The southerly airflow and the morning showers have departed as a high moves in through the Bight and though the day started off a bit cool, the sun came out and warmed the cockles of the 20 members (and Joe Demir) who wended their way around the course that is still pretty dry despite the recent sprinkles. Maybe that’s the problem. That’s all they were, sprinkles. There was plenty of run on the fairways provided that you stayed on them but some of the greens seem to have suffered a bit of damage and the 4th, in particular, looked more like a bunker in places where sand had been spread to fill the craters. Birds or die-back?
Noodles didn’t show today and maybe it was because of the early warning of his birthday and he didn’t want to be overwhelmed by the good wishes. Have a good one Noodles. Or maybe he had an inkling that he didn’t stand a chance in the face of a blistering round from JohnQ. John smacked together a card of a nice round 80 off the stick that scored him a total of 5 Par points above the line and a nice cut to his handicap in the lead up to the Matchplay Championship. He’ll move up in the seeding as well so maybe the handicap difference won’t be so important. If it hadn’t been for a number of double bogies the bottom line could have been even better.
It must have been dark when Brendon dressed himself this morning as he seemed to be wearing the Australian One day colours rather than the Black Caps. Still, it didn’t seem to put him off his game too much, particularly after the caning his handicap got last week. One slight aberration saw him chunk his second on the 10th into the bunker but he still managed to square it. Just shows, quality will show through. So, a pretty impressive second place with +3 puts him well out in front on the Championship Table. He also scored four of the 16 birdies today and that also gave him a bit of a lead in the Eclectic. Just might be the Year of the Brendon rather than the Year of the Monkey (or both).
A further two points back were Pepsi and CraigC who played nice steady golf without really setting the world on fire. They were followed closely by Laurie, Robert and ChrisV who all managed a square card. Laurie really came home with a wet sail and made plus four on the last five holes. It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen Laurie on the course, so either the break has done him some good or he has been off practicing somewhere. Last, but far from least, was Blighty who managed to keep his composure to get a par on the 18th. Why should that be significant you might ask. Well, just as Andrew was lining up his putt, SOS piped up to ask whose buggy was trundling down the hill. Just as Andrew looked around, the buggy collided with a tree and capsized. But for that, it could have carried on and finished in the 17th pond or even worse. Andrew returned to aligning his putt and put it in before heading off to retrieve his new buggy that Santa had brought him for Christmas. None the worse for wear according to all reports.
Joe Demir made one of his casual appearances for the event today and proceeded to collect himself a ball from the BallPin on the 4th. The ProPin was on the 18th and nobody was able to get a shot within the requisite 5m although Brendon did manage to get it to 5.02m. Close, but no cigar. So, with a good roll-up next week, there will be a nice little bank-roll up for grabs.
Apparently Ed likes to cut the corner on the 10th and, last week, he managed to put two balls OOB across the 13th. Seems he tried to repeat the effort this week but didn’t quite succeed, his first stayed inside the fence. He did manage to keep DennisT amused though but Dennis didn’t have enough time to pass on the details. Simon has been practicing in the back yard at home and there is one window that he has hit several times but he has not broken it. Either it is made from toughened glass or Simon isn’t making very good contact with the ball. Perhaps it is the slippery grips that he reckons are giving him so much trouble.
The other Dennis(W) was the only one to own up to a draughtie today and his playing companions seemed very gratified to be partaking of his generosity. The happy event took place on the 8th and apparently the only members that didn’t witness the event were those that were in front of the group in the field. Targe had to dash off early as he had to get home to see a Ghost. No, he’s not hallucinating again, he’s been given tickets to Ghost, the Musical. Hope you enjoy it Targe, the critics didn’t, but what would they know.
The poor old Eagle has been having a hard time of it of late and she almost lost her sole egg again today after Ryan put his 3-wood drive onto the green on the 11th and then missed the gettable putt by mere centimetres. Still, one ball is hardly worth winning, but it would have helped the Eclectic. Mehmet has got himself a new job but he strongly denies that it is a part in Here Come the Habibs. He might be trying to emulate the Habibs as he was bragging about some bet he has made that is going to pay 1000 to 1 odds when it gets up. Keep your eyes peeled on Facebook when Mehm says ‘I told you so’.
The membership subs have been rolling in but there are still some outstanding. If your subs aren’t paid by next week, then you will not be eligible for the Matchplay Championship and if not by the week after, you will be ineligible for competition in Club events as well. Payments by Bank Transfer are preferred but if you wish to withdraw some cash from under your mattress then that will be accepted as well. If you do a bank transfer, make sure you put your name on the receiving account so that we know who it is from.
The AGM is on the following week and all Committee positions are available for contest. The nomination form is available on the website under Forms on the right side panel of the page. To have the Club managed the way you would like it to be, you should be on the Committee. Don’t delay, do it today.
Results for Saturday, 20 February 2016
1st John Quinlan(+5) 2nd Brendon Mitchell(+3) 3rd Craig Cameron(+1) 3rd Andrew Petricola(+1) 4th Laurie Mannix(□) 4th Robert Priems(□) 4th Chris Vinecombe(□) 5th Andrew Blight(-1)
Seniors Results: 1st Craig Cameron (+1) 2nd Laurie Mannix (□) 3rd Andrew Blight (-1)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Jackpot BallPin 4th Joe Demir