There was a big event on down at Box Hill yesterday so there might have been some hangovers from that. There have been a few showers during the week so maybe that kept a few away. Somebody aggravated a recent injury and that kept another one away. But is that enough to explain why we only had 16 players today after a near record field last week? And this was for a Monthly Medal. Maybe they are saving themselves for the David Ford that kicks off next week.
There was some chance of rain in the forecast and, three parts of the way around there was enough of a shower to warrant hoisting the umbrella but a hole and a half later the course was bathed in brilliant sunshine. Well, you know what they say about Melbourne weather!
The weather didn’t really bother Harry as he continues his exit from some pretty dark days in recent times to produce a card of 65 nett. He did go close to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by taking a six on the 18th and he puts some of the blame on Brendon for his comment that the medal was firmly in both hands as he stood on the tee box.
Noodles was next in line, just a stroke behind after putting in a pretty classy back nine just three over the card. There wasn’t a great lot wrong with the front nine but the pars just remained that little bit elusive. Perhaps being involved in a Matchplay round helped him to stay focussed after he took an early lead and was never really headed by his opponent, Matt. In the end, the match went to Noodles 4 and 3.
Blighty caused some concern for all by reporting that he had been suffering palpitations and dizziness for quite some time on the back nine. Perhaps this was the result of the wild celebrations that he shared with Peter when they both parred the 9th. As a result they both contributed to the 10 birdies that were carded for the day. The ‘turn’ obviously didn’t affect the game too much with the 67 card scoring a very creditable third place. We all hope that this is a minor aberration and that Andrew gets a clean bill of health when the medical checks are done.
Targe also went close to scoring a birdie today. The little fella had about 100m to go to the green and go for the green (and the pin) he did. The result was pretty clear and little wonder that Targe was smiling after going close to a slam-dunk and finishing within gimme distance for his par. That brought him home right on his handicap at 68.
Ryan took about nine holes exactly to warm up. Then he proceeded to take the back nine apart with nothing worse than a four to finish the nine one over the card. Brendon made a game attempt for the green on the 8th but the verdict was that the ball caught a tree and did not make it back into bounds. The second shot finished pin high just off the green. Much excitement then, when ‘surplus’ balls found on the green but neither belonged and the assumption is that a passing walker had returned them from off the path. An uncharacteristically ‘chunked’ drive on the 13th also did not help the cause and the pair of 69s scored them a share of fifth place.
The pin on the 12th was very deceptively placed on the left side of the green and gave the appearance of being much further back on the green. Harry thought he was well short of the distance but, in actual fact, he was only a few centimetres further out that Noodles who took out the ProPin with a strike to 2.85m. Reports that he then took four putts proved to be an exaggeration. The first BallPin on the 4th went to Damo who was well out to the edge of the green but closer than anybody else in the field. Gordo was in the first group and was spotted watching intently as people played up to the 18th green. His face fell a mile when Brendon took out the tape measure to confirm that he was, in fact, closer to the pin and so collected yet another ball in the BallPin competition.
Gordon had other reasons to be downcast. With the recent insistence by the course management that Stableford scores be recorded by the players for Stroke rounds, Gordon ‘forgot’ on one hole and picked up when he ‘ran out of strokes’. There were no draughties reported today but there were several OOBs besides Brendon. Simon scored two on consecutive holes starting with a sky-hook on the 15th into the forest on the left and a ground-shank nearly into the car-park on the 16th. Damo had left his 3 wood in the bag all day but decided to give it a fly on the 13th. The ball went well left of the line and finished in the neighbouring properties. Not to be out-done, Matt stepped up and did pretty much the same thing and pretty much put the nail in his matchplay coffin by losing the hole.
Bob managed to over-hit the 18th and had a tricky putt across the top tier onto the lower deck. The ball finished less than half a metre from the hole to give him a par and a highlight for a day that did not really shine for him. Was he really cranky for having missed? Another of SOS’s distinctively marked balls was presented to him today but it wasn’t found in the depths of the rough out on the course, but in the depths of the rough in Gordon’s car boot. And, speaking of rough, spare a thought for Allan who played from the second and two and a half people saw his ball finish just past the tree-line onto the 6th. Despite a comprehensive search in the area with no grass of any length, the ball could not be found and there were no players on the 6th to blame for the disappearance. Rather than delay play by returning to the tee, the Local Rule for a two stroke penalty was invoked and he hit four from the estimated spot. The hole had more in store for the hapless Allan but we won’t go into that here.
Results for Saturday, 04 May 2019
1st Harry Boughen(65) 2nd Stephen Butterfield(66) 3rd Andrew Blight(67) 4th Targe Mifsud(68) 5th Brendon Mitchell(69) 5th Ryan Porker(69)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (65) 2nd Andrew Blight (67) 3rd Targe Mifsud (68)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin12th Stephen Butterfield BallPin No 1 4th Damien Lee BallPin No 2 18th Brendon Mitchell