If you are wondering why Pepsi looks so much younger, it’s because he was when this photo was taken. And to think there was a camera and a dozen mobiles there today. Oh well, maybe next time the brain will be in gear instead of in neutral. Without giving too much away about who won the day, it must be said that the Gods have been smiling down on us over the last few weeks. With the radar this morning looking like a flock of blue-rinses heading for the sales in David Jones, there were some who thought that, if we did happen to get a quorum we would probably get wet in the process. But, a total of seventeen turned up (eventually), and, by the end of the third, the light showers that were happening came to a stop and other than a couple of desultory efforts a little later they managed to stay away for the rest of the round and then some. The management seem to have managed to get the mowers out on the course and, possibly because of the wind, you would have to say that the course was remarkably playable with the greens in as good a condition as they have been for some time. Well some could claim to say that.
So, you might ask, exactly how well did Pepsi go? Well enough to be suspected of playing for handicap on the 17th with a less than usual result from his tee shot but, true to form, he plonked it over the pond from about pin high with the 18th and settled for a simple par. Probably just layed up so he had a full shot to the green. All in all, he came in with two over off the stick and a nett score of 65 to take the medal quite comfortably. His round included three birdies which was a fair percentage (50% to be exact) of the total plodded for the day. Some of the pin placings were a little challenging to say the least and there were a couple of 4 putt greens to be had.
One of these was down to Stef who bombed one onto the green from the tee on the 14th only to find the hole located on one of the steepest sloping sections of the green and as a result he struggled to put it down. Allan had similar troubles on the 15th with the flat blade but you would be hard pressed to blame the slope of the green for that though it did take someone to remind him that it was a stroke round and that he actually had to finish it off.
Whether it was the rain or the effect of some sort of celebration last night but Ryan took a few holes to warm up and really didn’t make much of a fist of the front nine. The back was another matter entirely and he came home with a wet sail to come in just a smidgen under his handicap with a nett 67. When asked if there were any highlights from his group, he just replied that he was ‘awesome’. So there!
CraigC was in charge of the tail end charlies and, despite having to extricate Allan and his electric scooter from the bog a couple of times, he kept his act together (as well as the TECs) and came in in third place in the main competition with a 71 leaving a gap of four strokes from the second place. But he was also the first of the Seniors and he is now right up there sniffing at Gordon’s tail (in the Seniors Table, that is).
That four stroke gap could have been enough to tip the next two out of the points but it was not to be and Stef managed to get some points today though Ryan’s better placing today has put him within dagger distance of Stef’s back. And speaking about back, the Beast is back and he didn’t muck about bringing in a 72 to finish alongside Stef and in second place in the Seniors. Despite all the speculation as to why we hadn’t seen Bill for a while it seems the true story is he injured his fingers while trying somebody’s advice that you should be able to hit a golf shot with your eyes closed. Well, perhaps you should, but it pays not to hit the ground six inches behind the ball in the process. A couple of (most likely) broken finger joints was the result and though obviously healed there is a certain wonkiness to them. You have been warned!
Brendon and Mehmet were on tenterhooks as the cards kept coming in and they slipped further and further down the podium but they were saved by the gap (between Ryan and Craig) and hung in there to collect the single point for fifth.
The Nearest the Pin for a ball was on the 4th and despite the confusion still happening with the new ‘ball’ marker it was pretty much a no contest after Bill put it on in the first group. So, even better pickings for Bill on his first day back. The ProPin was on the 18th and a couple of people got their name on the card but the one on the bottom of the list at the end of the day was JohnQ who was close enough to win the money but obviously not close enough to get the birdie. Some unkind souls put his win down to the fact that he had removed his rather vivid fluoro rain jacket. Not a colour that is normally associated with the TeleTubbies despite some assertions otherwise.
The Birthday Birdie is going to be a bit busy this week with our erstwhile member Ben lining up for some Turkish cake and he will be joined by Harry who probably won’t be lining up for cake of any sort.
In the Ivanhoe Golf League, the results today were fairly clear-cut. The Tigers defeated the Saints 143-151, the Hawks defeated the Bulldogs 140-156 and the Blues defeated the Magpies 139-154. This leaves the Hawks and the Tigers fairly firmly at the top of the Ladder but they do play each other next week and, depending on the result, the minor premiership could be almost decided (or not). The Saints desperately need to win over the Magpies if they want to keep their Finals hopes alive and they would be really hoping for the Blues to beat the Bulldogs in their Round 18 clash.
Harry ended literally behind the eight ball on the 15th after two tee shots finished in effectively identical positions OOB. Makes it a bit tough to score from 5 off the tee. To add insult to injury, neither of the two balls found belonged but at least somebody else must have had equally bad shots if not in succession. Gordon played his second on the 17th from what was probably the best lie on the course, possibly because nobody has ever played a shot from the bottom of the path behind the coaching shed before. According to reports, Taner was also out and about exploring some of the hidden corners of the course.
The Annual Challenge Weekend is coming up and the plan is that those attending will pay their money to Gordon before-hand and he will settle the total bill (excluding drinks and other extras). Seems he wants to rack up some more frequent user points on his credit card. So if you can front up with $150 to Gordon over the next couple of weeks you’ll hardly need to spend a penny over the week-end.
Next week will absolutely and for certain see the finalisation of the Matchplay Championship. JohnQ will fight it out with Snags and Zimmer is scheduled to match up with David. Bring it on!
Results for Saturday, 01 August 2015
1st Andrew Petricola(65) 2nd Ryan Porker(67) 3rd Craig Cameron(71) 4th Stefan Belevski(72) 4th Bill Eastoe(72) 5th Mehmet Akdag(74) 5th Brendon Mitchell(74)