Yearly Archives: 2023

You have to look on the Brightside! Yes, it seems that Mr Brightside is making a come-back after a spell, so there was a fair bit of chatter about racing and betting with a sprinkling of ‘if onlys’ after the Magpies’ come-back in the match last night. The number fronting to the tee also made a bit of a come-back with ten lining up to take their chances with the vagaries of the game. The firmness of the ground continues to improve, and it is only the bit in front of the 10th and the middle section of the 14th that are still a bit squishy. There were a few drops of moisture that formed large enough to reach the ground, but only one or two umbrellas were brought out of their holders by those taking a more pessimistic view of the prospects. All in all, it was a very nice day for golf and the preferred lie was barely necessary, unless, of course, you needed to try to clear a tree, or something.

The come-back trail did continue, though. James has been missing in action for a few weeks as a result of jet-setting to foreign climes as part of his career pursuit. It does seem that there will be a certain degree of permanence in foreign climes shortly when he relocates to KL for a stint. He has promised not to forget us, and will play when he is back in Oz. Ryan also has not made it to the ‘Hoe for a while, what with the dreaded ‘C’ and other viral infections mixed in with some holidays as well. The break doesn’t seem to have impacted the form of either too much. Ryan raided the Eagle’s Nest (such as it was) yet again, when he pitched in from over 50m out on the 3rd. Unfortunately, no extra points for that effort, and only one ball in the nest. On the 4th, lining up the new boundary markers placed his ball OOB, despite it being in an area that has been subject to mowing. There was much less doubt about James’ venture outside the course boundaries when he tried a ‘hungry’ shot across the corner of the billabong on the 8th. So, what might have been for both of our young heroes?

SOS started out the day by volunteering, as tee time approached, to move forward a group if somebody didn’t show. Somebody did show, though Targe could have been easily overlooked, and the third group looked like being a four as planned. Numerous bemused looks were apparent when SOS lined up and teed off in the second group. Rather than disappoint his new-found playing companions, he decided to press on. Talk about a brain fade! At least it wasn’t a brain shank! Anyway, SOS was the clubhouse leader for a while, though he hadn’t quite marked it into his book just yet, until his +1 score was surpassed by the dynamic duo with their +2.

Whitey started out in fine style with a chip in for a birdie on the first. The second didn’t appear to be going quite so well when he got onto the green in three, but with a 10m putt facing him. So, what does he do, but sink the putt for the par, something that he hasn’t achieved on the hole for quite some time. He scored himself another birdie on the 6th. The second shot finished about 100m from the green, so, as you do, Whitey took out his putter and calmly whacked the ball to about 1m from the pin, and an easy tap-in for the bird. Overall, the square card was enough to take out third place for the day.

Harry was pretty impressed with his warm-up on the practice green before tee time and had high hopes that it would continue. It did, sort of, but produced a series of squares over the first three holes. He also fell foul of the new markers on the 4th, but recovered the situation with a couple of pars. The middle of the round was not great, so H was hoping for a triple of pars on the last three holes to add some respectability. He did manage one of the three, but a chip in for birdie on the 18th was one for the eclectic, one of eight that we managed for the day, and finished the card just the one point outside handicap for 4th place. Raj was going gang-busters for the first six holes thanks to putting like a champion. Unfortunately, the putting radar developed something of a glitch and the minus signs started adding up (even though that makes no mathematical sense). Despite getting his name on the card for the BallPin on the 18th, it took him another four strokes to complete the round.

The first BallPin was the Jackpot 4th, and it looked like going begging again after Porks and Harry ventured too far right of the green. So, it was left to James to un-Jackpot it with the last shot of the field. On the 18th, Raj was a bit unlucky to miss out on the ball, as the tape measure had to come out to separate his marker from James’ ball, and the story was that there were only a few centimetres in it. It was a different story on the 12th for the ProPin, it being pretty much a no contest, with Raj putting his shot to 2.52m to collect ten big ones.

Steve was wishing that he had bigger hands. And not because of something that is supposed to be related to your hand size, though he did mutter something about getting married as he tried to find out the exact dates of the Annual Challenge after the round. Surely he can’t be thinking of not defending the Mustard Jacket? Ryan probably thought the rust was beginning to show when he topped one off the 10th tee and finished barely past the bottom of the hill. Things looked even rustier on the 13th where the ball had to struggle to even get past the red markers. It finished not quite as close to the base of a tree as Steve’s did, but Ryan also had the advantage of being a leftie, and was able to manufacture a reasonable shot down the fairway. James was complaining about a decided lack of sleep last night. It seems that they were ‘baby-sitting’ a friend’s dog, and severely interrupted sleep was the general outcome. Looks like dogs, definitely, and maybe even babies are off the agenda, at least for a while. Brendon was being very circumspect about his birthday today, and despite much wheedling from SOS, none of the much folded folding stuff was liberated from the close confinement of the ‘wallet’ to buy a mate a beer. Somebody wanted to know whether he was the same age in New Zealand years!

And, while on the topic of birthdays, there is a veritable plethora coming up in the rest of the week. We have ChrisV, JQ, Zimmer and John. The Birthday Birdie hopes you all have a great day when it comes around, and maybe the golf gods will smile upon you when next we see you at the ‘Hoe.

Results for Saturday, 12 Aug 2023
1st James Hale (+2) 1st Ryan Porker (+2) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan (+1) 3rd Rodney White (□) 4th Harry Boughen (-1) 5th Rajesh Mahto (-2)

Seniors Results: 1st Rodney White (□) 2nd Harry Boughen (-1) 3rd Gordon Hill (-3)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Rajesh Mahto BallPin No 1 – 4th James Hale BallPin No 2 – 18th James Hale

Eagle’s Nest – 3rd Ryan Porker

The golfcourse looks the same
As I line up for a game
And there to greet me is my driver and putter
Down the first I look and pull out the cherry
Taylormade and not too hairy
It's good to touch the green green grass of 'Hoe.

Yes, the grass at the ‘Hoe is definitely green, green. What with the warmish weather, some rain and a modicum of irrigation, the course is as green as grass. And, yes, it is a little furry in places, but the muck has settled, and there was even a little hint of some run to be had, particularly if you kept the launch angle down a bit. It was a bit windy yesterday, and there was still a fair bit of litter around the course. This was particularly irritating on some of the greens, where twigs and gum-nuts abounded. Ground-staff and leaf-blowers were obviously in short supply. Despite the very nice conditions, we could only scare up eight members to contest the August Monthly Medal, which prompted some to speculate that this could mean easy mblmblmbls.

Harry was less than chuffed when his draughtie from the second tee helped him on the way to a quadruple bogie, which might be considered a death-knell for chances in a stroke competition. The rest of the front nine wasn’t spectacular, although a couple of pars did add a modicum of respectability. A birdie on the 11th from a pretty long putt dropping raised the spirits a little, but they were dashed again on the 14th when the drive disappeared into the penalty area, never to be seen again (at least not by Harry). The penalty ball was a pink Precept Lady SIII that happened to be in the collection of ‘finds’ in the bag. May as well finish the round with it, thinks H. Cracks his drive straight at the pin on the 15th, and SOS reckons it must have gone in. Harry, on the other hand, thinks it might have gone past and possibly off the green. SOS was on the green, and he was keen to see whether he was in with a chance for the Jackpot ProPin, so he paced out the distance to the hole, only to be able to claim ‘I told you so’ when he spotted the ball neatly nestled in the bottom of the cup. For the record, this is the second time (of two) that SOS has ‘called’ Harry’s holes-in-one.

Rob has been having a bit of a run of form in recent times, and today was no exception, although a couple of triples did rain on the parade a little. His back nine was going gangbusters until he started to think about his handicap (warning – assumption) which culminated in him missing a ‘tiddler’ on the 18th to bring his net score to 68, right on handicap. Despite this, Rob was quietly confident that his score would be the one to beat. He was practising his acceptance speech and had worked out his brag technique for his triumphal arrival home. Needless to say, he was rather deflated to find that the bragging right had been evaporated by one stroke.

Anthony was bewailing the fact that he doesn’t seem to be able to get down to single figures despite being able to smash the ball a country mile, and turning in his fair share of par scores. A few chipping mistakes and a remarkable number of putts just lipping out or teetering on the brink of the hole prevented him being much better placed on the day, and maybe even moving into the heady realm of single figure handicaps. Maybe next time. Brendon also didn’t go much on the positioning of the tee on the second, but he did manage to make a birdie on the 5th. This was one of just four that the limited field was able to card for the day. The par threes proved to be a bit of a bete-noir for Brendon, but he was only able to put together a 74 to claim 4th place, for which he will happily take the points. Raj was just one stroke further back to round out the points with his fifth place. And as for the rest, not a mblmblmbl to be had.

Needless to say, Harry collected the Jackpot ProPin and the Eagle’s Nest for his shot on the 15th hole. The first BallPin was set on the 4th, and nobody was able to make it onto the green, so there will be a Jackpot for that next week. The BallPin on the 18th went to none other than Harry, who seems to have had a bit of a field day today.

Perhaps it was just the Golf God’s way of wishing him a Happy Birthday, just a couple of days early. The Birthday Birdie has a couple of other calls this week, with Ken and Brendon lining up to blow out the candles and to cut the cake. Belated besties also to Ben and Jonathan who both passed new milestones in the recent past.

Matt, that well known mumbler, was reported to have been possessed by aliens for the first eight or nine holes until the incantations worked and cast them out to allow him to post a ten stroke turn-around for the back nine. Still no cigar, though. SOS also seemed to be suffering demonic possession early in the round, having played three provisionals in the first four holes. Fortunately, only one required the provisional to be played. Raj was spotted with his umbrella unfurled at one stage. As there was no sign of rain, it can only be assumed that he didn’t want to get a tan.

Results for Saturday, 05 Aug 2023
1st Harry Boughen (67) 2nd Robert Priems (68) 3rd Anthony Browne (72) 4th Brendon Mitchell (74) 5th Rajesh Mahto (75)

Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (67) 2nd Gordon Hill (80)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Harry Boughen BallPin No 1 – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 2 – 18th Harry Boughen

Hole in One Results: Hole in One – 15th *** Harry Boughen ***

In the lead-up to the weekend of golf, the sad news came through that long-time member Keith Delzoppo had died. Tributes flowed on the club’s email network.

It was Brendan who did a bit of googling and found this photo of Keith from April 2022. On that day Keith not only knocked off Trevor in a match play round but joined Craig Cameron on the podium for first place.

Keith played some good golf in his time with us, but he will be most remembered for what good company he was. None of us ever grumbled when the tee marshall put Keith in our group.

Harry and others from the club have been in contact with Keith’s family and passed on our best wishes. More than a few members will be in attendance at Keith’s funeral. Rest in peace Keith.

After the conclusion of the Fred Howe Winter Cup last week, the first three placegetters in that event, Brendan, Prez Priems and Raj, fronted up and headed off in the first group. They are indeed the current form horses of the competition. A few hours later all three were marking cards of 37 stableford points and a triple dead heat for first place.

Apparently, apart from a spectacular effort from Rob on the 12^th (see more below) it was a very uneventful round for all. When asked to name some highlights for the blog, Raj said he had nothing to say. End of story!

The highlight of the second group out on the course was the return of the Beast after ten weeks away helping a lady friend in Wales with her landscaping business. Beast has been known to enjoy his golf when away in the UK and his playing partners Michael and Chris J had a few raised eyebrows when Beast said he was too busy to fit in any golf over there this time. Let’s just say what goes on in Wales stays in Wales and those of you who didn’t turn up missed some very good gossip with some history going back to Beast’s younger days in his twenties.

He can still play too, with 19 points on the front 9, sinking putts from everywhere, including a monster on the 9^th. Bill was going so well Michael couldn’t resist the old curse of telling Bill how well he was playing. Bill duly started the back 9 poorly and could only manage 12 points for 31 overall and third place. Michael himself finished 2 shots better with 34 points, enough for second place points. Chris J brought up the rear of the field, and fourth place, with 24 points including 5 three pointers matched by 5 gashes.

And that was it for groups this week. Two groups, six players, everybody with points and the fifth placed point went begging, as did the third placed point in the Seniors.

Speaking of senior’s moments, the first group were obviously so focused on their tussle for first place that they forgot to put the nearest the pin out on the designated 7^th, despite Raj hitting one quite close to the hole. Beast also hit a good shot there and it would have been a close run thing between the two of them for the ball.

The first ball pin became the 12^th which, with an unusual front right pin position, yielded the only two birdies of the day. It was the scene of the day’s biggest golfing highlight.

Rob nearly slam dunked his tee shot for a hole in one, the pitch mark an inch away. So well struck was the shot it spun back to just off the edge of the green and out of nearest the pin contention. However, after taking the photos and ruing the hole in one that wasn’t, Rob sank the putt for his birdie and 4 stableford points.

Michael followed up with a nice shot to a couple of metres to take the ball. He too made the birdie putt.

The huge sum of $6 jackpots for the ProPin on the 15^th. Again, the first group didn’t bother putting out the marker but this time it didn’t matter, nobody got close to the 5 metre mark.

Beast then knocked off Brendan for the ball on the 18^th. One of the quickest presentation ceremonies ever was had and it was barely past morning tea time when we headed home.

PS. Apart from the car park works, the other big infrastructure development of note comes courtesy of the big James/Brent matchplay out of bounds issue on the 13^th.

There are now new OOB markers in place which should help avoid any confusion if anybody heads out there in the future.

The coming week sees the August monthly medal up for grabs with a spot to be gained in the end year Champion of Champions event for those not already qualified.

Meanwhile, the Championship race is hotting up. Raj is now the front runner, with Geoff, James, Brendan, Harry and Rob in pursuit. There’s also some sneaky money for Captain Matt making a run. If he can get past Porks and then Brent and win the 16 points on offer for the Match Play, he too will be in championship calculations.

Results for Saturday, 29 Jul 2023
1st Rajesh Mahto (37) 1st Brendon Mitchell (37) 1st Robert Priems (37) 2nd Michael Gourlay (34) 3rd Bill Eastoe (31) 4th Chris James (24)

Seniors Results: 1st Michael Gourlay (34) 2nd Bill Eastoe (31)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 12th Michael Gourlay BallPin No 2 – 18th Bill Eastoe

The forecast said no wind or rain but expect it to be cold at tee off time. And it was! The only players not complaining about the cold were the smart ones who had planned ahead and had the hand warmers or ski gloves deployed in between shots over the early holes.

However by the time our first round leaders in the Fred Howe Winter Cup got to the 6th, things were well and truly hotting up. Brendan creamed his 3 wood second shot to within an inch or two of the hole for a tap in eagle and first claim for the day on the Eagles Nest balls prize (more later on the unlucky second eagle of the day). Having birdied the 5th, Brendan was well and truly on fire! 21 points on the front meant he was going to take some catching.

The pair who started the day in second place, Raj and Harry, were left lamenting a few lost opportunities. Raj had no less than four 3 pointers in his first six holes, but two wipes and then another at the 8th saw him turn with 16 points. Harry faired one better with 17 points, despite a few gettable putts sliding by the hole.

Meanwhile, the big dark horse looking most likely to knock Brendan off his perch was last week’s third place starter Prez Priems who matched Raj with four 3 pointers on the front 9. Without any wipes blemishing his card, Rob turned in 21 points and was looking poised to make a charge if Brendan stumbled.

But Brendan kept the 2 and 3 pointers ticking over on the back 9 and apart from a wipe at the 17th, his scorecard suggested calm consistency throughout for 19 points on the back, 40 for the day, 76 over the two weeks and what turned out to be an easy five shot win. Apparently the scorecard belied a few anxious moments during the journey for Brendan. Having been sledged for slow play by a group of women playing behind, Brendan was apparently fired up and hitting them miles off the tee. On the 14th, what looked like an excellent drive to about pin high just off the green turned into something else when it hit the path and ballooned way past the green into the rough besides the lower 15th tee. Thankfully, Matt was on hand to help Brendan find the ball and after pitching back over the green he eventually managed a good chip back and a one putt par.

Meanwhile the wheels had fallen off Rob’s challenge with a wipe and four one pointers to start the back 9. He regathered himself for a strong finish, including a four point birdie on the 17th, with 37 points for the day, 71 for the two rounds and solo second place.

Raj finished the day with the same score as last week, 35, for a total of 70 and third place on his own. Reports suggest that Raj’s stellar chipping was the main feature of his game today. His 6 points for third also see him charge to the lead in the championship race.

Harry, despite his unlucky putting, finished with 32 points for the day, 67 across the two rounds and solo fourth place, along with another first place in the Seniors. He is now the unbackable favourite for the Seniors Championship, with a lead of 14 points over Geoff in second place.

Michael and Matt limped into 5th place with 66 points across the two rounds. The highlight of Matt’s round was an eagle on the 17th after a drive near the green and a chip that never looked like missing. Unfortunately, when announcing himself the winner of the Eagles Nest, Matt was unaware of Brendan’s earlier eagle on the 6th. Apparently the rule is first eagle of the day wins the balls, any subsequent eagles win nothing, except some sledging at the presentation.

Michael and Matt were joined in 5th place by Jonathan who followed up last week’s 28 points with 38 today. Along the way he hit some shots that suggest he will not be a 20+ something handicapper for long, including a 5 iron from way back in the left rough on 5th that negotiated the big trees and finished 3 metres from the pin. Unfortunately he missed the birdie putt but rectified that with a birdie on 6th after two shots got him close to the green. He then made one of the best up and downs you’ll ever see for par on the 8th from near the back fence after his unlucky second shot bounded through the green. The Punters Club could do worse with their money than to back Jonathan for a few wins in the near future.

Today’s nearest the pin saw Michael win the jackpot “double ball” on the 4th, SOS take out the ball on the 18th and CJ blitz the field with a shot to 2.33 metres to a tough back pin on the 12th.

Whitey was just out of the points in 6th place. He started on fire with a birdie on the first for 4 points, one of 11 birdies for the day across the field. There is a rumour he is soon to jet off to England to replace Pat Cummins as Captain for the 5th test of the Ashes series. Either that or Pat will give him a ring to get a few suggestions on bowling strategies and field placements.

Chris J and Blighty were neck and neck at the tail of the field today, with Chris J eventually getting his nose in front with 2 four point birdies on the back 9.

The best birdie of the day belonged to Brent who was locked at all square in his Match Play semi final against James standing on the 18th tee. With the pin up the top he flew it all the way back there to an inch or two off the green and then made the putt to secure a win 1 up. Brent was the 2021 Match Play champion and runner up in 2022, so he is keen to go again in 2023. He awaits the winner of the other semi between Matt and Porks, with the final scheduled for late August.

Big thanks to SOS for organising the BBQ after the round and a few others stepping in to make sure we all got a decent feed while swapping stories of the day. The playing partners of Chris J, Jonathan and Rob all looked happy as they enjoyed a free drink to go with the hamburgers and snags on offer.

Results for Saturday, 22 Jul 2023
1st Brendon Mitchell (36, 40, 76) 2nd Robert Priems (24, 37, 71) 3rd Rajesh Mahto (35, 35, 70) 4th Harry Boughen (35, 32, 67) 5th Michael Gourlay (31, 35, 66) 5th Matt Hunt (32, 34, 66) 5th Jonathan Lau (28, 38, 66)

Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (35,32,67) 2nd Michael Gourlay (31,35,66) 3rd Chris Priems (30,35,65) 3rd Rodney White (29,36,65)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Chris Priems BallPin No 1 – 4th Michael Gourlay BallPin No 2 – 18th Stephen O’Sullivan

Eagle’s Nest Results: Eagle – 6th Brendon Mitchell