Another great roll-up today. Maybe it is the warmer weather or maybe people are just trying to suss out the form for the Vin O’Meara or maybe the close finishes in the championships have created a new interest. Whatever the reason it is great to see the tee times full and if a few more of our sick and injured make it back we might need to plead for extra space – which would be good – a sign that the Club is kicking along. The course continues to be maintained in close to the pink of condition and it was pretty darned good today except maybe for some casual water in front of the 6th green. At least we didn’t need our raincoats as the sprinklers had been turned off (more or less) by the time that we got there.
Well, just as some were beginning to think that the young Turk, Zimmer, was showing signs of slipping a bit he puts one together and picks up the top points with the greatest of ease though there was one hole that showed signs of being into double figures. That is what comes from playing a par and a stroke event in combination – no option to pick up. This will do wonders for what the punters are prepared to pay next week though they will have to take into account the handicap adjustment that goes with it. Right along-side, in the field as well as in the result was the other half of the terrible twosome, Stefan. And they marked each others cards. The saving grace is that they were playing with Michael and Snags and it might have been the incentive to try to better Michael that lifted their game. Well done, B1 and B2 – and no the B doesn’t stand for Butthead.
Michael also had a pretty reasonable round and came in with a +1 to share third spot with Harry. Both had their chances in the main comp with a number of putts just missing the mark. But the real story was from the Yellow Ball Team consisting of Michael, Snags, Zim and Stef. They were going gangbusters and had managed to be seven up after thirteen holes. A ‘safe’ shot by Stef from the 14th into the fairway on the 16th didn’t look as if it would pose a problem. However, the ball was nowhere to be found despite strong suspicions that it had been souvenired by players on the other fairway – who incidentally denied all knowledge. Maybe it was just karma as a pay-back for Snag’s shot on the 13th that was heading so far out of bounds that it looked like going into orbit when it hit the No Trespassing sign and ricochetted back into play.
A nice little group of three came in square with the card so CraigC, Oliver and Pepsi have done their handicap no harm and Oliver picked up a couple of valuable points in his chase for the Championship. It must be the different shape of the earth down here compared to Sydney as Pepsi is still ‘spraying’ them a bit – relatively speaking. Craig has become quite a regular in the winners list and could be one to watch for the Calcutta and the Vin O’Meara. Last cab off the rank was Chrispy who also picked up a valuable point to remain in the group of four who have a chance to win or tie the Championship Table. Should make for an interesting round next week which will be the December Monthly Medal and also the first round of the Club Stroke Play Championship.
The Seniors Championship also has a bit of life left in it with three of the old codgers with a chance to win or tie and given that they are also contenders for the Club Championship, the Leader Board will take care of that grouping as well.
Not a great number of birdies around today considering the number of players in the field and almost the only change to the Eclectic were down to the newer players in the Club. But there is still some interest in the result and a couple of strategically placed birdies or eagles next week could make all the difference. The dash has been left a bit late for handicap movements to help out.
The Nearest the Pin for a ball on the 12th went to Michael and rumour has it that he had his name on the inside ProPin on the 4th as well. Our ProPin on the 18th was taken out by Stefan who seems to have had a pretty good day of it.
Today we welcomed along for his first card round Paul Rowland and according to all reports he enjoyed himself. He was in a group with Blighty who went to great lengths to convince them all that today was actually the December Monthly Medal and a stroke round. So there was a mad scramble to work out the Par scores after they were told in no uncertain terms by Snags what the real situation was.
Brendon’s Dad, Dave, was along again today and provided one of the more amusing shots of the day. The ball was quite deeply buried in long grass on the river side on the 17th green and Dave fairly bravely opted to play it out. Lo and behold when he struck the ball, two balls emerged from the rough. It seems that there was a second ball buried even deeper in the long grass right next to his that he hadn’t seen. That would be one for the Rules fanatics! Quite probably, Dave didn’t want to be out-done by Brendon who managed to put one close to the 4th green – from the 8th tee. Not a shot that you would see too often. He had a bit of trouble getting the distance to the flag with his laser ranger from there.
Not sure if Chrispy found his ball on the 14th as there were some reports that it was deep in tiger country on the slope down from the tee boxes. Maybe that is why he tried to steal the Beast’s beer from under his nose after the round.
On the subject of Rules, there has been some discussion recently about the rules for relief from (lateral – the only type that we have) water hazards. A while back, there was a post on this topic and in the interests of providing easy access, there is now a link to this under the Rules menu at the top of the page. It would be a good idea if everybody had a read and makes sure that they understand the application of the rules so that nobody is seen to be unfairly advantaging themselves by incorrect practice.
Don’t forget, December Monthly Medal, Bar-be-que and Calcutta Auction for the Vin O’Meara is on next week. The order of sale will be reverse Championship Points for those that have nominated. Scratchings and unlikely starters will not be sold. This round, together with the two rounds of the Vin O’Meara make up the Club Stroke Play Championship that is determined by the best nett score for the three rounds off your starting handicap. We should be back to the normal Blue tees for the Vin O’Meara.
Results for Saturday, 22 November 2014
1st Kazim Akdag(+3) 2nd Stefan Belevski(+2) 3rd Harry Boughen(+1) 3rd Michael Gourlay(+1) 4th Craig Cameron(□) 4th Oliver Gross(□) 4th Andrew Petricola(□) 5th Chris Priems(-1)