Where we are!
A New Year revolution on 31 December 2022
On Christmas Eve, there was a body of opinion that thought we might struggle to get a quorum for competition today. Just goes to show how wrong predictions about the future can be. You just have to look at how well the ‘experts’, in fields such as economics, stock-market, election results, etc, go. With a field of sixteen, one of our better turn-outs in recent times, the ‘pundits’ were well and truly off the mark. The day promised to be a warm one, and it was true to its promise, and there were a number of fairly sweaty bodies that sat down for a cooling beverage after the round. Harry even necked a zero, although Brendon still opted for his cappuccino. The silted areas of the course are starting to show signs of the grass making its way out into the sunshine once more, but as the drying trend continues, the sprinklers are coming back into operation to keep the course in tip-top condition. With the extra run on offer, and despite many of the tees being set well back on the blocks, conditions were ripe for some scoring to be done.
Now, there is one member that others are fairly busting to get to play in his group. Yes, he has a great personality, and he can crack a good joke. But the main reason for his popularity has been his regular need to dip into his pocket after the round. However, there was no need for long arms today. There was only one blemish on the whole card, and it was absolutely peppered with three pointers and four pointers, which all resulted in Rob coming home with 24 points on the back nine for a total of 41 to easily take out the top spot on the podium for the day.
SOS could have been forgiven for thinking that he could be gifting himself the two balls for the win after he started the round like a house on fire to make the turn with 23 points under his belt. The back nine started well enough, but a three hole ‘horror stretch’ looked like undoing all of the good work. SOS gave himself a ‘dangerous driving’ ticket and a good behaviour bond to recover some respectability, and finished the round with a very nice total of 38 points, which does put paid to the suggestion that he was protecting his handicap. Gordo continues to find some of his old form, and he was able to break his handicap today by just the one point with his total of 37 points. He went close to breaking something else after the round when he leaned back on his chair, and it slipped off the edge of the balcony, almost sending him spreadeagled, and causing his beer to spill into the bargain. Porks did not manage to extend his run of eagles for the calendar year, although he did manage to play to his handicap for the first time in quite a while, so maybe he is just priming himself for the new calendar year’s effort. He joined Gordo in third place with his 37 points as well.
After a couple of weeks of scoring pretty heavily, Harry set out, hoping to be able to play to the level that his new handicap suggested. After a few nervous moments when chips and putts finished short, he ended up pretty pleased with his 35 points, and happily accepted fourth place. Brendon was also sporting a new handicap, and it looked as if the front nine was taking its toll on the result. Despite a couple of one pointers showing up, he finished the back nine just one stroke over the par, worth twenty points, for a total of 34 points and a spot in fifth place. For some reason, Ken regularly forgets that he gets two points on the 18th. As a result, he has been elevated into a share of fifth place with Brendon.
It went very close to being a clean-sweep on the Nearest the Pin competition today. The ProPin on the 12th and the BallPin on the 18th both went begging, and so there will be a jackpot to next week. The BallPin on the 4th was captured by the narrowest of margins (probably only a few millimetres) by SOS, who only just made it to the front edge of the green. So, just one shot out of forty eight made it to the mowed surface. Needless to say, SOS did not make the birdie. However, there were a couple of birdies that are worth a mention. Targe managed to get a birdie on the 7th, a hole that he gets two strokes on, to give himself a very handsome 5 points. It seems a bit unfair to mention the fact that, a couple of holes earlier, on the 5th, he failed to get past the red markers. On a brighter note, Steve did not feature for a mention on the 7th hole for the same reason. Maybe the jinx has been broken? Anyway, back to the birdies. Porks sprayed his drive on the 10th, and it finished over on the 13th fairway. He blasted a shot over the trees to finish off the back of the 10th green, then chipped in to steal the bird. As a result, we ended up with nine birdies for the day.
Stan played with Brendon, and was waxing lyrical about his game on the back nine when he dropped the gem – one of his pars was a birdie! Blighty was wondering whether he could sell his score to the South African cricket team. He reckons they could do with a century. Whitey wasn’t having the best of it on the back nine, so, on the 17th tee, he pulled out his trusty putter, and whacked the ball a good 150m, chipped on and sank the putt for his birdie and a nice little four points that added some respectability to that half of the card. Maybe Raj should have tried his driver to putt because he was pretty disappointed with his performance with the flat stick today. Geoff had trouble with his loft off the tee, with numerous shots barely clearing the ground. Fortunately, there was a fair bit of run to be had, so it wasn’t all bad.
In a bit of a blast from the past, we were joined by that old ‘sharpie’, Craig (aka Snags), who is planning to rejoin our merry band after a break of five years, and to play when his work commitments allow. He was teamed up with CJ and Prez, who apparently sledged him mercilessly right from the get-go. Knowing Craig, he probably gave as good as he got, and probably enjoyed seeing CJ have to take a two-stroke penalty for hitting his ball with his putt on the 4th. The thing that hurt CJ the most was probably the fact that the putt was horribly off line and shouldn’t have been anywhere near Craig’s ball in the first place. Despite the sledging, his first card towards his new handicap was not too far away from where his old handicap was, so maybe the old spark is still sharp.
Results for Saturday, 31 Dec 2022
1st Robert Priems (41) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan (38) 3rd Gordon Hill (37) 3rd Ryan Porker (37) 4th Harry Boughen (35) 5th Brendon Mitchell (34) 5th Ken Watson (34)
Seniors Results: 1st Gordon Hill (37) 2nd Harry Boughen (35) 3rd Ken Watson (34)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 4th Stephen O’Sullivan BallPin No 2 – 18th Jackpot