Monthly Archives: August 2012

What a contrast to last week.  The weather was fine and the course was dry (relatively speaking) though we still had the luxury of preferred lie through the course.  Numbers were also up due in part to the appearence of some faces not seen around the tees for a while.  Carltons recent form is reported to have brought David Howard out of his hibernation, Ken Grist is back from his SKI holiday in foreign climes and despite being somewhat restricted due to a back injury, Eddie Kloprogge tested his swing and showed the benefits of the ballet lessons he has been taking during his sabbatical.

David and Priemsy were going neck and neck all round but David had opened up a bit of a lead at the 17th only to see the advantage evaporate on the slope leading up to the 18th letting Chris (and others) take out the top points.  Chris had his moments on the 15th when he put his drive out of bounds, left the next about 20 ft? from the pin and rattled in the putt for a point.  Eddie had had a few moments during the round and walking up to the 17th entered into a contest with Tony the Maltese Terrier for cake to go with their coffee.  He must have been hungry because he tried for birdie on the 17th and hit the pin with his chip on the 18th but couldn’t quite overcome the unflappable Tony.  Oliver Gross obviously had some sort of a brain fade (the greens weren’t that fast) when a 5m putt turned into a 40m approach shot.

Maybe everybody are trying to protect their handicaps (though that’s a bit hard for the winners) with the top score of 36 points being shared with Chris by Harry and Brendon.  There was a veritable herd following closely behind on 35 points.  There’s is a bit of movement near to the top of the Championship table but Noodles is still holding out in top spot.  Harry improved his position in the Seniors but the top position could still be a tightly contested affair with at least five players with a good chance for a final dash down the straight.

Richard Hall picked up the money on the 18th after squeezing out a couple of other hopefuls and David Howard did the same for the ball on the 4th.  Bill Eastoe wanted it on record that he finished the whole round and he wasn’t on a promise last night.

You might have noticed that it is getting light noticeably earlier these days and as a result the tee times have started moving.  A big jump this week back to 0730.  So early to bed next friday night.

Results for Saturday, 25 August 2012
1st Harry Boughen(36) 1st Brendon Mitchell(36) 1st Chris Priems(36) 2nd S Butterfield(35) 2nd Bill Eastoe(35) 2nd Richard Hall(35) 2nd David Howard(35) 2nd Targe Mifsud(35) 2nd Tony Mifsud(35) 3rd Gordon Hill(33) 4th Oliver Gross(31) 5th Ken Grist(29)

What can we put it down to – enthusiasm, foolhardiness or merely a hunger for Championship Points?  Despite the over-night downpours and the less than promising forecast and the biting wind, thirteen members turned out to start the round.  Damo was adamant that he was going to play come Hell or high water – well he got the high water bit – not so sure about the Hell.  Only one person drowned so that twelve made it to the end.  Needless to say, it was rather wet underfoot and we also had the course pretty much to ourselves.  The weather and no inside comp seems to have turned off anybody else that ventured from under their doona. As for last week we played tee-up rules.  This allowed Harry to use his driver to lob one onto the 13th from 130m out with a chance for a rare par for this hole.  Unfortunately, the putt came up a bit short so no four pointer.

The conditions spread the field out a bit but there were still some respectable scores returned.  The clear winner was Rod White, one of our new members, with an impressive 41 points.  Tony Mifsud had his moments and scored second overall as well as picking up the three points for the seniors.
Brendon, Oliver and Noodles filled out the remaining podium positions.  It was a complete reversal from last week when everybody got points with only five people improving their Championship position.

The pro-pin was on the 4th and everybody scoffed when Harry nominated it, but, in the event, Harry was the only one who got inside 5m and collected the money.  The ball hole on the 18th was almost a jackpot until Oliver managed to hit the pin and kept himself on the green.   SOS scored himself another eagle on the 17th with a spectacular chip shot that bounced and ran through numerous puddles of water before dropping into the water filled (and surrounded) hole.  Any other day it would probably have been on the 18th tee.   Bill Eastoe didn’t really drown on the course, he just decided that after nine holes he had better things to do plus I think he was on a promise for tonight or something.

I’m not sure what the go is with the Melbourne Cup Trip.  Today was supposed to be the deadline but Rodger didn’t make it.  So if you haven’t made up with Rodger yet, you had better not muck about.

The calendar shows next week as an Ambrose event.  Not sure how this is going to be organised but it might pay to be on deck a bit earlier to give the tee-marshall/committee some time to arrange groups etc.

Results for Saturday, 18 August 2012
1st Rodney White(41) 2nd Tony Mifsud(36) 3rd Brendon Mitchell(35) 4th Oliver Gross(33) 5th S Butterfield(32)

Well, if there was ever a day to get into the points, this was it.  First off, it was stableford so there should be points to be had there.  The weather wasn’t actually that bad, it didn’t rain, the temperature was surprisingly mild and the sun shone from time to time.  The course was rather wet under-foot and we had the luxury of teeing up through the green but, as for last week, the greens were remarkably fast and true.  Then of course, there was the small field – only 13 players.

The person who did get amongst the points was SOS with an excellent round to score 39 points.  You could just about throw a blanket over the rest of the field, so much so that everybody that played scored championship points.  Not something that happens very often.  Stephen’s good round also translated into a win  in his matchplay against Bill Eastoe 2 and 1.  Though I gather that Bill put the frights into him on the 16th by rattling in a putt that was somewhere between 50 and 100ft depending on who you listen to.  Chris Priems managed to get closer than Tony and Harry to score the ball on the 4th and Oliver blew away all comers on the 18th with a sub 1m spot for the pro-pin.

Richard Hall thought he had well over-clubbed it on the 18th but obviously had the right amount of backspin to bring it gently over the lip from the upper level and look for a moment like outdoing Oliver to take the money.  Unfortunately, the ball had just a little too much roll and even the hoped for birdie managed to elude him.  Priemsy (and others) initially had some qualms about teeing up but soon warmed to the idea once the benefits became obvious.  It seems a number of people used their driver three times on the 6th.  Pepsi apparently pulled off the shot of the day on the seventeenth. From a hill-side lie and with no path obvious, he cunningly used a tree branch to sky the ball over the water hazard and onto the green.  A bit cranky to miss the birdy though.

Just another reminder that those planning to go on the Club Melbourne Cup Trip should make their arrangements (and peace) with Rodger on or before next Saturday.

Results for Saturday, 11 August 2012
1st Stephen O’Sullivan(39) 2nd Oliver Gross(36) 2nd Richard Hall(36) 2nd Tony Mifsud(36) 2nd Andrew Petricola(36) 2nd Mo Sabih(36) 3rd Harry Boughen(35) 3rd Bill Eastoe(35) 3rd Targe Mifsud(35) 4th S Butterfield(34) 4th Bob McDonald(34) 5th Chris Priems(33) 5th Jan Siemon(33)

It seems that the prospect of winning a medal was not enough to drag some people away from their Olympic Games viewing.  It surely couldn’t have been the weather forecasts that kept people away.  However, the sixteen people who did turn up only had to tough it out through a couple of minor showers and the course only had a few wet spots of notice.  The general consensus was that the greens were remarkably fast considering the moisture that has been around.  Conditions couldn’t have been too bad as a number of people returned scores under their handicap, in particular the ultimate medal winner Andrew Petricola who managed to match the course par rating 68 for a net score of 62. Disappointment for Gordon Hill who carded a net 65 that included a quadruple bogie on the back nine – now we know why he was wearing his prison uniform.

Despite carding an eagle to take out the nest on the 17th, Brendon Mitchell was only just out of the points.  The Nearest the Pin went to Harry Boughen and Gordon Hill picked up the cash on the Pro Pin.  The matchplay competition is coming down to the final stages  and it seems that we have a new dynastic family making a take-over bid for the Club.  They might not be officially members, but the Walkover family has featured prominently in the results with SOS progressing with a walkover from Ken Grist.  The semi-finals are now officially on and they should best be completed in the next couple of weeks to give time for the finalists to psyche each other out before the 15 September.

Rodger has put out a call for all those planning to go on the Annual Club Trip in November to put up their deposits so that he can finalise numbers and reservations. Rodger is prepared to give you till 18th but the sooner the better (or else).

The other item is the location of the trophy for the Fred Howe Winter Cup.  The record shows that last year’s winner was Ken Grist so if Ken could let somebody know whether he has the trophy, that would be good – otherwise we might have to do a house-to-house.

Results for Saturday, 04 August 2012
1st Andrew Petricola(62) 2nd Gordon Hill(65) 3rd Richard Hall(66) 4th Bill Eastoe(67) 5th Oliver Gross(69) 5th Tony Mifsud(69) 5th Mo Sabih(69)