The weather was so nice today that a kangaroo (not a Shin-boner) came out to check out the delights of Old Ivanhoe. He stopped in the middle of the 6th and coughed loudly and in the process put Chrispy off his shot. I wonder if this will be an omen for the footy match that Chris and Brent, his North Melbourne supporting son-in-law, were rushing off to watch. Other Collingwood supporters in the club were taking heart from the carolling that a group of magpies were making on another part of the course. Could this be another omen. Only one can be right. Time will tell. Regardless of the omens, there were 20 players out on the course with 18 competing for the Fred Howe and two guests competing for their handicaps. Peter has put in his third card and now has his handicap, just a fraction too late to be eligible for this event. Ken Watson, a good mate of Rob, came along and put his card in and Rob is quietly confident that he will see what a good bunch of blokes we are and that, in the fullness of time, he will complete the set and join us on some sort of regular basis.
Ten people started off their round with a par on the first. One with a birdie. But the bloke for whom the pars just kept coming and coming was Pepsi who made enough birdies to just about offset his bogies to bring in a card one over par for the round and a total of 41 points. A very nice start to a major tournament although, when asked, Pepsi opined that it could have been better. Some people are never satisfied.
Gordon wasn’t too happy with his practice round on Thursday after his short game appeared to have abandoned him. So, he made a resolution that he was only going to use his wedge around the green today. He largely kept to the resolve and the result showed on the scoreboard with a very commendable 38 points the result. A little bit of work to do but he obviously doesn’t want to go head to head with Pepsi as there is some sort of excuse about needing to get away early and having to be in the first group. But don’t the first group have to cook the barbie?
Next, we have the man who would have to be either the luckiest or the unluckiest man in the Club depending on your point of view. His drive on the 17th carried straight and true across the trees and swamp, landed on the green and ran on up to the hole. It crossed the boundary of the hole, contacted the pin and fell to the side only millimetres from the hole. Very nearly the Club’s first Albatross but the easiest of tap-ins for the Eagle and a very fine dividend of 13 balls from the Nest. SOS tried to suggest that, if it had gone in (and opinions suggest that, if the pin had not been there, it would have), he would not have been eligible to collect as it wasn’t, technically, an Eagle. Anyway, that nice little score helped him to 37 points and a Leaderboard placing of 3rd.
The 17th certainly had its moments today. Rob tried for the green (or did he?) and his ball disappeared into the trees and hit something. Rob was mostly hoping to be allowed to assume that it was in the hazard when it was found on the fairway side of the trees with a narrow gap between the big tree and the pond Rob opted for that path and skinnied the ball such that it could easily have ended in the rough beyond the green or even out on the path. However, there was a duck strategically placed on the green and Rob’s ball went close to disappearing up the duck’s fundament and stopped dead on the green. The 15m putt teetered on the edge of the hole and then rocked back and stayed out. That could easily have been two holes and two birdies in two shots. The real Birdie brought the total of that particular feathered variety to eleven.
Rounding out the five most likely was Brendon who had a really baaaaad back nine after almost taking the front nine apart. Who said Kiwis didn’t like sheep!
The Nearest the Pin competitions today were all on the usual suspects. The BallPin was on the 12th and Chrispy put in an early claim but he was outdone by Pepsi who collected the ball. With his swing in fine fettle, Peps repeated the dose on the 15th take out the mobile ProPin with a shot to 3.23m. The big money today was on the 18th and with the pin on the lower deck there was perhaps more chance for it to go off despite the pin being placed dangerously close to the front edge of the green. In the end, Simon got closest with a shot to 3.61m. He had to dash off and, despite the heart-felt assurances from his group-mates that he had agreed to share and they would take care of it, SOS has held over the dividend until next week.
There were quite a few draughties today and the 2nd was a particularly happy hunting ground. Ken’s was a bit stiff as he got a gum tree dead centre and the ball bounced back into the danger zone. Harry skulled his into the reeds and despite a detailed search he could only come up with five balls that weren’t his. A bit tough trying to score a point hitting three still on the back tee-box. But have pity of Porks, who had taken two shots and still had not reached the red markers. The video will be published on the Facebook page in due course. Not to be outdone, the 15th claimed a couple of victims as well. Chrispy was one that had trouble getting from the high tee to the low tee. Dennis went scrub bashing and also found about five balls, none of which was his and claimed some sort of a moral victory in that it could not be proven that he did not make it the the red markers. Mr Trump would probably have great difficulty with that sentence!
Coming back to the 17th, it was almost a case of a double-eagle today. Brent smashed his drive to about a metre past the hole and was judged to be almost a sure thing from that distance. Whether it was nerves or the fact that he would soon be off to watch the footy, he missed the hole by a margin and finished past almost as far as he started. The birdie was achieved (thank goodness).
Allan was back with us today after an extended lay-off with illness (including pneumonia). Welcome back Allan and glad that you are well again. Allan was well rugged up and laid claim to wearing four layers but it seems that Gordon reckons that he had on five. Except, of course, for his legs which were bare. Brendon was noticed deep in conversation after the game, holding forth for several minutes and all the time stirring his coffee. Must be about the best mixed cup of coffee ever! Mehmet turned up at the end. He did intend to play and even got up for a coffee and a fag but then decided that there was something much more attractive about (or was that in?) bed and so back into the feathers he went and we missed out on seeing his smiling (bearded) face out on the course.
Don’t forget, even if you didn’t play today you are welcome to come along next week and tuck into the fine fare of bar-be-que food that will be on offer. You could also win a ball in the ball-run if you have a good round. Just let us know (everybody) so that we can get the catering right.
Results for Saturday, 21 July 2018
Leaderboard Round 1 1st Andrew Petricola(41) 2nd Gordon Hill(38) 3rd John Quinlan(37) 4th Robert Priems(36) 5th Brendon Mitchell(34)
Seniors Leaderboard: 1st Gordon Hill (38) 2nd Harry Boughen (33) 3rd Bill Eastoe (31)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 15th Andrew Petricola ProPin No 2 18th Simon Powell BallPin 12th Andrew Petricola
Eagle’s nest Results: Eagle 17th John Quinlan