Next Week’s Details

Did you hear about the golfer who took his girlfriend out into the fog and mist? Well, it could have happened today. Not only was it cold, it was pretty misty as well. It did warm rather sharply between nine and eleven, so, at about the thirteenth, it was just about time to think about discontinuing some of the layers. Also, about that time, the hand-warmers were getting to be just about warm enough to do some good. Brendon decided that opening his early was the go, the only problem was, he opened it last night. He was very careful to lay it gently on the kitchen table in the mistaken belief that it was only activated by vigourous shaking. The mud was just as sticky as last week, so the preferred lies were much appreciated by the eleven members who ventured out. We were joined by Brad Mecozzi who has recently relocated from Sydney to work on the SRL (or not as the case may be). Hopefully the course conditions and general frivolity did not put him off too much. There is a fair chance that we will see him at least one more time as he is owed a beer by none other than Prez himself. Not that Brad was innocent in that regard either as he managed to make use of Charlie’s bush off the first tee, so he was introduced to some of the Club traditions very early on.

Matt is in desperate need of a knee-job. No, he doesn’t need to join Gordo in the reconstruction side of things, the rest of the Club want to do something to stop the rape and pillage of the Championship Points that he has been wreaking in recent times. About the only thing that prevented him from playing to his handicap was a sneaky little triple on the 10th. Ryan didn’t have any triples, but a couple of doubles in the home stretch possibly prevented him from matching Matt off the stick, but the handicap differential would have still resulted in the second placing that was his lot. SteveG managed to spray his drive on the 18th into the shrubbery, and, assuming it ‘lost’, he played another ball. He did not distinctly declare that he was playing a provisional. Thus, that ball became the one in play. As the group rounded the end of the greenery, there was the first ball sitting up as pretty as you like. In spite of a ten elsewhere on his card, Steve was able to play well enough to score a share of third. Raj was anxious to get away after the round to a very important basketball game, and he was one of several who played significantly better on the back than they did on the front. He helped his Eclectic with his birdie on the 11th, which was just one of the four that we scored for the day. JQ joined in with the merriment on the third podium step and is keeping the placings high enough to retain his spot on the top of the OOM, although Ryan and Brendon are back knocking on the door. John did have to deal with a complete stymie on the 7th, where his ball finished hard up against a tree between the root buttresses. The preferred lie did allow him some sort of a shot. Harry couldn’t really make a fist of it (figuratively and actually) on the front nine, and the score showed it. Things were not hugely better on the back, but a pair of pars on the final two holes added a modicum of respectability and bought him fourth place. Brendon smashed his drive on the second from the far-back tee down into the depths of the pine tree on the corner. With no chance of sensible relief from an unplayable, he took four shots to get it out for a clear shot. He did manage to avoid double figures, but only just. Still, he gladly took the point on offer for his seventy-eight.

The ProPin was set on the 4th to give everybody some chance from the black tees. As it turned out, that was to no avail, and nobody got within the circle, and there will be a jackpot to next week. On the 12th, for the first BallPin, SOS left himself with a pretty long putt, but it was close enough to win him the prize. Not only did he sink the long turning putt, but he called it from the moment it left the face of the club. On the 18th, Ryan put his ball to 11.1m, which was enough for him to take the goodies on offer. He made a putt, but didn’t put it in the hole. In fact, his second putt was taken from 11.5m after the first didn’t quite hold on the slope and ran back. He did manage the bogey, though.

The Birthday Birdie has been a little remiss in recent times. SteveG had one a little while ago. This week Wazza and Heath will have reason to celebrate. Harry is also looking forward to having another stroke to play with, in his quest to take fewer strokes than his age in a round, though, if today’s score is any guide, he will have to live to a fine old age to do so.

Results for Saturday, 01 Aug 2026
1st Matt Hunt (70) 2nd Ryan Porker (74) 3rd Steven Gervasoni (76) 3rd Rajesh Mahto (76) 3rd John Quinlan (76) 4th Harry Boughen (77) 5th Brendon Mitchell (78)

Seniors Results: 1st Matt Hunt (70) 2nd Steven Gervasoni (76) 3rd Harry Boughen (77)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 12th Stephen O’Sullivan BallPin No 2 – 18th Ryan Porker

There was a certain amount of speculation last week as to whether a catchup of seven points was within the realms of possibility as that was the margin covering the likely eligible field after the first round. A delve into the Fount of All Knowledge (aka website Statistics menu) shows that it is, indeed, possible. Mehmet Akdag, managed to turn a nine point/stroke gap into a win in the 2012 Stuart Clarke Memorial. The next best catchup was six with a swag of contenders, so the conclusion is that seven might be pushing it a bit.

The Bureau promised a 30% chance of rain, but only small totals if any. Nalin was calculating the odds, and predicted that we would play 14 holes in the dry. There were a couple of mizzles before then, but the only significant (inconvenient) shower came after the fifteenth. The course was blessed with preferred lies, and that was much appreciated, as the mud was particularly tacky, and there were several reports of plugged balls, particularly around the greens. Thirteen members, and CJ’s mate Peter, took on the task of completing the second round of the Fred Howe Winter Cup (or not, as the case may be).

The scores today fell into two distinct groups, brilliant and below average. First, let’s have a look at the better half. The round of the day would have to go to that soft-handed surgeon, Dan, who absolutely blitzed the course to card a personal best of 77 off the stick for a massive forty-four points. Would that have been enough to snag a catchup gong if he had been in the running for the major? Unfortunately not, he would have had to be only four strokes behind the leader to have beaten the eventual winner.

Last week, our tipster-in-chief made a couple of prognostications. The first was that CJ could win. He failed on that count. The second was that, if CJ didn’t win, then SOS would. In that case, he got it just right. Rumour has it that SOS has been getting in some quiet coaching in recent times, and that seems to have stood him in good stead today. He managed a very commendable twenty-one points on the front nine, and, if it hadn’t been for a miss and a singleton on the back he could easily have challenged the heady heights attained by Dan. He did reckon that Pepsi and Matt were trying to put him off by chatting away while he was taking shots. His forty-one points propelled him to the top spot in the event, leaving all and sundry in the wake of his seventy-five overall. His winning margin of 12 strokes/points matched the equal best so far.

SOS was also ten clear of the next best scores of the day with the leaders of the below average group being Brendon, JQ and Nalin. However, Matt only needed twenty-seven points to secure himself second place and yet another first in the Seniors where he looks to be building up an unassailable lead. Brendon, JQ and Pepsi lobbed into third place with sixty-one points. Brendon and JQ did it with identical totals on both days while Pepsi suffered badly after five gashes on the trot on the back nine. He can’t blame to greens as he was saying how good they were after the round. CJ was threatening to give his clubs away after today’s performance, though it was suggested that it was probably the nut on the end of the shaft that was the problem. He’ll take the points going for fourth place, though. Raj and Rob finished out the points allocation. Rob was apparently helped on at least one occasion by a typical Priems tree-return-to-play.

The first BallPin was on the 7th, and Harry cracked a beauty that was right on line, but a couple metres short of repeating his previous moment of glory there. He didn’t make the birdie, and we could only come up with four for the day. Two of those were down to Nalin, who was testing out a new driver, which might need a little more work, although some shots were right up to standard. The ProPin on the 15th was a double Jackpot with lots of moolah on offer. JQ put in a valiant effort to just over four metres, but he was well outdone by Peter, who rocked in with 3.49m. CJ reckoned that the money should be his, as he put in the money to pay for Peter’s entry. Nalin scored the BallPin on the 18th, although Brendon reckoned that he would have had it, if not for the amount of backspin causing his to suck back too far.

Stan turned up for the barbeque, and he is looking and feeling well. He has been getting in a few holes at Heidelberg with some mates, and played a full nine yesterday. He reckons he will be back on deck in a week or two to show us how it is done. On the new club front, Ken has a new five wood, and rumour has it that he could be sleeping with it tonight, he loves it so much. Perhaps not the same feeling for his driver which alternated between smash and shank just about all day. He also managed a nice little chip in on the second to score himself a three pointer.

By the way, Stan has discovered a left-hand Ping three wood in his bag. If anybody is missing such a club, contact Stan, and he will happily return it.

Results for Saturday, 25 Jul 2026
1st Stephen O’Sullivan (34, 41, 75) 2nd Matt Hunt (36, 27, 63) 3rd Brendon Mitchell (30, 31, 61) 3rd Andrew Petricola (36, 25, 61) 3rd John Quinlan (30, 31, 61) 4th Chris Priems (33, 27, 60) 5th Rajesh Mahto (29, 27, 56) 5th Robert Priems (30, 26, 56)

Seniors Results: 1st Matt Hunt (36,27,63) 2nd Chris Priems (33,27,60) 3rd Robert Priems (30,26,56)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Peter Stevens BallPin No 1 – 7th Harry Boughen BallPin No 2 – 18th Nalin Samaranayake

Can Raj and Porks cook?

If this was a one-week event and you didn’t count Wazza (26) who came up from his new digs in Ocean Grove for a game today, Raj and Porks (both 29) were the only two blokes who missed out on points.

So, they are automatically slotted into the first-off-the-tee BBQ group next week.

People seem to think a jet-lagged Harry will turn up to play and hit the gas jets on the BBQ as well, which might be asking a bit much, especially if he plans to be back on score entry and blog.

Any other volunteers to join the BBQ group next week?

Come from behind major winners

Mind you, the BBQ group is only 7 shots off the lead, so they could well do a Jack Burke Jr (1956 Masters), Arnold Palmer (1960 US Open), Gary Player (1978 Masters), John Mahaffey (1978 PGA Championship), Paul Lawrie (1999 British Open) or Justin Thomas (2022 PGA) and win a major starting the last day 7 shots or more behind the leader.

Harry, do we happen to know the largest ever “come from behind” winner at an Ivanhoe major?

5-way tie for 5th

Besides Raj and Porks in equal 6^th we have five bokes tied for 5^th on 30 points after Round 1:

• Prez Priems on his return after a real estate related 4 week lay-off. Prez charged home with 3-pointers on the 17^th and 18^th.
• Kenny also on the comeback trail who did the same on 17 and 18.
• Captain Brendon, who had a strong front nine of 18 points but could only manage 12 on the back.
• Our Championship leader JQ who hung in there despite 3 gashes on his card at the 2^nd, 8^th and 17^th.
• The elusive Whitey who managed to squeeze a game in with us between his horse racing commitments and that other club out Heidelberg way he cheats on us with.

Whitey had a 2 for 4 birdie on the 15^th (one of 7 birdies across the field for the day) but there must be a long story associated with that because the 15^th NTP Pro-pin has jackpotted again. Long putt or maybe a chip-in Whitey?

NTPs

No Pro-pin winner on the 15^th, but Peps scored another free ball with an 8 iron into the 4^th to “not that close” – but on what is in theory now the 2^nd easiest hole on the course off the blue tees (ranked 17 on the card) nobody got closer. Peps 3 putted for a bogey but we won’t mention that.

Raj then knocked off Matty for the ball on 18 with a great shot into 2.24 metres which also won him the Inside Comp NTP voucher.

Top Shelf

SoS and Brendon were debating their top shelf preferences early in the round when Steve G hit his drives on the 2^nd and 3^rd about 3 or 4 feet and nowhere near the red markers.

As Brendon outlined in his after-match speech, Steve had only “tin” points on his front 9 but he powered up on the back with 2 four-pointers and a couple of 3’s to add 21 and bank 4^th place with 31 points.

Back baby!

CJ says he’s been playing awful lately but started to feel like he was getting things back at the Frog on Friday and his 33 today suggests his game is trending in the right direction.

He is my pick to win next week. You heard it here first.

The other contender

SoS had a gash at the first, but none thereafter.

Mr Consistent with 34 points and looking to be a dangerous contender in 2^nd place. If CJ doesn’t win next week, I reckon SoS will.

Our leaders

Peps and Matt share the lead with 36 points.

Both playing off the same 7 handicap in the same group. Both with a birdie each, Peps on the 9^th and Matt on the 5^th and both probably cranky with themselves for bogeying the 17^th.

Will they be separated next week and/or will somebody come from behind and knock them both off.

Championship shake-up

The double points on offer at a major often shake-up the Championship Leaderboard.

Seven of the Top 8 in the Championship are in the field: JQ 63, Brendon 58, Matt 56, Porks 53, CJ 52, Peps 50, Harry 49 and SoS 38.

Big week next week boys, play hard, play well.

And hopefully, eat well too if, as seems to happen every time, somehow the BBQ gets organised.

Results for Saturday, 18 Jul 2026
Leaderboard Round 1: 1st Matt Hunt (36) 1st Andrew Petricola (36) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan (34) 3rd Chris Priems (33) 4th Steven Gervasoni (31) 5th Brendon Mitchell (30) 5th Robert Priems (30) 5th John Quinlan (30) 5th Ken Watson (30) 5th Rodney White (30)

Seniors Leaderboard: 1st Matt Hunt (36) 2nd Chris Priems (33) 3rd Steven Gervasoni (31)

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

Those of you avid blog readers with good memories might remember the time (23 August 2025 to be precise) that Harry was away and Michael had gone on strike as Harry’s Assistant Apprentice Handicapper for some unknown reason.

Porks was forced to step up in his former role helping with scores data and the blog.

Being a bit busy with work and kids etc. Porks decided he would cheat and get the blog written with AI.

He also hadn’t bothered to take a winners photo, so asked his preferred AI program to “give me a photo of a golfer winning a trophy at Ivanhoe” or words to that effect.

Porks the new Kate Middleton

Leaving aside the photo was from that other Ivanhoe Club (in Illinois in the USA about half an hour northwest of Chicago) the photo caused a bit of mirth at the time for there being one too many arms in shot (shades of Kate Middelton and her famous Photoshop fail).

Marc the winner with 44 but crippled for Match Play

The winner that day was Marc with 44 points. Nalin was second with 39 and Kenny third with 38.

Porks duly chopped Marc’s handicap by 5 strokes and guess who Porks played in the 2025 Match Play final the following week, and beat 4 and 2.

Chuck Porks head on it

Fast forward to 11 July 2026, our winner was Porks.

On photos and scores data these days during Harry holiday times, Marc somehow forgot to take a winners photo. But obviously impressed with some of my recent photo efforts, Marc quietly suggested that I grab that old three arms Porks photo and chuck Porks head on it. Done!

And wow Marc, re-reading the blog of your 44 points that day (you can easily find every old blog on the site under the History tab) that was a heck of a round. Porks 38 to win this week was very boring by comparison.

Single-file placegetters

All single placegetters after that with Brendon 37 (quiet achiever in the Championship race who sneaks into 2nd), JQ 36 (banking 3 more handy Championship points to extend his lead to 5), Kody in his last game for the club with 35 and Peps with 34.

CJ the Senior thief again

Craig with 33 was the first of the Seniors followed by Steve with 31 and CJ capped his 3-week run of stellar Senior Championship points scoring with a Senior’s point for 25.

And the rest

The other three members who played were Raj, Marc and SoS, with Jake Priems making a field of 12.

Shot of the day

No winners photo but Marc got a great shot of the aftermath of best skinny duff of 2026, perhaps all time.

Steve G just passed trees on the left of the 4th. Gets out the wedge for a big high loft into the green, skinnies it badly, heading out of bounds over the green for sure, but hits thick grass on mound before the green and slows up a bit but is still heading way past the green when somehow it hits the pin and goes in. Very tidy birdie 2!

Honourable mention to Jake Priems for his Priemsy tee shot on the 3rd, going way right into the Yarra but you guessed it, hits a tree and ends up back in the middle of the fairway.

NTPs

Brendon with a classy lazy 6 iron on the 7th for a ball, Craig knocking off Raj with a great shot into 2.32 metres on the 18th for the other ball. However, despite some valiant attempts at the 15th (one group had all three players on the green) nobody was close to claim the money, so Jack Pot gets another win.

Ray Floyd impersonator

I am not sure how a bloke who scored 25 points claims to have putted well with his new “Ray Floyd” inspired stance.

Ray Floyd won 4 majors, including the 1976 Masters, putting with the famous – and well ahead of its time – Zebra mallet (a then revolutionary new face balanced mallet). He also won the US Open putting with it in 1986.

How many majors has CJ won? Is he going better or worse than Ray Floyd?

You can find the answer by checking the Honours Board tab on the website and going to Majors. Address is ivanhoegc.org/web/honourboard_major.html

Speaking majors, this week is the first week of the Fred Howe Winter Cup. Play well boys.

Results for Saturday, 11 Jul 2026
1st Ryan Porker (38) 2nd Brendon Mitchell (37) 3rd John Quinlan (36) 4th Kody Warrington (35) 5th Andrew Petricola (34)

Seniors Results: 1st Craig Cameron (33) 2nd Steven Gervasoni (31) 3rd Chris Priems (25)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 7th Brendon Mitchell BallPin No 2 – 18th Craig Cameron