There was rain over-night, there was rain this morning, there was rain and hail forecast for later in the day. But did that stop the valiant knights of Ivanhoe from venturing out and chancing their arm in a joust with the greensward of the Yarra Flats. Not on your Nellie. Well, at least some of them ventured out and by and large the sun shone on their parade. The Search and Rescue helicopter was called out to search for the last group after reports that Targe had stepped in a puddle and couldn’t be found. But mostly it wasn’t such a Beast of a day though a mini-gale did blow straight up the 17th but was followed by a contrasting dead calm on the 18th.
The wet course meant that there was a strong possibility of losing a ball on the fairway due to plugging and the yellow balls were jealously guarded to make sure that the round was completed with the ball intact. Two teams managed to achieve that target, one was lost and the other team ‘forgot’ to play theirs. Forget their ‘Eds if they weren’t screwed on! Anyway, the winning team was Noodles, Chrispy, ChrisV and Mehmet. And for the record it was -4 that won the day.
However the really important result was for the main Championship individual event and that was knocked down to none other than (you guessed it) Bill the Beast who, despite the somewhat tricky conditions under-foot and some pretty ordinary pin placements (what about the 9th?), succeeded in squaring the card to take the top points and in the process draw level for the lead in the Club Championship and to gather a bit of a break in the Seniors. That, with his seemingly unassailable lead in the Eclectic, means that his trophy cabinet could be absolutely groaning come the end of the year. The Tete de la course is starting to bunch up a bit setting up for a sprint to the finish but the peloton is a bit strung out and will have to work hard if they want to mount a serious challenge at the Finish on the Champs elysee.
A couple of players had their chances today and if a couple of shots had ended a bit differently there could have been an entirely different outcome. Whitey suffered a bit from some erratic driving. ChrisV suffered a bit from having to play with Noodles who is a bit cheesed off and doesn’t want to play with Chris anymore because Chris can hit the ball further than him. Still a good result and a bit more of a move up the table for both of them.
Chrispy was a bit upset when the next two cards came in because they robbed him of third place and the precious points that he so craves in his bid to get to the top. The two reprobates that toppled him from the place were Blighty and Gordo. Blighty also played his matchplay against Targe and despite there being five points difference in their take-home score the result of the match was a win to Blighty one up. The other placegetters displaced alongside Chrispy were Harry and SOS with -3 but according to all reports, it could have been better.
SOS was certainly hoping for better thing on the 18th when he severely shanked his drive, almost putting it in the pond. He vented his frustration by swinging the club around his head when it ‘slipped’ out of his hands and went sailing into the air and into the waiting arms of the big gum tree on the left – and there it stayed. SOS was fairly philosophical about it as, after all, it was only an eight iron.
Mehmet and Noodles rounded out the podium for this week which left a bare half dozen members not collecting a point this time around.
Not a huge tally of birdies this week with six being plodded and the Eagles nest is building up nicely. There was a double jackpot for the ProPin today and it was contested on the 12th. It seems that there was no one to claim it until the last player in the last group when someone snuck it inside the 5m limit. That someone was none other than Blighty and he was noticed smiling broadly and spending his ill-gotten gains at the Tuck-shop afterwards. The Nearest the Pin for a ball was on the 4th and that was collected by Mr Ed (again – and no, not the horse, though you could sometimes be forgiven).
The Matchplay competition has now made it to the stage where the finals can be played. Blighty and Craig have to play off for the Championship and Targe and Damo have to play off for third place. It would be nice to see this completed on the one day so if those four can liaise and sort something out. Unfortunately we do have the Fred Howe Winter Cup coming up over the next two weeks and that will be followed by a Monthly Medal unless it can be agreed by all to play at some stage during these events. Don’t forget, Fred Howe gathers double points for the winner so there is a good chance for those in the peloton to break out and join the lead group or for the leaders to sprint away and consolidate their spot. Also don’t forget there will be a barbq lunch after the second round that will be catered by Oliver’s Inestimable Bangers and Burgers.
The majority of players stayed on for the meeting and there were three major items of business. The first was to appoint a new Secretary and that post was filled by Oliver who took on the job in the understanding that the duties fit around his work and travel commitments. The second was to fill the position of Social Secretary and it was confirmed that Mostyn was prepared to do the job and he was duly appointed. Following on from that was the matter of the Annual Challenge trip to Murray Downs and it is imperative that organisation proceed post haste. To that end members definitely (or almost definitely) going should advise Gordon by email as soon as possible. It is highly likely that deposits will be required promptly after that and it is essential that this be dealt with without delay so that we do not lose face with the business at the other end.
One other matter that was discussed included the possibility of allocating Championship points (2 per head) to the members of the winning team in the Yellow Ball Teams Event with the thought that this might engender more enthusiasm than the prospect of winning a ball. It was also asked whether there was a possibility of running an Ambrose event and whether such an event could also be played for Championship Points. A Reunion Round, to which lapsed members would be invited with a view to rekindling their interest was another suggestion from the floor. Any thoughts or discussions on these topics will be welcomed by the Committee.
One other item that was flagged was the running of the Matchplay and the rules and the application of them are being reconsidered. It was flagged that there might be a supplementary Matchplay round over the next few months to test out some concepts. Details will be advised shortly but further input is welcome.
Results for Saturday, 12 July 2014
1st Bill Eastoe(□) 2nd Chris Vinecombe(-1) 2nd Rodney White(-1) 3rd Andrew Blight(-2) 3rd Gordon Hill(-2) 4th Harry Boughen(-3) 4th Chris Priems(-3) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan(-3) 5th Mehmet Akdag(-4) 5th Stephen Butterfield(-4)