There was a late burst of summery weather in the offing but the air was just a bit fresh at tee time and it took a few holes before the sun got up enough to start warming the bones and getting seriously in the eyes on the 4th. The substance spread on the greens last week seems to have either dissolved or worked its way into the nap and the greens were free-running again if rather bumpy in places where the green pox has killed off the turf. Still a lot of pitch marks not repaired but this is probably due to others as we will all have watched the video on Course Care from the link on our page and are now doing the right thing.
Whitey has been back for only a few weeks but he is obviously intent on proving that he can play more than a cover drive though it does seem that he leaves the cover on his driver. Regardless of which clubs he uses, a tally of +5 par points is pretty darned respectable in anybody’s books. But not the best lead-in to the Stuart Clarke with the attendant cut in the handicap.
Paul hasn’t been with us for a couple of weeks and claims that he has been on holiday in Honolulu or some other exotic place but there is a suspicion that he has been secretly practicing and if that is the case, it has paid off as he managed to put together a very nice +3 to add some more points to his growing collection in the Championship Table.
Gordon also had some time off (well last weekend anyway) and maybe it was relief that this was his last day as President, but he kept his head down and his excitement under control to card a +2. Brendon played an almost identical round to share the third place honours. Maybe it was his last day as Treasurer that did it for him.
Noodles, Zimmer and Stefan managed to square the card though it seems that Zimmer might have done considerably better if he hadn’t choked on the last hole in the Matchplay with a four (yes 4) putt green on the 18th to end the match against Blighty all square. The chip off was a close run thing with the excited band of spectators on the edges of their seats (figuratively speaking) when Zimmer’s putt for the match, rimmed the hole and reluctantly fell in.
SOS filled the last spot on the podium with just one less point on -1. He too was involved in a matchplay match against CraigC and this one too, ended all square with another close run chip-off to decide the result. In the end, nerves of steel paid off for Craig who put the pressure on by sinking his putt while SOS’s just slipped past to miss the cut. Taner, who is new to the game, seems to have been misled by his marker as to how to score his card and as a result did not join the ranks of first time points scorers. Still it was his birthday so, if nothing else, have a happy birthday Taner from the Birthday Birdie and all at the Club.
In other Matchplay matches, Whitey’s good form allowed him to see off Ryan 4 & 3 and Brendon was able to dispose of Laurie with the same score-line, 4 & 3. Initially, Trevor more than had the measure of Mehmet and strode to an impressive 4 up after 4 (and very close to 5 up after 5). Mehmet made something of a come-back and the score was bouncing along with the honours evenly shared and Trevor still in front when his back injury struck him down on the 13th and he was forced to retire from the fray. So the honours were evenly divided on the field but Mehm will proceed into the next round.
There were 17 birdies reported today and ChrisV went perilously close to an Eagle on the 6th when his chip hit the edge of the cup and finished just a couple of feet past. As luck would have it, he didn’t get the birdie either and the Eagles nest egg is starting to mount up. The Nearest the Pin for a ball on the 12th was able to add to Whitey’s growing collection and the cash pack for the ProPin on the 15th was quite fiercely contested but CraigC was the man to pocket the dosh with his ball just over 2m from the pin.
Chrispy’s bro, Robert put in his third card today and now has a handicap to play Chris in the Matchplay and we also welcome for the first time Dennis Ward who is making a comeback to the game after a long break. A few bits of rust to chip off but there looks to be some potential there waiting for a chance to show itself.
Noodles reckoned he was going the beat Whitey today and by a large margin. It would have had to be an exceptional round if he did and Whitey was prepared to call him out as a cheat if he did. Mehmet must have taken a recent interest in the World Cup as the word Windies (or something similar) was heard to crop up in conversation, or maybe it was something else entirely. There were also rumours about at least one person (and maybe more) having taken three chips to get onto the green from three metres out which goes close to surpassing the case of missing the ball entirely or four putting. The Beast has asked that the Committee approach the course management with a view to getting the size of the holes increased. Presumably, he means the diameter of the bit where the ball is supposed to finish and not the distance between tee and green.
After the game, the Annual General Meeting was held and all Committee positions were declared vacant. There were two nominations for the position of President, Pepsi and Mehmet. If there had been an election, the votes would have been 23 for Mehmet and 2 for Pepsi, but as Mehm withdrew his nomination in favour of nominating for the Vice-president role, there was no election required and Pepsi was actually elected unopposed. And as for Mehm and his voting result – “Tell him he’s dreamin'”.
Committee positions filled were as follows
- President – Andrew Petricola
- Vice-president – Mehmet Akdag
- Secretary – Andrew Blight
- Treasurer – Stephen O’Sullivan
- Assistant Treasurer – Chris Priems
- Social Secretary – Gordon Hill
- Handicapper – Harry Boughen
- Assistant Handicapper – Ryan Porker
- Club Captain – Targe Mifsud
- Tee Marshalls – Eddie Kloprogge, Stephen Butterfield
Next week is the first week of the Stuart Clarke Memorial, one of the premier events that the club holds during the year. For the newer members, both weeks are played off the same handicap and scores are aggregated to determine the winner of the event. However, after the event, both week’s cards will be handicapped individually and double points (and winners penalty) will be applied. Those playing only one round obviously cannot win the event but their cards will be eligible for handicapping purposes (both directions).
Results for Saturday, 14 March 2015
1st Rodney White(+5) 2nd Paul Rowland(+3) 3rd Gordon Hill(+2) 3rd Brendon Mitchell(+2) 4th Kazim Akdag(□) 4th Stefan Belevski(□) 4th Stephen Butterfield(□) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan(-1)