This is the way the Championship ends This is the way the Championship ends This is the way the Championship ends Not with a bang but with a whimper. With apologies to T. S. Eliot
And so we come to the end of a rather unusual year of golf. We’ve had lock-downs. We’ve had shut-downs. We’ve had knock-downs. But, at least we haven’t had any drag-outs. And, at the end of the day, we managed to navigate our way through it all to still have a modicum of interest in the outcome of the final round of the competition for this year. The weather was fine, but overcast, and there were just a couple of spots of rain. The increased freedoms and the impending silly season did not impact our number by too much and 22 members and Pepsi’s guest, Patrick, set out to do battle with the elements and the trees. JQ was on deck to celebrate his little milestone of 300 games with the Club. He could have passed it years ago if he hadn’t gone gallivanting to the four corners of the globe in pursuit of his career. But, just maybe, his career was just a tad more important.
Noodles and Porks took to the field side by side with Noodles intent more on limiting Ryan’s chances of scoring any more points than him than on winning the day. Ryan went astray early, which might have lulled Noods into a false sense of security and by the turn his three stroke advantage had disappeared and the scores were equal. They then traded stroke for stroke as the back nine progressed with neither being able to garner any advantage. Porks had the chance to pip Noods by a stroke on the 18th but the par proved elusive and, at the end of 18, the scores were still dead equal and, regardless of position in the field, the 2020 Club Championship was clearly in Noodles hands, with a total of 57 points, four points clear of Ryan on 53. Pepsi held his placing on the table to finish third with 47 points.
Of course, the real event of the day was the December Monthly Medal. Harry has admitted to watching a few instructional videos over the period away from the course and, there are those among the members who reckon he hits the straightest driver in the Club. As a hint, his driver from the back blocks on the 15th pulled up around a metre short of the hole, creating more than a little excitement on the tee. But, whether it is the instruction or just the one in twenty outlier, it does not take away from the fact that he fairly blitzed the course today to take out the trophy with a handicap devastating net score of 62.
Somebody reckons that Stef is looking even more like a porn star than ever with the Mo-vember and the tatts. But that has not stopped him from hitting the ball a country mile as well as being able to score. He managed to play exactly to his handicap and stepped up for a share of second place. His partner in crime on the podium was Craig who had a couple of scratchy ones to start off but settled down and barely put a foot wrong from there on.
MattA also had a few scratchy ones early in the round, but he managed to settle for the final twelve holes and came in, just a stroke behind in third place. He wasn’t alone in that spot although he very well could have been if MattH’s putt on the 18th had dropped in for the birdie rather than hanging on the rim of the cup and just staying out. Not sure whether there was something about that hole, but Michael and Daniel also went tantalisingly close but missed by circling the cup and hanging on the edge.
Pepsi had an uncharacteristic result on the 6th with a couple of ‘chunked’ shots undoing an otherwise nice round. Brent was nurse-maiding his father-in-law and, so, might be forgiven a couple of aberrations that impacted his ability to score as well as he might. Then followed a list so long that Damo was loathe to read them all out during the announcements. But, here goes. Noodles, Beast, Michael, Gordo, Porks and, last but by no means least, SOS. All got a piece of fifth place.
Gordon managed to sneak into 3rd place in the Seniors points today but, that was not quite enough and, so, he will have to be satisfied with second place in the Seniors Championship just a single point behind the redoubtable Bob who takes it out with 24 points. Harry’s top placing today means that he was able to jump to 23 points and into third place by leap-frogging over Targe who has not been placing well in recent weeks.
The first BallPin, on the 12th, proved to be a bit difficult with the pin on the hard right of the green. However, JQ managed to get it on and held off all comers to take out the ball on offer. On the 18th, the pin was on the bottom deck which seems to be much more to peoples liking and the eventual winner was MattH. His missed putt did not contribute to the tally of birdies for the day. Noodles did manage to get a new birdie on the 9th which did add to the total of 16 for the day. It was also enough to seal him as the winner of the Eclectic for the year with a net score of 46.2, less than half a stroke ahead of Peter. The ProPin was on the 4th and there were numerous valiant efforts that did not quite make it to the 5m limit. Pepsi did manage to squeeze one under the limit but, he was unseated when Damo managed to knock one to 3.85m.
Peter managed to drive one onto the 10th green today. The only problem being that he was playing off the 2nd tee. Chrispy wasn’t able to go too far astray on the 6th today as he managed to play shots into trees a total of five times. Three of those times, the ball finished behind where it started so it is not surprising that he finished the hole in double figures. Another one who finished in double figures was Ben who managed to lose four balls OOB on the 8th on his way to a 15. Maybe it was the ‘gorillas’ on his shirt that affected his approach to the game as he almost took out Porks and Harry at various stages during the round.
Bob was the only reported draughtie today and, it seems that it was a beauty. It happened on the 18th and it could very well be the only recorded instance of the ball finishing behind the tee that it was hit from. The Beast also had his fair share of problems on the last two holes. A couple of shanks on the 17th had him playing down the 18th. Then, on the 18th, he walked up to a ball, checked that it was a blue numbered Srixon and played on. Only to find that his actual ball, a blue numbered Srixon but with prominent green dots and line, lay in the grass a couple of metres away.
The Vin O’Meara starts next week for the first points of the 2021 competition. This event will be played using your latest handicap. It also comprises the final two rounds of the Club Stroke Championship, the result of the handicap branch of which will be determined using today’s handicap. The usual Calcutta Auction for the VOM has been suspended for this year and there will be a $25, draw for player, event in its place. Could everybody who intends to ‘buy’ a player please register their intention on the web-site under the Registration Menu/Register for Calcutta Purchase. The usual $25 buy yourself, winner-take-all will also be available.
The break-up will once again be at Past-President John’s home after the Champion of Champions on 19 December, and we sincerely thank him and Andrea for making their facilities available once again. To help with the catering can everybody please register their intentions on the web-site under Registration/Break-up Registration as soon as possible. Any changes of mind can also be made there, but we would prefer firm decisions.
Results for Saturday, 28 November 2020
1st Harry Boughen(62) 2nd Stefan Belevski(68) 2nd Craig Cameron(68) 3rd Matthew Aforozis(69) 3rd Matt Hunt(69) 4th Andrew Petricola(71) 4th Brent Rowley(71) 5th Stephen Butterfield(72) 5th Bill Eastoe(72) 5th Michael Gourlay(72) 5th Gordon Hill(72) 5th Ryan Porker(72) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan(72)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (62) 2nd Craig Cameron (68) 3rd Bill Eastoe (72) 3rd Gordon Hill (72) 3rd Michael Gourlay (72)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin4th Damien Lee BallPin No 1 12th John Quinlan BallPin No 2 18th Matt Hunt