Monthly Archives: June 2014

A couple of members have raised a question about the ‘fairness’ of converting a Par Event score to Equivalent Stableford by adding 36 points.  This method was used in the June Bonus Trophy Event and is also used in the GolfLink handicapping system.

The basis of the question is along the lines that if the player picks up as soon as he loses the hole to Par he might still have scored a Stableford point and is therefore potentially missing out on a ‘scoring’ opportunity.

However, the way to think of it is that, by adding 36 points, you are getting two extra points per hole so every minus is accruing one Stableford point, every square is accruing two Stableford points and every plus is accruing three Stableford points.  So, in actual fact, where you miss out on points are those holes where you would have scored four Stableford points or more – and how many of those do you see in an average round.  On the other hand, you score an effective Stableford point on every hole that would have otherwise been a gash and it is pretty certain that these are much more common that four or five pointers.

Putting it another way, if you were either bad enough or unlucky enough to score minus 18 in a Par Event, you would still be credited with 18 Stableford points but it is highly likely that in accumulating such a score you could very easily have made fewer than 18 points if the same event had been scored as Stableford and certainly would not have scored more.

So rather than being ‘unfair’, on balance, the method for converting Par to equivalent Stableford is rather more generous (on average) than it should be.

Well, well, well.  Those of you who didn’t come along today missed out on the inauguration of the new look Ivanhoe Public Golf Course with its unique island tee on the 2nd and a beautiful running stream in front of the 6th green.  All we need now is a suitable stone bridge and you could imagine yourself somewhere in Scotland.  Just lacking the fine old bluestone clubhouse in the background.  In reality, something went wrong with the control system on the new water management system and now all of the water from the underground storage at the sportsground is now spread across parts of the course.  At least the ducks were having a ball.  But a few people had to resort to one of those extendable ball retrievers to avoid getting their shoes full.

Still and all, there was preferred lie but quite a few of the tees were well back and it made for pretty tough going out there particularly for those that like to get a bit of run on the ball.  As a result the scoring wasn’t all that spectacular though there was a not too bad tally of ten birdies from a small field of Club members.  Thank goodness for our two guests, David Quinlan and John Bubis and one tag-along (who might be inclined to return), Marcus.  Speaking of birdies, the Beast would like it to be known that he hasn’t birdied the course, the 8th continues to elude him, and the handicapper apologises for his cross-eyedness.

While on the subject of the Beast, while he would surely love to be on a 14 handicap, he doesn’t get a stroke on the 17th and so, instead of having two on the winners podium, the outright winner today was none other than ChrisV with a total of 35 points.  Bill’s little computational error put him back into second place and given that there had been a gap in the field, that served to rearrange the rest.  And while on the subject of rearrangements, the disposition of the ball-run probably should be corrected as well.  Tsk, Tsk Bill!

Instead of coming in late because he was flying in, Oliver wanted to get away early because he will be flying out but that didn’t stop him from gathering some more points alongside Brendon with 33 of the best.  Brendon’s round was mostly unremarkable other than a birdie on the 13th that bounced, hit the pin, fell to ground and spun back into the hole.  If Ryan hadn’t seen it nobody would have believed it.

Then along came Gordon, who despite a couple of birdies on consecutive holes (followed closely by a PDBSU) managed to garner 32 points.  Pepsi was down from Sydney and, for him, didn’t have a great day but managed to still get a point with his 30 points.  Commiserations to those who might have had points but missed out.

ChrisV managed to wrest the Nearest the Pin for a ball on the 4th from Pepsi who had it, a long way short of the hole, until the last group.  Things were even worse on the 18th for the ProPin which was not graced with a signature today so there will be a jackpot next week.  What’s the bet that Eddie comes back just for the occasion.  Ed was so concerned about his lead in the Championship Table that he rang Gordo up after the game to see who had won.  Couldn’t even wait to read it in the blog.

Ed probably should be looking over his shoulder as there are a few people sneaking up on him in both the Open and Senior Table.  Bill is the leader of that pack but it seems that he is going to head off in September on some sort of Round the World golfing jaunt and somewhere or other he will be linking up with Gordo so watch out the courses of Scotland and the US, you are about to be torn apart (one way or another).

According to all reports John and David are likely to fit right into the Club as there was some first class sledging going on.  Either it was effective or they are running dead as both cards left a bit of room for improvement.  Gordo had a select little group going today to use the game and cart vouchers that were played for a while back, taking the opportunity to make John and David feel more welcome.  They had their moments and the display on the 9th would have not been out of place in a Benny Hill with carts and people trundling back and forth, back and forth.  All it needed was the film to be speeded up and some of that jittery music and we could have been SOSL’d.

Now, for the news that you have all been waiting for.  The one person who had even a remote chance of rolling the leader couldn’t play today because he had to be in court.  No, not in the dock – probably because he had the keys to the cuffs on the one in the dock.  So, all it needed was for somebody to put together a mere 42 or more points and they could have wrested the June Bonus Trophy from the grasping hand of Mostyn.  A very respectable total of 115 points over three rounds.  Well done, mate.  It seems that Mozzie was so confident, that he celebrated until all hours over in Adelaide and led numerous other people astray at the same time.  The sun wasn’t quite up yet when the night finished.  Some people did improve their position today but the efforts fell well short.  Just goes to show, it pays to get the good ones in early.  Playing catch-up sucks.

Results for Saturday, 28 June 2014
1st Chris Vinecombe(35) 2nd Bill Eastoe(34) 3rd Oliver Gross(33) 3rd Brendon Mitchell(33) 4th Gordon Hill(32) 5th Andrew Petricola(30)

Maybe it was the shortest day of the year (or even the first day of winter if you follow the idea of a solar calendar) but the scoring wasn’t that fantastic.  Half the field was in and -7 was still in the points.  Maybe the conditions improved as the day progressed but the best scoring was reserved for the later groups.  Certainly, some parts of the course were pretty soggy and there has been some significant damage by carts in places.  Looks like someone even got bogged.  The management have issued guidelines but just maybe there should be a ban.

Eventually, somebody did come in in positive territory and the points cut-off ended up being a slightly more respectable -3.  The glory was shared in the end with Whitey and Ryan being the ones to beat with +1 apiece.  Well done to Ryan who has now racked up his first win with the Club so it will be onwards and upwards from here on in.

Mehmet was pretty happy with his square card as it garnered him 5 points and did absolutely no harm to his handicap.  Always have to be happy about that.  Following closely behind was a veritable bevy of talent including Noodles, Mozzy, Gordo and ChrisV who all had their fair share of misses on the card.  Gordo was pretty happy with a couple of birdies that helped to improve his Eclectic just that little bit.

Mozzy didn’t do anything to improve his total in the June Bonus Trophy event and although there were some moves in the ranks there is still a bit of work to do to catch him.  If SOS can come in from night shift again and put together a 40 pointer he can snatch it away.  Plenty of sleep doesn’t seem to have done him any good today.  Some of the other mathematical possibilities are rather more complicated.

Next bus off the rank another point behind was our Craig who was heard having a bit to say about the course of the game.  Who’s not surprised then?

The last little group was made up of Bill, Ed and Chrispy.  For the umpteenth time, Ed’s points calculation was not up to scratch so he didn’t rate a mention at the call of the card.  Bill was noticed jumping up and down on the 17th after he missed the eagle by the narrowest of margins.  There was some concern that the activity could put his knee into jeopardy.  The birdie wasn’t really necessary for his Eclectic but the other two on the 4th and the 15th were enough the get him the full hand.  The only way he can improve now is to start getting eagles or for his handicap to move out.  There are a couple of people who only need a couple more birdies to mount a challenge while a lot still have a fair bit to do between now and the end of the year.

The ProPin was on the 12th.  As seems to happen with great frequency when there is a Jackpot up for grabs, the person to get his name on the marker was Ed.  Though there was some confusion about the marking of the marker.  Was it the Beast or was it Mr Ed?  Fill it out properly folks.  And try to leave the marker somewhere obvious as it seems that quite a few groups didn’t notice it where it was.

AndrewH played his first full comp today and despite (or maybe because of) a fair bit of chiacking at the first tee about how well the handicapper had treated him, he proceeded to lose balls at a furious pace and by the end of the round was hoping for an eagle to make up his losses.

There were a few shots that were classified as the sort of thing that beats class.  Gordon chipped in from way out on the 7th for a birdie.  On the 3rd (maybe it was something to do with the alignment of the planets), Chrispy had hit one of his wild ones that was heading for the Yarra but it hit a tree and finished a metre or so from the hole.

The preferred lie rule was in place and everybody was doing the right thing and marking the ball position while cleaning and drying the projectile.  All well and good, but what happens when you forget where your marker is.  Just ask Bob.  Five minutes of concentrated searching by the whole group turned up nothing.

Notionally, the matchplay competition is supposed to be finalised next week.  Obviously, there is no chance that that is going to happen so the committee is inclined just to let it run until people can get together to play.  However, in any future competition, the deadlines will be strictly enforced and no correspondence will be entered into.  Despite the current competition not being finished, it is being planned to run another sudden death matchplay event and some rules for selection and execution will be formulated over the next week or so.

We also have access to a session at a golf simulator at Coburg and it is planned to raffle this, probably at the July Monthly Medal.  Up to four people can play the simulator and there is a wide selection of world famous courses available.

The Orange Ball Teams Event didn’t eventuate today, mainly due to a lack of balls (on somebody’s part) and this will now happen on the next Par event which will be the 12th July.

Results for Saturday, 21 June 2014
1st Ryan Porker(+1) 1st Rodney White(+1) 2nd Mehmet Akdag(□) 3rd Stephen Butterfield(-1) 3rd Mostyn Gregg(-1) 3rd Gordon Hill(-1) 3rd Chris Vinecombe(-1) 4th Craig Sharp(-2) 5th Bill Eastoe(-3) 5th Ed Kloprogge(-3) 5th Chris Priems(-3)

The rain band that used to plague the oval at Moorabin seems to have moved north and now seems to plague Ivanhoe.  Whatever the reason, the course was pretty soft in places and there were quite a few balls that went astray on the fairway and many more that did not move far from the plug mark.  Once again there were preferred lies and there were probably quite a few preferred lies told.  But the weather was good and the showers held off until after we had finished.  The complaints from last week about the greens not being maintained on Saturdays must have been heard as they were all dew and leaf free.  As a result, conditions proved to be ideal, for some people at least.

It is not clear whether Mostyn has been practicing while he has been having his little sabbatical but if his last three score-cards are any indication whatever he is on is doing him the world of good.  Doesn’t seem to have corrected his squint as he either read the handicap sheet incorrectly or he put his outside card in and his inside card out.  The upshot was that he garnered even more points (on his card – not championship points) than he thought and a bigger slice from his handicap as well.  On appearances, it would appear that it will be hard for him to improve his current total in the June Bonus Trophy and so it is up to the rest of the field to get some better ones in and catch him up.

SOS hit the tees straight off night shift and as a result thought he was hallucinating.  First, there was the buzzing sound in his ears which turned out to be a model aeroplane over on one of the ovals.  Then there was the nice person giving him the short wave which turned out to be somebody wiggling their fingers into their glove.  Regardless, he reckons he is going to skip the sleep from now on if it means that he can put together 40 points in a round.

Brendon was obviously turfed out of bed early today as he was one of the first on deck rather than one of the last.  The main reason being that he had to get out and about and rattle the tin for the Cancer Council Longest Morning Tea fundraiser that he and Maryanne were doing.  Well done fellows, no word on the total but the box on our table seemed to heft pretty well.  Not too many buckets of five cents but a goodly collection of shrapnel and some folding stuff as well.  He did get a bit distracted by an altercation going on the the sports ground drive-way as he putted on the 11th but venting his spleen seems to have done something for his game and he racked up almost as many points in the rest of the round as he had to date.  His partner in crime in third place, Ryan, on the other hand got off to a flying start and had eighteen points after six holes when some kind soul (no names Blighty) in his group made comment on the fact, at which point there was a slight wavering in the consistency.

Oliver and ChrisV came in next with parallel rounds scoring the same on both nines and overall.  The latter is probably not too surprising given the former.  And, finally, we have Mehmet and Blighty who managed to get themselves a point and do no harm to their handicap at the same time.  If Blighty hadn’t taken nine holes to warm up it might have been a different story for him.

The ProPin was on the 18th and nobody got close enough to qualify so there will be a Jackpot to next week.  It was a bit of a close call apparently and if the tape had been a little more stretchy Mostyn might have been able to claim the dosh.  The nearest the Pin for a ball was on the 4th and eventually went to Oliver after Brendon had gone to so much trouble to re-locate his mark which, it must be admitted, was quite a little way out from the pin.

Anybody would have thought the ProPin was on the 14th as player after player finished pin high on the green.  Damo was deemed to be in a sure-fire spot a couple of metres away on the down side on the hole.  But as you might have noticed, the Eagles nest is still intact.  And it seems that there was another eagle chance that he missed elsewhere.  The lure of the nest-egg is obviously getting to people as the Beast was determined to have a go on the 17th but put it a bit wide to the 18th tee and then put in a great recovery to end up with his par.  Andrew Hall, who was playing today for his third card, made the 17th green but whether by accident or design didn’t make the eagle.  Rumour has it that he ran dead after being told that he didn’t qualify for the Eagles Nest yet.  The handicapper will be keeping a close eye in future.  Despite all the eagle attempts it was quite a good day for birdies with a total of 14 including one on the 12th by the beast who now has only two holes in the eclectic that aren’t below par.

Ed was nearly in the news today for his shot on the 17th that was about two paces from wearing SOS as he walked to the 18th.  The front group were taken by surprise despite the serious bellowing that had been made from the tee.  Ed also reckons that he got Best in Show in Brisbane but he didn’t say how the pigeons had done.

Noodles reckons Targe has been taking lessons from Clancy of the Overflow because his card looked as if it had been written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar.

Two more weeks in June for the Bonus Trophy so now is the time to stop running dead and get out there and play as if you mean it (except for Mostyn of course).  An Orange Ball team event with next weeks Par round, so it will be draw for partners again.  Couldn’t happen two weeks in a row, could it?

Results for Saturday, 14 June 2014
1st Mostyn Gregg(42) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan(40) 3rd Brendon Mitchell(37) 3rd Ryan Porker(37) 4th Oliver Gross(36) 4th Chris Vinecombe(36) 5th Mehmet   Akdag(35) 5th Andrew Blight(35)