It was another nice day for a walk in the park. The weather gods started off playing tricks by sending a bit of a drizzle from some rather grey looking clouds and the wind upped the chill factor a little. A few members wondered at the wisdom of not having worn something a little warmer but, in the end, you would have been hard pressed to blame the weather for any discomfort that the day might have occasioned. The one downside of the day was the fact that some low-life took it upon himself to execute doughnuts with his motorbike on the greens again. Fortunately, the damage was not deep but the burn marks will take a little time to repair and the sand that the staff have added helped to make the putting just a little less predictable. That did not stop the twenty five players racking up a total of 18 birdies for the day and there is getting to be a fair sprinkling of orange on the Eclectic report already. The eagle is starting to get a bit twitchy as the number of eggs in her nest is getting up there and, although there have been a fair number of Kookaburras around, none has been game to swoop in and make the raid.
The connections had chewed their nails off up to the elbows during the week, wondering how their colt would go and could he keep up the pace for the second half of the race. History would suggest that there have been a lot of stumbles over the years as the distance begins to tell. They needn’t have worried, although there was a slight fall off in the pace compared to the first half. And, most of that hesitation was in the first half of today’s campaign as Noodles gave the horse its head and fairly sprinted to the line down the straight to take out the Vin O’Meara Trophy for 2019. In the process, he also cleaned up big with the first pot from the Calcutta. He put his money where his mouth is and backed himself in the All-in so there will be no shortage of cash for the bookies tonight.
One of the big improvers in the field was another young colt and our reigning Club Champion, Porks. In the process of clawing his way into second place, he also joined the ranks of the Chasers with a very impressive net of 65, the best score of the day. But, we dare not mention what his net score for the inside competition was. Seventy four off the stick is a fine performance in anybody’s books.
Dale was probably a bit unfortunate to have scored the only reported draughtie for the day. His place of infamy was on the 3rd and, yes, there was a fair separation between the white markers and the reds. The only problem was that Dale’s ball did not reach the blues and you might say that the score on the hole blew out from there. But for that, and another aberration on the 15th, he could easily have challenged for second place if not the top spot.
The fourth step on the podium ended up being quite crowded after David’s score was adjusted for his correct handicap. He, therefore, joined Targe, Bob and Matt with a grand total of 140 for the event. As usual, Bob had a complaint about his putts reaching the edge of the hole and not falling in. Matt didn’t say much as he had to rush off to help keep law and order around the district while Targe just sat around smugly, having successfully protected his handicap once again. Bill will have to be satisfied with his points, despite his vociferous claims about being mislead as to which ball was actually his. He reckons Porks pointed him to the wrong ball, just to protect his position in the field.
The first BallPin was on the 12th and the ever reliable Jason was the one to collect the prize today. JQ popped a cracker on the 18th and left the ball not more than a metre from the hole to pretty much shut out the rest of the field as he was in the first group. As usual, the first group was responsible for putting out the markers. After discussing the benefits of sharing the spoils, Harry, Blighty and Enzo noticed that there was no marker out on the 15th. As Harry made a bee-line for the 16th tee, Ken very sheepishly appeared with the required piece of equipment. Michael was reluctant to be seen putting his name on the chit after last week’s debacle and his tee shot was somewhat left. However, it took the bounce off the hill and finished on the green looking ominously close. Much to Michael’s relief, the measurement came out at 5.2m and, although that was the closest shot for the day there was no cigar and there will be a double Jackpot to next week. Big bickies on offer now guys!
The tree gods were kind to a number of people today. Enzo, on the 8th, sprayed one out into the trees but a couple of propitious bounces deposited the ball back into play. SOS, blocked his drive behind a tree on the same hole. The only shot, a sideways chip onto the fairway. The long shot to the green went wide and over the fence to hit a tree and bounced back to finish on the green. Brendon’s tee shot from the 17th was deemed to be heading for Kew and it wasn’t the near one. Brendon was actually heading for his bag to re-load when there was a resounding crack and the ball suddenly landed back on the fairway. He then calmly chipped onto the green and sank the putt for a birdie.
Keith was feeling pretty pleased with himself when he was not too far from the green on the 13th for two shots. He was not nearly so pleased when he walked off with a seven. Blighty was taking great care not to stand on the ‘line’ from a ball on the 18th green. The only problem was that the ‘ball’ was the NTP marker for JQ. Ken laid claim to having improved his Eclectic by seven strokes on one hole. Only problem is the system only ever allows nine strokes on a hole, so unless he had a two… Chrispy was looking for some sympathy today as he stripped off his shoes and socks to show off his ‘sore’ ankle. As for another handicap review – tell ‘im he’s dreamin’ – to coin a phrase.
The Birthday Birdie almost forgot to wish Stef “Happy Birthday” for the coming week.
Results for Saturday, 14 December 2019
1st Stephen Butterfield(65, 68, 133) 2nd Ryan Porker(70, 65, 135) 3rd Dale Webb(67, 71, 138) 4th David Mullenger(70, 70, 140) 4th Targe Mifsud(69, 71, 140) 4th Bob McDonald(68, 72, 140) 4th Matt Hunt(69, 71, 140) 5th Bill Eastoe(70, 71, 141)
Seniors Results: 1st Bob McDonald (68,72,140) 1st Targe Mifsud (71,69,140) 2nd Bill Eastoe (70,71,141) 3rd Gordon Hill (68,74,142)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin15th Jackpot BallPin No 1 12th Jason Hopkins BallPin No 2 18th John Quinlan