There was movement at the station for the word had got about that the sand machine was here on last Thursday…… If the greens had been sanded, why hadn’t they been cored? Maybe, perhaps, because it was fertiliser as there was scant evidence of ‘sand’ on the greens as the round progressed. Perhaps the rain and watering had dissolved whatever had been spread. And looking at the greens, they seem to be in need of something with some nasty looking circular patches developing in places. At one stage there was quite a discussion about the fun guy on the green but it wasn’t Noodles that was the topic of discussion, it was the prolific crop of puffballs that was evident in several places.
But, perhaps, it should have been Noodles who was the topic of conversation because he was quietly stacking up the points into a pretty impressive total of 40 to take out the top spot in today’s competition. In a discussion about the vagaries and strategies of the game Noods came up with the stat that staying on the fairway was worth at least 8 points in a round. He certainly proved that today by staying pretty much on the fairway and, if it hadn’t been for the extra eight points that resulted, he would have been well down the field. He did complain about missing a birdie on the 5th (reckons it is a couple of years since he has had one) but he did score a couple of others and in doing so he contributed to the (fairly ordinary) total of ten that were carded for the day.
Stefan is noted for being able to smack the ball a country mile whether from the tee or from the fairway. He was spotted playing at least one long fairway shot which sort of suggests that the tee shot was not all that great. If it hadn’t been for one gash and five singletons, it is not hard to imagine that Stef could easily have filled the top spot instead of Noodles with 43 or 44 rather than his 38.
Now Bob wasn’t necessarily the happiest camper in the tent as he struggled with his short game and didn’t get a two pointer on the whole front nine. He did manage four three pointers though (as well as some singles). He also scored four three pointers on the back nine and those, together with a four and a swag of twos put him into third place with a total for the day of thirty-seven. He even complained about his drive on the 13th, probably his best struck all day, because it was ‘off line’ even though the left to right did bring it to a finish in the middle of the fairway.
Targe also had a few problems with aspects of his short game though some would argue that his whole game is ‘short’. At one stage after leaving a putt rather short of the length, he referred to himself as a particular sort of girl. This could be construed as a bit of a dangerous statement with Noodles in the vicinity. Anyway, the short and short of it was that Targe played to his handicap and put away 36 points for the day. He was joined on the podium by Jason who managed to score the only known draughtie of the day when he skied his drive from the 18th and it hit a branch on the big gum tree and came back 30m to finish short of the red tee markers. The excitement was almost too much for Damo who shouted to the world that he was about to be shouted. Whether it was down to the effect of this shot but Jason was noticed lining up a lesson with the Pro. So, watch out folks when the effects of this kick in after a few weeks.
Dennis Darklands filled out the podium and gathered his first points for the year with thirty-five of the best. Dennis started of the round well and put in the best front nine of the day but he seems to have faded a bit on the back. Maybe he is looking forward to his next Adele concert.
The ProPin today was on the 12th. Noodles must be short of a quid because his eyes lit up when it looked as if his ball had finished close to the pin. Although his pitch mark was closer to the mark, his ball had released just a little too far to be closer than the 1.85m that Dale was able to record on the marker. The BallPin was on the 18th and the only person able to get their name on the card was Ryan who is looking more like a pussy (or should that be cat) week by week.
DennisW is back after celebrating his birthday last week and he celebrated today by managing to get four four pointers on his card. He did manage to score on some other holes as well but, hey, if you have two point holes, why not make the best of them. Michael was also back on deck today and rumour has it that he was trying out a new piece of artillery in the form of a putter. Perhaps Sandy Claws was particularly kind to Michael. Gordon has probably finished his holiday down in the sand-dunes on the coast and was also front and centre today. He obviously hasn’t lost any of his touch as he was able to roll one down from the top tier on the 18th green and stay within gettable distance of the hole on the bottom deck.
On the other hand, Simon sorely missed his mid-week practice this week and is hell-bent to get in a round this Thursday. Reports of a four putt green probably did not help the cause. SOS spent a bit of time in the wilds on the right of the 11th and after one shot the club left his hands, not with the intention of placing it gently back in the bag with the rest of the set. Noodles reckons equipment abuse is his bailiwick. Damo has himself a FitBit and was giving his playing partners a running commentary on his heart rate as he played shots and climbed hills. Not sure how you look at your wrist while playing a shot but it could go some way to explaining some parts of Damo’s scorecard.
The Birthday Birdie has a few names on the list this week though a couple are a bit hard to track down. Rob should be pretty easy to give a slap on the back and buy a beer for if you so have a mind. StephenK might be a bit more difficult though we do see him from time to time. And, as for Tony, even Targe reckons he hasn’t seen him for some time. Regardless, the Birdie says have a happy one.
Gordon has confirmed that the Annual Challenge weekend has been booked in for Shepparton on 19/20 August – so pencil it in. We have to ante up a deposit by the end of January and, if we don’t call for expressions of interest (and contributions) before then, we probably will be soon after. Shepp is deemed to be partner friendly so it doesn’t have to be a weekend away with the boys. More details will be circulated in due course.
Results for Saturday, 14 January 2017
1st Stephen Butterfield(40) 2nd Stefan Belevski(38) 3rd Bob McDonald(37) 4th Jason Hopkins(36) 4th Targe Mifsud(36) 5th Dennis Tiernan(35)
Seniors Results: 1st Bob McDonald (37) 2nd Targe Mifsud (36) 3rd Dennis Tiernan (35)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Dale Webb BallPin 18th Ryan Porker