Now, Michael did say that he was going to run the tee marshalling a bit differently but it was a bit of a surprise to find him this morning settled at a table in the Pro Shop at a table piled high with ladies golf shoes on special. Turned out that our usual spot was off limits due to some ne’er-do-wells deciding they were hungry during the night, smashing in a window and defongerating with an armful of Gaytimes or something similar. Obviously, they were having a gay old time. Maybe it was the balmy night that addled their brain.
Conditions on the course were balmy and the sprinklers must have been off the greens since Thursday (when they were saturated) because they were firm and fast which brought more than a few unstuck with their short game. There was a bit of a northerly blowing and Chrispy’s view before the round was that a square card would be enough to win and so he played to get himself a place using that as his standard. As it turned out, a square card would have got you 5th place and Chrispy was well down the pecking order beyond that. So much for being a judge of the conditions.
Wind or no wind, Matt got himself onto the Championship table with a vengeance by taking out the event by a good margin and doing his handicap some harm with seven points on the plus side of the ledger. And his card included at least three on the debit side so he could have easily smashed it and finished with a par equalling round off the stick. Still, three over ain’t half bad and Matt should be thankful that we haven’t adopted Ed’s handicapping system.
Jason has been working permanent afternoon shift and has been taking his mornings to fit in some practice during the week with a nine holes here and a nine holes there. He reckons there was only one nine holes last week but it seems to have stood him in good stead as he was able to put in a pretty handy +5 to take out second spot. The handicap is sneaking down but this new lot of points has moved Jason to the top of the Championship Table but with nine people within a win of the top spot there is plenty of room for manoeuvre.
Targe was another one who had a bit of practice during the week and he reckons he was able to work something out and put it into practice. Whether it was that or just blind chance doesn’t matter as he was able to score well, particularly on the back nine, though when he faltered on the 17th, some unkind types cried handicap protection. In the end, +3 was enough for third place in the main game and also for top spot in the Seniors both on the day on on the Seniors Championship. Brent started well but tired a bit on the back to finish with +1 and 4th place. Damo and Noodles rounded out the points table for today, not quite making Chrispy’s predicted winning score and carding a -1 apiece. Noodles would have liked to have scored more than a plus for his effort on the 17th where he managed to raid the Eagles Nest and collected a nice little seven eggs just in time for Easter.
The BallPin today was on the 15th and it was fiercely contested with no less than three names on the card. In the end, Michael was the one to collect the ball on offer. And this was after he had extorted one from Ed for having forgotten to put the marker out last week. The Jackpot ProPin was on the 12th and Jason must have thought he was in with a chance but he was squeezed out by Keith who managed to finish his 2.43 m from the hole. Harry was disappointed to find his ball stopped 200mm short of the plug where the hole had been previously. The second ProPin on the 18th was a one-man show with Rob being the only one to get, just, close enough at 4.87 m (and barely on the green it might be added). Rob wasn’t able to get the birdie (or even the par) and so he did not contribute to the total of 15 that we managed throughout the day.
Round 1 on the Matchplay was completed with walkovers being awarded to Rob and Chrispy. Round 2 is well under way and there were three matches contested today. SteveK and the Beast did battle and with the handicap difference only two strokes it was very much an off-the-stick event. Bill got his nose in front at the 4th and never really looked back and although Steve fought something of a rearguard action in the middle of the back, the match went dormie at the 14th and a squared result at the 15th sealed the match for the Beast 4 and 3. Eddie and JohnQ fought it out long and hard and although John didn’t quite make into positive territory he held the match to square until the 14th but Ed eventually got up 2 and 1. The match between Damo and Stef promised much but, in the end, Damo was never much worried, even by Stef putting his drive on the 16th within a couple of metres of the green. Stef did win that hole to make the match dormie but Damo won the next to take the match 3 and 1.
Jason went close to snatching the Eagles Nest from Noodles by just coming up short for a Hole-in-One on the 4th. SOS swears that if the ball had bounced one more time it would have gone in. The birdie must have been a sure thing. But, as they say in the classics, close, but no cigar (or balls, or plaque). Targe did the presentations today (as the Club captain should) and there was not a single call for him to stand up. And, although he isn’t the longest pencil in the case, he still does cast a shadow and needed to be reminded to move aside on the green at one stage.
Blighty was mostly hitting his drives well today, except for the 17th where a chunked shot finished well short of the red markers. His technique of holding his right heel well off the ground might well be unconventional but it does seem to be not disadvantageous (for him, anyway). Chrispy was also spotted buying a round for a deviation on the 15th that did not result in a Priems recovery from amongst the trees. Damo had his short game going today, much to the exasperation of Stefan who opined that Damo could get up and down out of elephant dung (or words to that effect).
Some advice from Targe is that, if you don’t want your Club cap (or your head?) to turn purple, you should wear a hankie inside it (your cap, that is).
Results for Saturday, 08 April 2017
1st Matt Hunt(+7) 2nd Jason Hopkins(+5) 3rd Targe Mifsud(+3) 4th Brent Rowley(+1) 5th Stephen Butterfield(-1) 5th Damien Lee(-1)
Seniors Results: 1st Targe Mifsud (+3) 2nd Keith Delzoppo (-2) 3rd Bill Eastoe (-3)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 12th Keith Delzoppo ProPin No 2 18th Robert Priems BallPin 15th Michael Gourlay
Eagle’s nest Results: Eagle 17th Stephen Butterfield