Monthly Archives: July 2014

By all accounts and from the scores there was a fair bit of excitement out on the course for the second round of the Fred Howe despite the smallish field.  The weather was a bit on the iffy side but Noodles managed to keep it up (doesn’t he always) and brought home the bacon and collected his biggest for the year (trophy, that is).

Not too far behind, by a ‘short’ head was the sharpest shooter in the club (gun) Targe who, if it wasn’t for a couple of wobbles along the way, could easily have stepped up to a higher plane.  Ever consistent Oliver was not quite so consistent this time but still put in a creditable performance to get the points for third place.

Bean-counter Brendon could easily have been suffering from post-hole-in-one-stress-syndrome but despite that he improved on the previous week’s effort and presented to the judges in fourth place.  Mehmet was the big mover on the day with a six point improvement to leap up the ladder into 5th place.

And, as for the rest – less said.

The little birdie had no info on the nearest the pin competitions but we did manage seven birdies.  The Eagles nest has shrunk back to a paltry single ball so undoubtedly there was little incentive to even try.

The event that did almost over-shadow the major though was the first place round of the Matchplay.  This was contested between Snags and Blighty and they both obviously meant business.  Craig has obviously been saving himself for this and put together the best round of the day (and for quite a while for him) with a total of 41 points.  Blighty was not far behind on the points total and as a result they finished the 18th all square.  So, according to the rules, they will have to slug it all out again to try to break the dead-lock.  So still a bit of excitement left with Targe and Damo to also fight it out for third place.

Also a big welcome to another Craig (Cameron) who came along and put in his first card with us.  Craig is a Cats supporter but we can’t hold that against him.  With a pretty impressive 75 off the stick, the handicapper has his pencil out and looking to be writing out a fairly small number after the three rounds.  Well done Craig and hope you have a great time with Ivanhoe Social.

The iffy weather resulted in a decision to have a pizza feast instead of a bar-b-q and it seems that Oliver excelled himself on this score as well and the tucker was enjoyed by all in the comfort of the Clubhouse.

Arrangements for the Annual Challenge trip are under way and deposits are required to Gordo by 9th August ($100).  The cost is estimated to be $260 per player and $410 per couple (1 player).  You can join Murray Downs on line and qualify for a 10% discount on everything at the Club (except scores)

Results for Saturday, 26 July 2014
1st Stephen Butterfield(38, 39, 77) 2nd Targe Mifsud(37, 38, 75) 3rd Oliver Gross(37,35, 72) 4th Brendon Mitchell(34, 36, 70) 5th Mehmet Akdag(31, 37, 68)

Well, there you go.  It was a small field but there was lots of excitement.

First off, Noodles seems to have pulled himself (together – not the other) and put together a respectable round to lead the comp into the second round by the narrowest of margins from Oliver and Targe.  It looks as if the last group to tee off will be the one to watch with a fierce contest guaranteed.

However, there is plenty of scope for those lower down the leaderboard to make a move and snatch the much prized trophy from the leaders.  Chrispy might struggle a bit to make up the lee-way but at least he won’t have to cook the bar-b-que as it seems that the threat of inclement weather has changed the lunch options to pizza.  Maybe he will have to get on his bike and collect them.

The other exciting news from the round was the spectacular effort by Brendon on the 15th when he lobbed it into the hole from the tee to collect a hole-in-one and the Eagles Nest to boot.  Well done Brendon.

As of last Thursday, the wayward eight iron was still delicately nestled in the branches of the gum tree beside the 18th tee though it did appear that there was not a lot other than the laws of physics keeping it there.  But it seems that on Saturday it came tumbling down, not quite into the arms of its erstwhile owner SOS but pretty near to some other members of the field.  Hope SOS hadn’t gone out and bought a replacement.

There was rain over-night, there was rain this morning, there was rain and hail forecast for later in the day.  But did that stop the valiant knights of Ivanhoe from venturing out and chancing their arm in a joust with the greensward of the Yarra Flats.  Not on your Nellie.  Well, at least some of them ventured out and by and large the sun shone on their parade.  The Search and Rescue helicopter was called out to search for the last group after reports that Targe had stepped in a puddle and couldn’t be found.  But mostly it wasn’t such a Beast of a day though a mini-gale did blow straight up the 17th but was followed by a contrasting dead calm on the 18th.

The wet course meant that there was a strong possibility of losing a ball on the fairway due to plugging and the yellow balls were jealously guarded to make sure that the round was completed with the ball intact.  Two teams managed to achieve that target, one was lost and the other team ‘forgot’ to play theirs.  Forget their ‘Eds if they weren’t screwed on!  Anyway, the winning team was Noodles, Chrispy, ChrisV and Mehmet.  And for the record it was -4 that won the day.

However the really important result was for the main Championship individual event and that was knocked down to none other than (you guessed it) Bill the Beast who, despite the somewhat tricky conditions under-foot and some pretty ordinary pin placements (what about the 9th?), succeeded in squaring the card to take the top points and in the process draw level for the lead in the Club Championship and to gather a bit of a break in the Seniors.  That, with his seemingly unassailable lead in the Eclectic, means that his trophy cabinet could be absolutely groaning come the end of the year.  The Tete de la course is starting to bunch up a bit setting up for a sprint to the finish but the peloton is a bit strung out and will have to work hard if they want to mount a serious challenge at the Finish on the Champs elysee.

A couple of players had their chances today and if a couple of shots had ended a bit differently there could have been an entirely different outcome.  Whitey suffered a bit from some erratic driving.  ChrisV suffered a bit from having to play with Noodles who is a bit cheesed off and doesn’t want to play with Chris anymore because Chris can hit the ball further than him.  Still a good result and a bit more of a move up the table for both of them.

Chrispy was a bit upset when the next two cards came in because they robbed him of third place and the precious points that he so craves in his bid to get to the top.  The two reprobates that toppled him from the place were Blighty and Gordo.  Blighty also played his matchplay against Targe and despite there being five points difference in their take-home score the result of the match was a win to Blighty one up.  The other placegetters displaced alongside Chrispy were Harry and SOS with -3 but according to all reports, it could have been better.

SOS was certainly hoping for better thing on the 18th when he severely shanked his drive, almost putting it in the pond.  He vented his frustration by swinging the club around his head when it ‘slipped’ out of his hands and went sailing into the air and into the waiting arms of the big gum tree on the left – and there it stayed.  SOS was fairly philosophical about it as, after all, it was only an eight iron.

Mehmet and Noodles rounded out the podium for this week which left a bare half dozen members not collecting a point this time around.

Not a huge tally of birdies this week with six being plodded and the Eagles nest is building up nicely.  There was a double jackpot for the ProPin today and it was contested on the 12th.  It seems that there was no one to claim it until the last player in the last group when someone snuck it inside the 5m limit.  That someone was none other than Blighty and he was noticed smiling broadly and spending his ill-gotten gains at the Tuck-shop afterwards.  The Nearest the Pin for a ball was on the 4th and that was collected by Mr Ed (again – and no, not the horse, though you could sometimes be forgiven).

The Matchplay competition has now made it to the stage where the finals can be played.  Blighty and Craig have to play off for the Championship and Targe and Damo have to play off for third place.  It would be nice to see this completed on the one day so if those four can liaise and sort something out.  Unfortunately we do have the Fred Howe Winter Cup coming up over the next two weeks and that will be followed by a Monthly Medal unless it can be agreed by all to play at some stage during these events.  Don’t forget, Fred Howe gathers double points for the winner so there is a good chance for those in the peloton to break out and join the lead group or for the leaders to sprint away and consolidate their spot.  Also don’t forget there will be a barbq lunch after the second round that will be catered by Oliver’s Inestimable Bangers and Burgers.

The majority of players stayed on for the meeting and there were three major items of business.  The first was to appoint a new Secretary and that post was filled by Oliver who took on the job in the understanding that the duties fit around his work and travel commitments.  The second was to fill the position of Social Secretary and it was confirmed that Mostyn was prepared to do the job and he was duly appointed.  Following on from that was the matter of the Annual Challenge trip to Murray Downs and it is imperative that organisation proceed post haste.  To that end members definitely (or almost definitely) going should advise Gordon by email as soon as possible.  It is highly likely that deposits will be required promptly after that and it is essential that this be dealt with without delay so that we do not lose face with the business at the other end.

One other matter that was discussed included the possibility of allocating Championship points (2 per head) to the members of the winning team in the Yellow Ball Teams Event with the thought that this might engender more enthusiasm than the prospect of winning a ball.  It was also asked whether there was a possibility of running an Ambrose event and whether such an event could also be played for Championship Points.  A Reunion Round, to which lapsed members would be invited with a view to rekindling their interest was another suggestion from the floor.  Any thoughts or discussions on these topics will be welcomed by the Committee.

One other item that was flagged was the running of the Matchplay and the rules and the application of them are being reconsidered.  It was flagged that there might be a supplementary Matchplay round over the next few months to test out some concepts.  Details will be advised shortly but further input is welcome.

Results for Saturday, 12 July 2014
1st Bill Eastoe(□) 2nd Chris Vinecombe(-1) 2nd Rodney White(-1) 3rd Andrew Blight(-2) 3rd Gordon Hill(-2) 4th Harry Boughen(-3) 4th Chris Priems(-3) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan(-3) 5th Mehmet Akdag(-4) 5th Stephen Butterfield(-4)

Mozzie was so excited he was jumping out of his skin and as a result he was all blurry.  At least the bag was sharp, even if he wasn’t.  Made some excuse about having to rush off to the snow but maybe the excitement was just too much for him.  So, just in case you didn’t know it already, Mostyn was the run-away winner of the June Bonus Trophy and he put in an appearance today to collect the booty.  Appearances can be deceiving but it seems likely that a new buggy will be in order if he is going to use it for everyday.  There wasn’t a great deal of evidence of the form that won him the event though as he positioned well down the field.

Not that the field was all that huge, considering that the weather was fine though the track was on the heavy side in places.  A couple of the forecast showers turned up late in the round which was just enough to be a nuisance and not enough to blame for some of the scores that were returned.  But, enough of the doom and gloom the idea is to celebrate those that managed to bring home the bacon.

For the first time in a while, it was necessary to do a count-back to determine the winner of the Medal and there was a decision required between no less than four players who all carded a nett 67.  The contenders for the Medal were Oliver, SOS, Chrispy and Targe and it was SOS who made the big turn-around between the front and back nines and he managed to win the count-back very comfortably.  Well done SOS with a 36 off the stick on the back.

Next to step up to the podium were Noodles and Bob with their favourite number 69 as the score.  Noodles wanted it to be known that he is now officially a better player than Mehm.  Not too sure what Mehm thinks of that but they will probably have fun working it out between them.  Bob continues to play steadily since his return with the new plumbing around the old ticker but maybe he should get his eyes tested or even check the handicap sheet to be sure that the correct handicap goes on his card.

That left Mehm on his Patma in third place with a fairly respectable 70 nett.  Then there was a skipped score to the three musketeers all for one and one for all on 72 consisting of Damo, Snags and Brendon.  Damo and Snags also played out their round in the matchplay and it ended up being a close run thing.  Snags was one up after the 17th and so a lot was riding on the outcome of the 18th.  Damo was off the green and Snags very courteously offered him the choice of  pin out or pin in.  After a certain amount of hemming and hawing, it was decided that it should be left in.  The shot hit the pin and bounced out whereas the general opinion was that had the pin been out the ball would have been in.  So, that was the ins and outs of it.  Snags claimed the round one up.

Last in the field of many to receive points were Trev and Whitey with 73’s.  They were grateful for the point apiece but probably won’t be going home and bragging around the pub about it. Trevor did alright as far as his eclectic went with three improvements including a birdie on the 7th which is no mean feat in itself but this was achieved from a chip out from under the trees and a fair way out.  The whole course wondered what Ed was shouting about.

While on the subject of birdies, there were a fairly paltry 7 accumulated today and the fact that the ProPin on the 15th jackpotted again says volumes for the general accuracy.  Ed managed to get onto the 18th for the Nearest the Pin and then went charging around the course in a cart looking for the tape measure that had been ‘lost’.  Ergh, Ed, we don’t use the tape on the NTP.  Still, he got a ball for his trouble.

Walking between the 9th and the 10th, Targe detoured and announced that he would be back shortly.  Almost goes without saying.

There will be a Meeting after the round next week to deal with a couple of items of business.  The top priority is to get somebody to take on the job as Social Secretary as Ben finds that pressure of work does not allow him to continue in the role.  Give it some thought chaps.  The main priority at the moment is the Annual Challenge organisation and somebody needs to be picking Ben’s brains sooner rather than later.  There was a suggestion that Mostyn would pick it up but until that is positively confirmed anybody else who would be prepared to take it on or help out should let Gordon know.  The same applies to the job of Secretary.

Whitey has arranged a voucher for 2 hours of time for up to 4 players at the Golf simulator facility at Coburg.  Use your own clubs or borrow from the facility.  Extra time can be paid for at the time if required.  This will be run as a raffle and tickets will be sold over the next few weeks to give everybody a chance to get to an event and buy some if they wish.  $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00.

Results for Saturday, 05 July 2014
1st Oliver Gross(67) 1st Targe Mifsud(67) 1st Chris Priems(67) 1st Stephen O’Sullivan(67, MM countback) 2nd Stephen Butterfield(69) 2nd Bob McDonald(69) 3rd Mehmet Akdag(70) 4th Damien Lee(72) 4th Brendon Mitchell(72) 4th Craig Sharp(72) 5th Trevor Jackson(73) 5th Rodney White(73)