Monthly Archives: November 2024

Maaaagnificent! As Rex Hunt used to scream as he commentated the footie way back when. The weather turned on a beauty, though it was a little on the fresh side at tee time. But, it soon warmed up, and, by the end of the round, a brisk northerly was in evidence, and the temperature had climbed into the dizzy heights of the twenties. This is known because JQ was asking if ‘the heat was getting hotter’ or was that just a symptom of getting older? Hot flushes anyone? To put him out of his misery, SOS fired up his trusty Apple watch to confirm that the temperature had indeed climbed to 21C. The course was fairly firm (including the teeing areas), and there was plenty of run to be had, provided that you stayed on the mowed areas. Not quite so much off the fairway, which made close in chips a tad more difficult to get just right. On the face of it, there appeared to be absolutely no reason why the fourteen members who turned out should not score well, and there was an expectation that sub-handicap results would be required to hoist the Medal.

As it turned out, there were no sub-handicap rounds to be seen. The best that we could manage were a couple of handicap-equalling rounds, with both Bob and Michael fronting the judges with net scores of sixty-eight. This meant that the judges had to go through the mental gymnastics required to carry out a count-back to determine just who would hoist the silver-ware. After checking the recording and the arithmetic to confirm the tie, the calculations for the net back nine result were done. Wouldn’t you know it, the scores were still tied on 32.5 apiece. The process then moved to the last six holes, with two thirds of half handicap being rather easier to work out for Michael’s case. A check and a recheck (and the computer eventually agreed), the medal was awarded to Bob with 20.66 to Michael’s 21.00.

CJ was pretty T’d off with his performance on the front nine, and his playing group had pretty much written him off as a chance. However, he stepped up to the 10th tee, and declared that he was going to par the back nine, and get back into the game. And, that is exactly what he did. Nary a birdie nor a bogie sullied the card as he came back with a vengeance to finish in second place with a net score of 70. Harry had a mixed day with his short game, and produced a number of Goldilocks chips and putts. Some too cold, some too hot, and some just right. This allowed him to put together a net 72, and left him with the thought that it could have been better. JQ had a run in with some trees on the left from the tee on the 2nd hole. He threaded one out down the fairway, and followed this up with a shot that finished on the green, but well past the hole. Unperturbed, he rattled it in with a ‘drainer’, for what, even he admitted, was an unlikely par, considering the starting position. He, too, managed a net 72 to share third place with Harry.

Dan has been racking up the kilometres with his trips back to Melbourne, which we like to imagine that he does just for the joy of playing with us. His game was not quite up to his recent form, but a pair of triples and a quadruple, made a pretty big difference to the bottom line. His net 74 was enough for fourth place. Prez should be nominated for an award at the presentations for Unobservant Member of the Year. Actually, maybe that should be the Decade, as Rob, only today, became aware of the column on the handicap sheet that shows the number of games that members have played with Club. In that case maybe the UMOY award should go to Targe, who just today noticed that the new Honour Boards had been installed in the hallway leading to the facilities. Anyway, Prez also finished net 74 to share fourth place. Despite SOS telling Brendon that his GA card should go to the back of the deck, somehow it got placed in the main part, so SOS didn’t actually score a point for fifth as announced. But, Brendon, who did actually finish with 75, held his place and filled fifth place on his ownsome.

The ProPin today was set for the 12th hole, but nobody was able to get close enough to put their name on the card, which means that there will be a jackpot to next week. There is not only a shortage of skills in the building industry. There is also one in the BallPin marker placement industry. The first BallPin was supposed to be on the 15th, but an unnamed President of the Club ‘forgot’ to put it out! So, we will call that one a Jackpot to next week as well. There have been some mysterious posts appearing around the course in recent times, and today it became obvious that they are supports for solar-powered cctv cameras. Intended to catch vandals was the logical conclusion. However, rumour has it that they are intended for catching cheats instead. Anyhow, Michael wanted to wait until the one at the 18th green is commissioned before he scores his hole-in-one so that it is recorded for posterity. So, today he left the ball 0.47m to the left of the hole to collect our ball, and, almost certainly, the ProShop ProPin.

Michael was resplendent in a ‘new’ pair of shorts after a shopping spree at the Salvos, in which he snapped up a bargain on a three for the price of two deal. SOS made a reverse Priems shot on the first when his drive found something pretty solid in the trees that sent it flying high into the air and hard left to finish on the edge of the 9th fairway. Prez was pretty chuffed when he chipped in for a birdie on the 9th. Brendon was off the green and asked Prez whether it was OK if he chipped in as well. Prez was in a magnanimous mood, and agreed that it would be OK. So, Brendon lined up and chipped in for birdie as well. Those two brought our tally of birdies to six for the day. Michael also contributed a couple to the birdie tally. The ‘gimme’ on the 18th pales in comparison to the outcome on the 10th. A stray drive into the trees ricocheted into a veritable graveyard of balls on the 13th fairway, and a lost ball was on the verge of being declared when, by Michael’s estimate, 2 minutes and 59 seconds had passed in the search, the ball was found close to the penalty area. Michael then smashed one over the trees and onto the 10th green, and sank the putt for the birdie.

Gordo had to finish the round using his trusty two iron as a putter after an equipment ‘failure’ on the 13th green. He reckons that he actually putted better afterwards, and swears that the impact with the ground was ‘relatively minor’. Examination of the failure by the resident metallurgist suggests that there actually were signs of a pre-existing start of fatigue failure that initiated the brittle failure that followed. Stan made a bit of a mess of his tee shot on the 2nd, and didn’t quite make it to the red markers. On the 6th, Targe flushed the bird-life on the pond beside the tee, not with his shot-gun, but with his ball, and also did not surpass the red markers. Faced with the prospect of two rounds of drinks, Targe and Stan negotiated a deal that the lower ranked player in the event would buy the drinks. Stan should have had no trouble paying with the fresh folding stuff in his wallet from selling a set of clubs to Harry’s tradie. It had been reported that Bob refused to give up on searching for his worn out old Pinnacle golf ball. As he was lining up to collect a new one for his win, JQ offered to do him a swap of three second hand for a new ProV1. No deal, said Bob. A couple of birthdays to be marked this week for Damo and Craig, but there are no reports of Priem’s style weekends away for either of them.

Results for Saturday, 02 Nov 2024
Winner Bob McDonald (68 c/b t6) 1st Michael Gourlay (68) 2nd Chris Priems (70) 3rd Harry Boughen (72) 3rd John Quinlan (72) 4th Dan Marie (74) 4th Robert Priems (74) 5th Brendon Mitchell (75)

Seniors Results: 1st Bob McDonald (68) 1st Michael Gourlay (68) 2nd Chris Priems (70) 3rd Harry Boughen (72)

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