The threat of rain, hail and thunderstorms did not deter 17 members in the early Spring from giving it their best. Craig commented before play that the rain would hold off. He was also heard pointing out some blue sky in the distance later in the round…. after rain and wind persisted early on for most of the front 9. Whilst the rain did not hold off, course conditions were tough with hard fairways (and for some reason preferred lies), lush rough, blustery wind and lighting fast greens. Pin placements were also questionable with a number of holes being very close to the edge of the greens, refer to the photo for an example. This made for a very difficult round, as if the conditions were not already challenging. Hopefully they are rectified for next week following some discussions with course management afterwards.
Prior to the last group returning it appeared that everyone would be receiving points apart from a lonely soldier, but Dennis had other ideas and blitzed the field to shoot a plus 3 and take out the win. There was decent run in the fairways, on the 14th Dennis’s drive rolled up towards the green and cannoned into a buggy next to the group in front while they were chipping. Noodles and Brendon were joint club house leaders for a short while and tied in second place on -1.
Craig played his first game in the while and played well enough for a 3rd place on -3. He was joined by bob who was seen running like a gazelle after Brendon’s buggy blew off the green on the 18th and was heading towards the Yarra! Bob chased after it and rescued it from peril, he wasn’t even in Brendon’s group. It certainly was not umbrella weather and the wind was causing havoc, buggy’s being taken away and umbrellas turned inside out were a common theme.
A group of players were all tied in 4th place, Peter, Simon, Brent and Dale all playing decent considering the conditions. Four more players also tied for 5th, Chrispy, Scubba, Beast and Mehmet who is back after a bit of time off from golf. Chrispy stated after the game that he would be happy to give his point back as -5 is not a score to be proud of. Mehmet also received his 10 yrs of service badge after the round, well done. the question remains if there is another 10 years in him?
The ball hole was on the 12th and was taken out by Brent. Noodles also put one close and Mehmet measured Brent’s marker and Noodles’ ball about 6 times to verify who was closer. Although Noodles was close enough to make the birdie, of which there were only 4 carded for the day. Both the 15th and 18th holes were pro pins and both were jackpots. Simon’s attempt at the 15th ended up touching the pin, the nearest the pin marker than is!
The pin was basically on the ridge on the 18th which made for a very tough closing hole. Both Mehmet and Ryan putted up the hill but with the assistance of the slope and wind, their balls came crashing back down the green to the lower tier. Ryan also used quite a bit of skill to hit his ball from the 2nd tee to the other side of the green on the 7th over the 6th fairway, then back to the 11th fairway and finally back onto the 2nd green.
Happy birthday to Alan and Dale for this week! For the members who are not attending the Rich River trip away on October 6th, Simon is organising a competition at Ivanhoe for whoever is interested. Please contact Simon for details.
Results for Saturday, 15 September 2018
1st Dennis Ward(+3) 2nd Stephen Butterfield(-1) 2nd Brendon Mitchell(-1) 3rd Craig Cameron(-3) 3rd Bob McDonald(-3) 4th Peter Damou(-4) 4th Simon Powell(-4) 4th Brent Rowley(-4) 4th Dale Webb(-4) 5th Mehmet Akdag(-5) 5th Bill Eastoe(-5) 5th Stephen Kelly(-5) 5th Chris Priems(-5)
Seniors Results: 1st Dennis Ward (+3) 2nd Bob McDonald (-3) 2nd Craig Cameron (-3) 3rd Simon Powell (-4)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 15th Jackpot ProPin No 2 18th Jackpot BallPin 12th Brent Rowley