‘Hasn’t rained in Melbourne for 42 days, why does it have to be this Saturday’ was a cry that went up from one of the 24 players that made it to the tee this morning. There should have been more but there was a footy match last night, the bureau did forecast rain and maybe a bit of a lie in was just too appealing. But the rain did arrive and everyone pressed on for a while but then the lightning and thunder started, the siren across the river sounded and most people headed more or less for the Clubhouse. So, a few groups managed to finish the round but the majority did not and a decision was taken that the event would be decided over 27 holes as all groups had passed the halfway mark. As a result, your reported scores for today might look a bit odd (the computer has to have numbers) but rest assured that any eclectic scores from the back nine have been taken into account.
Rod commented during the week that he was in an unaccustomed position in being a member of the last group to tee off in a Major. He was also a bit disheartened after his round on Thursday and so he repaired to the course on Friday for a bit of practice around the green on his chipping. The little tune up must have worked to get his confidence back as he put in another blistering start to post 22 points on the front nine. This included a chip in for par on the second so the short game was really working.
In the lead up to the presentation Rodger thanked the members for the turn up for Stuart and repeated his ambition to get his name on the trophy sometime soon. Rod responded that it was indeed an honour to win the trophy, his first Major win in ten years of membership. President John told a little story of a ‘run-in’ with Stuart in his early days but, just to prove that there were no hard feelings, he announced the Club’s decision to grant Life Membership to Stuart in recognition of his contribution to the Club.
Fairly obviously, the results last Saturday were no ‘flash in the pan’. Keith was again in fine form and seemed to be able to do little wrong to post 21 points for the nine and, in the process, reclaimed second spot after his relegation last week. Blighty managed 18 points and that dropped him back into 3rd place. David was also doing well and moved up a spot from 5th last week to 4th today. Allan, on the other hand was a bit off the mark and dropped a couple of spots. He was joined by the big movers of the day with John and Craig jumping a couple of spots from out of the pack to share the last spot on the podium.
The BallPin today was on the 4th and there should have been no excuses, at least none based on the weather conditions at that time of the day. Trees did influence some outcomes with Chrispy beginning to think the his ‘lucky’ relationship with trees might be coming to an end. Long story, short, Porks was the first and only name on the ticket and he collected a ball for his trouble. The first ProPin was on the 12th and pretty much everybody had a shot at it and so the money went to the Beast after it was decided that the lack of a distance on the card did not merit disqualification (this time). The second ProPin on the 18th was declared a Double Jackpot as nobody that completed was within distance and the majority of the field did not have a shot. Big bucks next week!
In the half round that was counted, we managed to make 6 birdies although there were some on the back nine that missed out. There were two on the 17th under fairly exceptional circumstances. The green was water-logged with the hole surrounded by water with no chance of relief. Conventional putts were failing miserably and so Damo opted to use his wedge from about 3m and plonked the ball into the hole for birdie. This inspired Gordo, who also took out his wedge and repeated the dose. Must have been Gordo’s day on the wedge as he chipped in on the 5th from over the bunker.
There was one Matchplay match decided this week. SOS and ChrisV declared ‘game on’ during the week and expectations were that there would be some ‘fireworks’ involved. However, it seems that they were very polite and restrained and the low key nature of the contest went close to rivalling the match last week. It looked like being an even match early taws but as the game progressed SOS got the upper hand and in the end just squaring holes was not good enough for Chris and SOS was victorious 5 and 4. Two more matches in Round 1 and two more weeks to get them played. Round 2 matches can be played if both parties are agreeable.
The bar-be-que was set up in the back passage and Chrispy did a great job, almost single-handedly, to both cook and clean up afterwards. There were no reports of him being anatomically singed, as, apparently, is wont to happen with his bar-be-que at home. There were a few snags, bread and onions left over but the catering was really pretty close and the food was enjoyed by all.
The rain played havoc with more than peoples game. Water seems to have made its way into the controls of Simon’s electric buggy and it developed a mind of its own and ignored all attempts at operation of the controls. It was quite a sight as Simon struggled to disconnect the battery as the buggy wheeled itself around in ever decreasing circles with Simon in hot pursuit. Allan also had some troubles as Thunderbird II lost traction on the hills but he did manage to make it back safely. Allan has also been making some changes to his swing and on one shot today he reckons he hit the ball 30m further with a particular club that usual. Only trouble was, it wasn’t his ball. And, he had been told so before he hit it. By the person whose ball it was.
David was out monstering the ball again. His drive on the 6th, possibly with a bit of a wind assist, came to rest just 70m short of the green. A massive hit in anybody’s books. Porks also made some good contact with the ball and was admonished for ‘laying up’ on the 5th when he finished about 30m short but his big hitting brought him undone on the 13th and 14th with successive OOBs. ChrisV was using an umbrella to keep off the rain but it seems that every time there was a flash of lightning, he quickly passed it to somebody else. Though, after the lightning has flashed, it is probably a bit late for evasive action.
Results for Saturday, 24 March 2018
1st Rod Grant(41, 22, 63) 2nd Keith Delzoppo(39, 21, 60) 3rd Andrew Blight(40, 18, 58) 4th David Mullenger(36, 21, 57) 5th Craig Cameron(33, 19, 52) 5th Allan Davies(39, 13, 52) 5th John Quinlan(33, 19, 52)
Seniors Results: 1st Rod Grant (41,22,63) 2nd Keith Delzoppo (39,21,60) 3rd Andrew Blight (40,18,58)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 12th Bill Eastoe ProPin No 2 18th Jackpot BallPin 4th Ryan Porker