For some the conditions were challenging. Brendon reckoned that it was the coldest day we’ve had yet. Targe reckoned that the greens were the complete opposite of last week (whatever that means). Gordon reckoned that the condition of the course is better than it used to be. Whatever the truth of the matter is, there were nineteen of us out there today fighting off whatever demons were infesting our brains while trying to play some reasonable golf. For a while there it looked as if reasonable would do but then along came SOS.
It seems that Stephen was veritably on fire, at least for the first nine holes which he managed to negotiate in just three over the card. Things got a bit slippery on the back and he took a couple more off the stick to end up with 10 over the card overall for a nett score of 65. This was more than enough to eliminate the rest of the hopefuls and the grasp the medal very firmly indeed. It has to be said that SOS must have been taking some lessons from Chrispy because, on at least three occasions, his ball headed comprehensively into the trees only to be flung back out onto the fairway by a fortuitous ricochet. The shot on the 17th was heading out of bounds for all money and though he could only manage a five on the hole there had been potential for a much higher score.
There is no evidence of collusion, but Stef and SOS played together and marked each others cards and, lo and behold, Stef came into second place with a nett score of 69, which is apparently Chrispy’s favourite number. Both Stef and SOS went close to slam-dunking for eagles on an unspecified hole with one pitch mark very close and the other extremely close. The return shots couldn’t have been that easy though as there was no hole where they both got birdie. The Beast is making a quiet run up the inside straight in the Championship race and gathered himself a swag of points in both the Open and the Seniors table with his tie for second today. He could have been a lot better placed if not for the seven on the 4th.
Snags joined us for the first time in a while today and he reckons he only came in third because he wasn’t eligible to win the Medal. His other stated reason for coming along was so that he could show Chrispy how to play and he certainly beat Chris by a fair margin. He also picked up his new Club shirt and proceeded to wear it over the top of his old one. As a result of the extra layers, people could not decide whether Snags had conditioned up or not. Still, he reckons if he lost weight he wouldn’t know where to swing the club.
Everybody knows that Mehm has a unique approach to making a golf shot though it has to be said that it can be remarkably effective even if he hasn’t won any sort of event since who knows when. Mehm actually does know when but he doesn’t want it made public just yet. Mehm was so keen to get onto the green at the 15th for the ProPin that he threw himself almost off his feet and went very close to landing flat on his back(side), much to Pepsi’s amusement. Michael and Targe joined Mehm on the fourth place podium and gracefully accepted the cheers of the crowd. Of course we are all aware of the competition between Chrispy and Brendon at the top of the table and today it was Brendon’s turn to win back a point on Chris. However, they had both better watch their backs if the Beast keeps up his smooth swinging ways. Bill is swinging so smoothly that Mehm reckons that when he grows up he wants to swing just like Bill. That’ll be a long time coming (Mehm growing up that is).
The BallPin today was set on the 12th and Harry cracked on to about 2.5m to hold out all comers (only just, it seems) to collect a ball. The putt was good enough to fall for the birdie which contributed to the total for the day of ten. Not a great number but maybe it says something about the conditions. There is a thing amongst some members known as a PBSU (or to give its full title – Post Birdie Stuff Up). And on the very next hole Harry managed to take four putts from less than 1m from the hole. Reports do suggest however that he might not have been alone in this regard. The ProPin was set for the 15th and with the tee well back and the pin reasonably well back it was not the easiest of targets. So much so, in fact, that it came down to the last player in the last group before somebody put the ball inside the circle. So, the man who collected the DoubleDivvie was Michael who finished 3.63m out. Michael did not add to the birdie total on this particular hole.
CraigC had a bit of strife on the 3rd and managed to place two balls outside the boundary fence which didn’t help his score a great deal. He did make up for it a bit on the 6th when he played some text-book golf to bring home a birdie. This didn’t help his Eclectic card and other moves were a bit thin on the ground. Brendon still holds the lead and has actually increased his margin slightly by dint of his handicap moving out.
CraigS shared a cart with Trev today and at one stage as they were coming up the hill from the 13th green, Chrispy decided to hitch a ride by standing on the back. Steering was a little difficult as the front wheels were off the ground but the path did get graded by the rear end scraping on the ground. Trev was a bit at sixes and sevens today. So much so that he had six sevens in a row on his card. He retrieved his card after he had submitted it to correct an error in addition of the half round totals which was fair enough but it did not fix the error in the summation of the hole scores.
Simon has been away on a road-show for three weeks and he just couldn’t wait to get his hands back on a club. It wasn’t Simon’s best day so maybe he shouldn’t have been so keen and he also had a bit of difficulty in totalling his scores across the halves. Snags seems to be a bit of a fan of Lydia Koh, but particularly the way she grips the club. When he took up a suggestion that he should try that technique, the result wasn’t pretty but, then, what can you expect from Snags. Noodles wasn’t too happy with the result of his drive on the 6th and sent his club after the ball to ‘fetch’. The fact that the club didn’t get as far as the red markers caused Michael to ask whether this fitted the definition of a draughtie. Probably not, and there were no other reports of enforced shouts either.
The Birthday Birdie has a bit to do this week. Harry will have to be sure not to get his whiskers burned and Pepsi will be able to share some cake with the kids. If ChrisV plays next week, be sure to give him a slap on the back and/or buy him a beer.
Next week is the Three Club Challenge and in case you don’t know or have forgotten, you are only allowed three clubs in your bag. Your choice – putt with your driver, drive with your putter or any combination in between. It’s not as tough as it seems and people have been known to break their handicap in this event. It pays to try as you will be playing for points (and handicap adjustment).
The week after will be a Social Day at Ivanhoe so those who play here can organise their own event. It would be nice to know who will be at IPGC so that we can do the management the courtesy of letting them know the likely numbers. The rest of us will be at Numurkah playing for the Annual Challenge Trophy. Gordon is organising a swag of associated events with Nearest the Pin on every par 3 and a nearest in two on one of the par 4’s. There will be a secret nine and who knows what else. Maybe Gordon will set it all out and advise beforehand. There seems to be a push for some people to get there early enough to play Shepparton on Friday.
Results for Saturday, 06 August 2016
1st Stephen O’Sullivan(65) 2nd Stefan Belevski(69) 2nd Bill Eastoe(69) 3rd Craig Sharp(70) 4th Mehmet Akdag(71) 4th Michael Gourlay(71) 4th Targe Mifsud(71) 5th Brendon Mitchell(73)
Seniors Results: 1st Bill Eastoe (69) 2nd Targe Mifsud (71) 3rd Harry Boughen (74)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 15th Michael Gourlay BallPin 12th Harry Boughen