It was a day made in heaven. The sky was blue, the wind was calm, the course was well watered (almost too much so in a couple of places), the temperature was balmy and the golfers were not too barmy. We thought we had 18 players but one either didn’t show or was only thought to be coming and so there were only 17 contenders out there including Ken who fronted up for his first round of competition after getting in his three qualifying cards. If history is any guide, we can expect to see Ken on the podium in short order. Not today though.
For the second week in a row, the hunt was on and, despite the slashing that he took from the handicapper’s sword last week and, like the indomitable Black Knight, Matt kept on fighting and managed to complete the course just two over par off the stick and, in the process, he amassed a massive 43 Stableford points. That was enough to take the top points for the day but only just enough.
Just one point behind and putting in a personal best card was Peter who pulled off a couple of amazing recovery shots after putting his drive into awkward locations. The big blot on the copy-book was on the second for a no score and a missed, simple putt on the 16th that would have bought a share of the top spot.
There was a bit of daylight to a fair cluster who scored 39 points to take out third placing. Harry started slowly and was not all that happy about his front nine before shifting into top gear and racking up 24 points on the back. Damo had just a few too many singletons but other than that he managed to par most of the holes on which he got strokes. SOS started out well but, as the day progressed and it closer to time to go to work, his game slipped in the middle of the back nine. Dennis also went well on the back and included a birdie on the 14th to contribute to the fine total of 18 that the team put together today.
Ben and Gordo shared the honours for 4th place and Craig almost got over-looked for 5th place. ‘Somebody’ put Pepsi’s inside card into the Club heap. And Pepsi was rather cheesed to have played to his handicap and not get a point.
There were two Matches played today. Pepsi and Craig did battle and quite a battle it was. Pepsi did have the upper hand for most of the round but every time he made it to two up, Craig would peg him back. When Craig won the 15th and 16th the Match became all square and shared honours on the last two sent the Match to a chip-off. Neither chip was particularly close to the hole and Pepsi had to take the first putt. The ball rolled true and fell into the hole really putting the pressure onto Craig. The putt slipped past and the match went to Pepsi. Harry and Gordo also slugged it out in a very similar pattern of play. Every time Gordon got to 2 up, Harry would reel him in with a win. A birdie for Harry on the 17th brought the Match to square and the result came down to a putting competition on the 18th. Equal scores and a stroke to Harry gave him the Match 1 up.
The Nearest the Pin competition today was pretty much a two horse race. The Black Knight put his shot on the 12th to 0.97m to take out the ProPin, But, the interesting thing is that Matt was not at all happy with the way he hit the ball and whinged something fierce about thinning it. Some reckon that attitude should void the claim for the prize! After all, you don’t have to post pictures on Instagram. And, there was only one name on the two BallPins on the 15th and 18th and that was Damo. With one a Jackpot from last week, that was a nice little earner.
RodG also added to the tally of birdies today with a chip in from about 40m out in the 11th. Craig rattled in a 10m putt to win the hole on the 16th but that effort was dwarfed by a reported 20m putt by Ryan. Simon didn’t get nearly so hot and bothered today and he stayed back for the presentations. JQ was buying a round in recompense for not having reached the red markers on the 15th. Admittedly the blue markers were well back and the reds were quite a way forward but still….
Bob had some mechanical problems with his op-shop electric buggy and had to push the contraption for at least part of the round. To add insult to injury, at one stage he also managed to take a massive divot about half a metre behind the ball and the ball did not move. Gordon was heard to say that he was bending his knee these days. Not because he was praying that Harry would miss his putt but because it helped him get his hips out of the way or something.
Next week is the first round of the Stuart Clarke Memorial. It would be good to see a big roll up of members wearing their Club shirts and/or other Club paraphernalia. On the second week, we endeavour to wear some sort of Hawaiian beach shirt as a mark of respect to Stuart’s penchant for such items of clothing. If you don’t have one in your wardrobe, go check out the local Savers or Op-shop. There will be a bar-be-que after Round 2.
Results for Saturday, 09 March 2019
1st Matt Hunt(43) 2nd Peter Damou(42) 3rd Harry Boughen(39) 3rd Damien Lee(39) 3rd Stephen O’Sullivan(39) 3rd Dennis Ward(39) 4th Ben Akdag(38) 4th Gordon Hill(38) 5th Craig Cameron(37)
Seniors Results: 1st Dennis Ward (39) 1st Harry Boughen (39) 2nd Gordon Hill (38) 3rd Craig Cameron (37)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin12th Matt Hunt BallPin No 1 15th Damien Lee BallPin No 2 18th Damien Lee