Monthly Archives: September 2024

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the golfers from their appointed rounds. Ostensibly coined by Herodotus about 2500 years ago, it was never more true today. Ten plucky members set off with hope in their hearts, and a belief that there was a chance that the weather front would either miss, or, at least, pass not close enough to be a problem. Their hopes held good for a couple of holes, but, then, the rain arrived, accompanied by the occasional gust of wind. Fortunately, the snow, sleet, and hail did not eventuate. However, the wind proved to be sufficient to catch Brent’s umbrella and overturn his buggy. The umbrella ended rather the worse for wear, but Brent was heartened by the fact that it was only a $20 job. Dan’s buggy did not capsize, but his umbrella did a good impression of a fruit-bat when it turned inside-out and separated most of the struts from their hinges. There was a view expressed that it would not be a great day for scoring, and the casual water on the greens made for some interesting short game experiences.

Needless to say, there were a couple of members who had other ideas about the effect of the weather on the ability to make a score. The prime example of which was none other than CJ, who set about moving further into the future the day that he gives up the game. Despite his card sporting three singletons, he was able to counter that to some degree with a birdie on the 3rd which bought him a very nice four points. Another four holes that scored three, and the rest sporting 2 points, made for a total, at the end of the day, of 39 points. Yet another top spot in both the Club and the Seniors Championship. Michael’s marker complained about the lack of excitement as he had to record par after par on the card. He had to do this sixteen times before there occurred, what Michael styled, an ‘unfortunate’ bogey on the 17th. A par on the last meant that he was just one shy of playing the course in regulation in conditions that were somewhat less than ‘regulation’. Thirty-eight points was more than good enough to get second place, putting even more daylight between Michael and the rest of the field in both Championship tables. It also extends his reign at the top of the Order of Merit.

SOS seemed to have a bit of a thing about the second hole on each nine, as he managed to score a gash on both of them, which were just about the only blotches on his card. The miss on the 11th came about in a bit of an unusual way. His drive drifted left into the tree line, and was heard to make some sort of contact. The ball obviously came straight back and finished hard against the base of the pine tree between the roots on the green side. With no preferred lie, the ball was unplayable, and penalty relief was the only option. Despite the set-backs, and having to deal with getting relief from casual water on the greens, SOS still produced a very creditable 34 points to fill third place. Harry’s hands really gave him curry today, and SOS was a bit concerned about what was going on as he fumbled around in his trouser pocket for tees, ball markers, etc. The lack of a reliable grip did impact a few shots, but the main ‘problem’ was the number of putts that caught the edge of the hole, but didn’t drop. As a result, the final total was a mere 31 points, but that was enough for a spot in fourth place for the day. Old Reliable was not quite so reliable today, but reliable enough to make fifth place with his card of 28 points. He’ll take the point, regardless!

Michael does like to brag about what a good shot he is on the par threes. The ProPin was on the 4th, and, although he was just outside the limit, he just had to put his name and distance on the card. However, it was just one of those Danny days, and Dan easily took the money with his shot to 4.56m. Not to be outdone, Dan also got the closest on both of the BallPins on the 12th and the 18th. Wouldn’t you know it, he didn’t make the birdie on any of them, so young Dan did not contribute to the four that were scored for the day.

Gordo made his comeback today, and he owned up to having had a few putts, but this was his first swing of a longer club. He was necessarily a bit circumspect about the length of his swing, and, when all is said and done, the signs are looking promising as he only just missed out on scoring himself a point on the first outing. Craig’s group had pretty much called him a hole-in-one on the 15th. The only problem was that he had over-clubbed it a bit, and the ball hit the pin hard enough to bounce off far enough that Dan was able to get closer for the BallPin (apologies, Dan beat Craig on 18 for the BallPin). Bob had more battery problems today. Only, this time, it wasn’t his buggy that gave up the ghost, it was his hearing aid. CJ thought that he might have to play Dad today when little brother, Rob, lost it a couple of times. There might have even been one case of a UAP when a favourite implement headed for the trees. After a group hug on the 17th tee, they all headed down the steps to the buggies. Except Rob, who took the grassy route, and left an exquisite set of skid-marks down the slope, if not down his y-fronts. A salutary lesson for all, the steps are there for a reason – use them!

Results for Saturday, 14 Sep 2024
1st Chris Priems (39) 2nd Michael Gourlay (38) 3rd Stephen O’Sullivan (34) 4th Harry Boughen (31) 5th Craig Cameron (28)

Seniors Results: 1st Chris Priems (39) 2nd Michael Gourlay (38) 3rd Harry Boughen (31)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Dan Marie BallPin No 1 – 12th Dan Marie BallPin No 2 – 18th Dan Marie

Dogs were safely on their chains today, although CJ was ‘bragging’ about hitting his 3 wood 325m at the Frog yesterday. Seems the dogs were running loose there, but not so much at the ‘G later in the day. The ‘dome’ had kept the rain away from the ‘Hoe, and the course was looking in fine fettle as the grass and herbage responds to the warmer weather in recent days. Management still granted the option of preferred lie, although there was little cause to call upon it unless there was a need to clear a tree trunk or something. The recent sand application hasn’t quite worked its way in yet, and the greens were a smidgen rough in places, although that cannot take all of the blame for some of the missed putts. Thirteen members made it to the starting blocks, and that included Doctor Dan, who was down on R&R from his stint in Shep. Blighty did have hopes of celebrating his birthday in style, but he will probably be hoping not to have many happy returns of his scorecard. It must be said that he was being very sanguine about the situation.

Dan denies that he has been taking lessons and practising (golf) while hiding away in Shep, although he did admit being tempted by a membership special up there that includes a set of five lessons. If he does take up that offer, then watch out next time he is down to play, because he put in the best round of the day to fill the first spot with his net score of 68. Unfortunately, Dan was not qualified to take out the Medal, and, so, that honour had to be reserved for somebody else. The next best scores were down to Michael and Matt, who presented to the judges with a net score of 71. So, who would be victorious in the case of a count-back? On the face of it, Matt with 37 off the stick on the back with a handicap of 8, would shoo it in over Michael with his 36 and a handicap of 2. Unfortunately, Matt’s erratic attendance meant that, he, too, was not qualified for the Medal, and the honour of the silverware fell into the unlikely hands of Michael. He happily took the points for second place that he shared with Matt.

At one stage, Old Reliable was heard to complain that his drive was going too straight. And, on several occasions, that his putting was not up to putty. However, that did not stop him from producing the third best result for the day with a bottom line of 72. This was helped just a little by a fortuitous gust of wind that helped his putt on the 18th make the extra quarter turn required to drop into the hole. Harry had a couple of shockers early on, one of which was not helped by being hard against the base of the substantial tree, right and short of the second green. After that, things didn’t go too badly, and he was able to scrape home into third place with a net 76. CJ was pretty pleased to manage a par on the first, but, he, too, came a bit unstuck on the second, and managed a ‘fat lady’. Things were going along quite nicely after that until the 17th, where the opera singer put in another appearance. This left him with a fourth place score of 76 as well.

Stan put in a late request for the first group as he had to get away. He certainly kept the whip cracking, because they finished a good two holes clear of the rest of the field. His playing companions were probably not game to loiter, after the events by the first green. While they were on the green, a raven was spotted raiding Stan’s bag, and it took off with one of his favourite muesli bars. With the only weapon to hand being his putter, Stan would have done Jim Bowie proud as he flung the putter, Bowie knife like, and took the raven out of the air, to recover his snack. He ended the round on 78, and sprinted off before finding out that he had garnered fifth place for his trouble. Josh hasn’t played with us for a while, but, mostly, he was not too rusty. He’d probably be ruing the 12 that he carded for the 17th (details are not available) which probably robbed him of a much better placing that the fifth that he also scored for his 78.

There were three balls on offer for the Double Jackpot BallPin on the 7th. With the tee set well back, it was always going to be an ask, but Porks was able to get both the distance and the accuracy to claim the cluster on offer. On the 18th, Craig was almost too embarrassed to put his name on the card with his shot to about 17m from the pin. However, he was saved from the embarrassment of actually winning by Josh, who managed to get one closer. Harry hit a cracker on the 15th for the ProPin and the ball came to a stop 1.16m from the hole and just a smidgen past pin high. After the shot, Craig said, “We are going quarters, aren’t we?”, which was a bit strange, as there were only three in the group. Matt was a bit disappointed when his ball finished about 1.26m from the hole. He managed to sink the putt for birdie, as did Harry, which accounted for two of the four that the team could produce for the day.

Of course, Matt was also embroiled in a fight to the death with Brendon in the (slightly delayed) Matchplay final. With only one handicap stroke separating them, the contest was very much an ‘off-the-stick’ affair. For the first four holes, the pair traded wins, and the early betting was for a close run thing. Then, Matt found a purple patch, while Brendon’s patch turned a nasty shade of brown. This gave five holes to Matt on the trot, and Brendon was going to have to pull some rabbits out of the hat to restore the balance. Unfortunately, the wins proved elusive until the 13th, which gave just the faintest glimmer of hope. On the 14th, Matt sprayed one way right, potentially into all sorts of trouble. With everything to play for, Brendon did exactly the same thing, only worse, and had to abandon his first ball as lost/oob. Matt played a great shot through the trees onto the green, and regulation putted to make par, while Brendon’s five from his provisional resulted in a loss, and Matt waltzed in victorious, 5 and 4. With Raj out of commission for the foreseeable future, the play-off match was declared in Targe’s favour, and the Matchplay Championship for 2024 was finalised.

After leaving a potential birdie putt a little short on the 17th, Harry walked up to ‘tap’ it in and finish the hole with a par. It missed, and Harry abused himself for not taking due time. Only to repeat the performance on the ‘tap’ back. After a break to get the heart rate back down, he put it in for yet another double bogie. Porks was through the green and in a bit of long grass. He made a nice little chip out of the rough, except that it was not his ball. Oh dear! CJ got into trouble for talking too much (as hard as that might be to believe) when it caused a putt to be missed (one of his own!). Josh could be vying for the title of the New Priems if he keeps up his use of trees to keep his ball on the fairway. His first shot on the 8th needed a tree to keep it on the straight and narrow. The second was heading for the pond, only to be saved again by a well placed tree. Inspired by this, Brendon shanked his tee shot on the 9th, and was saved from the Yarra by a convenient tree. He then took out his 2 iron, and fairly smashed one to finish just short of the green. Blighty has been gifted, by a workmate, with a supply of second-hand balls, that he is busily trading for whatever is on offer, while cunningly disguising what is going on by packing them in egg cartons.

Results for Saturday, 07 Sep 2024
1st Dan Marie (68) 2nd Michael Gourlay (71) 2nd Matt Hunt (71) 3rd Craig Cameron (72) 4th Harry Boughen (76) 4th Chris Priems (76) 5th Stan Blackshaw (78) 5th Josh Hunt (78)

Seniors Results: 1st Matt Hunt (71) 1st Michael Gourlay (71) 2nd Craig Cameron (72) 3rd Chris Priems (76) 3rd Harry Boughen (76)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Harry Boughen BallPin No 1 – 7th Ryan Porker BallPin No 2 – 18th Josh Hunt