There is nothing like the smell of double points to bring out the denizens from the deep. It was a lovely day, again, and there was little to complain about except, maybe, the standard of the golf played in some cases. There were one or two comments about the quality of the sand on the greens, but, from a field of 26 players, that would have to be fairly small change. The temperature was remarkably mild due to the partial cloud cover over-night and it did thicken up enough to have at least one group wondering whether there could be a shower of rain in the offing when the light got rather dim at about the fourth hole. The BOM was as good as its word, and there was no rain by the middle of the afternoon, so the fears were well and truly unfounded. The fears that last week’s high scoring effort would be repeated was also largely unfounded although there are probably one or two members who would disagree.
Damien was kicking himself for having given a hint to CJ about how to straighten up his ball flight on about the second hole. CJ was complaining about the fact that he had been playing with Damo for 25 years and this was the first time that he had ever received any such advice. Whatever the advice was, it certainly seemed to have been effective because, at one stage CJ was a heady six points in the black. Whether he went back to his old ways, or the golf gods had decided enough was enough, CJ finished on +4 to grab a share of the lead with his new-found mentor, Damien. It seems that this new-found straightness is not enough to persuade CJ to change his plans for next week, and, so, Damo will have the Club-house lead all to himself when the final round of the David Ford tees off next Saturday.
The Priems family will not be entirely out of the running for the trophy though, because Brent was able to secure second spot on the Leader-board with his score of +3. This patch of form stood him in good stead in his match with Ryan today. He rushed out to a good lead on the front nine and at one stage he was 4 up before Ryan found his straps and had dragged the match back to square on the 15th. A sudden fade by Ryan on the next two holes handed the match to Brent, 2 and 1. MattH is another member who is having to forgo his chance at glory by opting out of the event next week due to his work commitments. Skip, on the other hand is planning to get his shift changed so that he can have a crack from their third place score of +2. Mark also benefitted from some good form in his match against Whitey today. The front nine see-sawed a bit, but mostly in Mark’s favour. A couple of wins early on the back set the match up, and, despite another bout on the see-saw, the match went dormie 4 on the 14th with a win on the 15th sealing the deal 5 and 3 for Mark.
Zimmer, Noodles and Old Reliable managed their fair share of squared holes while the majority of plus scores were cancelled out by the nastiness of the minus mark. As a result, they all came in with +1 for fourth place on the Leader-board, and they are by no means out of the race for the top spot next week. Adam would not own up to any particularly brilliant or lucky shots today which could help to explain his being able to come in with a square card. Targe, on the other hand was not backward in coming forward with his claim that he had out-driven the Beast on at least two occasions to produce the same score-line as Adam.
The first BallPin today was on the 15th and the winning shot came whistling in, landed with a resounding ‘thunk’ and rolled up to about half a metre from the hole. There was speculation in the group in front as to who the perpetrator was. It was Damo who needed to aim just a fraction to the left to have pulled off the ‘big one’. His ‘easy-as’ birdie contributed just a little to the daily tally of 14. The 18th had the pin on the top deck, and that is perceived to be the harder target even though the green is the same size no matter where the pin is placed. The ball almost went begging until Skip came along in the second last group and, at least, got it on the green to collect a ball. The ProPin was a Jackpot on the 12th, and it looked, for a long time that Stan would be the man to beat. But, beaten he was, by none other than the newly ‘straightened’ Chrispy who got his to 1.2m. Kind-hearted Chris was seen doling out largesse after the game as the group had gone quarters. He also helped the birdie total along a little with this one.
SOS got a bit excited on the 8th when Ken drove his tee-shot into the ground and it struggled to get past the red markers. If it was the AFL, the ball would have been subbed-out with a very bad case of kencussion. On the same hole, SOS played his second shot, and it curved ominously towards the billabong. It hit a tree branch that looked to ensure that the ball got wet feet until it hit another branch that delicately deposited the ball back into play. Harry has a theory that the gravitational field around the hole is lower due to the missing mass from the hole. His putt on the 8th suggests that there is actually anti-gravity in play after the ball virtually disappeared into the hole before catching the edge and just lipping out. Or was the plastic insert to blame?
Ken likes playing downhill lies so much that he took four shots to get from the 10th tee onto the level ground of the fairway (and the 13th at that). Beast was so sure that Bob’s second shot from the 15th hadn’t made it past the red markers that he spent quite an amount of time searching for it just to prove the point. Rob also produced a draughtie in his round today. Brent searched unsuccessfully for his ball on the 17th only to find it, ultimately, underneath his parked buggy. A search for Harry’s errant shot on the same hole was eventually deemed to have been in the penalty area, and, so, a penalty was taken. From the 18th green, Ken wondered whether a ball in plain view might be the one. And it was, and Harry was able to claim, truthfully, that he had played the round without losing a ball (or, at least, still in possession of the one he started with).
Final round of the David Ford next week. Groups will be leader-board based and any who didn’t play today who register will be early marks. Special requests for early starts to Chrispy as well as any Matchplay. There will be the usual high quality snags etc for the barbeque afterwards which is a good chance to get some of your subs and comp fees back as well as to socialise and to spin some yarns.
Results for Saturday, 08 May 2021
Leaderboard Round 1: 1st Damien Lee (+4) 1st Chris Priems (+4) 2nd Brent Rowley (+3) 3rd Matt Hunt (+2) 3rd Mark Minney (+2) 4th Kazim Akdag (+1) 4th Stephen Butterfield (+1) 4th Craig Cameron (+1) 5th Adam King (□) 5th Targe Mifsud (□)
Seniors Leaderboard: 1st Chris Priems (+4) 2nd Craig Cameron (+1) 3rd Targe Mifsud (□)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Chris Priems BallPin No 1 – 15th Damien Lee BallPin No 2 – 18th Mark Minney