The Club competition year is rushing pell-mell to a close and a number of events are coming down to the wire. The tension in some quarters is palpable and nervous flutters could very easily be affecting some people’s games. Despite the fact that most dashes had been left far too late, there were still 23 members out on the course today to try to keep their least favourite contender out of the points if possible. The course re-paid in spades with the fairways green and lush but forgiving enough to provide a bit of run for the nicely struck ball. The weather gods were in a benevolent mood and the sun shone down from a cloudless sky but with not enough intensity to raise the temperature beyond a comfortable level.
So, conditions were ripe for some good scoring and some good scoring did eventuate but the spread of good results was rather limited. The best on the day, with an off-the-stick score of 77, that missed being a personal best by the narrowest of margins, and a points score of +6 was none other than Simon. It seems that his extra games during the week and the back-yard practice are starting to pay off big-time.
Fairly hot on Simon’s heels was Dale, who played in his first competition today since qualifying for his handicap. The handicapper is beginning to think that the rules for handicap qualifying might need to be reviewed given the regularity of maidens getting up at their first outing. Dale was joined in second place by Joe who might yet rue not leaving his dash for a week in his quest for a medal to hang around his neck. Regardless, plus five is a score to be envied.
A couple of players who were looking on with envious eyes in third place were SOS and ChrisV who both played some steady golf and managed to play just under their handicap with a plus one result. Chris might have been hampered by a lack of sleep that seems to have been plaguing him since the recent addition to the family came home to bring joy to their lives. Fourth place was filled by a squad of four. Two guys who just happened to mark each others cards but to which coincidence absolutely no blame can be attached, were CraigC and Michael. Whitey was able to tear himself away from the cricket pitch for just one weekend and proved that he can keep his eye on the ball whether it be white or red (or pink or white). The man who claims to have scored points every time he has played this year kept true to his claim and Snags upped his total by a couple more today to round out the group of four squares. Plus, his claim is actually true with six games showing on the Championship Table and six scoring results. He has a bit to do to match the Beast’s record of almost three points per round played.
Chrispy thought he wasn’t going too well today and as he walked up the 10th he passed Michael and conceded that the prospect of third place in the Championship had slipped from his grasp. Michael obviously has his eyes on a greater prize but he might still have been affected by this piece of ‘good’ news when he shanked his second after one of his better drives of the day. Chris managed to score a point with his minus one card but the prospect of a podium finish in the main game is now well and truly out of reach. Chris was joined by the other Rod(G) and Stefan who seems to have tired of driving the 11th and is striving to emulate the feat on the 10th though today’s effort was a little astray out on the 13th.
The main Championship is now a strictly three horse race and the final placings will depend on the outcome of next week’s Stroke round with any one of the three, the Beast, Brendon and Michael able to come in with the top points for the year. That should prove to be an interesting group to follow next week and there might be a need for a referee in case the going gets a bit rough as the round progresses. The Seniors Championship has a winner as the Beast has an unassailable lead but there is likely to be a certain amount of elbowing going on for second and third place with Simon, Bob and Harry to fight that one out on the last day. There is still a bit of life left in the Eclectic as Brendon could be rolled by a well placed birdie from DennisW. The Beast and Rob will have to work hard on their nemesis holes for birdies or hope for the elusive eagle to cause the big upset.
On the subject of birdies, the strike rate was down a bit on last week and we managed only 14 for the day. The ProPin today was scheduled for the 12th and there was a marker there but it was the one without the tape. So, we don’t have a precise measurement, but a reasonably accurate estimate was put at 4.1m which allowed CraigC to beat out RodG for the Jackpot Pool so Craig should be able to feed the wive and kids tonight. The BallPin was on the 18th but somebody forgot to put the marker out (no names Ed) and, although there were several claims to have been on the green, it was declared that the BallPin would Jackpot.
The Birthday Birdie reports that there are no birthdays to report on this week and so he is taking a well earned break from his arduous duties of delivering best wishes to all and sundry.
The weather was good today and a number of players had their shorts on. One player didn’t have his shorts on but kept coming up short and that was CriagC. He tried to rationalise it by stating that he really needed to practice his 1-2m (and sometimes 3m) putts. Dale could have been in top spot today if it had not been for a wayward shot on the 17th that looked as if it could be lost/oob. His provisional was last seen heading for Dights Falls but luckily (?) the first ball was found but totally unplayable so there was no real joy there as shots went astray after the penalty. Snags also had some problems on the 17th. It seems that Craig tried sledging SOS who sledged right back by challenging him to put his into the pond. It took Snags a couple of shots but he did manage to do just that and put it in the pond.
Rob is a bit crooked on Blighty. Rob had been doing it a bit tough coming up the 6th and even his approach shot to the green was off-line and a bit over-done and it was heading straight for Blighty’s bag and buggy. Andrew rushed across and pulled the equipment out of the way of the ball which then flew unimpeded into the pond to ensure absolutely no chance of a score for Rob.
Targe has lashed out and bought himself a new pair of shoes using some of his ill-gotten gains in the inside competition. Targe got a bit concerned when he noticed a large letter W on the box and thought it meant that it might have meant that they were women’s shoes. He was somewhat reassured that it could very well mean ‘wide’ fitting. If anybody knows the true meaning of the W, keep it to yourself, we wouldn’t want Targe to know the truth.
Chrispy was in a generous mood this morning and volunteered to give three people a lift to golf this morning. Apparently it was a bit close and ‘whiffy’ when all and their gear was packed into the woneye express. And out on the course, Chris was complaining that his playing partners used up all his Priems-tree luck when their shots bounced nicely into the fairway while his trickled down the trunk and spun back to the base of the tree. The Beast was giving Brendon a bit of a ribbing about the fact that there is only one hole that he hasn’t birdied this year. It seems that a week or so ago, Brendon had a good chance to fix that little problem but let a 2.5m putt just slip by.
We were pleased to welcome a new member who joined us today though there is some confusion as to what his name really is. Initially, he was introduced as a long time member of the Royal and Ancient Company of Golfers by the name of Jock Strapp Then rumours started circulating that he was really a time-travelling Jacobite who was known through the ages as Phillip McCavity. An even more disturbing possibility came to light when the rumour mill suggested that it was actually Donald Trump on a mission to add to his collection of golf courses by buying out Royal Ivanhoe. And last, but not least, that it was actually and orang-utan that had defongerated from the Melbourne Zoo. After the wild speculations had died down, it was finally revealed that it was none other than Gordo, sporting another of his Oppe Shoppe finds and everybody agreed that his appearance was much improved as a result. There was also great general relief when it was revealed that his ambition to wear a girls school uniform as well was thwarted, firstly by a singular lack of willing school-girls and second, by an eminently sensible better half who absolutely forbade it.
Next week is the December Monthly Medal to finalise this year’s Championships. It is also the first round of the Strokeplay Championship. After the round, there will be the usual Club lunch and the Calcutta Auction for the Vin O’Meara Stakes to be run over the following two weeks. We have a number of scratchings (horses that will not be up for sale in the Auction) already and if you fit into this category, please advise Harry and or SOS as soon as possible to simplify the execution of the event and the accounting for the funds taken in and given out. Also note that if you opt out of the Auction, you can still play in the event, the calcutta will be determined by the placings of those horses that are sold.
Results for Saturday, 19 November 2016
1st Simon Powell(+6) 2nd Joe Wagenecht(+5) 2nd Dale Webb(+5) 3rd Stephen O’Sullivan(+1) 3rd Chris Vinecombe(+1) 4th Craig Cameron(□) 4th Michael Gourlay(□) 4th Craig Sharp(□) 4th Rodney White(□) 5th Stefan Belevski(-1) 5th Rod Grant(-1) 5th Chris Priems(-1)
Seniors Results: 1st Simon Powell (+6) 2nd Craig Cameron (□) 3rd Rod Grant (-1)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Craig Cameron BallPin 18th Jackpot