Monthly Archives: October 2016

Who said that the members didn’t like playing Par competition?  Given that this was the third week in a row (thanks Fred) the turn-out of 23 members was pretty impressive.  It was a bit cool to start off but, when the cloud cover burned off, it warmed up nicely and turned into a delightful Melbourne Spring day.  Could be just the time for a racing Carnival you could almost think.  Come to think of it there is some sort of a horse race coming up shortly.  Something called the Vin O’Meara Stakes if memory serves correctly.

As predicted a little while back, it wasn’t long before Jason appeared on the top podium spot.  A bit like the day, it took him a while to warm up and it was six holes into the round before he first entered positive territory and he just managed to stay there at the turn with the card showing just one up.  The back nine obviously suited him as he squared six and won three to finish the day with a field-streeting +4 points.  The handicapper took an axe, and gave his mother forty whacks, and when that job was nicely done, he gave poor Jason, forty-one! Figuratively speaking, that is.

Harry looked to be in a good position to emulate what Jason achieved.  That is until Pepsi asked how he was going on the 14th green.  The wheels immediately developed a nasty wobble and the plus four at that stage was almost eliminated by the end of the round.  Still, second place and a slightly positive card meant that the handicapping was relatively painless.  Harry was joined in second place by Rob who did himself out of a point on his card by not checking the handicap sheet before he went out to play.  Rob started off well and was well placed at the turn but dropped a fair amount of engine oil on the last three holes.

So, that left Noodles and John tied up in 3rd place with their square cards.  John was very well balanced and squared both nines while Noodles finished with one each way.  Joe was hitting the ball really well and squared well over half of the holes but the losses outnumbered the wins and he was only able to finish the day one down. Michael spent a lot of the day worrying whether his supply of tees would last until Christmas.  Apparently he is on Santa’s Nice list and he is expecting a big stocking-full from the big fella.

Michael hasn’t quite descended to the level of desperation evident in this pic from a couple of weeks back but one tee today went close to needing some sort of additional support to be usable on the next hole.  Ryan mostly either won them or lost them so his performance might best be described as steady but erratic.  But then, he scores points, and that is what counts in the end.

Fifth spot today was filled by a couple of Seniors by the name of DennisW and Simon who both managed to come home just the two holes down.  Now Simon has been away on a road-trip and there are often reports of funny stuff happening on road-trips.  Not sure whether it was the after effects of funny stuff but Simon marked his partners card back to front (marker on the left, player on the right) which had the handicapper scratching his head for a while as to how the scoring could have been so wrong.

The BallPin today was on the 15th and Pepsi did a good job to put it on but left a bit of work to do with the putt.  But, putt it he did, for one of the 16 birdies that were carded for the day.  It wasn’t enough to win the ball however as Joe managed to put it closer to score himself a nice new pill to play with next week.  He didn’t get the birdie though.  The ProPin was set for the 18th and with the pin set close to the start of the swale to the lower level it was a tough target.  So tough, in fact, that nobody managed to put it close enough to make a claim and the pool will Jackpot to next week.  Rob and Chris are a bit disappointed as they will be at Mansfield next weekend.  Chrispy has at least three rounds lined up for during the week so he is hoping for the ‘old’ Chrispy to be back before next weekend.  He was heard saying that he gave up on the back nine today which is hardly the attitude when preparing for a Major event such as Mansfield.

DennisT has some time off from his role at the Darklands and he hasn’t had much time for practice but he thought that today was a beautiful day for a walk.  Pepsi was keen to get away to Flemington and the hope is that his punting will treat him better than his rather rusty form did on the golf course.  He didn’t have any hot tips to offer but he thought that there might be a few fillies worth having a look at.

There was a Magpie patrolling the area around the 18th and it seems that Jason went close to spiflicating it and turning it into a Hawk (some sort of football analogy?).  Stefan had his driver tuned up today and caused some consternation in the group in front when he went close to driving the green on the 5th and then lobbed one over the corner on the 10th right into their midst.  While it can be hard to know exactly where people are when they are out of sight, they definitely shouldn’t be out of mind.

Simon managed to score one of the birdies today on the 17th, which he put down to ‘good golf’ and it was one of the highlights of his round.  One of the highlights of his road-trip was being tapped on the shoulder by security at his hotel for practicing chipping on the courtyard lawns.  He did get in 25 minutes worth of practice though.  Maybe that helped today.

Mal was back today after a little while away due to the cold and some health matters and he shared a cart with Trev to guarantee that he could finish the round.  His playing partners thought that he was hitting the ball really well in light of his claim that he hadn’t played for over a month.  What they didn’t realise was that he was referring to Club Events and that he has been making an appearance on Thursdays with Rod and Harry.

There weren’t any draughties reported today though Zimmer did manage a few shanks which caused him to throw a tantie or two.  Bob was also less than happy with some aspects of his game today and was apparently giving lessons in new ways to blaspheme in the English language.

The Birthday Birdie will be busy this week with a number of lots of good wishes to hand about.  Celebrations are in order for Mark, Rodger and Damo.  Don’t party too hard fellows!

Results for Saturday, 29 October 2016
1st Jason Hopkins(+4) 2nd Harry Boughen(+1) 2nd Robert Priems(+1) 3rd Stephen Butterfield(□) 3rd John Quinlan(□) 4th Michael Gourlay(-1) 4th Ryan Porker(-1) 4th Joe Wagenecht(-1) 5th Simon Powell(-2) 5th Dennis Ward(-2)

Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (+1) 2nd Dennis Ward (-2) 2nd Simon Powell (-2) 3rd Malcolm Fleming (-5) 3rd Rod Grant (-5)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 18th Jackpot BallPin 15th Joe Wagenecht

Some feigned tennis injuries, some claimed other commitments and some claimed to have to go to work.  And as for the rest, the chances are that they just chickened out when the weather looked like being a bit inclement.  And it was – sort of.  First it showered out of a clear blue sky, then it showered out of a little white cloud, then it showered out of a darkish cloud and, finally it rained and it hailed out of a really black cloud.  The bulk of the field had made it back to the clubhouse before then and suffered little more than the inconvenience of upping and downing of umbrellas.  The last groups, consisting mostly of the better players from last week, probably had the worst of it and came in doing a good impression of half-drowned rats.  Still, four out of sixteen getting a wetting isn’t too bad.

Now, the big question on everybody’s lips was – can Mehm break his winless streak?  It must be said that even Mehm wasn’t too confident at the start of the day.  As it turned out Mehm’s fears were well grounded and he relinquished the top spot to Michael who put in one of the two top cards for the day to add another point to last weeks tally making him an easy winner by four points.  Well done and well deserved, as are the double lot of winner’s penalty.  But that’s just par for the course!

When Dennis was spotted playing the 11th on the 13th, he opined that he was doing OK but that he had probably made a mess of this one.  Having made 3 up on the front nine he was certainly putting himself into a good position to strike.  Unfortunately it was not to be and the gearbox leaked more oil as the round progressed so that he finished -1 on the day and square for the event.  Stefan also had a bit of a blinder on the front nine and carded 4 birdies in a row which was a fair percentage of the ten that were carded by the group as a whole.  One of his playing partners described the passage of play as just like watching the PGA.  Given that Michael also carded four birdies (not consecutive though), it doesn’t say much for the contribution of the rest of the field.  Somebody said that SOS was having a ‘mare’ or was that ‘mayor’ – whatever that might mean, but presumably it was to convey that he wasn’t going so well.  Regardless, to end up equal second over the two weeks is not a bad effort in anybody’s terms.

As was mentioned earlier, Mehmet maintained his winless record and he is now looking forward to celebrating the second anniversary of his last top spot by maintaining that state.  The Beast continues his steady performance of points gathering and has clawed his way back in front of Brendon in the Championship table.  Chrispy’s fears about being overtaken for third spot in the Championship have been well founded and Michael’s win today has moved him a bit ahead of Chris.  The Beast’s lead in the Seniors has also been extended.  Jason put in a much better performance today and managed to propel himself into 4th place with the other best card of the day.  It might have been even better if it had not been for the draughtie that he managed to execute on the 5th.  He wasn’t alone though as Brent managed one on the 2nd after trying to knock the cover off the ball (again).

So, although Brent had a bit of a shocker today, a fair bit of it down to the said tendency to try to knock the cover off the ball, he still managed to finish up with an aggregate score good enough to settle for 5th place.  He was joined by Ryan who managed the conditions today better than most with his square card.

Now, it was thought that Noodles had managed to take out the Bradman trophy on his own even though he didn’t play today.  However, it seems that Gordon (and his marker – though to be fair his marker didn’t have a card to mark on the front nine) forgot about the stroke difference between his two cards and claimed a point that wasn’t due and so the Glory (or shame) has to be shared.

The BallPin was on the 12th today and the eventual winner was John who managed to get it closer than Harry, who was in the first group and wasn’t all that close anyway.  The ProPin was on the 18th and it was won by a man who claims that he hasn’t won one for at least a hundred years.  Now, come on SOS, you’re not even in the Seniors yet.

Speaking of Seniors, it’s about time that we started moving the boundary for qualification (a bit like the Feds are doing with the Pension age) as there are a couple who are moving inexorably closer.  The Birthday Birdie reckons that David is on the brink and Chrispy isn’t all that far away.  And neither has been asked to prove his age.  Yet!  Don’t celebrate too hard chaps.

Chrispy reckons he usually finds form just in time for Mansfield but he was not so sure about that this year.  That is until the last four holes when he reckoned that the ‘old Chrispy’ was back.  Brent and Jason were off to a wedding – possibly a ‘garden’ ceremony – hope they had a plan B.  The groom is none other than Dale which might have something to do with why he didn’t play today.  Brent was leaving his clubs with Chrispy and asked should he just chuck them in the car – to which Chrispy replied – Nah, just chuck them in the bin.

The tail end Charlies managed to record four pars on the 9th and all of them were down to up and downs (if you can sort out your ups from your downs).  Some were long putts and some were awkward downhill chips but it’s the result that counts, not the picture that you have to draw.

The new website is up and running and if you are reading this, you have obviously found it.  If you are not reading this, then you should read your e-mails or click on the link at the old website to get here.

Results for Saturday, 22 October 2016
1st Michael Gourlay(+3, +1, +4) 2nd Dennis Ward(+1, -1, □) 2nd Stefan Belevski(□, □, □) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan(+3, -3, □)

3rd Mehmet Akdag(+4, -5, -1) 3rd Bill Eastoe(□, -1, -1) 4th Jason Hopkins(-3, +1, -2) 5th Ryan Porker(-4, □, -4) 5th Brent Rowley(+3, -7, -4)

Seniors Results: 1st Dennis Ward (-1,1,□) 2nd Bill Eastoe (-1,□,-1) 3rd Harry Boughen (-5, □, -5)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 18th Stephen O’Sullivan BallPin 12th John Quinlan

It was another good turn out today with 25 members coming out to try for the heavy-weight trophy of the year. And this despite the fact that everybody has a whinge about playing in Par events. Obviously, prestige counts. The bureau has been threatening us with some rain but very little has eventuated and as a result the course has dried out more than somewhat. There were still preferred lies today but they were barely necessary and there is a fair chance that it will be back to play as she lies next week. The wind did pick us the day progressed and this might have had some influence on the scores on the back nine. Our tallest member was pleading for special consideration in that he was affected by the wind more than the rest of the field. It was conceded that he could have one extra stroke on his handicap to be taken where it didn’t count. The Beast was sort of happy with that concession.

So, who was able to make the most of the improved playing conditions. Well, believe it or not, it was Mehmet who had the biggest smile at the end of the day after he managed to stay on his feet and put together a very handy +4 points. But, he hasn’t got it on his ownsome as there are a few right hot on his tail and things augur well for a fiercely fought battle for supremacy next week.

Right there on +3 are Brent, who did a great job to come back after scratching the first three holes, SOS who made a flying start but faded a bit in the middle of the round and Michael who played a good steady round with only a single minus on the card. Game on! DennisW made a couple of attempts at getting onto the green from the tee, the only problem being that they were greens on different holes to the one that he was playing. Despite that he managed to finish up in positive territory and in the process improved his eclectic ranking to take second place and be less than a stroke behind the leader. His birdie today was one of the thirteen that we were able to score today.

The next group managed to play to their handicap and are by no means out of the race for the trophy. The Beast would dearly love to be able to pick up the top points to consolidate his position on both Championship tables. Stefan managed to drive the 11th again today though he could only manage a birdie, but an eagle would have been too much to bear. There is nothing suspicious about the fact that Stef and Zimmer marked each others cards but there are reports that Zimmer did not even reach the Men’s tee on the 17th and it was not an air-swing. The ball must have an awful headache though. Rod hasn’t been around much in recent times but he is obviously seeing a bit of form after a practice round at Kingswood on Thursday sharpened his touch.

Pepsi has had a few other fish to fry over recent months but, as always, he seems to be able to put in a good steady round and was just one stroke outside his handicap. He would need a sub-par round or some pretty spectacular failures to really have a chance but while there is life there is hope. But then again, he isn’t planning to play next week. And, as for the rest, there is always the prospect of the delicious burgers and snags that Gordon will be organising for the Club Lunch.

The other big event for the day was the finalisation of the top half of the Matchplay Championship for this year with JohnQ and Brendon squaring off for the trophy and (for Brendon at least) the heapful helping of points that goes along with it. Brendon got off to a good start and, half way through the front nine, he had a reasonable buffer of three holes. However a couple of quick wins by John evened the score up and the difference was only one hole at the turn. There was only one win for Brendon on the back but three wins to John allowed him to finish the Match off at 2 and 1. Well done John, Matchplay Champion again! Things were,’t all bad for Brendon as the points put him back in the Championship lead but only by a very small margin. Chrispy is starting to despair that time is running out to catch the leaders and he is looking over his shoulder to see who might sneak up and wrest the third spot from his grasp.

The ProPin today was positioned on the 12th. The tees were set well forward and there was a bit of green to play with so there was no excuse for anybody not to be in the running. As it was, Eddie stole it (again) from the first group with a distance of 3.14m. Jason went close and the tape was called on when the eye had trouble picking it. The BallPin was on the 18th and once again there was only one name on the chit. In keeping with his good form all day, that name was Mehmet. Didn’t make the birdie though.

Bob was called upon to hand out some drinks to his playing group after scoring a draughtie on the 15th. Harry nearly managed to do himself an injury with his second shot of the day that hit a tree dead centre and whistled past him to finish behind where it started. To add insult to (almost) injury, the next shot also got a tree flush and finished backwards, but at least on the fairway. We know that Gordon and Ed are mates but you start to wonder what sort of mates when they turn up in almost identically coloured, emerald green shorts. As if that isn’t enough, it seems that Gordon is planning to wear a polka-dot dress next week. Can’t imagine why that would be.

While the course is much firmer and the fairways and most of the rough have been mowed, some people are never satisfied and Noodles, in particular, came in claiming that the course was ‘brutal’. Maybe that should have been ‘brutalised’ if Noodles score was any indication. No wonder he didn’t want it published.

Dale played again today and now has his three cards in and has qualified for competition with a handicap of 27. Seems fairly generous considering the way he can hit the ball. So watch out, he could be a winner not too far down the track if past cases are any guide. Paul has got himself a new set of clubs that are better suited to his build and there were some glimpses today that, a bit further down the track, the investment could start to pay off. Chrispy is playing with a new grip. This change in hand position came about due to him getting some right to left with one of his rescue clubs. Now everybody knows that Chrispy is noted for his ‘power fade’ so anything that goes the other way could get him into really big trouble. He’s quietly confident that all will be good when he comes back from Mansfield. Michael has been having a problem with a particular brand of ball carrying further than he is used to. So, this week he changed brands and, lo and behold, he now reckons he is hitting it short. Didn’t seriously affect his scoring capacity though.

The Secretary has a number of discount cards to the Golf Clearance Outlet down on Dandenong Road, Oakleigh East. If anybody would like one, get in touch with Blighty and if anybody is down there, find out their prices for balls for SOS. If you aren’t sure of the brands, SOS will give you a list if you ring.

The Birthday Birdie has a wish to hand out to Paul for a couple of days hence. Maybe that is what the new clubs were for.

Don’t forget the bar-be-que after the game next week. Everybody welcome, even if you didn’t play today.

SOS would also like people to start paying their subs for next year (electronic transfer for preference) as we need to have to cash in for payment to the powers that be early in the new year. The deadline will be the Christmas breakup function on 17 December. For those that have other arrangements for GolfLink, the club membership is $20. GolfLink membership with us is $90 so a total of $110 for those using that option. Anybody wishing to transfer from another club to us please email Harry so that we have a formal record of the request.

Results for Saturday, 15 October 2016
Leaderboard Round 1 1st Mehmet Akdag(+4) 2nd Michael Gourlay(+3) 2nd Brent Rowley(+3) 2nd
Stephen O’Sullivan(+3) 3rd Dennis Ward(+1) 4th Kazim Akdag(□) 4th Stefan Belevski(□) 4th
Bill Eastoe(□) 4th Rod Grant(□) 5th Andrew Petricola(-1)

Seniors Leaderboard: 1st Dennis Ward (+1) 2nd Bill Eastoe (□) 2nd Rod Grant (□) 3rd Bob McDonald (-2)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Ed Kloprogge BallPin 18th Mehmet Akdag

They’re back.  After a period of hibernation due to cold and/or wet weather and footy finals, the members finally came out to play and there were 22 smiling faces to front the starter this morning.  And, what a nice day it was.  The sun was shining (mostly), the temperature was not too low, the course has dried out a bit and the maintenance staff have managed to get a bit of mowing done.  The Cape Weed is in bloom so those that use a yellow ball take an extra risk as even the white ones can be hard to find when they nestle down amongst the succulent growth.  Hopefully the mowers will get a full week to get the place all back under control.

The new water feature at the second was in full operation and the fountain in front of the tee will give you a free ball wash if you keep it low enough.  Things got a bit out of hand though and the staff had to do a rush job when they were appraised of the fact that their hard won water was flushing down a drain into the already strongly flowing Yarra River.

So, with such nice conditions, there should have been great scoring all round.  Weeelllll – that’s not quite the way it worked out for a large proportion of the field.  But, for a small proportion of the field, the conditions suited to a tee and Targe was able to strike form with an 83 off the beater for a nett 65 to take the Medal for the month.  With a major coming up next week perhaps not the best time to take a cut but, then again, Targe informs that he will be away in the Alice for the next few weeks so maybe that is why he threw caution to the wind.

The Beast obviously put his golfing holiday in China to good use and he played another good steady round to come within a whisker of capturing the top points two weeks in a row.  A couple of stray shots from the tee on 16 and 17 could have been the difference.  Or maybe it was the shock of almost walking into the flight of Stefan’s tee shot on the 11th which whistled by within inches and finished about 300mm short of the hole.  As a result, Stefan, after nearly having scored a beast, had to settle for an eagle and went home with his arms full of eggs from the Eagle’s Nest.  Our Sizzling Senior is now well in the lead in both the main Championship and the Seniors and it will be up to the juveniles in the club to catch him in the main event, if they can.  Though, Bill will be off on another golfing holiday later in the month, but he will be here trying for the double points in the Fred Kitson over the next two seeks.

Next comes a bloke who has been having one of his better years for a bit of a while and, mostly, he doesn’t have a lot to say.  He’s probably not in the running for the Championship but he is right up there in the Seniors and the person in question is Bobbie who came in along with Joe with a nett card of 67.  Now, Joe, it seems, was not too happy with some of his equipment and he decided to teach it a lesson in how to swim.  Not sure how far Joe had to strip down to get his club back.

Eagle-boy Belevski was next cab on the rank and, for a man who hasn’t been on deck too many times this year, he seemed awfully interested in how many Championship points he had scored with his placing.  As well as his eagle, Stef managed to get a birdie on the 6th and contributed to the total of 7 birdies that the whole group were able to manage for the day.  Michael spent the day worrying about the double birthday party that he has to organise and could only manage to score himself 5th place.

The ProPin today was on the 15th and CraigC managed to put his ball onto the green.  Walking to the green, Craig opined that he was outside the 5m limit but, after some urging, he relented and took the tape to find that he was 4.89m from the hole.  And, what is more, that was enough to collect the DoubleDollars for Medal Day.  The BallPin has no such limitation and Harry’s shot on the middle of the top deck on the 18th (the pin was on the bottom deck) might have had a chance if it were not for Brendon who managed to put it within a couple of metres.  He didn’t get the birdie but he still holds the lead in the Eclectic and the number of rounds available to hunt him down is rapidly declining.

DennisT joined us for the first time in a while today sporting some facial hair that we have not seen before.  Dennis was so overcome by the fact that the footy season has finally ended that he stopped counting on the 15th.  The other Dennis(W) is obviously a keen Doggies supporter and was wearing his members cap.  The only problem was that it was the 2014 version.  Maybe he is just a fairweather friend.  He did have a bit of a highlight on the 15th when, after two very errant shots that left him not on the green, he chipped in for his par.

Lee Trevino is noted for claiming that not even God can hit a one iron – but Gord can!  It seems that the trusty implement was put to good use again today.  Rob sprayed his tee shot on the 13th out into the trees and finished with the ball resting on a tree root.  The preferred lie offered little, if any, relief so Rob played it as it lay and did a mighty fine job of it in the process.

Rob might be going to take up poultry farming as he was overheard talking about counting his chickens.  But, then again, it could be related to the wheels coming a bit loose after a good start on the front nine.

JohnQ was back on deck for the first time in a while.  He was in a group with Brendon so it is a good bet that there was a fair amount of sussing out of form and likely strengths and weaknesses ahead of the big Matchplay shoot-out next week.  They ended up with equal cards today so it is likely that they will be evenly matched.  Zimmer was also back on deck now that the soccer season has finished and maybe playing with the big round ball has affected his game with the little round ball.  He was heard pleading for a free shot at the back of the hazard on the 17th though it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

The warm day yesterday must have been enough to wake the snakes from hibernation as one was spotted near the ramp up to the 17th tee today.  Doesn’t augur well for the summer.

The Birthday Birdie has one wish to pass on this week and that is to Snags who will undoubtedly share his cake with all of his regular passengers.  Trevor’s do is on tomorrow and Trevor would probably love to see you even if you haven’t replied to his invitation.

Results for Saturday, 08 October 2016
1st Targe Mifsud(65) 2nd Bill Eastoe(66) 3rd Bob McDonald(67) 3rd Joe Wagenecht(67) 4th Stefan Belevski(70) 5th Michael Gourlay(73)

Seniors Results: 1st Targe Mifsud (65) 2nd Bill Eastoe (66) 3rd Bob McDonald (67)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 15th Craig Cameron BallPin 18th Brendon Mitchell

Eagle’s nest Results: Eagle 11th Stefan Belevski