Monthly Archives: August 2014

What is the point of sending out e-mails and putting posts on the web if nobody reads (or takes notice of) them.  It was shaping up to be a lovely day out there, the preferred lie rule had been lifted and at the nominated last registration time   there was hardly anybody on the books.  Please guys, do check the tee times as they do change with the seasons and it just makes it hard for the tee marshalls trying to collect money and get groups to the tee in a mad rush.  And another thing, please check your handicaps, they also change from time to time.  We will fix your mistakes for you, but some of the course management team take a less liberal view for the inside comp.

There was movement at the station, For the word had got about,  That the Beast and Ollie G had got away….

But, with the news of Bill’s impending departure for three weeks and Oliver’s announcement that he too will be absent for a time during September, the ears in the pack pricked up and then laid back for an all out assault on that elusive Championship Table Leaderboard.  None more pricked up and laid back today than Chrispy and Mehm who shared the honours with a very nice +2 apiece.  Despite the picture, Chris managed to stay clear of the trees today and it was all down to skill and ability and not to the usual ‘lucky’ bounce off the timber.

At first it looked as if we had a four way tie but Mal’s inside card went into the pile by mistake and Ed realised that he had put the wrong handicap on his card (again!) and so when that was sorted out, Mal and Ed ended up sharing the second place honours with Noodles with square cards all round (if that doesn’t sound too ‘Irish’).

As a result of all this, the top of the table is as crowded as it has been for many a year and, with the absence of the two leaders for a time, there is plenty of chance for the situation to change dramatically over the next few weeks.  Unfortunately, the Fred Kitson does not fall into the time frame so there are only single-headers up for grabs.

Ryan is continuing his little run of some form and gathered the third placing points with -1.  Oliver struggled with the decision making today with his full bag of clubs and, a couple of times, he might have been tempted to reach for his five iron rather than his putter.  He went very close to raiding the Eagles nest on the 17th by putting it on the green from the tee and putting the putt only a couple of centimetres outside the hole for the easiest of birdies.  There were only six of our little feathered friends captured today and there were very few moves on the Eclectic front as well.

Not sure what sort of problems Blighty had on the 13th but he was observed playing a shot from by the hazard on the right while well behind the rest of his group. He reported a minus for his trouble but he still managed to collect a point with his -3 tally.

Our numbers today were bolstered by a number of new faces.  Wayne Pollack was back to suss us out again and it was other committments that took him away after 9 holes and not the fact that he was playing with Ed.  Joel Butterworth, Mark Berthelsen and Michael Gourlay were the others to join the round and we certainly hope that you enjoyed it and we look forward to seeing you again soon.  Michael certainly laid his cards on the table with 72 off the stick and he picked up the ProPin as well with the ball a mere 30cm from the hole on the 15th.  The Nearest the Pin for a ball on the 4th was well contested again and Whitey was the man to collect.

The condition of the tee on the 4th obviously didn’t affect Whitey’s shot too much but he did have a few words to say about some of the others which are about as bare as a badger’s at the moment and Whitey doesn’t carry a tee so he was none too happy.  Apparently it has something to do with course maintenance.  The temporary tee on the 6th was just the opposite and more like rough than otherwise.  Noodles had to deal with the effects of a deposit made by somebody’s dog on the 4th green  after his ball ran through it and left it in his track on the way back to the hole.  He wasn’t too impressed to say the least.

The Birthday Birdie reports that Dennis will be blowing out some candles this week and with the footy season coming to an end, there are hopes that we might see him on the tees in the next little while.

In other member news, Gordo was sweating it out in the summer heat of Santa Monica at last report.  Mostyn has apparently not been too good and has been in hospital for some surgery and won’t be back on course for a little while.  All the best for a speedy recovery Mozzie.  RodG is still nursing his golfer’s elbow and is not sure how long it will be before he can make a comeback.  Ed is still ‘contagious’ but seems to be treating himself with some sort of magic bullet.  Targe’s offsider is recovering well but it will still be a few weeks before she can get back into the shop and he will be able to join us once again.  Reports that Damo is a contestant on The Block are unfounded – he is just selling his house.

Results for Saturday, 30 August 2014
1st Mehmet Akdag(+2) 1st Chris Priems(+2) 2nd Stephen Butterfield(□) 2nd Malcolm Fleming(□) 2nd Ed Kloprogge(□) 3rd Ryan Porker(-1) 4th Oliver Gross(-2) 5th Andrew Blight(-3)

Well, somebody thought that this event was a Challenge.  For some maybe.  But on a beautiful balmy, sunshiny Ivanhoe day a couple of our members went out to prove that you don’t need a bag full of clubs to play good golf.  The course has dried out quite a bit since last week with nothing in the way of wetness under foot and just a few boggy patches on a couple of fairways.  The greens are in good nick except for the pitch marks that thoughtless types don’t repair and they were remarkably fast particularly after the dew had evaporated.

All of this meant little to our joint winners for the day in the persons of Oliver and Ryan.  Unfortunately, no pic of Ryan just yet and it was considered a bit cruel to post a pic based on his surname.  Oliver ventured out without a putter in his bag but by the end of the round he was questioning whether he should use one ever again having done perfectly  wellwith a five iron and racking up two birdies in the process.  Ryan put in two very even halves for his 37 points and fronted the judges for his second win since joining the membership ranks.  He too is wondering about whether to load himself down with all that extra baggage of a full set of clubs.

Gordon came along with a guest today in the form of his brother, John, and there was a certain amount of discussion as to which had got the looks and which the brains.  The consensus seemed to be that it was a draw on both counts.  Seriously though, good to meet you John and feel free to tag along anytime and no, you don’t have to play with Gordon every time.  Perhaps it was the settling influence of big brother watching but Gordon managed to keep his head down enough to bring home 35 points and he was joined in second place by Mehm who seemed very pleased to be second to get good points but no loss of handicap.  This is keeping him in touch with the pack leaders in the Championship Table but he was hoping to get more of a jump on Chrispy who came in one place behind.

There were two in third place on 33 points with Noodles being the other contender.  Noodles had his ups and downs out on the course today and perhaps he has been having them somewhere else as well as he was involved in a discussion of the new laws relating to the forwarding of explicit photography.  SOS was in on the conversation and quoted something about the 7/11 rule – and it has nothing to do with servo opening hours.

Harry put his years of experience using the Texas wedge on the back-blocks of NSW to good purpose on at least a few occasions to amass 31 of the best and he was joined by the greatest iron player in the known universe (or at least in his own mind, which ever is the smaller) in the person of Busman Craig.  SOS on the other hand was not too embarrassed to accept a point for his 29.

The ProPin, which was on a Jackpot from last week was contested on the 4th and Mehm will be able to feed the kid again this week as he was to one to put it beyond a doubt with the ball about 1.6m from the hole.  The nearest the Pin for a Ball was supposed to be on the 15th but, no names, no packdrill,  Gordon forgot to put it out.  The front group thought to try their luck on the 18th but even that eluded them and everybody else.  However,  given that everybody had been expecting it to be on the 15th and ChrisV certifiably put his drive no more than half a metre beyond the hole on the 15th it was decided that he should be awarded said ball.

Whitey managed to remember that the S(t)imulator draw was to be finalised this week and he called upon our joint winner Ryan to draw the lucky ticket.  Wouldn’t you just know it but it was one of Whitey’s that came out of the bucket.  A quick check did demonstrate there were at least some other names on the tickets.  While on the subject of Whitey, he apparently took six shots with his putter on the 6th.  Three to get on the green and three to get it in the hole.  Still not bad for the longest hole on the course even if the tee is a bit forward at the moment.

ChrisV also managed to score two birdies so between him and Oliver they racked up four of the ten that were carded today.  Gordo’s Bro John put his drive onto the 17th green but it seems that he couldn’t manage the eagle or the birdie putt.  maybe he was putting with his driver.  Laurie is making his comeback to us now that he reckons the worst of winter is over.  He had some ups and downs but the pick of his round was his par on the 13th.  His chip from off the green was travelling so fast that it was in danger of finishing halfway up the bank behind but it hit the pin dead centre, just about knocked it out of the hole and the ball dropped in.  It’s not how, it’s just how many!

In other news, El Presidente is about to head off on his around the world jaunt and there are rumours that he might even get to play on some hallowed turf at Muirfield while he is away.  No birthdays coming up in the next week but it seems that the Birthday Birdie missed the fact that Zimmer got to be another year older last week.  Happy Belated Birthday, Zim.

Rules Clarification:  As a result of an event on the course today there was some discussion about the rules relating to a ball being moved by an outside agency.  The situation was that the ball had been marked, picked up and cleaned and replaced when it rolled from its position off the green and onto the green closer to the hole.  The question was, should be ball be played from its new position or should it be replaced.

The relevant rule is Rule 18.1: If a ball at rest is moved by an outside agency, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced.
Note: It is a question of fact whether a ball has been moved by an outside agency. In order to apply this Rule, it must be known or virtually certain that an outside agency has moved the ball. In the absence of such knowledge or certainty, the player must play the ball as it lies or, if the ball is not found, proceed under Rule 27-1.  

A new Exception is added that exonerates the player from penalty if his ball moves after it has been addressed when it is known or virtually certain that he did not cause the ball to move. For example, if it is a gust of wind that moves the ball after it has been addressed, there is no penalty and the ball is played from its new position.

What is clear is the fact that the ball had not been addressed so the new Exception does not apply.  What needs to be determined is what qualifies as an outside agency.  The R&A specify that in stroke play (as distinct from Matchplay) neither wind nor water are an external agency but says that it is anything other than the competitor, his side’s caddies, balls or equipment.  Thus, as there was no suggestion that it was caused to move by the player or other of the excluded causes, gravity, wilting blades of grass and so forth would appear to be outside agencies and so the correct procedure is to replace the ball in its original location.

Had the player addressed the ball however it seems that he would have been entitled to play the ball from its new position without penalty despite the fact that it was closer to the hole.  In this situation, if the ball had gained sufficient momentum to reach the hole and fall in, then that would have been miraculous good luck for the player.

Further advice will be sought.

Results for Saturday, 23 August 2014
1st Oliver Gross(37) 1st Ryan Porker(37) 2nd Mehmet Akdag(35) 2nd Gordon Hill(35) 3rd Stephen Butterfield(33) 3rd Chris Priems(33) 4th Harry Boughen(31) 4th Craig Sharp(31) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan(29)

It was a rainbow sort of a day.  First, there was white.  White fog that hung like a pall over the course at tee time and made playing the first couple of holes a bit of a lottery in terms of being sure where the ball went and whether the group in front was out of range.  Then, there was the yellow ball that each team carried for the Yellow Ball Teams Event that was run in conjunction with today’s event.  Next there were the black armbands that the players wore out of respect for Mal Adey, the all round good guy who departed us so suddenly for that great golf-course in the sky.  Not sure how Mal will handle the conditions up there as he did have a bit of a propensity to make contact with the big ball before the little one.

And lastly in the colour spectrum was the Red Letter Day for the Beast.  Bill absolutely streeted the field and went around in just the one over par to score a magnificent +8 and really get the jump on the pack at the head of the Championship Table.  But don’t despair,  Bill is off on his round-the-world golfing tour soon and needs a bit of a buffer to cover for the weeks that he will be away.  He was joined today by his mates Wayne and Angelo who will also be jet-setting with Bill but it sounds as if they could also be interested in joining us on a more regular basis.  After the round Bill said that he would like to dedicate his round to Mal and if he could he would give the points to Mal as well.  And there is no truth to the rumour that the points that Mal did have on his account were to be auctioned to the highest bidder.

Another man who is appearing on the podium with some regularity is ChrisV who took a certain amount of delight in deposing Chrispy from his spot as Clubhouse leader only to be blown away by the all-conquering Beast.  Still a +2 is nothing the be sneezed at and it didn’t do as much harm to the handicap as winning would have.  With his double deposition, Chrispy had to satisfy himself with third place alongside Old Reliable himself, Oliver.  Oliver was laying claims to have gotten thirteen greens in regulation yet barely played to his handicap.  Some people are never satisfied.

CraigC lined up today for his first competition round and the handicapper was quite nervous about the likely outcome.  As it turned out, the handicap was about right and Craig made it to the podium in 4th place alongside Eddie.  Ed will need to be careful or he will get a reputation as a shirt lifter after showing off to everybody that he was suffering with a bad case of chives (or was that shingles?).  Bob looked to be hitting his straps today but ended up squandering some chances around the greens on the back nine easing from +2 on the front to finish -2 overall.  He was joined on the podium by SOS who had to rush off but the card indicates a fairly steady round.

The nearest the Pin for a ball was located on the 4th and there was a certain amount of competition with three names appearing on the marker.  The last one and the winner of the ball was AndrewB.  The ProPin was on the 15th and it was left unscathed so the money will Jackpot to next week.  The birdie count for today was 10 and at least three of those went to the Beast.  Bill had put in a request to be in the last group which is a bit unusual in the scheme of things and there was some speculation as to why – let the fog clear, let the greens dry out – whatever it was, it certainly paid off.

The Yellow Ball Team Event also saw a bit of a break-through as all balls were returned to the starter.  Though apparently, one was lost on the 17th but was later found on the 18th so no card for that one.  The winning team, with a square card, consisted of Chrispy, Oliver and Whitey, which wasn’t such a bad result given the vagaries of the game.

While on the subject of Chrispy, it seems that he was up to his usual tricks of using the trees to advantage to put his ball into a scoring position.  Whitey also seems to be getting in a bit of practice for the Three Club Challenge next week by using his putter on the fairway and playing it like a nine iron out of the rough.  Mehm was so desperate to get some points to help keep in touch with the leaders that he was looking for reasons to disqualify anybody who was in front of him both in the scores for today and in the Championship Table.  Unfortunately that would have required disqualifying about half the field – then again he was claiming extenuating circumstances.  Chrispy has offered him a dispensation for the next month at least.

The membership is taking on the appearance of a Casualty Ward with evidence of a number ailing with lurgi’s and injuries of various types.  Here’s hoping none of them are too contagious.  Trevor managed to soldier on after re-jinking his back on the 14th.  Insisted on taking his turn with the yellow ball on the 17th and managed to square the hole.

Just remember, next week is the Three Club Challenge.  Only three clubs allowed in your bag.  Your choice, you can putt with your driver if you wish.  Championship Points are awarded and if you fancy your chances you can play the inside comp as well but legally the scores can only be used for official (GolfLink) handicapping if you equal or break your regular handicap.  Enquiries will be made as to how the Course management are likely to handle this and advice will be notified.

Results for Saturday, 16 August 2014
1st Bill Eastoe(+8) 2nd Chris Vinecombe(+2) 3rd Oliver Gross(+1) 3rd Chris Priems(+1) 4th Craig Cameron(-1) 4th Ed Kloprogge(-1) 5th Bob McDonald(-2) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan(-2)

Injuries, family, work, house renovations, holidays, cold weather, wet weather – the list goes on and on to explain the small fields that we have been having lately.  Trevor turned up getting around like a half open pocket-knife but grinned and bore it to complete the round.  The turf was pretty soggy in places and more than a few balls required a second look to find them buried up to the hocks and higher in the soft ground.  Still we did manage to get sixteen hardy souls to try their hand at mastering the sometimes tricky conditions.

And, what do you know, some did manage to master them and then some.  None more so than Brendon, who obviously reveled in the New Zealand like conditions on the course and gave it and his handicap something of a smashing (particularly on the back nine) to return 40 points and to collect the laurels for the day.  He was seen threading one through the trees from by the 7th green, on the way to the 6th green but he didn’t really want to discuss how he got to be by the 7th in the first place.  Obviously a minor aberration in the scheme of things.

The Beast continues to accumulate the higher order minor placings at a regular rate and today was no exception.  As a result, although there is a bit of a pack developing at the top of the Championship Table, Bill has managed to get a bit of a break on the pack and they will have to concentrate if they want to keep him is sight.  The minor correction to his handicap did no real harm to his position in the Eclectic and the rest of the field desperately need birdies to narrow the gap.  While on the topic of birdies, we managed nine today which was a better strike rate that last week.  Bill also heads the pack in the Seniors table as well.

Noodles seems to have adjusted to his new handicap and stiffened up a bit to share the third place score of 37 points with Snags and ChrisV.  Craig combined his result with the final of the Matchplay Final round against Blighty and this performance was enough to see Blighty off 5 and 3.  It seems that Craig had told Blighty that he was the Matchplay Champion about five times between the determination of the result and the end of the round.

Next cab off the rank was Harry who struggled a bit on the front nine but went close to a best performance on the back nine.  What looked like an excellent result from the tee on the 18th turned disappointing with the ball stationary on the slope between the upper and lower tiers.  A small smudge of dirt and a blade of grass was enough to hold it from running back down to the hole.

Last to collect points today was el Presidente himself who managed to play just one over his handicap and edge out Mehmet who is still ruing his error in the inside comp last week by playing with the wrong (higher) handicap.  This just reinforces the fact that you should check your GolfLink Handicap (and in particular your Daily Handicap) because it can vary quite suddenly and sometimes unexpectedly depending on what drops out of your eight best or out of your twenty latest.

The Nearest the Pin for the ball today was on the 12th and the result went to Brendon.  Obviously, it was his day.  The ProPin on the 18th on the other hand went to Whitey though he was a bit nervous when somebody in a following group appeared to have put one close as well – but not close enough.

Brendon is probably thinking of today’s result as an early birthday present since he has one coming up in the next week and the Birthday Birdie also whispers that ChrisV also has an event to celebrate.

CraigC played for his third card today and raised a couple of eyebrows with a score that did not quite match the early promise – but, hey, we all have our ups and downs.  So a nice new handicap and the chance to show what he can do in the furnace of competition over the coming weeks.

Targe seemed to have it in for the flora around the course and pruned or dented about six trees in the course of two holes early in the round.  During the course of discussions after the round, one of the advantages of being in the first group was deemed to have a greater chance to be classified as Clubhouse leader – at least for a while.  Chrispy lived up to his reputation by sending his tee shot in the general direction of the Yarra and a trip to Dight’s Falls  To his great delight (and dismay of his playing group) it hit a tree and came to rest on a perfect lie on the fairway.  He then chipped up to the verge of the green and proceeded to putt it in for the birdie.  Maybe not the hole-in-one posted on FaceBook but a pretty good result anyway.

Next week there will be further sales in the Golf Simulator raffle and then the draw will be made to select the lucky winner.  If Chrispy keeps buying tickets, he might be better just taking himself to the venue and paying up front.

The deadline for despatch of deposits for the Annual Challenge to Gordo resulted in a disappointing outcome with only two deposits received and several more members opting out .  Given that we were already well behind the confirmation date and the hosts were sounding not too happy about the situation, it was decided that the event would be cancelled.  From feed-back received, it was agreed that a new, closer venue would be investigated for a time around the end of March.  One of the peninsulas is the most probable target which will reduce the travel time significantly and there is some potential to reduce the cost as well.  Mehmet has nominated to lead the investigation and anybody with ideas or feed-back should contact him in the first instance.

Results for Saturday, 09 August 2014
1st Brendon Mitchell(40) 2nd Bill Eastoe(39) 3rd Stephen Butterfield(37) 3rd Craig Sharp(37) 3rd Chris Vinecombe(37) 4th Harry Boughen(36) 5th Gordon Hill(35)