Well, things were a little brisker out on the course this morning. Yes, the temperature was a bit lower than it has been in recent times, but the main source of the briskness seemed to be in the pace of play. There was some waiting on tees but that was mostly because people were keeping up rather than lagging behind. So, keep up the good work, practice your time saving procedures and, who knows, we might be able to get it down even further. All in all there were 20 happier campers this week, none less than Whitey who observed that he was starting his second beer rather than still being out on the course at the same time of day. That was by the clock of course, rather than by the position of the sun relative to the yard-arm, given that we all got an extra hour of sleep last Sunday and we were back to earlier tee times today.
When he had his last win a little while ago, Targe had been complaining about wanting his handicap let out as he hadn’t been playing anywhere near to it. Rumour has it that he made a few attempts not to play to it again today. There were at least three shanked chips and on the 4th his tee shot mustn’t have been too far from a draughtie as he was on the path 110m out (according to reports) and the hole is only 121m (according to the card). A putter shot still left him 10 m short but another putt went to 50mm for an easy as you like 4 and 2 points. Despite the trials and tribulations, Targe had a very balanced round with 19 points on each half for his winning total of 38 and a new handicap to complain about.
While on the subject of draughties, there was one of the better ones for all to see on the first tee. Not sure what DennisW did but the ball departed almost at right angles to the line and hit one of the buggies parked on the path beside the teeing area. The ball finished back on the tee ground about 4m in front of the point of departure. Targe seemed to be quite enjoying the drink so kindly provided by Dennis as a result. Targe also collected the top points in the Seniors Championship.
Michael was back on the tee today after a bit of nip and tuck to restructure his abs but he steadfastly refused to show his new ‘six-pack’. Now, it would have to be said that the first shot of the day was not one of his better ones and he had to negotiate some trees for his second. But, he managed to regain his ground and settled for a bogey. But after that the pars and birdies kept rolling in and he finished the day with 37 points to put his hands on the second place points. If the reinforcements that the surgeon put in have stabilised his swing, watch out when he has a bit more practice.
Harry was with a group today that had quite a discussion about Ernie (Els, not the fastest milkman in the west though he did come into the conversation a few times). Anyhow, the group decided that any putt from under a metre that slid by the hole would be called an Ernie. And there were quite a few of them on the cards by the end of the round. Harry’s collection of Ernies managed to turn several potential three point holes into singletons. As a result, the total for Harry at the end of the day was 36 points and enough for a third place spot. The card included a couple of birdies and a couple of strokes off the Eclectic card as well. The whole field managed to put together 10 of the little featheries today, including one from Brendon who also improved his Eclectic card as a result and he now has a four stroke lead on the field. Surely, somebody will start catching him soon.
The report card for the next two place-getters probably should read ‘could have done better’. John and Simon both left blanks on their card mixed in with a scattering of singles but they still manged to gather 35 points to secure 4th place by a bit of a margin. A couple of points further back was Blighty who didn’t really set the world on fire on the front nine but managed to keep his head well down for eight of the back nine and slip into fifth place.
The second round of the matchplay is now under way and this round has to be completed by/on the 7th of May. The table is up on the web-site so check out who you have to play and get organised. We don’t want the Walkover family dominating this round as well as the first. Anyway, one pair managed to get together today and play their match. Eddie and Brendon battled it out and it almost appears that the least worse score on each hole carried the day. Still, it is the best player on the day that wins the match and today, that turned out to be Ed, 4 and 3. The Match was dormie after the 14th but, with no strokes left, Brendon would have to have really lifted to push for a square and a chip-off so a squared result at the 15th was enough to give Ed the Match.
After a bit of confusion early taws about which hole was going to be the ProPin and which was going to be the BallPin, one thing was announced but the markers were put out, before the round, on the opposite holes. Anyway, the BallPin was on the 4th and nobody got particularly close, but Harry got close enough to squeeze out Ed by about half a metre to collect the ball.
The ProPin on the other hand was on the 18th. Bob had decided that today was the day to bring out one of his spare sets of clubs and, to say the least, some of his comments during the round about the worth of said clubs were less than flattering. Come the 18th, Bob fairly cracks one off the tee and it looks to be heading straight for the pin and likely to finish pretty darned close. Walking up the hill, the Beast wondered whether he should run ahead and knock it in so that Bob would be persuaded to shout. Discretion was the better part of valour as Bill couldn’t think of a way to break it to Bob what had happened without endangering his life. But, as it turned out, if Bob had hit the ball just that little bit harder there is every chance that such skullduggery would have been unnecessary. As it turned out Bob was glad that it wasn’t an ace so that he didn’t have to shout the bar. Easy birdie and easy money.
Chrispresident was seen consulting with the local (golf) Pro about the set-up of his new driver and fairway wood and while the first shot wasn’t necessarily the best, by the end of the day the reports were that things were going pretty well, all things considered. However, Chris reckons that his old irons got themselves in a bit of a huff with the new kids in the bag and were misbehaving like spoiled children. There was also a bit of an experiment going on with a new wedge that added to the angst. All in all, he finished lurking in the nether regions of the field.
While on the subject of nether regions, the question was asked by one of our newer members – what was the lowest Stableford points score ever recorded with the club. A search of the database suggests that you would have to plumb the depths of single figures to claim that record and nine is the lowest on record though there is anecdotal evidence of an even lower one. But, if it happened, it does not appear in the database.
Brent played his first official competition round today and his first shot caused Chris and Rob to remind him that he was now in competition and not just playing for his handicap. He obviously took some notice and finished the round better placed that either Rob or Chris.
What does occur in the database, for most people anyway, is a record of your date of birth and as a result the Birthday Birdie will be out and about spreading good wishes to RodG and SOS in the coming week
Results for Saturday, 09 April 2016
1st Targe Mifsud(38) 2nd Michael Gourlay(37) 3rd Harry Boughen(36) 4th Simon Powell(35) 4th John Quinlan(35) 5th Andrew Blight(33)
Seniors Results: 1st Targe Mifsud (38) 2nd Harry Boughen (36) 3rd Simon Powell (35)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 18th Bob McDonald BallPin 4th Harry Boughen