Blighty could offer no excuse for him straggling in on minus six, although he did get a point, despite all that. His result probably wasn’t helped by his drive on the 9th that travelled fully a metre and a half from the tee peg. The draughtie beverages were much appreciated. His second shot was thought, by all, to be in the short rough off to the right, but it could not be found, either there or in the adjacent long rough.

The Nearest the Pin trophies almost all went begging what with the small field and all. However, AndrewV did manage to get onto the 4th, and he will collect his winnings in due course.

Gavin can hit the ball a country mile, but, early on, his direction and range control was a bit off. So much so that he had to declare lost on both the first and second holes. He did make two shots that would be contenders for Michael’s ‘Shot of the Round’. On the 8th, he had a ball in the long close to the OOB fence, and close to a post that blocked any shot parallel to the fence. Rather than take the penalty for relief, he faced the fence, gave it a good whack, and the ball popped up and back over his head, leaving him with a better view of the green than the relief would have given. The second gets my vote. On the 17th, his drive finished just over a metre short of the tree on the corner, completely stymied except for the gap between the two trunks. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, he took out some sort of a wedge and smashed it through the gap to land it on the green, almost as a slam dunk, to finish within puttable distance of the hole.

It seems that what happens at the Punter’s Club stays at the Punter’s Club, but, if any snippets do filter through, they might get added as an addendum. So keep coming back to see if anybody snitches.

Results for Saturday, 28 Feb 2026
1st Dan Marie (+1) 2nd Andrew Vogan (□) 3rd Steven Gervasoni (-1) 4th Harry Boughen (-4) 5th Andrew Blight (-6)

Seniors Results: 1st Andrew Vogan (□) 2nd Steven Gervasoni (-1) 3rd Harry Boughen (-4)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 4th Andrew Vogan BallPin No 2 – 18th Jackpot

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Good luck to all the boys heading down to the beach for this year’s Punters Club golfing odyssey.

Gordo got the beach theme going a week early by forgetting his putter and borrowing a Cleveland Huntington Beach from the pro-shop and putting the lights out with it, 23 points on the front and 15 on the back.

Meanwhile, Andrew V, who has been known to take an interest in golfing statistics, reported his best ever putting round with his trusty Odyssey blade.

He knocked Gordo off by a shot for the win.

In doing so, Andrew has shot to the lead in the “all ages” Championship passing by the other Andrew who is now in second, with Gordo surging past Brendon and Targe into third. Gordo has also surfed a wave past Porks into the lead in Harry’s favourite Order of Merit race.

Andrew V has also joined Matty in equal first place in the Seniors Championship, although he’s dropped down the pecking order in the Eclectic because the Eclectic includes a handicap factor. In losing 2 shots from 16 (16.3) to 14 (14.4) after his win this week, it reduces Andrew V’s net Eclectic score. Peps, Porks and Nalin lead the Eclectic.

A LONG WAY TO GO

Of course it is early days in the Championship / Trophy races. Counting our two-week majors as “2 rounds” we have completed 12 rounds of our 52-round season (23%).

In AFL terms we are at about three-quarter time of Round 6, which this year includes Carlton vs Collingwood on April 16. You don’t win too many Premierships in April.

In Round 6 of 2024, eventual premiers Brisbane kicked 4 goals 13 points in their loss to Geelong and sat 12^th on the ladder with 2 wins (8 points) from their 6 games.

Currently sitting in equal 12^th place on our Championship table are JQ and Kenny on 8 points. Can they do a Brisbane 2024?

If it was the Melbourne Cup, we’d have travelled less than the first 800 metres of the 3,200 metre race.

Who might do a Cross Counter (2018) or Kiwi (1983) and come from the back of the field to win the 2026 Ivanhoe Men’s Golf Club Melbourne Cup?

Or better still, Wotan at 100-1 odds in the 1936 Melbourne Cup.

Of those with points on the board, currently bringing up the rear of the field are Raj, Steve G and Marc.

Any backers for one of those three at 100-1?

MANGO BUNKERS

There’s a rumour the Kenny mango scene might have got stuck in another bunker, but there were plenty of takers for this week’s potentially final offerings.

Thanks for the ride with the mangoes over the years Kenny! My mango loving mum says an especially big thank you!

Fellow playing partners in the first group SoS and CJ also want to say big thanks for the jug you supplied via your swish on the first, which apparently went down very well with the audience watching.

Payment in mangoes was accepted.

Heath also supplied some entertainment on the first, hitting his drive adjacent to the 13^th green. No problems though. Two neat shots from there and a couple of putts saw him start with a no fuss 3-pointer.

SOS PAINTING PICTURES

Of the 9 birdies across the field today none was more spectacular than SoS birdieing the 5^th for the second week in a row.

Asked by Brendon at the presentation to talk us through it, SoS got all enthusiastic and said “I hit one shot, then another and then the third shot went in the hole.” He knows how to paint a picture for the blog our SoS.

SoS’s continued good form (37 points) was good enough for third place on his own, followed by four blokes sharing fourth on 36 (Craig, Nalin, Porks and JQ).

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

Marc played well for 35 points and was left ruing a four-hole stretch of 1-pointers from the 11^th to the 14^th. What might have been.

Ditto said Porks who was on world record pace standing over a shortish birdie putt on the 13^th and heading for a personal best. Fout putts later, the double bogey 6 for 1 took a bit of wind out of the Porks sails.

Of the others, honourable mentions to players with 30+, Steve G (34) Brendon and CJ (33) and Rob (31). The 20 something strugglers were Raj, Wazza, Michael, Heath, Kenny and Targe.

Bobby started in the field of 19 members but decided to call it quits after the 13^th. Some serious family medical issues in Bobby’s world at the moment. Our thoughts are with you Bobby.

We also had a visitor to make it 20 players, Gavin, who normally plays on Saturday afternoons but needed an early tee time this week. Nice bloke, but guessing he will stick with Saturday afternoons.

NO BALLS MICHAEL

Marc won the ball on the 7^th with a great 5 iron a few inches closer than Michael had earlier hit one of his only good shots of the day with a 4 iron.

Porks knocked off Michael for the ball on the 18^th, taking the inside NTP as well with a shot to 3.17 metres to the always difficult back pin.

Porks also won the Pro-pin money on the 15^th. There are rumours the tax office are avid blog readers and have Porks lined up for a tax audit this year.

HARRY’S BACK!

Harry is back in town and will be resuming normal duties from next week. Seems like he’s been away far too long. His Assistant Apprentice Handicapper and blog writer needs a Bex and good lie down.

Results for Saturday, 21 Feb 2026
1st Andrew Vogan (39) 2nd Gordon Hill (38) 3rd Stephen O’Sullivan (37) 4th Craig Cameron (36) 4th Ryan Porker (36) 4th John Quinlan (36) 4th Nalin Samaranayake (36) 5th Marc Phillips (35)

Seniors Results: 1st Andrew Vogan (39) 2nd Gordon Hill (38) 3rd Craig Cameron (36)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Ryan Porker BallPin No 1 – 7th Marc Phillips BallPin No 2 – 18th Ryan Porker

Brendon arrived at the course draped in the Zimbabwean flag and declared they were definitely his second favourite cricket team, especially this week.

You could tell pre-round that he fancied himself causing a Zimbabwean style upset against today’s strong field of 15 members, plus Marc’s guest Neil.

Brendon opened with a birdie and added four more 3-pointers to hit the turn on 22 points. Another 3-pointer on the 10^th and he was on world record pace.

Gordo also hit the turn on 22 points, Peps on 21 and Targe 20.

Targe arrived a bit late and was shuffled down a group. But he quickly showed his form wasn’t going to suffer from not having time for his usual warm up, smashing a drive down the 1^st on the way to the first of his 6 x 3-pointers to go with 2 x 4-pointers.

Could Brendon keep it going? Was our Championship leader Peps the one beat, or was Targe going to beat all-comers.

Was Gordo going to do better than his 6 up win two weeks ago (PS. If you missed the blog that week, ‘Cocky Photo’ you can still find it here by scrolling down and/or looking under Recent Posts).

And I assume Gordo will head there now rather than read the rest of today’s blog because if you scroll down and sneak a peek at the points placings, there ain’t no Gordo anywhere to be seen.

He couldn’t even scrounge a point for fifth (which went to Blighty on his own with 33). You can do the maths of Gordo’s back 9.

CORRECTION!

Four blokes conspired to stuff up two scorecards. I won’t name names. Blighty/Targe (Blighty’s card) and Nalin/Gordo (Nalin’s card). I wrote the blog before I did the cards this week. The upshot is that once the cards were corrected, Blighty went down a point to 32, Nalin went up a point to 32 and Gordo and Andrew V snuck in to join them on 5th.

Meanwhile Steve G and JQ had steady looking cards for 34 and joint fourth, joined by Marc who finished with a flourish with a pitch in ‘2 for 5’ birdie on the 18^th.

SHOT OF THE WEEK

Marc’s 60-degree wedge from about 20 metres short of the 18^th green was perfectly stuck, hit the green softly and gently rolled towards the hole before neatly dropping in.

It won joint Most Remarkable Shot of the Week with Heath’s chip to the 9^th from near the 18^th green which was perfectly executed and nearly went in. A magnificent up and down from Heath there. Seve Ballesteros could have stood there all day and not got that up and down.

THE MONEY SHOT

Both of these were deemed more remarkable than today’s “money shot”.

With 5 weeks worth of money ($74) on the line for the Pro-pin, Raj, who hasn’t been in the best of form lately, was coming off a 3-pointer on the 3^rd and was excited when his arrow straight tee shot on the 4^th looked like it might be close.

Neil then stepped up with his 9 iron and hit a good shot, and it wasn’t until they got to the green that it was determined that Raj at 2.8 metres had just pipped Neil who was a touch over 3 metres.

Raj then watched on from the 5^th tee as the last group hit off and left with a smile on his face knowing the cash was his.

$74 is good coin, the biggest of recent times. Does anybody remember the biggest ever Pro-pin jackpot win over the years?

Raj’s other prize for the day was joint NAGA with 25 points, shared with Heath, who hit some great shots but, in his first competition round with his handicap, struggled at times, perhaps bamboozled by the unsolicited swing advice that Porks and Michael were handing out. I am still backing Heath to be on the podium sometime soon.

The other two blokes to miss points were Rob 31 and Porks 26. Michael plodded around in 35 to take 3^rd place.

Meanwhile Neil showed his effort on the 4^th was no fluke by winning the ball on the 15^th knocking off Gordo.

THE BACK 9 BATTLE

So, the battle for the win on the back 9 was a duel between Targe, Peps and Brendon.

Brendon set the target early with 40 points, correcting 1-point wobbles on 11, 12, 13 and 16 with closing birdies on the 17^th and 18^th.

Targe matched his front nine 20 points on the back to join Brendon in equal first.

Peps “did a Marc” and finished with a birdie on the 18^th after a great shot to 1.67 metres, which was good enough to win ours and the “Inside” NTP.

A few earlier wobbles on 15, 16, 17 cost Peps the chance to sneak past or join the winners and he had to settle for second place with 38 points.

This extended his lead in the Club Championship, with Targe’s win catapulting him from seventh to second, with Brendon now in third place in what is a very bunched field.

Of Peps 3 birdies today, the ones on the 9^th and 18^th helped his lead in the Eclectic.

Brendon and Michael also had 3 birdies each. Marc’s makes 10 and add one each for Rob (9^th) Porks (10^th) and Nalin (14^th) for a field total of 13.

PROBABLY THE NEW BLUE CARD NEXT WEEK

• PS. Depending on how Harry goes this week with his jet lag on return from his archaeology dig in Jordan, he may or may not get the computer coding set up in time for our club handicapping to be done on the new “Blue Card” next week.
• We will advise on arrival next week whether we will be playing “New Blue” or “Old Card”. Harry thinks he’ll be right to go with New Blue this week, so that’s the more likely scenario.
• If you want to study up on the changes, scroll down to last week’s blog for copies of the New Blue card compared to the old one
• For example, I am pleased to note that this week Brendon’s club handicap has been chopped by two from 9 (8.7) to 7 (7.4). On the old card off 7 Brendon would have got shots on holes 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 13 and 16.
• With the Blue Card he won’t get shots on the 4^th or 7^th, but he will pick up “new shots” on 3^rd and (believe it or not) the 6^th. So, his new holes for shots off 7 will be 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13 and 16.
• You can do the same exercise with Targe on his new handicap of 32 (after getting chopped by four for his win). Under the old card his “two stroke” holes off 32 would be all holes except the four easiest holes rated 15, 16, 17, 18 (the 5th, 12th, 14th and 15th). The four easiest holes on the new Blue Card only have one hole in common with the old card (the 12th). Ratings 15, 16, 17, 18 on the New Blue card, where Targe will only get one shot off 32, are the 4th, 11th, 12th and 17th.

Cheers, Michael G

Results for Saturday, 14 Feb 2026
1st Targe Mifsud (40) 1st Brendon Mitchell (40) 2nd Andrew Petricola (38) 3rd Michael Gourlay (35) 4th Steven Gervasoni (34) 4th Marc Phillips (34) 4th John Quinlan (34) 5th Andrew Blight (32) 5th Gordon Hill (32) 5th Nalin Samaranayake (32) 5th Andrew Vogan (32)

Seniors Results: 1st Targe Mifsud (40) 2nd Michael Gourlay (35) 3rd Steven Gervasoni (34)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Rajesh Mahto BallPin No 1 – 15th Neil (Marc’s mate) BallPin No 2 – 18th Andrew Petricola