Where we are!
It was a rare sort of a day on 29 February 2020.
According to the best information available, the next time that the Club has the pleasure of playing on 29 February will be in the year 2048. Some of our members will have done it before as the last time it came around was in 1992. Whether it was a rare occurrence or not it really was a beautiful day for golf with the turf coming back nicely from the prolonged dry spell with some excellent growing conditions. The greens are also in excellent condition and the only thing that ‘anybody’ had to complain about was the placement of the tee on the second hole. Some thought they would never hear the end of it – including the course staff. The tee did collect at least one victim, out of 19 members, when Rob tried to make sure that he got one away and, as a result, barely made it to the end of the bank and then was ‘lucky’ that the ball stopped short of the greenery. Brother, Chris, reckons that the beer always tastes better when somebody else buys.
SOS got away from the second tee and went very close to a hole-in-one, on the first green. Then, a few average shots were enough for him to draw a blank on the card for that hole. However, it was virtually the only blemish on the card as he continued to rack up the twos and threes for pretty much the rest of the round including one hole where he claimed a two instead of a three. Thus, his seventy nine off the stick actually scored him 41 points to take out the top spot for the day.
Chrispy reckoned that anybody who claimed to par the second today was stretching the truth, to put it politely. Chris might like to take that topic up with Noodles but, Chris himself was not too far away and was very happy with his five. The trees continued to work in his favour on the front nine and by the turn, there was a pretty speccy 23 points on the card. The greenery was not quite so favourably inclined across the back and Chris could only watch SOS’s heels as he came in with 39 points.
Third place was a case of share and share alike with a number of players sharing the honours although there was one demotion from the list. SOS might still be on the ball reclaiming path after Enzo fell foul once again. Peter had a pretty good front but faded a little on the back. Rod, on the other hand did just about the reverse and took nine holes to warm up before blitzing the back. And, in a curious quirk of fate, JQ had the same out and in scores as Peter. Perhaps a sign of the good conditions that you needed to break your handicap for a share of third place.
Matthew lined up today for his first round of competition and showed that his handicap was none too generous by playing right to the mark with 36 points. Just a sprinkling of singletons and a solitary miss suggests that that handicap could be heading south in the near future. Noodles had a similar distribution of off-touch holes and he might hope to do better in the not too distant future. Maybe Enzo is struggling with the difference between his Club and Official handicap but you would think that his Club Captain marker would be on the ball. And, what can you say about Porks? Just happens to pick the week after the well loaded Eagle’s Nest was raided to get an Eagle on the 17th which boosted his back nine score nicely even if he collected only one ball for his trouble. But, he did have to chip the ball in to do it.
The last group on the podium all struggled with the second and did not worry the scorer on that hole and Brendon also dipped out on the 18th which did not help his chances of a higher placing. Simon created great confusion for the handicapper by scoring Blighty’s card on the wrong side while Rob managed to chip in twice for birdie and helped the club to a total of 13 of the little feathery friends for the day. Not to be left out, Chrispy also chipped in for birdie on the 14th. Blighty also birdied the 14th after sending his tee shot well out into the middle of the 16th fairway. The experts do say that that is a good way to play that particular hole.
The first BallPin was on the 15th and there was a bit of a contest for the honour. Simon managed to finish closest to the pin. The 18th had the pin on the top deck and, as is often the case, you only had to get on the green to have a chance. Which sort of explains why Noodles was hanging around like a blowie at a barbie to see if anybody would knock him off for the ball. The ProPin was set on the 12th hole and Enzo could have been forgiven for thinking he had a chance when he made it to 1.9m. Then, along came Simon who finished past the pin by a mere 210mm. Just about as close as you could get without actually going in. And he couldn’t see it from the tee.
Dennis didn’t have the best of days and probably thought he had rejoined Forestry, particularly on the front nine where he had many close encounters with the wood work. Damo was also less than happy with his performance and threatened to make Targe shorter than he already is if he announced what his total was. On a happier note for Damo he, and a syndicate of golfers, is now the proud owner of part of a horse (or two or three). But, one, apparently, has some ‘potential’, according to the experts. JQ is also a member of the syndicate and might have a Tinder app for horses. Swipe left, swipe right. Damo reckons she is a sprinter so holding up the Melbourne Cup in November is not on the agenda.
The draw for seeding in the Matchplay was done today and the first round starts next week. The draw table is on the web-site under Competitions. The person on the top row of each match is responsible for ensuring that there is a result provided by the end of the round. If you and your opponent are present you play, no exceptions. The extensive set of Rules are available on the web-site.
Because the coming weekend is a long weekend and a number of members will be away, it has been decided that the AGM will be postponed for one week to 14 March. The Committee will draft a motion to change the date of the AGM away from the long weekend. So, there is still time to submit nominations for Committee positions using forms that can be printed from the web-site.
Results for Saturday, 29 February 2020
1st Stephen O’Sullivan(41) 2nd Chris Priems(39) 3rd Peter Damou(37) 3rd Rod Grant(37) 3rd John Quinlan(37) 4th Matthew Aforozis(36) 4th Stephen Butterfield(36) 4th Enzo Cirone(36) 4th Ryan Porker(36) 5th Brendon Mitchell(34) 5th Simon Powell(34) 5th Robert Priems(34)
Seniors Results: 1st Chris Priems (39) 2nd Rod Grant (37) 3rd Enzo Cirone (36)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin12th Simon Powell BallPin No 1 15th Simon Powell BallPin No 2 18th Stephen Butterfield
Eagle’s nest Results: Eagle 17th Ryan Porker
They were giving out points like they were out of fashion on Saturday February 22 2019 – GrandPar
For a change for this Summer, conditions were perfect and not too hot and not at all rainy. 21 players turned up (some earlier than others) to battle it out for a chance for a double (or triple) plus and championship points. This included a few fresh faces, Pete’s mate Matt was again entering his handicapping card and will soon be eligible for normal comps, Benny returned for his first game of the year and Simon returned for his first hit in months (with rumours that he may be back in Melbourne permanently).
Unlucky for porks, he had slept in and was very late getting to the tee off area, and as if his morning was not getting any better, he had to play with Brendon in a twosome at the rear. This did not seem to hinder Brendon at all as he was one of 5 players announced as joint winners on the day! Never been seen before they were saying, too many points to give away. Well as it turned out both Ken and Enzo had made some drastic errors with their scorecards (and their markers too) and had not fully adjusted to their recent lower handicaps and ended up further down the leaderboard.
This left Brendon sharing the win with Targe and JQ on a score of plus 2. Brendon’s card included 5 minuses, 5 lost balls and a topped drive on the first that barely made it down the hill. Targe’s card included 3 wipes, JQ’s card included 5 wipes and 7 pluses, so it goes to show that you can turn it around if you persist!
2nd place was also shared by Jason and Whitey with very respectable scores of +1. 3rd place on square was shared by Peter, Peps and Simon. It was reported that peps chipped in twice during the round, which was his 599th for the club so next week will be the big 600!
A whopping 5 players shared 4th place which included Benny, Blighty, Roddy, Matty and Sossy, who was talking in backswings from 3 holes away for some of the round! The last point placers were Noods and Enzo with -2. Enzo was lucky enough to land one close enough for the 4th ball hole, Simon likewise on the 18th ball hole and the money hole, which was a jackpot from last week, went to none other than JQ. He didn’t make the birdie putt but reconciled on the 15th, which was one of 18 carded for the day.
The tee markers on the 17th were down the front tier and the flag was in sight. A few tried to go for the green and Matty blasted one to about 2m and easily sunk the eagle putt to raid the nest with a decent collect of balls. After all of the points, only 4 out of 20 eligible players failed to score. To bad so sad.
Just a reminder that the AGM is coming up on 07 March. All Committee positions will spill and Treasurer, for one, is not renominating. Feel free to nominate for this or any other position that takes your fancy. Committeemen, activate your succession plan.
Also a reminder that the draw for the Matchplay Championship will be done after the round on 29 February. Everybody will be included unless you choose to opt out by registering your intent on the Registration Form on the web-site. As an alternative, you can notify Harry by email. If you remain in the draw then you are expected to abide by the rules particularly as they relate to arranging of matches and completion of rounds by the deadlines. We would prefer to avoid people missing out on gaining a place in the event because of subsequent walkovers.
Results for Saturday, 22 February 2020
1st Targe Mifsud(+2) 1st Brendon Mitchell(+2) 1st John Quinlan(+2) 2nd Jason Hopkins(+1) 2nd Rodney White(+1) 3rd Peter Damou(□) 3rd Andrew Petricola(□) 3rd Simon Powell(□) 4th Ben Akdag(-1) 4th Andrew Blight(-1) 4th Rod Grant(-1) 4th Matt Hunt(-1) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan(-1) 5th Stephen Butterfield(-2) 5th Enzo Cirone(-2)
Seniors Results: 1st Targe Mifsud (+2) 2nd Simon Powell (□) 3rd Andrew Blight (-1) 3rd Rod Grant (-1)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin12th John Quinlan BallPin No 1 4th Enzo Cirone BallPin No 2 18th Simon Powell
Eagle’s nest Results: Eagle 17th Matt Hunt
Oodles of poodles on 15 February 2020.
The weather men made forecasts of possible storms and lightning and this might have been enough to put some people off. The morning started out a bit on the gloomy side and drizzling rain and this might have been enough to put some people off. Or maybe there were better things on offer and that might have been enough to put some people off. But, there were thirteen members and Stan who were not put off their golf either by the weather forecasts, the actual weather or the prospect of a better offer. Yes, it did rain, on and off, and a bit of a downpour (relatively speaking) towards the end of the round meant that the 17th green did not have too many water-free areas. But, this did not stop some very nice scores (and corresponding handicap adjustments) being presented to the Captain.
A few members reckoned that Harry was a bit hard done by last week to be pipped from the top spot and when he presented as the early Club-house leader again today there was speculation as to whether it could happen again. There were rumours swirling around the course that Adam was demolishing the course yet again but, suddenly, out of the blue, Noodles turned in a card with a matching 40 points. So, there were two smiling faces on the top podium level today.
Just a single point behind on 39 points was Adam who turned after nine with 23 points. Was it the pressure or did the deterioration in the weather conditions contribute to the tapering off on the back nine. The low-light was a miss on the 16th which would have coincided with the worst of the rain. RodG also continues his recent run of form and was generally well in contention. A few hiccups in the short game didn’t help the cause.
Trevor was doing a bit of tossing up as whether to play before tee time but then decided to bite the bullet and give it a go. He is probably glad that he did because he managed to get together 35 points despite a shank that went at right angles between his legs and he had to do a quick-step to avoid interfering with the travel of the ball and a couple of three putt greens that could be heard a full fairway away. Targe also managed 35 points despite having his back-swing interfered with by Trev’s remonstrations. Porks picked up the last point of the day after fading a bit on the back nine. His tee shot on the 17th was last seen heading for the Yarra and is probably down by Dight’s Falls at this very moment.
The BallPins were on the 4th and 18th today and Noodles managed to snare both of them. Probably an early Birthday present as the Birthday Birdie has a visit to make next Saturday. The pin on the 18th was towards the back of the top deck and there were a number of reports of being close to the pin but just not on the green. At least Noodles wasn’t just on the front edge of the green like somebody was last week. The ProPin was a Jackpot on the 12th and once again nobody was able to get close enough to even try to put their name on the card so there will be a Double Jackpot next week.
Keith suffered from a case of the ‘lefts’ today and things finally came to a head when the ball headed OOB on the 13th. Keith didn’t even bother to look for it because he was ‘sick’ of it and its lefty tendencies. The pin on the 14th was located in a rather diabolical spot with steep slopes to contend with from which ever direction you approached it. Gordon was about 6m away and off the green, judging it to perfection when the ball stopped above the hole, turned at right angles and rolled into the hole for a birdie. This was one of just four that were reported for the day. Harry scored another on the 6th where he reckons he missed the eagle by less than a metre (as the ball went past the hole). Pretty much the same way he missed a hole-in-one by 75mm on the 4th on Thursday.
There were also a few less than stellar performances today. Somebody was heard to say that Pepsi played ‘like one of us’. Whitey had no luck with his putter today, not even off the tee. And, speaking of off the tee, Blighty lined up on the 1st and took an almighty swing and moved the ball an estimated 25mm. Then ensued a discussion as to whether Andrew was entitled to re-tee the ball with or without penalty. As in many cases, it depends. If the ball is within the teeing area (defined by the tee markers and the two club-length allowance) the following rule (6.2 b Teeing Area Rules Item 6) applies:
When Ball in Play Lies in Teeing Area. If the player’s ball in play is in the teeing area after a stroke (such as a teed ball after a stroke that missed the ball) or after taking relief, the player may:
- Lift or move the ball without penalty (see Rule 9.4b, Exception 1), and
- Play that ball or another ball from anywhere in the teeing area from a tee or the ground under (2), including playing the ball as it lies.
Just a reminder that the AGM is coming up on 07 March. All Committee positions will spill and Treasurer, for one, is not renominating. Feel free to nominate for this or any other position that takes your fancy. Committeemen, activate your succession plan.
Also a reminder that the draw for the Matchplay Championship will be done after the round on 29 February. Everybody will be included unless you choose to opt out by registering your intent on the Registration Form on the web-site. As an alternative, you can notify Harry by email. If you remain in the draw then you are expected to abide by the rules particularly as they relate to arranging of matches and completion of rounds by the deadlines. We would prefer to avoid people missing out on gaining a place in the event because of subsequent walkovers.
Results for Saturday, 15 February 2020
1st Harry Boughen(40) 1st Stephen Butterfield(40) 2nd Adam King(39) 3rd Rod Grant(37) 4th Trevor Jackson(35) 4th Targe Mifsud(35) 5th Ryan Porker(34)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (40) 2nd Rod Grant (37) 3rd Targe Mifsud (35) 3rd Trevor Jackson (35)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin12th Jackpot BallPin No 1 4th Stephen Butterfield BallPin No 2 18th Stephen Butterfield
Was it Senior’s Saturday on 08 February 2020?
With the high powered punters away for the weekend there were a few concerns that a quorum would be difficult to get to the tee. There was also a fair chance that any quorum that did turn up would be composed of a fair proportion of Seniors. As it turned out, eight of the thirteen members who turned out were of the Senior persuasion. We also had Peter’s mate Matt along for his second outing with us. Matt has signalled his intention to join us by submitting his Membership Application and, with one more round, and a paid up sub, he will be eligible for competition. The weather was mercifully kind and the rough was cut nice and short which is more than can be said for one of the courses on the Peninsula if the photo shown around at the after party was any guide.
As it turned out, one of the ‘youngsters’ spoiled the party for the oldies by coming in with a streets ahead personal best round of 82 off the stick and an eye-watering +7. In fact, Adam was +6 after seven holes and you could have been forgiven for thinking that the wheels might have fallen off when he managed a draughtie on the 8th. It took a few holes to recover his composure completely but he finished with +4 over the last seven holes. In the process, he also garnered the brand new one stroke penalty on his GA handicap for a ‘super’ round.
Harry started out looking as if he was going to alternate plus and minus for the whole round which is OK in the scheme of things. Something more was obviously required to have any chance and something more was delivered on the back nine. Except for a rather ‘nasty’ seven on the 13th where the shot from the bunker didn’t quite come off and the ball finished in the penalty area. Blighty thought that +5 would be enough to win but it was not to be.
Enzo continued to hit them straight and long and, in the process, caused his playing companions to claim that he really should be on a handicap of 12. Michael, on the other hand, who was claiming that he should be on 12, put the lie to that claim by joining Enzo on +1. Keith played his usual steady golf and squared pretty much everything to finish square for the day.
Blighty took one for the team today as he stood beside the 10th green. Peter was teeing off on the 11th and the shot went somewhat astray though, fortunately, without a great deal of speed and got Andrew squarely on the thigh. A session of thigh flashing after the round indicated that no significant damage had been done and the score did not suffer too greatly as a result. RodG was just a bit unlucky not to have done better with plenty of squares but just a few too many on the negative side of the ledger. Targe has been working hard at getting his handicap back down to where it should be and that could explain why he took an extra stroke on a hole where one was not due. Ken tried to lay claim for getting nearest the pin on the 16th green. The only problem was that he was teeing off from the 14th. Despite that, he managed to share fifth place with a score line of -1.
The first BallPin today was on the 4th and, according to the chit, Enzo beat Michael by 10cm but Blighty beat Enzo by heaps to take home the ball. The second BallPin on the 18th, and it was barely on the green to the pin well up on the back deck, went to Adam. The ProPin on the 12th went begging and will be a Jackpot to next week despite Keith marking a shot that was at least 7m from the hole. At least he didn’t measure it. Perhaps this general lack of accuracy explains why we managed only 3 birdies for the day.
After Blighty took his blow by the 10th green, he lined up on the 11th tee and went close to repeating Pete’s shot except that there were no players in range. Whitey was hopeful that he might have a reasonable round but a few things conspired to take that chance away. A shot that finished near the boundary fence on the 8th defied the best efforts to be found. From the 14th, a shot thought be be middling the 16th was nowhere to be seen. From the 15th, high wide and not so handsome vanished into the wilderness left of the green. And lastly, from the 16th, disappeared over the bike path to who knows where. Three balls in three holes and four for the round. Probably not a record but certainly some hurt pride.
At one stage it was thought that Targe had been lost from the group in front. Turns out he was just standing behind his buggy. With all of the punters away, it was commented as to how quiet (noise wise) the course was. However, the Birthday Birdie won’t be quiet this week. He has a big wish to pass on the Bob and Brent for their happy day. Also there is one for a bloke that we don’t see much of these days in the person of Ken Grist. Have a good one guys.
Results for Saturday, 08 February 2020
1st Adam King(+7) 2nd Harry Boughen(+5) 3rd Enzo Cirone(+1) 3rd Michael Gourlay(+1) 4th Keith Delzoppo(□) 5th Andrew Blight(-1) 5th Rod Grant(-1) 5th Targe Mifsud(-1) 5th Ken Watson(-1)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (+5) 2nd Enzo Cirone (+1) 2nd Michael Gourlay (+1) 3rd Keith Delzoppo (□)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin12th Jackpot BallPin No 1 4th Andrew Blight BallPin No 2 18th Adam King