Was it or wasn’t it a Challenge? Thanks Brendon.
Some would say yes and some would say no. Would thirty points win or would people play better with limited artillery? In the scheme of things, it seems there was probably a bit of both.
For the front runners, at least, the front nine was the easier to manage and our eventual winner PC SOS went around the turn with 22 points under his belt. Did his confidence get the better of him or was the back really that much tougher? The final total of 36 points managed to pip RodW, who also had a pretty good front nine, at the post with 35 points.
SOS reckons leaving the driver at home kept him out of a lot of trouble. He tried for the green on the 17th and was convinced he had found the hazard, then complained that he didn’t have a club to pitch to the green, put it inside a couple of metres and settled for a birdie.
Speaking of birdies, there were eight plodded today, probably all carded by those who chose to take a putter in their complement of clubs. Not a huge number less than normal. One person who did take one and made very good use of it was RodW who packed a vintage weapon that he probably used for 40 out of his 80 odd shots even to the extent of using it off the tee. On the 6th, he managed a bogie and used the putter for five of the shots and that included a gettable putt for his par.
Mo and Craig came in next with complementary cards, 14 out/19 in vs 19 out/14 in. Craig got a bit cranky with a lapse of form on the 11th and gave the ball a good solid whack with the putter when he ran out of points and was asked if he needed his six iron to get it back to the green – and you know how far Craig can hit a six iron. Zimmer thought he had a share of third but couldn’t read his own writing and so was relegated to a share of 4th place with Eddie who seemed to run out of puff about three holes from home. Pigeons would end up in the stew-pot if they did that!
Last on the podium, but not least, was Noodles who played what could be described as a balanced round.
There was movement on the Championship table and all point getters made ground on the leaders, probably because neither of the two front runners played today. Senior points went to Mo, Eddie and Harry but that also made little impression on the leader. The ProPin on the 18th was a contest between Chrispy and Zimmer with the young fella coming out victorious – and that was after Chris twice measured the distance to the wrong ball. However Chris’s shot on the 4th was undefeated for him to collect a ball to add to the 57 that he carries around in his bag.
There was one player who really lost it today. No, not his temper – the head off his club. Playing out of some long grass on the 13th, Dick was quite pleased to see the ball heading in the direction of the green – not quite so pleased to see the head of his club doing likewise. Still he managed to get a bogie on the hole and finished the round with only two clubs in his bag. Not sure whether the rules would have allowed him to grab another from his car as he went past but he resolutely pressed on and faced a fairly tricky shot to the green on the 14th from the middle of the 16th fairway with only a 5 iron to work with. He managed a bogie on that as well.
Chrispy opted to use his driver for putting and was fairly blitzing it early on including a monster on the 8th but the wheels fell off a bit from then on and he finished not quite so convinced that it had been a good idea not to bring a putter.
There was quite a bit of discussion about the Limited Club Challenge and how it might be played in future. One topic was to either make a putter compulsory or to ban the putter to make a slightly more level playing field. Another was to allow different handicap ranges to use different numbers of clubs. All food for thought and something the Committee will have to consider when finalising the Program for next year.
A Rules Question
On a par four hole (say the 14th), player Pepsi has a short par putt and at the point where the back swing ends and the down swing starts the ball moved. Mentally Pepsi aborted his swing but was unable to stop the club head nudging the moving ball a couple of inches. He then played the ball as it lies and sank the putt. What is his score for the hole?
a) Bogey 5
b) Double bogey 6
c) Disaster 7
If you would like to answer this question, e-mail Harry with your answer and the reason for thinking so – preferably without referring to your rule book. No prizes but you might rate a mention. The answer will be published next week.
Results for Saturday, 24 August 2013
1st Stephen O’Sullivan(36) 2nd Rodney White(35) 3rd Mo Sabih(33) 3rd Craig Sharp(33) 4th Kazim Akdag(32) 4th Ed Kloprogge(32) 5th Stephen Butterfield(31)