There were fifteen members eligible for the Champion of Champions and all but a couple turned out for the fray despite the threatened heat-wave conditions. No only that, but another seven turned out for the Chump of Chumps and one even brought along a new member. So a big welcome to Greg Harris who doesn’t have a handicap but plays like he should have a fairly serious one if his first card is anything to go by. Fortunately, there was a bit of high cloud that hung around and probably helped to keep the conditions a little less sapping, at least until the round was finished and the air-conditioning and cool drinks could be thoroughly enjoyed. But, there was a certain amount of gnashing of teeth going on because we managed to card 18 birdies and one eagle which would have counted nicely into the Eclectic table early in the season. However, as it was a declared Social day, there were no points, no handicap adjustment and no improvement to the Eclectic. The eagles nest was raided and Chrispy collected four balls for his effort on the 3rd. Apparently, he has done it there before with a slam-dunk but this one required a couple of bounces to ensconce itself into the hole. Pepsi reckons he called it as soon as it left the club, or maybe a bit after, but who’s counting.
In the end, the man who did it easy, regardless of whether the event was Stroke or Stableford was JohnQ who seemed pretty pleased with his swag of silver-ware from what had been a interrupted campaign what with all his gallivanting around the globe. It seems that he will be off again shortly and so his smiling face will be missing from our ranks again – until he wants to come back to win some more trophies. And he got off scot-free with a break of four strokes and a win. Still, if a man in the legal trade can’t make the system work for you, who could.
Pepsi also had a little break with his 38 and if he hadn’t taken nine holes to warm up then he could easily have been hoisting the trophy. A two under par on the back nine is a fine performance in anybody’s terms. And that included a couple of one point results. Targe, Ed and Dennis were just the single point behind Pepsi. Dennis had his ups and downs during the round both in golfing parlance and in form. Plus, he had what must the the conundrum of the day with his ball finishing in a most unusual position from his tee shot on the 5th. Still, he managed to play it as it lay and managed a creditable 6 on the hole
Chrispy and Trev rounded out the list of those who might have had a vague chance of putting in a claim for glory in the Champion of Champions. Meanwhile, in the second division, better known as the Chump of Chumps, Harry and Simon led the field with a fairly respectable 34 points. Simon was consistent between halves but Harry had to recover from a fairly disastrous front nine that netted only 11 points. A PB-equalling back nine saved the day but all those pars and birdies have gone to waste. After last week’s victory, Brendon was off the pace just a little but his beady little kiwi eye has that look in it that he just might mean business this year. Blighty was right there alongside Brendon.
Michael is still having a little problem from his shoulders but has a bit of trouble restricting his back-swing from its usual fullness though it does seem that there has to be a bit of pain to make an effective shot. A small outburst on the 13th after a ‘chunked’ shot that finished on the green had his partners wondering what the source of the disappointment was. Bob also had some problems on the 13th and he had to call for his driver (Trev) to pass him another ball after the first disappeared, presumably, into the hazard. The fate of the second ball was also a bit unclear from a distance.
Chrispy reckoned he was thinking of building a aviary on account of all the birds that Pepsi was gathering on the back nine. Ryan also scored a bird on the 17th after his tee shot looked to be heading for the Yarra except for an intervening tree that pushed it back into play. A pitch onto the green and a putt sealed the deal. So, whilst he didn’t finish anywhere today, at the end of the day it looked like he might need a small truck to get his trophies home and almost certainly will be looking to an extension on the mantel-piece.
It was decided to have two ProPin competitions today and the selected holes were the 12th and the 18th. As is often the case, one of them, to whit the 12th, went to the Eddie Benevolent Fund. The other, to a very trickily placed hole on the 18th, went to Yours Truly. At least, that is what was announced but it seems that this is an alias favoured by President Pepsi.
The Christmas lunch, catered by the IPGC kitchen went down a treat with quite a few members noted going back for seconds. Some might even have been tempted by dessert, if there had been any. The numbers at the festive table were augmented by some extras from the injured list or who thought that the weather conditions might have proved too arduous.
So, one year is finished, another has started. Subscriptions are due and will be the same as last year. $20 for Club plus $90 more for those who have GolfLink handicaps with the Club. Bank transfer details are on the web-site under the Contacts menu. Include your name on the details for the receiving account so that we know who it is from. An email (to the Club or SOS) notifying of the transfer would also help to keep records up to date.
Next week is a Social round and will be a Par event. We have a few spots reserved but please advise your intentions so that we can do the right thing by the Course management. The following week will be the January Monthly Medal so don’t play up too much NYE.
In the meantime have a happy Christmas with you and yours and all the very best for the coming year, both on and off the course.