No names, no pack-drill but Chrispy was gloating a bit this morning about the possibility of easy points from a small field. That was until the late rush started and the field of members cranked up to seventeen. The addition of a couple of ex-members in the persons of Derek McDonald and Jason Gratton brought the total field to nineteen. The event has some significance for Derek as Fred was his father-in-law and Derek actually won the event some years back after which he chucked his clubs back in the bag and retired from the Club. Rumour has it that the lads could be planning a comeback if some real estate deals can be done. Always welcome whatever the circumstances.
Normally we would have expected the field to be filled but a couple of family matters, in particular the arrival last Monday of Madeleine Sophia Petricola, kept a couple away and the finish of the football season means that the summer game has conspired to draw a few others away from the course. Not our Noodles of course who apparently signed up for the season and then pulled the plug. Whether the team can get by without him remains to be seen and he has been known to make a comeback before.
Conditions were verging on the magical today if a little warm and humid. So much so that the weather gods made a desultory effort at sending down some rain. Umbrellas and jackets were unfurled but it lasted less than half a hole so hardly worth the effort and surely not enough to keep Blighty out of the garden to be faced with the alternative of house-work. Maybe it was the heavy air but there were not a lot of birdies reported today with the total coming in at nine. Bill reckons this shot should have been a birdie if the ball marker hadn’t got in the way but, to have had enough legs to get to the hole, surely it wouldn’t have come to rest where it did. The ball marker did get moved closer to the hole in a later group and Brendon was the grateful recipient of the ball for the Nearest the Pin. The ProPin was on the 18th and 4.5m was close enough to put the hand up for the dosh and the hand that went up was none other than that of Noodles. Never backward in coming forward when it comes to money (or the other thing).
Despite the lack of birdies, there were a couple of Eagle chances today but the big bird breathed a sigh of relief not to have the nest raided again so soon. On the 17th, the Beast had a great chance of emulating Brendon’s performance of a couple of weeks ago by leaving his drive about 1.5m short of the hole. The putt was long enough but just that bit off line. The other chance was with Ryan on the 14th but not only did he miss the eagle putt but he ended up not scoring on the hole at all – that makes at least 4 putts.
So then, who are the contenders in this the last double header of the competition year. Trevor had his fair share of ‘oh my gosh’ and ‘oh my gollies’ but still managed to make good use of his double points to keep on the right side of square to come in with a +3. Harry joined him him there after having gotten carried away by Blighty’s excitement and forgot about the fact that his handicap was actually 18 and that he only got one stroke on the 13th. So, whilst it might not have been five plusses in a row on our card, it was on the inside card and almost, but not quite a PB for the back nine. Breathing down their necks and still hoping for the easy points is Chrispy (the fake Priems according to Mehm) just a single point behind on +2. Would be good to be a fly on the wall with that group next week.
Next train out of the station was a group of Seniors (making five of the first six from those ranks) with Keith and Taner on +1 and Gordon with a square card. Brendon also had a square card and he will join this group. Gordon is still in the soft shoes and keeping his weight on the good foot and this group are not without their chances of finishing at the front of the pack.
Noodles and Simon on -1 will be joined by Mal and the Beast with their -2. The front two groups, to be filled by extras who didn’t play today will consist of Mehmet, AndrewB and Ryan and Zimmer, Robert and CraigC. The full listing of scores appears on the Major Event Leaderboard menu.
Trevor was looking for a hammer or jack-hammer a couple of times today when the subsoil on some of the tees was something like the consistency of concrete. Mal was sporting a nasty looking bruise on his forehead that resulted a couple of days ago when he walked smartly out of a door in a building and turned immediately right and smacked into the glass wall of the lobby that he had entered. The glass was not damaged by the encounter though Mal’s pride undoubtedly was.
Blighty reckons that his tee shot on the 11th must have hit a rubber tree when it came so far back up the 2nd that he thought he was in danger of not making it past the ladies. To rub salt into the wound, the group coming down the 2nd asked him about five times whether he was sure it was his ball or not. Rob, presumably the non-fake Priems, likened his game today to be akin to a run of ducks by one of the Chappells – he was hitting the ball well but he wasn’t scoring. The Beast is known the generate a fair amount of club head speed with his down-swing, so much so that Chrispy is concerned that one day his arms will pop out of their sockets and all we will see will be a pair of arms gripping a club sailing down the fairway.
There were some pests out on the course today in the form of tiny flying insects and they were particularly prevalent on the 9th green causing some to think they were seeing spots before their eyes and interfering with their putting stroke by settling all over the ball. Not wanting to tell tales on a guest but apparently Derek upended his bag twice on the 17th. Opinion was divided as to whether this was just clumsiness or whether he just couldn’t find the right club without doing so.
So, any number of contenders for the big prize next week. Even if you didn’t play today, come along and join the fun and participate in the usual bar-b-que that Gordon will be catering in his usual gourmet style. Casual attendances will fill the spots in the front groups (and/or create new groups). Pepsi will undoubtedly bring along snaps of the new addition and she will have to count for a wish from the Birthday Birdie this week as the calendar seems to be empty of auspicious occasions just at the moment.
Results for Saturday, 10 October 2015
Leaderboard Round 1 1st Harry Boughen(+3) 1st Trevor Jackson(+3) 2nd Chris Priems(+2) 3rd Keith Delzoppo(+1) 3rd Taner Kemal(+1) 4th Gordon Hill(□) 4th Brendon Mitchell(□) 5th Stephen Butterfield(-1) 5th Simon Powell(-1)