If you play the inside comp and were confused about the results posted for last week’s event then everybody was confused today as we had to play off the white markers for those taking part in the freshly scheduled (inside) Monthly Medal while we battled it out in our Stableford Competition. There was some very welcome rain yesterday and this served to make the course a very different beast to what it was only a couple of days before. There were a couple of sprinkles about just before tee time but they amounted to not much at all and there was no need to reach for wet weather gear of any sort. A pretty good crowd of twenty players turned out on what ended up being a very nice day for a game even if it wasn’t always golf.
However, there was never any doubt about what the Beast was playing today. It was golf, and golf of a very speccy variety. There was one rather anxious moment on the 13th when the first ball ‘might’ have slipped OOB. A provisional ball was struck so identically that Gordon deemed that if you found the one you would be standing on the other. Bill opted to take his chances on having to play six if they both happened to be OOB. As it turned out, both were in and centimetres apart which caused Gordon to ‘bet’ that Bill was just as likely to birdie the hole. The putt pulled up just short of doing just that.
Whitey hasn’t given up cricket just yet but he is apparently going to play with the seniors/veterans or whatever they are called in that other ball game. His advancing years have not affected his ability to play the small ball variety and he left enough out there, particularly on the front nine, to have easily swept the field before him. Pepsi obviously meant business as he was spotted in deep concentration envisioning his shot into the 14th green over the trees from the 16th fairway. One little twig got over-looked in the image and the ball fell short to result in a bogie for the hole.
Reports that Bob was out-driving SOS on a regular basis might have suggested that Bob was having a better day of it than SOS. However, SOS managed to win the day and get himself into 4th place and this despite having been kissed by Enzo when his Italian blood got the better of him when he chipped in. It doesn’t bear repeating what SOS said in response. Noodles and Jason both started out OK but faded a little on the back. On the other hand, Adam managed to make a bit of an improvement on the run home to tie up with the other two for a share of 5th place.
The GOATee marshal is going to have to pull his socks up after he allocated the ProPin to the 15th after it had been a Jackpot on the 4th last week. In the event, there didn’t seem to be too many complaints so perhaps nobody got close on the 4th. Somebody did get close on the 15th when the Beast finished just past pin high and 1.46m from the hole. The first BallPin was on the 12th and it was quite hotly contested with no less than four names on the card. The name at the bottom of the list was Pepsi and he collected a ball for his shot although there was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing about what sort of ball he wanted. The BallPin on the 18th looked like it might have gone begging until JQ smacked one in that looked very good from the tee. It was judged to be dead on line but, in the end, it finished a couple of metres past and still close enough to be worth a ball.
Dennis was a little less than happy with his putting, amongst other things. On the 14th, he putted up from below the hole, the ball reached the hole fully inside the diameter and should have fallen in for all money. Instead it carried around the hole and popped out heading back the way it came. Harry, on the other hand, had the longest putt possible on the green from just on at the back to the hole very close to the front. After carefully reading the significant slope to the allowed for and making a last minor adjustment to the alignment of the ball, Harry set himself for the shot. The ball ran and ran, the slope turned the ball toward the hole, the ball slowed, the curvature increased and finally the ball trickled straight down the fall of the green and dropped into the hole for a birdie. Just one of the twelve that were scored for the day.
Targe didn’t make any progress on his resolution to reduce his handicap today but he did have a modicum of luck when his drive on the 13th headed for the private property on the left. Luckily, the ball hit the OOB post and, conveniently, came back into play. Targe played with Rod and they marked each others card. Both were off the same handicap (both Club and GA) and both ended with the same number of points. There was no collusion involved (reportedly). Joe was back with us today for the first time in a while. He says he is going to grace us with his presence more regularly from now on. Perhaps he should make sure that JQ doesn’t find out that he was used as an aiming point by Joe on one hole today.
Results for Saturday, 11 January 2020
1st Bill Eastoe(39) 2nd Rodney White(37) 3rd Andrew Petricola(35) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan(34) 5th Stephen Butterfield(33) 5th Jason Hopkins(33) 5th Adam King(33)
Seniors Results: 1st Bill Eastoe (39) 2nd Bob McDonald (32) 3rd Rod Grant (31) 3rd Targe Mifsud (31)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin15th Bill Eastoe BallPin No 1 12th Andrew Petricola BallPin No 2 18th John Quinlan