The were a few notable absences from the list of regulars, probably due to the attractions of a long weekend, including Anzac Day, but these were more than compensated by some new and not so new faces on the course. George was here again, making his presence felt and Matt put in his second appearance. A real blast from the past was Dick (Hall in case you had forgotten) who is promising to make a comeback, until, of course, the ‘flannelled fools’ start whispering in his ears again as next summer approaches. No shame in being an all-rounder by any means. Welcome to the Club chaps. As a result, we had a fairly good field with a total of twenty players trying their arm for the points and, in several cases, their place in the next round of the Matchplay.
For many it was to no avail that they toiled but it seemed that it was a bit of a cake-walk for Bob who pressed on with his passage through quite a purple patch to take the honours for the day with a pretty impressive 39 points and this with a freshly minted handicap after recent high placings. When asked what the secret formula was, Bob put it down to generous helpings of gummi bears, which he very generously offered around the gathered members. Few seemed convinced of the efficacy of this approach as there were few, if any, takers. They probably wouldn’t have tasted very nice after/with a beer for most. Regardless of what the secret is, Bob is now top cockie on the Seniors Championship Table and is in a strong position to claim top spot on the Open Championship Table as well.
The Beast seems to have taken a leaf out of Chrispresidents book and was using the trees to great advantage to keep his ball in play and he used that advantage to accumulate 37 points at the end of the round. In the process, he put his tee shot on the 15th to within a metre (0.9m to be exact) and fairly covering the hole to take out the ProPin. For some reason, he didn’t manage to sink the birdie putt but perhaps that wasn’t so unusual today as the whole team only managed to make 6 for the day. Some said the green were good, Bob, it seems, was able to sink them from anywhere, including off the green. Some were less happy with the condition though, on a number of occasions, the furry cup lips could easily have brought the ball in rather than left it out. Perhaps the tally tells the story (or not). On the other Nearest the Pin event, it was Trevor who managed to put it onto the 18th to get his name on the card and to collect the BallPin trophy for the day.
As mentioned last week, George has been quick to make his mark since qualifying for his handicap, so much so that he presented to the judges again this week and very cunningly arranged it so that he lost no more handicap by playing to his new mark with 36 points. George was joined on that score by Ryan who is also doing his best to protect his current handicap. And, while on the topic of new-comers leaping into the lime-light, Matt obviously re-appraised the course and turned around his performance from last week to make an almost handicap matching score of 35 points.
Noodles claims to have pretensions in relation to the Championship at the end of the year, but he will have to pick up his scoring rate from the single Championship Point that he scored with his card of 34 of the Stableford kind.
There were five Matchplay matches in the second round finalised today and several were close and a couple were not so close. Our daily winner, Bob was involved in a tussle with one of our daily third place-getters, Ryan who looked to be gone for all money half way through the back nine. However, he came back strongly and managed to have the match square after the 17th. He made more of a mess of the 18th than Bob did and the match finished with Bob winning 1 up. The same bottom line was produced in the match between Chrispresident and JohnQ with the scoreline favouring John for all of the card but with Chris managing to bring it back to be able to square the match with a win on the last. Unfortunately, it was not to be, as he could only square the 18th to give the match to John.
Trevor and SOS were well matched on the day with neither of them setting the world on fire as far as the main competition went. However, on the matchplay front they turned out to be well matched even thought SOS did appear to have the upper hand half way through the back nine. Trev made a big come-back, including his BallPin winning shot on the 18th, to square the match and the result had to be decided by a chip off. Trev left himself a long putt that was a bit off line which opened the chance for SOS with about three metres to traverse after his chip. In a display that belies the rest of his scorecard, SOS rattled it in easily to shut Trevor out and to take the match.
Damo and Rob played an almost one-sided match which Rob took out 4 and 3. Rob promptly collapsed over the last three holes causing no little angst to Damo and some questions relating to Rob’s intentions in relation to his handicap. In fact, if Rob hadn’t won on the 15th, Damo could easily have (won, that is). The Beast and Whitey looked to be well matched for the first nine or so holes but after the 12th, the Beast put his head down and won the match convincingly, also 4 and 3.
The Birthday Birdie is going to be busy this week with Ryan and Whitey sitting down in front of a cake decked out with birthday candles. Neither have to disable the fire alarms just yet. Another big celebration this week is the lot of Steve who is off globe-trotting somewhere to get himself married. No wonder he hasn’t been answering his e-mails. Congratulations and best wishes from all your mates at Ivanhoe, Steve.
Michael is still having a few problems with his shoulder and his game was off a little today. He thought the ProPin on the 15th might offer some consolation and when that didn’t eventuate, he tried for the eagle at the 17th. The chip came up short and even the birdie putt missed so there was little consolation indeed.
There was a loud shout of ‘Fore’ from the 8th fairway and Damo, in mid-swing on the 9th tee, could do little but finish his shot and adopt a defensive crouched position. The ball bounced between his feet and struck him on the wrist. At Damo’s, tempered, request to know who was responsible, all fingers pointed to JohnQ. Talk about dobbers! It seems that, from a distance, it appeared that the ball had disappeared into Damo’s fundament and there was a question asked if there was any chance to get the ball back.
Chrispresident was completely fitted out with his new weapons of self-destruction for the first time today and the result was deemed for be on the side of promising. There was just one caveat in that the grips didn’t feel ‘grippy’ enough. And, while on the subject of grips, RodG has a new putter with a ‘fat’ grip. There have some promising early signs but there was no effect on the ‘airie’ that Rod managed while trying to extricate himself from some ‘reedy’/’tufty’ growth. Harry convincingly shank his tee shot on the 15th into the trees to the left of the tees and one of them generously deposited the ball back in bounds and in the open on the front tee but well short of the red markers and the shot had to be classified as a draughtie, for the record.
RULE OF THE DAY.
Rule 18-1: Ball at rest moved by an outside agency
If a ball at rest is moved by an outside agency, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced. If a ball to be replaced under this Rule is not immediately recoverable, another ball may be substituted. An outside agency is any agency other than the competitors side, any caddie of the side, any ball played by the side at the hole being played or any equipment of the side. A player from another player group is an outside agency.
Thus, if a player from another group plays on with the wrong ball from another playing group and this fact is positively known and the spot from which the ball was moved can be positively identified, the owner of that ball is entitled to play a new ball from the spot without penalty. Obviously, the player who played the incorrect ball would be subject to the appropriate penalties.
It is a question of fact whether the ball has been moved by an outside agency. In order to apply this Rule, it must be known or virtually certain that an outside agency has moved the ball. In the absence of such knowledge or certainty, the player must play the ball as it lies or, if the ball is not found, proceed under Rule 27-1.
Results for Saturday, 23 April 2016
1st Bob McDonald(39) 2nd Bill Eastoe(37) 3rd Ryan Porker(36) 3rd George Tenaglia(36) 4th Matt Hunt(35) 5th Stephen Butterfield(34)
Seniors Results: 1st Bob McDonald (39) 2nd Bill Eastoe (37) 3rd Malcolm Fleming (29)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 15th Bill Eastoe BallPin 18th Trevor Jackson