Nothing like a favourable weather forecast and a major event with double points to get people out of their beds. Fortunately the high pressure system hadn’t arrived just yet so the temperatures were relatively mild to start with though there were a few complaining about cats and razor blades. Lucky we weren’t playing tomorrow as there is a fair chance that skates might be in order if the skies stay clear. So twenty two smiling faces teed off and one smiling face finished.
And why wouldn’t you be smiling after turning in a 42 pointer. The man with the smile is Mehmet of course and you get the feeling that all his moaning and groaning about his poor form might just have been to lull everybody into a false sense of security. The big question now is whether he can keep it up next week, particularly when he will be playing with the other wannabe’s who will be doing their darnedest to put and keep the pressure on the young(ish) Turk.
Leading the wannabe’s is the ‘good looking’ Priems boy, Robert, who managed to card 40 points and that included three holes with no score against them and another with just one point. As one of his playing partners commented, whoever put a 2 at the start of his handicap made a big mistake. Let’s just put it down to him playing out of his skin for Fred.
With a bit of work to do, but not beyond their capabilities, are a pair of Andrews, to whit, Pepsi and Blighty who, with an eye to protecting their handicaps, played exactly to theirs with 36 of the best. Pepsi’s was enhanced a little by dint of an eagle on the 17th for which he robbed the big bird of three eggs and set the tally back to a singleton for the next couple of weeks.
Nipping right at their heels are an unlikely pair of Damo and Bob. Damo claimed to have struggled all the way but he obviously struggled better than some. And Bob is starting to get a bit of a reputation for being up and in amongst them for the major events. Rounding out those with some sort of a chance was Dennis who seemed rather more pleased with his performance than he has been over the last couple of weeks.
There was another round of the IGL this week and with only another five rounds in the Home and Away season the Table is getting to look more settled leading up to the finals. This week the Blues (72) defeated the Tigers (65) which led to the Tigers dropping a place on the ladder. The Dogs (77) defeated the Magpies (65) which leaves the Magpies firmly in last place and they will have to work hard if they want to feature in the finals. The Hawks (77) did a job on the Saints (61) and in the process put themselves back in the top spot.
As well as Damo’s eagle, there were 12 birdies which is a reasonably respectable tally. JohnQ managed one on the 1st with a chip in that he was urging to hit the pin but in reality it didn’t really need to. Another went to Harry on the 7th with an appreciative audience in the group coming up the 6th. But, he would prefer to forget his tee-shot on the 15th that resulted in another draughtie on the hole for the second week in a row. Chrispy also racked up one of those on the 5th after having scored a birdie (a mudlark to be precise) on the 4th. Despite reports of a recovery after the event, later intelligence suggested that the poor thing had indeed expired and the efforts of mouth to beak resuscitation had been in vain. There was an unconfirmed report that Brendon had executed a very stylish Windie and he was observed executing a very stylish duff coming up the 18th. Which possibly explains his placement in the MasterChef squad next week along with Gordon, Targe and SOS. Nuff said.
However, despite all that, Brendon was able to get in at least one good shot for the day and put his name on the marker for the nearest the Pin on the 4th for a ball. The pin position on the 18th might very well have contributed to the fact that there was nary a name on the card and so there will be a Jackpot pool for next week. That should bring the ne’er-do-wells out of the woodwork even if they have no chance for the big prize.
SOS was another one that almost did great things despite a not so great round. With his tee shot a mere 2 metres from the pin on the 17th he could easily have been sharing the balls with Pepsi. Wouldn’t you know it, he managed to three putt for an average sort of a par. Stef was lucky that the course was wet and there wasn’t a lot of run to be had when his tee shot on the 11th went through the green (while people were still on it). In the dry he could easily have been in the middle of the sportsfield and out of bounds.
Damo made no secret of the fact that he thought there was a round of drinks in the offing when his group went off the tee on the 15th (not the hex again?) . But, fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, the ball managed to pass the red markers by a good 300mm and saved the day.
Tentative groups for next Saturday, subject to drop-outs and new starters, will be 1) MasterChef, 2) Simon, Graham, Taner, Ryan, 3) Harry, Stef, JohnQ Noods, 4) Craig, Chrispy, ChrisV, Dennis, 4) Damo, Bob, Blighty, 5) Pepsi, Rob, Mehm.
There has been an excellent response for the Weekend Trip to Numurkah. As yet there isn’t a need for hot bunking or top and tailing but there has been a certain amount of lobbying for who doesn’t want to be room sharing with whom. This augurs well for a great weekend. Tee times will be early (8:30 ish) so that we can get finished in good time to celebrate or commiserate and to get back home on Sunday. If you wish you can play in the local comp on Saturday but you will need to take your GolfLink card as they have a card reader system. It will be interesting to see how it all works given the potential for a similar system to be introduced at Ivanhoe Public.
Results for Saturday, 18 July 2015
Leaderboard Round 1 1st Mehmet Akdag(42) 2nd Robert Priems(40) 3rd Andrew Blight(36) 3rd Andrew Petricola(36) 4th Damien Lee(35) 4th Bob McDonald(35) 5th Dennis Ward(34)