The weather looks as if it might be settling into a cycle with fine conditions on the weekends for a change though the few showers during the week did little more than dampen the enthusiasm of those playing on Thursday. So the course is fairly dry, there is a bit of run and the greens were hard and fast. Bob was obviously expecting it to be hot and sunny as he turned up channeling Johnny Depp playing Tonto in the Lone Ranger or maybe he was just trying to strike fear into the hearts of his opponents.
Bob ended doing no real harm to his reputation as a Par Competition player with a square round today but the big turnaround came in the person of SOS who absolutely blitzed the back nine (2 under par) to take the trophy from Bob’s grasp on a countback. SOS was obviously playing a cagey game as Chrispy, who was playing with him, thought he was struggling a bit and when told on the 15th that SOS was +3, Chrispy thought his leg was being pulled (again).
Gordon made a claim during the week that he was going to have a good round and win the event. It was an OK round at square and that, with last week’s +1, was good enough to score him second spot on the podium. His score might have been even better if it had not been for a draughtie on the 15th. This caused Chrispy to break his resolution to have a dry week-end. And Ed complicated the issue by buying a round for no particular reason.
ChrisV and Keith managed mirror image rounds to end up square over the two weeks and that was enough to slot them into third place. Laurie was a little more consistent with his golf and finished with a very creditable -1 overall to gather fourth on his ownsome.
Last, but by no means least, on the podium was Chrispy who, despite the moaning and groaning, managed to get points despite having one of the toughest card marking tasks that he has had for a long time. And he thought he had picked an easy one with only one card to mark but he forgot to allow for the fact that the card belonged to Ed.
As for the rest, Mehm just missed out on the points and the others don’t bear thinking about.
The Nearest the Pin for a ball was on the 4th and the lucky/skillful player to collect that was Oliver which probably brightened his day just a little. The ProPin was on the 12th and Mehm added to his ever growing pile of cash by getting his name on the board for that. He reckons that by the end of the year he will have collected enough from Noodles to be able to afford a new driver to go with his brand new set of irons. Maybe he should have played with his old clubs instead.
The after round bar-be-que featured a selection of delicacies courtesy of Oliver who excelled himself in both the catering and the cooking of the fare (with help from SOS). There certainly wasn’t a huge amount left on the hot-plate at the end but there was a rather large jar of pickled gherkins that Oliver forgot to put out. They should keep till next time provided that Gordon doesn’t scoff them in the meantime.
There have been more movements on the Tables and there is quite a bit of interest in the remaining five competition weeks of the year. There are about six within striking distance of the front runner so it could easily go down to the wire. The Eclectic race has hotted up with some serious moves over the last couple of weeks and if the new birdies keep flowing any number of people could snatch victory at the last.
Mike Gourlay and Mark Berthelsen came along today and played their first official round. Mike managed another steady +1 from a 70 off the stick and showed signs a couple of times that he wasn’t too happy with how he was playing. Mark was struggling a bit early on but some coaching from Trev improved his game and his back nine was much more respectable. It was decided not to apply the penalties for giving and taking advice. Trevor also had his moments and in particular his chip in for a birdie on the 7th was something to behold. Harry seems to be refreshed after his holiday producing some consistent hitting and his putter bagged about five singles in a row but a slight loss of consistency on the back resulted in an overall of +3 on the day.
The Birthday Birdie whispers that Dick and David have something to celebrate in the next few days. Chrispy hits a major milestone next weekend but he won’t be joining us as he is off for a weekend jaunt in a gypsy caravan. He muttered something about if the van is rockin’ don’t bother knockin’ – can’t imagine what that means. Happy Birthdays Guys.
In other news, SOS is getting around on tenterhooks awaiting the arrival of a bundle of joy. A bit over-due already and if nothing happens over the rest of the weekend there will be a definite arrival early in the week. After today’s round there is some chance that the chosen names will include Fred or BackNine. Sort of has a nice ring, BackNine O’Sullivan, don’t you think?
Another reminder that we are getting near to the end of the year and there are Nominations required for office bearers for the Club and the Committee really needs to get back all of the perpetual trophies so that they can be updated and available for presentation. If you have one, please make arrangements to get it to Gordon in the first instance either during the week or bring it along on Saturday.
Results for Fred Kitson Spring Cup
1st Bob McDonald(+4) 1st Stephen O’Sullivan(+4 – trophy c/b) 2nd Gordon Hill(+1) 3rd Keith Delzoppo(□) 3rd Chris Vinecombe(□) 4th Laurie Mannix(-1) 5th Chris Priems(-2)