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Yearly Archives: 2018
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Saturday 8th September – Club Event Stableford Competition
Conditions were great, albeit with a bit of a cold start but the sun soon peaked through the clouds and 19 members enjoyed the golf, and in some cases more the company as the golf wasn’t that great for the most part. No one managed to match their handicap and as a result there were two equal winners on 35 points.
Gordon who has put together a nice run of points to lead the championship and Jason, who somehow managed to sneak out of the house after becoming a Dad for the first time last week. It could have been beter if he had not hit the nearest the pin marker on the 12th hole, by all reports his ball would have been quite close if it was not there. Gordon was putting for par on the 16th and his ball fell agonizingly short on the lip of the hole, after a period of time (9.5s) it dropped in for the par. Second place was shared by a number of players, Brendon, David, Chispy and Dennis rounding out the 5 pointers on 34 stableford points.
Matt was struggling a bit all day but managed to scramble well enough to end up in third place on 33 points and now leading Rob 10 and 6 for their little side contest. A swaggle of players finished up on 32 points and a share of 4th, Blighty who was looking a little worse for wear before the round, SOS and Trevor. There were no reported shanks from SOS although he did hook a shot on the 9th wildly and it appeared that like it was a homing missile aimed Simon. Trevor was heard winging after the round that he 3 putted almost every hole. It seemed like almost everyone would score points today, but Bill cut a few short and ended up on his lonesome in 5th place on 31 points.
Simon was complaining of Jetlag after returning from overseas, although the excuse was not accepted for his performance. After seeing Gordon’s ball fall in as mentioned earlier, Simon’s approach shot on the 17th almost replicated his feats. As shown in the photo, he was oh so short of knocking it in for eagle.
Rob was seen sporting a new ‘fat’ putter grip and he said it felt great! It turns out it didn’t work that well however as he was seen time after time hitting putts short and missing putts that should not be missed. Ryan and Rob both hit close approach shots on the 18th and the tape measure was required to determine the winner of the pro pin. Rob ended up being 3.1m from the hole and took the cash, and after all his missed putts he sunk the birdie putt into the back of the hole, or which there were 8 carded for the day overall. Ryan was having all sorts of issues off the tee with the big stick, although the par 3’s were more to his liking, he hit it close on the 7th, 12th, 15th and 18th and managed to take out the ball hole and 2nd pro pin as a result.
There were reports of a runaway buggy – Ben’s new electronic buggy went from the pond on the 14th “unassisted” to past the green, up the side of the 15th tee and did wheelies in some casual water. No one from the group saw the ‘rogue’ buggy have a run. Dennis also had some issues, he doesn’t leak oil when his game goes bad, he loses his buggy tyre. He lost one coming down the 17th!
There were no reported drafties for the day, although on the par 5 fairway, Rob had an almost freshy and just topped the ball with a few onlookers giving him some grief after (notably his brother). Noods and porks were having mares and decided to math play the back 9. The bets were decided and noods proceeded to crumble after a few holes.
Results for Saturday, 08 September 2018
1st Gordon Hill(35) 1st Jason Hopkins(35) 2nd Brendon Mitchell(34) 2nd David Mullenger(34) 2nd Chris Priems(34) 2nd Dennis Ward(34) 3rd Matt Hunt(33) 4th Andrew Blight(32) 4th Peter Damou(32) 4th Trevor Jackson(32) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan(32) 5th Bill Eastoe(31)
Seniors Results: 1st Gordon Hill (35) 2nd Dennis Ward (34) 3rd Andrew Blight (32) 3rd Trevor Jackson (32)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 15th Ryan Porker ProPin No 2 18th Robert Priems BallPin 12th Ryan Porker
Medals were up for grabs on September Monthly Medal 2018
21 members braved the threat of rain, which did not come until the last group were putting on the 18th green. The monthly medal was up for grabs and based on some of the high scores with lots of 7’s and 8’s, conditions were a little tricky. Nonetheless Whitey started off with a blinder there were rumors that he would be hard to catch half way around. He almost blew his chances as he was on the way to a nett 59, but stuffed the 17th in spectacular fashion and ultimately ended with a nett 63 and first place. He was aided by a 45m chip in on the 2nd which resulted in a par, no mean feat with the tee from the back markers.
Noodles was hot on Whiteys heals and had a chance to tie on the 18th with a par, but some errant chips (choked perhaps) foiled his attempts and he ended on nett 65 and 2nd position outright. Noodles was in fine form on the 12th and places his tee shot to within tap in range to take out he pro pin. Well that is a bit of a stretch, there is no range that is tap in for noodles!!
A couple of steady hitters were a few back on 70 and 3rd place in Michael and Dale. Michael was complaining of forgetting how to chip, a little time off would do that to the best of us, but maybe a slight exaggeration with only 6 over the course par Michael.
Peps ended on his lonesome in 4th place which was a commendable effort considering he was playing with not one, but two Akdags all day. Allan was reading out the results at the end of the day and started to go through a number of scores, one by one and there was considerable confusion as none of the names were in the points places. Turns out he got his numbers slightly mixed up in reverse order and Bill, Gordon, Brendon and Priemsy all ended up on 74 and 5th place.
If Simon is reading, Seniors results were Bill and Gordon sharing first place, Dennis coming in second and Rod 3rd. Simon’s lead has been cut back to 6 or so, not in the trophy cabinet yet Simon. The main championship table is getting quite tight, 10 players are within 2 wins of JQ after his match play win. The ball hole was on the 15th and Dennis was closest, small constellation prize after being overtaken on the 12th by Noodles. The 18th was at the back and Ben ended up within striking distance to take out the cash,
The Eagles nest was raided today and it wasn’t the usual culprits but new member Peter. On the 14th hole and slightly in trouble off the tee behind the trees, he hit a low one under the branches and it ran towards the hole and clattered into the pin. He went looking for the ball and luckily for Peter, it had fallen in the hole for a 2! He was disappointing that he didn’t see it go in, and his playing partners were giving nothing away. Apart from the eagle it was not the best day for Peter who had a total of 35 strokes on the par 3’s alone. (Ave 7??!!) There were also around 10 or so birdies carded throughout the day.
It was reported that Dennis did a Chrispy and blasted shots into the trees on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd, which all ended up bouncing back onto the fairways. Bob was not so lucky and was also hitting trees, he manages to hit two with the second ended up right against the tree on the opposite side. It had appeared that someone was playing a prank and had placed it there. Bob was well please and was saying the nicest things about it.@%#$
Brent was not having the best day and was well behind in the points with a front 9 of 55. But he turned it around and par’d the back nine off the stick. On the 14th Dale was putting for par and his putt sat on the edge of the hole, after 9.5 seconds it decided to drop in!
Rob Priems and Matt are having a year long 1 on 1 challenge. Rob did his best to mess up on the 4th after hitting a ‘practice swing’ and accidentally blasted hit shot at 90 degrees. For the record, Matt is up 9 to 6.
A few birthdays to celebrate this week, Matt Hunt has a milestone (21??) to celebrate and he is joined by Blighty and Dennis Tiernan.
Results for Saturday, 01 September 2018
1st Rodney White(63) 2nd Stephen Butterfield(65) 3rd Michael Gourlay(70) 3rd Dale Webb(70) 4th Andrew Petricola(72) 5th Bill Eastoe(74) 5th Gordon Hill(74) 5th Brendon Mitchell(74) 5th Chris Priems(74)
Seniors Results: 1st Bill Eastoe (74) 1st Gordon Hill (74) 2nd Dennis Ward (75) 3rd Rod Grant (77)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 12th Stephen Butterfield ProPin No 2 18th Ben Akdag BallPin 15th Dennis Ward
Eagle’s nest Results: Eagle 14th Peter Damou
Ben Dover boys, I’m back for GrandPar on 25 August 2018
It was a bit nippy bright and early this morning with one of the coldest mornings since early July. There was a hint of frost on the grass and the digits were feeling the pain and the balls seemed decidedly hard. Thank goodness for chemical hand warmers some would say and thank goodness for generous playing companions who take pity and lend you one. However, the clear sky presaged a beautiful day and eighteen ventured to the tees to try their hand at scoring the elusive ‘grandpar’. Trevor turned up for a chat with the news that he had been hospital for some time recently and would not be able to play for a few more weeks yet. We all hope that any pending news is good and that you are soon well and back among us, Trev.
An appreciative crowd gathered behind the first tee to watch the first group on their way and the crowd was not disappointed when Ben skulled his drive and the ball popped up and disappeared into the bushes beside the front tee-box never to be seen again. The only known draughtie for the day and not an auspicious start to a round. However, Ben had crafted his new handicap well and, although he didn’t check the starting sheet he still managed to carry the day with a score of +2. The bottom line was helped no end by a grandpar though his playing companions were a little dismayed by the fact that he scored it with a par on a hole that carried two handicap strokes.
Hot on Ben’s heels were a veritable pack of contenders with +1 on the card. Quickdraw McNoodles squandered a few potential points with some poor work around the greens and a couple of his drives did not help as well. Pepsi finished the front nine one under the card on a stroke basis but then again he almost has to with a handicap that low. Dale was deep in conversation with Joe about the the merits of various clubs and their loft and carry and the impression was that, if there wasn’t already new gear, there was certainly some in the offing. A share of second place suggests that all is not too bad.
Continuing with packs of three, there was another trio lining up for third place with nice square cards. Porks was making a bit of a hard go of it and was four down at one stage. He then decided that he was going to catch up with Noodles and put his foot down to go very close to achieving that aim, just falling short at the 18th after Noods put his drive to 4.24m to take out the ProPin on the hole. Chrispy asked to be paired with brother Rob and sibling rivalry obviously spurred him to greater things and he joined Ryan. JohnQ had other things on his mind but despite possible distractions he too came home square.
Yet another threesome filled fourth place, MattH, SteveK and Whitey all presented with just one point below the line. Steve didn’t help his cause by hitting the wrong ball while playing the 11th. Not only did he hit the wrong ball, he was on the wrong fairway (6th) when he did it and only realised when he came across his own ball on the 11th where it should have been. In fairness, the ball did hit a tree and nobody saw the fall. Whitey bemoaned his abominable putting and could easily have won the day if not for multiple three putt greens. Last, but not least, and he will take the point, was Rob who pushed a couple of hopeful Seniors out of the main points table.
The BallPin today was on the 15th and the Beast was able to snatch that one from Whitey’s grasp. The very nice little Jackpot ProPin on the 12th was taken out by Steve who managed to sneak inside the circle at 4.82m.
Today also saw the finalisation of the 2018 Matchplay Championship. The main match took place between JohnQ and Matt. And a very worthy match it turned out to be. For the first nine there was not a lot in it and, although the lead did not change, Matt had the lead at one up at the turn. A couple of quick wins at the start of the back looked as if he might have John on the ropes. A couple of right crosses from John just as quickly restored the status quo. A stray drive and a muffed pitch over the trees by John on the 14th could have turned the match back to Matt’s favour but the hole finished even. There followed a flurry of body blows through the 15th and 16th before John landed the upper cut on the 17th. John’s pitch in close to the hole made Matt question his choice of club but he chose to ignore his doubts and he paid the penalty by losing the hole and the match 2 and 1.
The play off for third was between Stefan and the Beast. This was a slightly more one sided match with the match finishing after the 15th with Bill coming up trumps 4 and 3. Stef was a little frustrated that, every time he went well on a hole, Bill managed to match him or had a stroke up his sleeve. Stef did manage to have a couple of victories but, for the most part there was a steady progression of scoring to Bill’s side of the card. Not much result for a quiet dig on the first ‘See you later, Bill’.
There was not a definitive count of the ‘grandpars’ scored on the day. Harry did manage to get on on the 7th with a chip-in for a birdie. That was one small addition to the total of 10 that we managed for the day. Ryan was talking about the possibility of scoring another eagle to help his score in the Eclectic along though it would need to be on a hole other than the 17th which he already has. As it turned out he went close to doing it on the 17th when his pitch into the green just missed the hole on the first bounce and finished tap-in distance past. Pork’s mirror twin was spotted playing on the 2nd hole. Slender build, grey jacket, dark jeans, black cap with white flashes, scruffy beard. Only difference was, he played right handed.
It was a tough day at the office today for Damo and it has been a tough week at the office for him as well. All that sleeping in hotel rooms and international flights has apparently put a crick in his back that interfered with his normal exemplary game. Gordon also had a bit of a rough day and things were not helped by playing companions taking side bets on whether he would avoid racking up double figures on the bottom line. And, to add insult to injury, a crow raided his golf bag and made off with one of his muesli bars. Must have been good as the crow was hotly pursued by a flock of noisy miners.
The Birthday Birdie has one wish to pass about this week and that is due to our new member Peter. Maybe Peter was celebrating early and that is why he didn’t join us today. Have a great one, Peter.
And, it just has to be mentioned that the Seniors were right out of the points today but Simon was fairly sweating on finding out how Gordon had fared when he found out that Bill wasn’t in the mix (took his match too seriously) and there was some chance of increasing his lead in the table even further.
Results for Saturday, 25 August 2018
1st Ben Akdag(+2) 2nd Stephen Butterfield(+1) 2nd Andrew Petricola(+1) 2nd Dale Webb(+1) 3rd Ryan Porker(□) 3rd Chris Priems(□) 3rd John Quinlan(□) 4th Matt Hunt(-1) 4th Stephen Kelly(-1) 4th Rodney White(-1) 5th Robert Priems(-4)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (-5) 1st Simon Powell (-5) 2nd Andrew Blight (-6) 3rd Gordon Hill (-9)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 12th Stephen Kelly ProPin No 2 18th Stephen Butterfield BallPin 15th Bill Eastoe
One player was on the Matt for Stableford on 18 August 2018
The weather bureau tried their hardest to put people off with forecasts of rain, hail, thunder and wind. But, seventeen members and one guest refused to be put off and turned up at the nominated time and were rewarded with as fine a set of conditions as you could wish for in the middle of a Melbourne winter. There were about half a dozen spots of rain as one group trudged wearily up from the 16th to the 17th and the wind did show some promise of picking up towards the end but, overall, the conditions were benign and that was reflected in the number of birdies scored with a tally of thirteen in the bag. Ryan bagged two with chip-ins (or should that be chips-in), one on the 5th and one on the 18th, JohnQ snared one with a monster putt on the ninth and Noodles had an easy one on the 18th after putting his drive to 92cm to take out the ProPin on that hole.
But, at the end of the day, the day went to Rob who played pretty steadily to score 37 points. There was one significant hiccup on the 17th where Rob ran foul of the water hazard in which he managed to find a number of balls but not his own. One ball that he did find was emblazoned with the letters SOS which we all know is not a cry for help although, following a claim by SOS that he lost ten balls today, it might very well have been. Rob was very keen to make the point that he reckons MattH is running scared and it is not really work that is keeping him from the course. Seems that there is some sort of side bet going between those two.
Whitey had a bit of strife with the course today. The tees were too far back, the pins were too close to the edge of the green, the greens were too fast and too sloped. But, despite all that, he still managed to play to his handicap and slot into second place. He was joined by Noodles who was helped along no end by the four points from his birdie on the 18th following a couple of uncharacteristic gashes on the previous two holes.
The birdie was a keeper and this helped Noods get his nose in front of Ryan in the Eclectic so there is still a bit of life left in that event yet. Maybe this was the reason that Noodles rushed off and didn’t finish his bottle of Coke. The same can’t be said for the seagulls that demolished Simon’s plate of chips whether he meant them to or not.
SteveK was marking Ryan’s card and, after the first nine, he was somewhat trailing in Ryan’s dust. But, as they say, luck’s a fortune and as they passed the turn, so the fortunes turned and Steve came home with all guns blazing while Ryan was not helped by blazing a couple out of bounds on the 14th.
When the chips are down, the tough get chipping. Simon had hopes of a couple of improvements in his Eclectic but only one of the birdies that he circled counted. He does report being very pleased with his extraordinarily expensive new putter and must be on a commission as he exhorts everybody who will listen to buy one.
Jason, Bob and JohnQ rounded out the points with a tally of 31 on the scorecard. John wasn’t too happy on the 9th having made the green in regulation (a rare event it seems) but was left with a very long putt. You know the rest!
The BallPin today was on the 7th and, from the 6th fairway, it was obvious that somebody in the first group had made it to the green. That somebody was Gordon who collects two balls after the Jackpot from last week. The first ProPin on the 12th went begging when nobody was able to put their ball within the 5m circle around the pin so there will be a bit of loot up for grabs next week on that particular hole.
In something of a rarity, there were no reports of draughties. Or did everybody just stay shtum.
MattN joined us today for a game as he has some time in Melbourne. He was very thankful to Gordon for providing clubs for him to use and in particular for the choice from about seven putters. Matt thinks he might have chosen the ‘wrong’ one and would not countenance the thought that it might have been the fault of the nut on the end of the shaft.
SOS was sporting a new haircut today. It must be something to do with police regulations as nobody would do that to themselves voluntarily! The Beast reckons he hit his ball so hard on the 17th that it vapourised as there is no other possible explanation for the fact that it couldn’t be found even after extensive search.
Brent had his fair share of problems with trees today. Apparently, in some cases, even after taking relief, he was still hard up against the trunk. Rob had a birdie on the 16th after sinking a pretty long putt. That must have gone to his head as apparently, his drive wasn’t as long as the putt from the 17th. And, on top of that, he subsequently lost the ball. In a day that seems to have featured a number of ‘monster’ putts, Harry’s on the third was travelling pretty quickly when it hit the back of the hole, bounced 10cm in the air and fell back into the hole for a par. Definitely a highlight!
Results for Saturday, 18 August 2018
1st Robert Priems(37) 2nd Stephen Butterfield(36) 2nd Rodney White(36) 3rd Stephen Kelly(34) 4th Simon Powell(32) 5th Jason Hopkins(31) 5th Bob McDonald(31) 5th John Quinlan(31)
Seniors Results: 1st Simon Powell (32) 2nd Bob McDonald (31) 3rd Bill Eastoe (30)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 12th Jackpot ProPin No 2 18th Stephen Butterfield BallPin 7th Gordon Hill