It sort of tried to mizzle some rain and sort of tried to be foggy but true to the BOM forecasts there was no rain to be seen at Ivanhoe although there had obviously been some overnight. So the grass was a bit wet and the course just a little softer than it has been in places but still capable of allowing some good scores even if the greens are a bit lumpy. The ground staff seem to be trying to improve the situation with some localised coring and the greens scarified in the last week.
The person who had little difficulty in scoring under these conditions was el Presidente himself with a magnificent round of 67 off the stick for +5 against par. The round included 6 birdies, one an almost eagle, three bogies and a double. The whole club only turned in 18 birdies so the total would have been fairly average if it hadn’t been for Pepsi. The eagle wouldn’t have been worth winning given that it has gone off just about every week for the last month. The performance has also propelled Pepsi to the top of the Eclectic table even with the cut to his handicap that ensued.
Blighty was so convinced that he had the same handicap inside as out that he obviously didn’t check the sheet beforehand and as a result there has been a variation from the announced placings. Andrew comes in at second place on his own with +2 and next week he can be assured that it is likely that his inside and outside handicaps will be the same once more. That then left Brendon on his own in third place with a comfortable little +1. He was followed closely by Gordo who managed to play right to his handicap and submitted a square card.
Just a point further back and only just in the red were a swag of contestants including Trevor who followed up last weeks effort with another good round though he did admit that he hadn’t cinched the belt up quite as tightly this week and maybe that adversely affected his form. Taner also put his hand up for another point this week and if he can control the occasional wild one he could easily move up the podium scale. Filling out the final placing list were Chrispy, Michael and Mehmet.
Chrispy did say that Stefan didn’t deserve a point for his effort at -2 and as it turned out, the card checks proved the point. Bad luck Stefan but you can take it out on Blighty if you wish.
The Nearest the Pin for a ball was on the 12th and there was a bit of a competition but Gordon ended up with his name on the bottom of the list. The ProPin on the 15th went to a 2.62m shot by Eddie who seems to collect the cash with a fair degree of regularity. The competition for the inside ProPin on the 18th was definitely a battle royal with Gordon thinking of making a claim at 1.5m until he saw that Pepsi had his name on the card at 0.35. Come the last group though and Brendon managed to knock Pepsi off with a shot to 0.30m. Even took a happy snap to prove the point.
The second round of the IGL went off today and the Blues rolled the Magpies -2 to -9. The Hawks were victorious again with a convincing win over the Bulldogs +6 to -6 and that puts the Hawks at the top of the table. The match between the Tigers and Saints was a closer run thing with the Tigers getting up -1 to -2.
Graham Forbes joined us for the first time and as he had a GolfLink handicap was eligible for the comp. Graham didn’t have the greatest day on the course but he enjoyed himself and we welcome him to our select little band. If there was a low-light to Graham’s day it would have been on the 15th when his tee shot hit the ‘bin’ (not pin) and finished up behind where he started from. Oh well, these things happen and we won’t mention the airie that followed in the confusion.
Stefan did almost the reverse of what Targe achieved last week – teed off on the 16th and went OOB across the 14th. Seems he was attempting to drive the green or something equally silly. No silly shots involved, but Ryan ended up in the firing line twice on the 5th with one shot from the 6th almost collecting him as he walked up the fairway and a second as he considered his approach shot to the green.
SOS reckoned he had the game sorted on the first but after about half a dozen holes, things started going a bit down-hill and by the 14th he was telling a completely different story. Even wanted the group playing the 16th to play on so that they couldn’t watch his shot. Noodles was pretty pleased that he hadn’t chosen today for his second round Match as he was reported to be ready to go home after nine. Mehmet pleaded with him to stay on, probably because they had one of their grudge matches going and Mehm was in front though Mehm did take three putts from half a metre so maybe he wasn’t going all that well.
Michael struggled with his shoulder a bit again today though he has been assured that it will come good (provided that he doesn’t play golf). Still managed to play some great shots including one on the 18th that looked for all the world as if it was going to be a contender for the ProPin as it disappeared onto the green heading for the flag. Next thing, it appears back over the brow of the hill and trickles on down several metres on the slope. Must have been some serious back-spin involved.
Results for Saturday, 18 April 2015
1st Andrew Petricola(+5) 2nd Andrew Blight(+2) 3rd Brendon Mitchell(+1) 4th Gordon Hill(□) 5th Mehmet Akdag(-1) 5th Michael Gourlay(-1) 5th Trevor Jackson(-1) 5th Taner Kemal(-1) 5th Chris Priems(-1)