An improved turn out this week as a few familiar faces returned after a bit of a break. Scoring was good with some very competitive scores handed in, but as expected the new clubs have served Dennis W well who put in a consistent performance which resulted in first place overall on +4 points.
The three second placegetters coming in at +3 were Gordo, Michael and Dale, who played in the same group with Jason. It was actually Jason who turned heads and dropped jaws for most of the round with his tee to green game. Fresh off the back of some lessons from Ivanhoe club pro Chris, Jason was in brilliant form early in the round, hitting it miles off the tee and big high soaring iron shots going dead straight. He easily reaching the 6th in two and followed it up with a beautiful strike onto the middle of the green on the 7th. Unfortunately he three putted both greens and late in the round his chipping let him down, but watch out in future weeks because Jason looks a sure bet to kill his handicap of 21 very soon.
3rd place was shared by Stafan and JQ who, rumor has it, have a bit of a bromance going on. It could have something to do with the day’s biggest jaw dropping moment when Gordo, Michael, Jason and Dale were standing on the 10th tee. The thump of a ball dropping from a great height was heard about 5 metres away and two blokes standing on the first tee turned around with amazed looks on their faces and muttering various, WTFs, did you see that? It was Stef’s tee shot from the 9th, on the fly all the way to next to the 10th tee. If he’d hit it straight it would have flown the green!
The Priems brothers tied in 4th place with an even card, Rob was going quite well early on with two birdies on the first 3 holes but faded late. Targe and Jason tied in 5th place with -1 on the cards. The propin was on the 4th today (I think) and it was won by none other than Brendon. The ball hole was on the 12th and again the last group cleaned up as Mehmet put one close enough. There were 15 birdies in total, Matt Hunt had his share and carded 4 for the round but it didn’t help too much with his overall scoring.
Dale relished the opportunity to be out on the course instead of at work pumping concrete and he played well all day apart from an unfortunate wipe on the 16th that cost him the chance of what would have been a very well deserved first placing. His most spectacular half of the day came on the second where after some adventures down the 6th fairway off the tee and then a visit across the fairway towards the 11th tee with his second, he had a wedge in hand and one shot left for the half. He hit it so hard and skinny Michael was fearing for the cricket players in the oval behind, but somehow it hit the pin and dropped in! Easy half!
Gordo spent the first six holes whinging about how bad his game has been of late. Something about swaying and a dodgy back foot. It was quietly suggested he made like to change tack, smell the roses, enjoy the nice weather, and try something to fix the problem rather than just keep whinging about it. After scrambling a lucky half at the sixth he then proceeded to plus the next four holes, then sank a monster downhill putt for birdie on the 12th and looked every bit the winner. Unfortunately wipes at the 15th and 18th held him up from a better finish. Michael’s round was another grinding, dogged affair. Indeed the dogs got into the act at the half way mark where Michael spent some quality time chatting with three cute little dogs on the clubhouse steps. After a visit inside, Michael was less inclined to use the word cute to describe them. One of the three, a sausage dog, had managed to stick it’s head in Michael’s bag and steal his ham and salad roll. It was seen happily downing the ham and bread while the other two less enterprising dogs were sniffing and rejecting the salad leftovers. The owner was so embarrassed she bought Michael a new roll and chased him down the 10th fairway to deliver it, with dog in tow looking very pleased with itself.
We had a new prospective member today as Christian joined the ranks and put in his first card. Things were not going so well for him as on the 11th hole his ball could not be found. After a some time unfortunately it was located, wedged between two pieces of wood. See photo for evidence, it appears that the obstructions were placed there on purpose! Hopefully it does not deter him from coming back next week.
Reminder to all that the matchplay tournament is approaching so please register on the website. Also please refer to Gordons email about the trip away, which is scheduled for August 18th-20th at Shepparton golf club.
Results for Saturday, 11 February 2017
1st Dennis Ward(+4) 2nd Michael Gourlay(+3) 2nd Gordon Hill(+3) 2nd Dale Webb(+3) 3rd Stefan Belevski(+2) 3rd John Quinlan(+2) 4th Chris Priems(□) 4th Robert Priems(□) 5th Jason Hopkins(-1) 5th Targe Mifsud(-1)
Seniors Results: 1st Dennis Ward (+4) 2nd Gordon Hill (+3) 3rd Targe Mifsud (-1)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 4th Brendon Mitchell BallPin 12th Mehmet Akdag