It was an elbow bumping kind of day on 21 March 2020

There were so many people on the starting blocks this morning that the tee marshal had to go on bended knee to the course management to be allowed to fit the 32 members who had turned up into eight groups. And, of course it just happened to be a day when there were record numbers of others booked in due to the closure of nearby courses. The management even had to provide over-flow parking to deal with the crowds. Unfortunately, we did not heap glory on ourselves with some slowish play that created quite a bit of congestion behind us. We do get a pretty tolerant treatment from the course and it is down to each and every one of us to keep the pace of play moving to make the game more enjoyable for everyone, including our fellow Club members.

The prestigious nature of the Stuart Clarke Memorial is probably the main reason for the great turn out but, there could have been other contributing factors such as the fact that there are no footy games to attend and punters are probably banned from race-tracks as well. Regardless of the reasons for the high turn out, it was neither a mad punter nor a rabid footy fan (although one is a Collingwood supporter) who came out at the front of the pack at the end of the day. Blighty was kind of erratic with two gashes and four singletons but he more than compensated for these lapses with three four pointers and five three pointers. Allan, who was, at one stage, mistaken for an escapee from a nursing home was much more consistent in getting to his 39 points with not a scratch on the card.

Ben has gotten right into Pilates in order to build up his core-strength and to increase his flexibility. He has also been working on smoothing out his swing. There was a small matter of barely avoiding a draughtie on the 13th but all the effort seems to have paid off to produce 38 points and a share of second place. Dennis, on the other hand, did not avoid producing a draughtie on the 17th by hitting the ball between his own legs. There was also a green that he didn’t take a putt – not because he chipped in. Other than that, not a bad round.

Enzo is getting a bit of a reputation as a serial winner of the B-grade in the inside comp. and it would not surprise if he did it again today. Daniel had more than his fair share of singletons which suggests that he is capable of better and so he would not be without hope of catching the leaders. Pepsi could have been forgiven for suffering a bit of despair after the first half of the round. But, he cast off the malaise and fairly blitzed the back nine to complete it in only thirty one strokes (two under par) for twenty-two points and a share of third place with 37 in total. One, so-called, aberration was a par on the 14th where his three playing companions, Si, Gordo and Rodger, all scored birdies.

MattA put in a very steady round with just enough dropped points to keep him from being a front runner. Gordo reckons it is hard to play good golf when you have yourself by the throat and you start choking. MattH on the other hand is still checking out his golf gear to find out what is missing after his run-in with ne’er-do-wells in recent times. All three would have to like their chances of running down and crash-tackling the leaders. The last of the interim place holders should also not be written off with a heap of talent and potential on offer. The Beast went very close to scoring an ace on the 17th to have the easiest of tap-ins to clean out the Eagles Nest once again. Chrispy continues to amaze with his ability to shape the ball from left to right with great consistency. Dale had one little problem with a lie but that did not stop him coming home with a share of 5th spot and a chance for the big one.