As the meteorological summer comes to an end, you could be forgiven for thinking that the ‘real’ autumn had already arrived. Or, as they said when Darwin was being bombed – there’s a little nip in the air! But that is probably not the reason that we only had fourteen members line up and, thanks to Stef bringing along his Dad, Jim, we had fifteen players for a nice round five groups of three. The generally dry conditions means that there is a certain amount of run to be had, and a certain ‘reliable’ member doesn’t seem to fancy himself as a mud runner. He wasn’t quite as reliable today and was spotted straying from his designated fairway on at least one occasion. Rumour has it that there was some good form on display at the Punter’s Club weekend, and it seems that the extra training at Moonah and St Andrew’s Beach carried over to this weekend.
Personal Bests don’t turn up all that often, particularly when you have been playing the game for a while. Today was one of those days when Porks went close to joining that exalted group who have equalled or bettered the par for the course. Reports have it that he ‘left a few’ out there and could/should have done better than his 69 off the stick for a very handy 42 points.
Other than running Harry down with his cart at the tee-marshal’s counter, Bob could do little wrong today, particularly on the front nine where the putter was working a treat to bring him in with a ‘out’ score of 23 points. The nice round eighteen on the back was plenty to grab a share of second place. Pepsi was looking around for a cage there were so many birdies rolling in. There were five in all, and three of them were on holes that he had a stroke for a nice collection of four pointers. On the second, he went within a michael-hair of scoring an eagle when his second ran across the edge of the hole and finished less than half a metre past. With a gash and three one-pointers, who knows what the score might have been.
MattH turned up looking a bit scruffy this morning, but that was not a carry-over from last weekend. Though it does seem that a trip down to Bairnsdale last Monday made him pleased that he didn’t have to drive. Matt can’t decide whether to get a haircut or hope that the mullet makes a comeback before the powers-that-be notice. It didn’t seem to affect his golf though, but perhaps the cap kept it out of his eyes. His 38 points was matched by CJ and Ken who both had their fair share of ‘could have been better’. That particularly applies to Ken’s tee shot on the 10th that only barely made it past the red markers. It should be pointed out that the reds were only about 300mm in front of the blues.
Damo reckons he will be pleased to see more of Stef’s Dad, who put in his first card today, by the way, because he reckons that he has never seen Stef so well behaved. This obviously had a beneficial effect and Damo was able to protect his handicap nicely with a score-line of 36 points. Targe is a bit upset about the rules for the duck season this year, and he is going to ask for a refund on his shooters licence. Good luck with that! He still managed to tie it up with Damo and do his handicap no harm.
Thanks to Bob, Harry is nursing a nicely bruised ankle, and Stef and Noodles are getting a point after Bob and his marker missed his last double stroke hole (again). So, overall some very good scoring and some nicely adjusted handicaps as a result.
The first BallPin was on the 4th, and Gordo was the one to collect a pill for a very nice shot that finished not too far away. Gordo was noticed moping around on the 10th tee and saying that he felt like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz as he had lost his (golf) heart, and his favourite light blue tee. It made his day when Harry presented it (the light blue tee, not his heart) to him after the round. There was a bit of an interloper for the BallPin on the 18th, but Stef came to the rescue and got one of our members names on the chit. The Jackpot ProPin on the 15th proved elusive and there will be a Double Jackpot next week. The birdie count for the day was a pretty impressive 16, so we really did need a cage.
The Matchplay draw for seeding was done after the match with the 21 members who had registered drawn out of the hat (well a little plastic tub at any rate). The balance of the positions were filled by a ‘vote’ of members for those who they ‘felt sure’ would play. The table is up on the web-site under the Competitions tab. The person on the top of the draw is responsible for arranging the match and reporting the result. If both members are present the match must be played. The first round must be completed on or before 03 April.
Next Saturday will be the Annual General Meeting of the Club. All Committee positions will be spilled and anybody is eligible to nominate for a role provided that they are financial members. There are still a few subs for the current year outstanding. Can these be paid as soon as possible. You should know who you are. Any Committee members who are planning to retire should endeavour to find a replacement.
Results for Saturday, 27 February 2021
1st Ryan Porker(42) 2nd Bob McDonald(41) 2nd Andrew Petricola(41) 3rd Matt Hunt(38) 3rd Chris Priems(38) 3rd Ken Watson(38) 4th Damien Lee(36) 4th Targe Mifsud(36) 5th Stefan Belevski(35) 5th Stephen Butterfield(35)
Seniors Results: 1st Bob McDonald (41) 2nd Chris Priems (38) 2nd Ken Watson (38) 3rd Targe Mifsud (36)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 15th Jackpot BallPin No 1 4th Gordon Hill BallPin No 2 18th Stefan Belevski