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Grand Par Competition – 29th September 2018
Grand Final day 2018, a fierce contest, a fast start and a bit of rough-housing, and that was all on the golf course for the guys who were able to get away before the afternoons festivities. The Collingwood supporters were notably not in attendance but 14 others enjoyed a nice day out on course. There were rumors that Simon, Jason and Ryan all had hot starts and during the round there were scores at around +6 on the cards however a few fumbles in “time on” resulted in a first win for Peter who ended up with plus 5 to take out his first win for the club.
His round was aided by three double pars, slotting pars on the 4th, 10th and 18th. His new handicap may put a stop to that next time, time will tell. Peter was also keenly eyeing off the remaining groups on the 18th green as he had placed the closest marker for nearest the pin at 3.6m. He was not beaten and was more than happy with his efforts to take out the cash. Ryan started with a topped drive which only just passed the ladies tee on the 1st, but recovered with a hot short game to be +4 after 4 holes. He faltered briefly in the last few holes to drop back to 3 plus to take out outright 2nd, he also birdied the 3rd for a double plus.. Some had inquired if he was possibly keeping a check of his handicap for the weekend away, but he simply sprayed a few tee shots and can’t help that he is not Tiger Woods.
Jason was setting a similar mark to Ryan but again faltered on the back nine to end up with a very respectable +2 to come in 3rd place. Noodles, Gordon, Dale and David all played fairly consistently all day and ended up with a square card for 4th place. 5th place was shared by Daniel and Simon with -1. Daniel was lucky enough to score two double pluses, parring the 4th and birdieing the 15th. Simon mentioned that he lipped out on chips a few times throughout the day and it could have faired a lot better for himself if they listening to him. Gordon was also talking to the ball on a few putts along the way, some of which ended up dropping in after his cursing and bemoaning.
There were no reported draghties however the 4th group came very close, Dennis, Gordon and Ryan all being tantalizing close. The ball hole was on the 12th and Jason hit a pearler to take out a shiny new one for his efforts. The second pro pin was on the 15th and it was a hotly contested affair. Simon was within 5m early on and was counting his cash for the triple jackpot, but Damian spoiled his party by hitting a spectacular shot to 3.2m to take it from his grasp.
Congratulations to Brent who produced a couple of offspring during the week, or contributed to more accurately. Chrispy was very happy by all reports to have a couple of new family members, even if the football result went the other way. A very happy birthday to Trevor for this week who celebrates another milestone.
A reminder that the annual trip away to Rich River is next weekend. There will still be a competition at Ivanhoe for those who are not attending. By all reports there are going to be a few in attendance.
Results for Saturday, 29 September 2018
1st Peter Damou(+5) 2nd Ryan Porker(+3) 3rd Jason Hopkins(+2) 4th Stephen Butterfield(□) 4th Gordon Hill(□) 4th David Mullenger(□) 4th Dale Webb(□) 5th Daniel O’Rourke(-1) 5th Simon Powell(-1)
Seniors Results: 1st Gordon Hill (□) 2nd Simon Powell (-1) 3rd Dennis Ward (-6)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 15th Damien Lee ProPin No 2 18th Peter Damou BallPin 12th Jason Hopkins
Saturday 22nd September – Club Event Stableford Competition
The mood was positive in the early morning as the prospect of a sunny day of golf was on offer, and the result of the previous nights footy was a topic of conversation. It was a surprise that Chrispy made it on time after the pies effort the night before. There was not so much luck for JQ as he was not thrilled with the result. Preferred lies were no more as there is a fair bit of run in the fairways, so some would expect for high scoring all round. It was not to be however as only two members out of the 20 beat their handicap.
Allan and Steve (damo junior) ended up tying for first place on 37 points after consistent rounds. Allan managed to play without scratching a hole and Steve only had the single wipe. It goes to show that it pays to be consistent. Steve also played an outstanding shot on the 18th and in the pro pin jackpot and just snuck in the birdie putt after being only 70cm from the hole, of which there were 9 birdies carded for the day from all.
2nd place was shared by a couple of relatively new comers in Daniel and Mehmet who scored his first points for quite some time. Dennis also shared 2nd place on 34 points who is stringing together some good rounds in a row recently.
A trio of hooligans scraped home in 3rd place, Ben, Peter and Chrispy, who was seen wearing Collingwood shorts and a Collingwood shirt. Don’t get ahead of yourself there Chrispy, 1 week to go. Ben managed to top his drive on the first, which is becoming a regular theme, although the topped drives are often joined with points for the day so something must be working ok. Dale was on his lonesome in 4th place on 31 points.
Again 5th place was shared by a few patriots who didn’t have their best round, but nonetheless a single point they will take. Noods, Gordo, Jason and John. Jason was observed on multiple occasions teeing up for a second time at the tee after playing some wild shots out of bounds. JQ was so keen about his golf he was asking after the round who was available next week to play in the competition, given that the Tigs are not in the big game.
The ball hole was on the 12th and Damian hit it close enough to score himself a shiny new one. The second propin was on the 15th and no-one hit it within 5m so it will jackpot again for next week. Simon was oh so close as his tee shot struck the flag, but it ricocheted off to the edge of the green. Unlucky Simon. There was some confusion on the 4th as there were two holes in play, but only one flag. Course management had failed to fill in the second hole, Chris from the Pro shop was seen rushing to cap the second hole just prior to the last group teeing off.
Senior points were on offer and Allan, Dennis and Gordon took out the 3, 2 and 1 points places respectively. The seniors championship is heating up with Simon leading on 46 points, Gordon hot on his heals on 43 and Harry is currently in third place on 29 points.
There is only 3 months left in the championship for this year, Gordon is leading marginally from JQ and Noods and there is only 10 points separating the top 5 players and 12 players within 20 points of the lead. It’s within anyone’s reach with a few good wins. Ryan still leads the eclectic ahead of Noods and Brendon.
Happy Birthday to Bill and Michael G for this week. Reminder that there is a club event next week for Grand final day and the trip away to Rich River is the following week. There will still be an official event on that weekend at Ivanhoe for those who are not attending and there will be points on offer for both events if there is at least 6 played in attendance.
Results for Saturday, 22 September 2018
1st Allan Davies(37) 1st Stephen Kelly(37) 2nd Mehmet Akdag(34) 2nd Daniel O’Rourke(34) 2nd Dennis Ward(34) 3rd Ben Akdag(32) 3rd Peter Damou(32) 3rd Chris Priems(32) 4th Dale Webb(31) 5th Stephen Butterfield(30) 5th Gordon Hill(30) 5th Jason Hopkins(30) 5th John Quinlan(30)
Seniors Results: 1st Allan Davies (37) 2nd Dennis Ward (34) 3rd Gordon Hill (30)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 15th Jackpot ProPin No 2 18th Stephen Kelly BallPin 12th Damien Lee
Saturday 15th September – Club Event PAR Competition
The threat of rain, hail and thunderstorms did not deter 17 members in the early Spring from giving it their best. Craig commented before play that the rain would hold off. He was also heard pointing out some blue sky in the distance later in the round…. after rain and wind persisted early on for most of the front 9. Whilst the rain did not hold off, course conditions were tough with hard fairways (and for some reason preferred lies), lush rough, blustery wind and lighting fast greens. Pin placements were also questionable with a number of holes being very close to the edge of the greens, refer to the photo for an example. This made for a very difficult round, as if the conditions were not already challenging. Hopefully they are rectified for next week following some discussions with course management afterwards.
Prior to the last group returning it appeared that everyone would be receiving points apart from a lonely soldier, but Dennis had other ideas and blitzed the field to shoot a plus 3 and take out the win. There was decent run in the fairways, on the 14th Dennis’s drive rolled up towards the green and cannoned into a buggy next to the group in front while they were chipping. Noodles and Brendon were joint club house leaders for a short while and tied in second place on -1.
Craig played his first game in the while and played well enough for a 3rd place on -3. He was joined by bob who was seen running like a gazelle after Brendon’s buggy blew off the green on the 18th and was heading towards the Yarra! Bob chased after it and rescued it from peril, he wasn’t even in Brendon’s group. It certainly was not umbrella weather and the wind was causing havoc, buggy’s being taken away and umbrellas turned inside out were a common theme.
A group of players were all tied in 4th place, Peter, Simon, Brent and Dale all playing decent considering the conditions. Four more players also tied for 5th, Chrispy, Scubba, Beast and Mehmet who is back after a bit of time off from golf. Chrispy stated after the game that he would be happy to give his point back as -5 is not a score to be proud of. Mehmet also received his 10 yrs of service badge after the round, well done. the question remains if there is another 10 years in him?
The ball hole was on the 12th and was taken out by Brent. Noodles also put one close and Mehmet measured Brent’s marker and Noodles’ ball about 6 times to verify who was closer. Although Noodles was close enough to make the birdie, of which there were only 4 carded for the day. Both the 15th and 18th holes were pro pins and both were jackpots. Simon’s attempt at the 15th ended up touching the pin, the nearest the pin marker than is!
The pin was basically on the ridge on the 18th which made for a very tough closing hole. Both Mehmet and Ryan putted up the hill but with the assistance of the slope and wind, their balls came crashing back down the green to the lower tier. Ryan also used quite a bit of skill to hit his ball from the 2nd tee to the other side of the green on the 7th over the 6th fairway, then back to the 11th fairway and finally back onto the 2nd green.
Happy birthday to Alan and Dale for this week! For the members who are not attending the Rich River trip away on October 6th, Simon is organising a competition at Ivanhoe for whoever is interested. Please contact Simon for details.
Results for Saturday, 15 September 2018
1st Dennis Ward(+3) 2nd Stephen Butterfield(-1) 2nd Brendon Mitchell(-1) 3rd Craig Cameron(-3) 3rd Bob McDonald(-3) 4th Peter Damou(-4) 4th Simon Powell(-4) 4th Brent Rowley(-4) 4th Dale Webb(-4) 5th Mehmet Akdag(-5) 5th Bill Eastoe(-5) 5th Stephen Kelly(-5) 5th Chris Priems(-5)
Seniors Results: 1st Dennis Ward (+3) 2nd Bob McDonald (-3) 2nd Craig Cameron (-3) 3rd Simon Powell (-4)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 15th Jackpot ProPin No 2 18th Jackpot BallPin 12th Brent Rowley
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