Maaaagniiificent! And that is talking about the weather and the beautiful conditions out on the course. Anybody who didn’t get themselves out of bed today, no matter how hard-done-by they feel, and present for the tee off needs to give themselves a good talking to. The ground staff were out and about early taws sweeping the dew off the greens. The couple of showers early in the week did nothing but make the turf even greener and some people even had difficulty adjusting their game for the fact that there was run and bounce to be had. Yes, the tee boxes are a little brown to look at but in some parts of the country the whole course is like that, or worse. The conditions were very obviously good and that was reflected in some of the scores that were returned.
Bill has obviously been infected by the blood of a geometer or a surveyor or something as he was absolutely bisecting the fairways with the straightest drives that were flying the proverbial ‘country mile’. Even when he did stray a little, more often than not, the recovery shots put him within gimme distance of the hole. A centimetre was all that separated Bill from having a par round when the birdie putt on the 18th teetered on the brink of falling into the hole. Chrispy too enjoyed the conditions and looked set to set a personal best score until he realised that it was a possibility and he promptly dropped a couple of strokes. Interestingly he did this without using his now famous ricochet shots though it seems that playing partners Trevor and Keith made use of some in his stead.
So, two magnificent rounds for a nett score of 62. And, being the Monthly Medal, that required a count-back and by a mere half stroke on the back nine (29.5 to 30), Bill walked away with the silver-ware. Pity about those couple of bogies, Chris.
Chrispy was still pretty pleased as it kept him in touch with Bill on the Championship Table and with Bill off to foreign climes for several weeks, Chris is licking his chops at the chance to gather a few more points though the new handicap will make it just a little more difficult. Bill’s new handicap has also had an effect on the Eclectic and the top of the table there is a little more crowded than it has been for a while. Oliver has moved up with a keeper or two today. The birdies actually came pretty thick and fast with a total of 18 between the lot of us, which has to be a good indication of how good the course and conditions were today.
CraigC must have thought he was in with a chance for his maiden Monthly Medal when he totted up a nett 63 but it was not to be. Still, a very good effort and a nice little boost in the points to get a taste for what the future might bring. Then came a bit of a gap in the field to Eddie with nett 66 and as usual Ed had his ups and downs and hole scores that do not always exactly align with his obvious talents. Oliver was playing almost stroke for stroke with Bill on the front nine when an old war (read football) injury started to bother him and this perhaps interfered with his concentration just a little. Despite this, a very respectable nett 67 was the result. This score was shared by SOS who was happy enough to get some points but who had also held out hopes that there might not have been so many better scores. Ryan rounded out the podium today by playing exactly to his handicap.
SOS brought along his mate Glen Crockett (another plod and no relation to Davy) today. So welcome to Glen and we look forward to more of your company over the coming weeks. We might even let you play with someone other than SOS on occasion. Mark Berthelsen also came along and submitted his second card. Bill’s mate Wayne Pollock was also in the area today but wanted an early start so didn’t play with our group. Wayne is travelling with Bill and we have been warned to look out for the Ivanhoe shirt trailling Rory in the Ryder Cup gallery. Seems that Bill is planning to coach Rory with his new found run of form.
The Nearest the Pin for a ball today was on the 12th and the ball went to CraigC who was about a metre and a half beyond the hole. Harry tried desperately to come in closer but the ball didn’t hit the pin squarely enough to drop in for the HIO and finished about a half metre further out. The ProPin was on the 18th and the form man, Bill the Beast, was the only one to worry the tape measure. The ball was close to the brow of the slope between levels and a couple of centimetres shorter would have produced a vastly different result. If only the putt had carried that extra centimetre.
While on the subject of putting, Mehm managed to pull off what might be just about a first by double hitting a putt. Not sure how he managed it, but it is apparently gospel truth. Keith was putting for a birdie and left the ball a tantalising 75mm short of the hole. Being the careful golfer that he is, Keith lined it up and set the ball rolling to have it hang on the edge of the cup before dropping in for the par. Close run thing though.
The Birthday Birdie has been twittering that Blighty and Eddie have something to celebrate in the way of anniversaries in the coming week. Since the Birdie is flying off to warmer climes, he also wants to mention Allan, Bill and Trevor who light up the candles over the coming month.
It was noticed that the lady who sat at the table adjacent to our group during the presentations and the associated chiacking was prompted to relocate after Ed started lifting his shirt (again). Hope that b….y rash goes away soon!
As a final note, Harry will be away for a month and Chrispy will be filling in on the handicaps, doing them by hand. Fear not, he has done it before but don’t be surprised if you see some big moves in his (just joking). Chris will have your Club handicaps each week but you will have to check your own GA handicap and either use the on-line calculator or look up the charts at the desk to get your Daily Handicap for the course. The Club will not be accepting any GA cards while Harry is away – the first week of the Fred Kitson will be OK. The database and tables will be brought up to date shortly after Harry’s return and you will be notified.
It will pay to check on the first tee time as well as it does change with the seasons and will likely move again when Daylight saving comes in. Chris (or a suitable delegate) will announce the next week event and tee time at the presentation or you can check the calendar on the web-site for the event.
Results for Saturday, 06 September 2014
1st Bill Eastoe(62 Medal cb) 1st Chris Priems(62) 2nd Craig Cameron(63) 3rd Ed Kloprogge(66) 4th Oliver Gross(67) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan(67) 5th Ryan Porker(68)