Yearly Archives: 2023

With Tee Marshall Adam earning his money shuffling the field after a Covid related withdrawal, eventually 14 players stepped up to the tee for the November Monthly Medal. With good weather and the greens recently cut and running fast and true, the stage was set for a “no excuses” round for the medal.

Porks started well with 3 pars and then managed a triple bogey six down the 4th, as did his playing partner Brendan, with the third member of that group, Steve, making a seven. The rest of the field didn’t do much better on the 4th where there was a triple jackpot on offer for the pro-pin. If it doesn’t go off as quadruple jackpot this week, there’s talk of needing to make it a “nearest the green” contest, or donating the prize to the Christmas break-up lunch.

Ryan steadied his game with a birdie on the 6th, pars over the next four holes, another birdie on the 12th and three pars to finish off a round of 73 off the stick for a net 66 and a comfortable 3 stroke victory. It must be said it is just as well for Porks that the club takes a generous approach to mistakes on scorecards. Steve had marked Porks card with a 38 for the 9th hole instead of a 4 for a 38 nine hole total. Porks had duly signed it and headed off home. Steve was reported to have had a few other accounting mishaps during the day, including the wrong handicap on his card.

In what he called a premonition of a Porks victory (perhaps via a tip off via from checking the course Facebook and seeing Porks had won the A Grade Inside) Harry supplied this week’s blog photo from Prague. Meanwhile Brendan plotted his way to a net 69 (78 off the stick) and with second place points he has snuck past Harry into second place in the Club Championship race with 82 points, trailing the leader Raj on 98 points. With Raj stalled in the nervous 90’s after another week without points, it is still mathematically possible for Brendan to knock Raj off.

Josh backed up from his big win in the Freddy Kitson (and losing 7 strokes on his handicap) to post a net 71 and third place points. Matty noted that Josh left a few out there and could easily have finished 6 or 7 better, so it’s likely it wont be long before Josh loses more off his handicap.

Bobby and Blighty shared 4th place on net 72 and SoS rounded out the points with a net 74. Bob started strongly with a par on the first and if it wasn’t for a rough patch on holes 9 and 10 might have been in line for higher honours.

Blighty managed one of the best double bogeys you will ever see on the 3rd. Drive left into the trees, shanked second out of bounds right, next shot into the tree in front of him and back at his feet, then a bunt forward to under the big tree on the right. Standing over his sixth shot, Michael and Adam, who were waiting patiently on the green, started debating what number Blighty would finish with for the hole, double figures looking likely. Blighty then hit a crisp pitch which landed softly and rolled into the hole for a nice neat 6. Blighty followed this with a 10 metre putt from off the green on the 4th for another neat double bogey, having had a couple of swipes under the bushes on the right. He did give a few of these back with a 5 putt for a 7 on the 14th.

SoS managed a birdie on the same hole but also managed to throw in a few 7’s including one on the 17th where his “all or nothing” approach off the tee produced another entertaining result.

The early finishers made some notes for the blog and these included the distraction of Targe turning up in “Sporty Spice” shoes. Andrew was trying out a new putter grip and having made his first putt with it for a par on the first was feeling confident for a big day. By the time he loaded up his fifth shot from the tee on the 13th and signed for a 12 his golfing day was not looking so good.

Rob also managed double figures, a 10, on the 17th which involved what was described as a “trip down a cliff” to the left where he managed to do more than a bit of pruning by taking a whole tree out as he attempted to use it for leverage on the way back up.

As mentioned above the Pro-pin on the 4th jackpotted again, so quadruple jackpot this week. Porks won the ball for nearest the pin on the 12th and nearly again on the 18th, but Raj’s shot there was just a touch closer. Raj was claiming this was his first ever NTP ball win, surely that can’t be true.

There’s now only three rounds of points left in the 2023 season, with Par this week, then a Priems Cup round on the 18th, then the December Monthly Medal which we play in the last week of November this year. This Monthly Medal will be the last chance to gain entry to the elite Champion of Champion Tournament field. Due to be played on December 16 after the Vin O’Meara, there are 13 players in the field so far. Check details under “Competitions” on the website.

Results for Saturday, 04 Nov 2023
1st Ryan Porker (66) 2nd Brendon Mitchell (69) 3rd Josh Hunt (71) 4th Andrew Blight (72) 4th Bob McDonald (72) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan (74)

Seniors Results: 1st Andrew Blight (72) 1st Bob McDonald (72) 2nd Michael Gourlay (75) 3rd Targe Mifsud (77)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 12th Ryan Porker BallPin No 2 – 18th Rajesh Mahto

Josh arrived at the course exuding confidence and requested to go in the first group so he could lead from the front (and get to the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in good time where it is rumoured his punting was as good as his golf).

Avoiding the old timers in the final “leaders” group proved to be a winning move and after spluttering down the second with a loss, Josh never looked back. 8 pluses on his card for the day, including two to finish on 17 and 18 for a score of +5 and a +8 total across the two weeks.

This was enough for a comfortable four lengths victory over a fast finishing Blighty who had obviously read and been inspired by last week’s blog that predicted he was primed for “a big run one day soon.” His +6 on the day included 3 “double pluses” so in Grandpar it would have been +9 or a 59 in stroke. After 2 down last week, Blighty’s combined +4 was a strong second place. As they say, maybe he is looking for “more ground” a la the Melbourne Cup or in our case the 3 week club stroke championship coming up in late November, early December.

Prez Priems was just a length back in third after a +5 for the day and a combined +3. After starting with pluses on his first three holes and another at the fifth, Rob was looking the most likely to run Josh down at that stage, but he couldn’t quite sustain that cracking pace over the full journey.

Last week’s co-leader Michael slipped back through to the field to fourth with -1 on the day and a +2 total. His “better than usual” putting last week turned into something else this week and after two three putt losses on 17 and 18 to finish his day he had a major tantrum/hissy fit, call it what you will and stormed off the course with smoke coming out the ears, a broken putter and threatening Brendan’s Guiness Book of Record effort from last week for the number of times saying a certain word out loud. He is reported this week to be back in golf anger therapy-rehab and offering apologies to his playing partners as part of Step 1.

In a rare week of no ties, all single placings, Chrispy rounded out the points in fifth with a square card for the day and +1 total. A model of consistency throughout the day, Chris’s chipping and pitching was a highlight. No less than 6 times he chipped or pitched to “kick in” distance. Playing partners SoS and Michael, whose chipping was less than stellar, kept shaking their heads at his magic with the wedge.

Honourable mentions go to four players with “plus” cards for the day but who didn’t make it into the overall points, including Adam +3 and Chris J, Raj and new member Charles with +2. It was Charles first card after getting his handicap and in all four rounds he has improved each time, so lookout for Charles in the run to Christmas and into 2024.

Speaking handicaps, Josh’s win cost him seven strokes, going from 31 to 24. Does anybody want to run a book on how long until his handicap is lower than his dad’s and/or he beats dad off the stick?

Brendan birdied the first hole (and the 10th) matched by the birdie machine that is Chris J who had his two on the 5th and 9th. Another 8 players had a birdie each so 12 all up for the day. Harry, if you’re reading over there in Europe, what’s the world record for birdies from the field in a week?

The competition for most spectacular birdie was a tie between another Josh pitch in birdie (17th this time after the 8th last week) and SoS’s on the 11th when he nearly drove the green and then managed to not duff either the chip or the putt.

Chris J missed a third birdie on the 18th after another good shot in to win a ball for nearest the pin. SoS was the ball winner on the 15th and after discovering that he had knocked off Charles, who is a lawyer, he wrote “Cop beats lawyer” on the yellow sticky. Apparently SoS had a similar win against a defence lawyer in court earlier in the week.

Meanwhile there is now a triple jackpot of cash on offer for the propin on the 4th. Lately there’s been more people hitting the tree there than the green so you wouldn’t bet on it going off this week either. It’s a pity “old reliable” Craig Cameron isn’t back playing because its his type of low hook under the tree that is going to be needed to win the money.

Bob produced the shot of the day with a near hole in one at the 7th that just missed the hole and trickled by. Unfortunately three putts followed but it still went in the book as a plus for the hole.

Big thanks to everybody who helped with food buying and organising the BBQ set up, cooking and clean up, you know who you are (your blog author was too cranky to notice!). Apologies also for any other good stories told that have since been forgotten and not included here.

With only four rounds left to gather points for the championship season, Raj is looking good in the lead with 98 points for the Club Championship and with Harry on holidays, Brendan would have to win every week from here to knock Raj off. Harry of course has long sewn up the Seniors Championship and James is another certainty for the coveted Harry Vardon Trophy (best score average). There is however some intrigue left in the other big trophy, the Eclectic, with three of four in with a chance of catching long term leader Rob. For details, check out the Eclectic leaderboard on the website under “Competitions.” With birdies of better on the right holes over the next four weeks, Rob could be run down and lose by a nose.

Results for Saturday, 28 Oct 2023
1st Josh Hunt (+3, + 5, + 8) 2nd Andrew Blight (-2, + 6, + 4) 3rd Robert Priems (-2, + 5, + 3) 4th Michael Gourlay (+3, -1, + 2) 5th Chris Priems (+1, □, + 1)

Seniors Results: 1st Andrew Blight (-2, +6, +4) 2nd Michael Gourlay (+3, -1, +2) 3rd Chris Priems (+1, □, +1)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 15th Stephen O’Sullivan BallPin No 2 – 18th Chris James

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 15th Stephen O’Sullivan BallPin No 2 – 18th Chris James

With an overnight minimum of 22 degrees in Melbourne (and maximum of 23 predicted) the scene was set for some calm consistent golf in the first round of this season’s final two week major, the Fred Kitson Spring Cup.

New member Charles Gibbs (putting in his third card) joined 13 competitors for what is renowned as the club’s most elegant looking trophy. The gossip from last week’s Mustard Jacket weekend in Cobram was doing the rounds before hit off. We will not mention how many putts of Stef shaved the hole and refused to drop, nor Chris J’s final 9 holes when he blew what should have been an unbeatable lead, nor Chrispy’s struggles on Sunday after perhaps having a few too many on Saturday night.

Josh obviously pulled up well from Cobram and hit the ground running with a plus on the first hole, a spectacular birdie on the 8th after hitting trees with his first two shots and then pitching his third straight into the hole. Turning square he had three plusses on the trot at 11, 12 and 13 and held his form to finish as co-leader at +3. Michael joined him on that score, holding his round together thanks to a better than usual day with those awkward short range putts in the 3-5 foot range.

Chrispy produced a solid days work for +1, second place on the leaderboard and as proclaimed in post round discussions, he has a cunning plan for his run to victory next week. His round finished with a flourish after “laying up” a fair way short of the 18th green and then hitting a stellar pitch to the top tier pin and making the putt for a plus.

SoS’s fortunes on 18 went in the other direction. He had a short putt for a plus that would have seen him finish at +2, but it slid by and then forgetting he had a stroke left for a half he picked up and recorded a loss. This was after a brilliant shot off the tee onto the green at the 17th for an easy two putt birdie. His square card was good enough for third place on his own and a spot in next week’s leading group.

Blighty, Raj and Prez Priems shared fourth on -2, only five behind the leaders and all showing form that suggests they could surprise the leaders next week. Raj’s highlights included a “double Priems” on the 8th where his second shot hit a tree and darted to the right heading for the Yarra, only to hit another tree and bounce back into the fairway. Blighty mixed his trademark massive long draws with the driver with a few less than stellar chip shots, but still looks very generously handicapped for a big run one day soon. Rob was very consistent tee to green with one notable exception – his third into the 9th was last heard hitting the clubhouse roof.

Andrew Noble and Brendan snuck into eqaul 5th place on -3. Andrew’s highlights included a birdie on the 1st, one of 10 birdies for the day. Brendan birdied the 14th after he spectacularly drove it through the green. He followed this with a somewhat less spectacular shot off the 15th tee. It went about 20-30 metres and was lost in the rough on the hill to the left. Funny game golf.

Andrew called a penalty on himself when he realised he had played the wrong ball. Same brand as his, so more than a touch unlucky, but he copped the penalty and moved on with good grace and a wry smile. Brendan apparently wasn’t smiling so much during his round. There was a suggestion that he had broken an Ivanhoe world record for the number of time saying a certain swear word (Harry do you keep a stat on that?).

Adam, Chris J, Bobby and Targe brought up the rear of the field and it is hoped at least one of those will cope with BBQ duty next week. A win from that far back is not totally out of the question (a bloke once won a British Open starting out from 10 shots behind on the last day) but more likely we will see one or more of the BBQ group surge into the double points on offer for our majors. So everybody still has something to play for next week, including Charles who will be out there for his first day with a club handicap. Like all new members gaining a handicap for the first time, the tip is that the Punters Club could do worse than put their money on Charles featuring in the points in coming weeks.

There’s also a jackpot pro-pin to play for on the fourth, although with the tree there not getting any smaller, the jackpot might last until Christmas. Chris J staked a claim for both ball nearest the pins on the 12th and 18th only to be knocked off by Michael.

Chris J’s round was also notable for 3 birdies, all of which would have been double plusses in a Grand Par round. Indeed Josh’s birdie on the 8th would have been a triple plus! Would Harry’s systems cope with a triple plus?

Speaking of Harry, a ripple went across the field as a few phones pinged with a last minute Harry email from the airport. He is clearly nervous about leaving this blog and the handicapping in the hands of his inexperienced assistant apprentice. The said apprentice is also nervous, but will try and keep the show afloat until Harry’s return in late November.

Results for Saturday, 21 Oct 2023
Leaderboard Round 1: 1st Michael Gourlay (+3) 1st Josh Hunt (+3) 2nd Chris Priems (+1) 3rd Stephen O’Sullivan (□) 4th Andrew Blight (-2) 4th Rajesh Mahto (-2) 4th Robert Priems (-2) 5th Brendon Mitchell (-3) 5th Andrew Noble (-3)

Seniors Leaderboard: 1st Michael Gourlay (+3) 2nd Chris Priems (+1) 3rd Andrew Blight (-2)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 12th Michael Gourlay BallPin No 2 – 18th Michael Gourlay

Once upon a time, IMSGC members used to be hungry for easy points and, with nineteen members away fighting it out for the coveted Mustard Jacket at Cobram, here was the ideal opportunity to take advantage of a small field to boost your stocks in the Championship stakes. But no, with a measly two registrations and a third interested only if he was going to make it six or more, when one of the two developed an oil leak, there wasn’t even a social game to be had. It would have been a nice day as far as the weather went, however the course did have two temporary greens in operation after a couple of dirt bikes diverted from the flooded river bank onto the course and decided that greens were a good place to wreak some havoc. They should be back in play in the next day or so.

The following report on the Annual Challenge has been compiled from notes provided by a Gord o-thority.

The Cobram-Barooga Golf Course (West and Old) was in fine condition with beautiful fairways and true greens, although the latter were subject to a few undulations to add some challenge to the game. The plethora of roos around the course provided an appreciative gallery as the tension mounted during the course of the game. The venue was deemed so favourable that it was voted to be the venue for next year’s contest.

The first day went some way to sorting the men from the boys, but it was not all over Red Rover, with over a third of the field within half a dozen strokes of the leader. Brent got out of the blocks early, and was able to amass a very handy 35 points. However, he was not alone with Stef breathing down his neck, just a single point behind on 34. In third spot, we saw the two Chris (J and P) a couple of points further back, closely followed by Raj with 31. Fifth spot after round one was shared by Porks and Peps (just about a meal in itself) on 29 points. Steve was dead-set on retaining the jacket, and he put in a pretty good effort on the day to be just a point further back with 28. With that sort of potential in the running, it was anybody’s game.

However, there was the evening’s events to deal with first, and that can have a powerful effect on the next day’s results. Particularly when the Club captain puts the surplus funds on the bar to shout everybody espresso martinis as a night-cap. But that was not enough for some, who headed out to try their luck with some of the locals. Kazim, it seems, was wedded to the pokies, accompanied by his ‘best man’ SOS. It is unclear whether any profits were forthcoming, but, at some stage the punters did manage to ‘fluke’ a quaddie, and walked off with a handy little dividend. Whether it was enough to get them back into the black was not revealed. For some reason, CJ swears that, next year, he will not be drinking.

There were some changes in form on day 2, which could very well relate to the quantities consumed or the lateness of the hour of getting to bed. Brent was one to take a slump, but it was not enough to knock him off the top spot, and he was presented with the Mustard Jacket, by Steve for his overall total of 65 points. Stef suffered exactly the same loss of form to finish in second place, just two points behind with 63. ChrisJ matched Stef’s score for the day, and maintained his spot on the leaderboard. Matt and Brendon, on the other hand, managed to improve both their score and the position on the podium, to leap into fourth place with a total of 59 points. Raj slipped one place to get just the one point for his total of 58. Despite having the advantage of wind and range-finding Collingwood flag, CJ slipped off the podium by dropping seven points from day 1. Porks and Peps faded even further from contention. There were no reports on Josh’s behaviour overnight, but whatever he got up to, he produced the turn-around of the weekend, charging from 15 to 31 points, possibly saving himself from holding the Narga aloft.

It’s a good thing Raj has his wits about him. Despite never having been on an Annual Challenge before, and, despite Captain Matt leaving him off the email circulation list, he managed to make it to the right place and at the right time. Geoff was so intent on lining up his putt from a distance behind (as recommended by the experts), he failed to take account of the positioning of his buggy and both he and it ended up base over apex. The course was not without its hazards, which included a number of bunkers. One of these took its toll on Porks, who missed the ball entirely in his effort to extricate himself. He did move some sand, it must be said. Gordo has a ‘shoulder’, and he had a bit of trouble with his swing plane. One shot from the tee went so low that it inflicted some damage (fairly serious by the looks of it) to the red tee marker, located some 20m to the fore. This might have qualified for the Cock’s Plate award, but there might have been other, more worthy candidates. All in all, Gordo did not have the best weekend on the course, and he managed to collect the Narga for the event. He does take some consolation in the fact that Adam had him in the Calcutta, and collected the $25 on offer.

It was good to see Mehmet and Kazim, after a fair time away from playing with the Club. While they didn’t feature, they didn’t embarrass themselves either. The Birthday Birdie wants to give a shout out to AndrewN who will be blowing out some candles this week.

Results for Saturday, 14 Oct 2023
Ivanhoe: No Competition

Challenge: 1st Brent Rowley (35, 30, 65) 2nd Stefan Belevski (34, 29, 63) 3rd Chris James (32, 29, 61) 4th Matt Hunt (27, 32, 59) 4th Brendon Mitchell (28, 31, 59) 5th Rajesh Mahto (31, 27, 58)

Seniors Results:
Ivanhoe : No Competition
Challenge: 1st Chris Priems (32, 25, 57) 2nd Steven Gervasoni (28, 25, 53) 3rd Geoff Lyall (19, 27, 46) Ken Watson (20, 20, 40)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – – No Competition BallPin No 1 – – No Competition BallPin No 2 – – No Competition