It was a rainbow sort of a day. First, there was white. White fog that hung like a pall over the course at tee time and made playing the first couple of holes a bit of a lottery in terms of being sure where the ball went and whether the group in front was out of range. Then, there was the yellow ball that each team carried for the Yellow Ball Teams Event that was run in conjunction with today’s event. Next there were the black armbands that the players wore out of respect for Mal Adey, the all round good guy who departed us so suddenly for that great golf-course in the sky. Not sure how Mal will handle the conditions up there as he did have a bit of a propensity to make contact with the big ball before the little one.
And lastly in the colour spectrum was the Red Letter Day for the Beast. Bill absolutely streeted the field and went around in just the one over par to score a magnificent +8 and really get the jump on the pack at the head of the Championship Table. But don’t despair, Bill is off on his round-the-world golfing tour soon and needs a bit of a buffer to cover for the weeks that he will be away. He was joined today by his mates Wayne and Angelo who will also be jet-setting with Bill but it sounds as if they could also be interested in joining us on a more regular basis. After the round Bill said that he would like to dedicate his round to Mal and if he could he would give the points to Mal as well. And there is no truth to the rumour that the points that Mal did have on his account were to be auctioned to the highest bidder.
Another man who is appearing on the podium with some regularity is ChrisV who took a certain amount of delight in deposing Chrispy from his spot as Clubhouse leader only to be blown away by the all-conquering Beast. Still a +2 is nothing the be sneezed at and it didn’t do as much harm to the handicap as winning would have. With his double deposition, Chrispy had to satisfy himself with third place alongside Old Reliable himself, Oliver. Oliver was laying claims to have gotten thirteen greens in regulation yet barely played to his handicap. Some people are never satisfied.
CraigC lined up today for his first competition round and the handicapper was quite nervous about the likely outcome. As it turned out, the handicap was about right and Craig made it to the podium in 4th place alongside Eddie. Ed will need to be careful or he will get a reputation as a shirt lifter after showing off to everybody that he was suffering with a bad case of chives (or was that shingles?). Bob looked to be hitting his straps today but ended up squandering some chances around the greens on the back nine easing from +2 on the front to finish -2 overall. He was joined on the podium by SOS who had to rush off but the card indicates a fairly steady round.
The nearest the Pin for a ball was located on the 4th and there was a certain amount of competition with three names appearing on the marker. The last one and the winner of the ball was AndrewB. The ProPin was on the 15th and it was left unscathed so the money will Jackpot to next week. The birdie count for today was 10 and at least three of those went to the Beast. Bill had put in a request to be in the last group which is a bit unusual in the scheme of things and there was some speculation as to why – let the fog clear, let the greens dry out – whatever it was, it certainly paid off.
The Yellow Ball Team Event also saw a bit of a break-through as all balls were returned to the starter. Though apparently, one was lost on the 17th but was later found on the 18th so no card for that one. The winning team, with a square card, consisted of Chrispy, Oliver and Whitey, which wasn’t such a bad result given the vagaries of the game.
While on the subject of Chrispy, it seems that he was up to his usual tricks of using the trees to advantage to put his ball into a scoring position. Whitey also seems to be getting in a bit of practice for the Three Club Challenge next week by using his putter on the fairway and playing it like a nine iron out of the rough. Mehm was so desperate to get some points to help keep in touch with the leaders that he was looking for reasons to disqualify anybody who was in front of him both in the scores for today and in the Championship Table. Unfortunately that would have required disqualifying about half the field – then again he was claiming extenuating circumstances. Chrispy has offered him a dispensation for the next month at least.
The membership is taking on the appearance of a Casualty Ward with evidence of a number ailing with lurgi’s and injuries of various types. Here’s hoping none of them are too contagious. Trevor managed to soldier on after re-jinking his back on the 14th. Insisted on taking his turn with the yellow ball on the 17th and managed to square the hole.
Just remember, next week is the Three Club Challenge. Only three clubs allowed in your bag. Your choice, you can putt with your driver if you wish. Championship Points are awarded and if you fancy your chances you can play the inside comp as well but legally the scores can only be used for official (GolfLink) handicapping if you equal or break your regular handicap. Enquiries will be made as to how the Course management are likely to handle this and advice will be notified.
Results for Saturday, 16 August 2014
1st Bill Eastoe(+8) 2nd Chris Vinecombe(+2) 3rd Oliver Gross(+1) 3rd Chris Priems(+1) 4th Craig Cameron(-1) 4th Ed Kloprogge(-1) 5th Bob McDonald(-2) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan(-2)