The preferred lie notice was out again today, but, from the first tee, the course looked to be in immaculate condition, and one could wonder about the reason. There were still a few pools of water and a couple of muddy patches about, and so the ability to clean and place could have been more than welcome in some places. It seems that a fair proportion of the 14 members who made it today made use of the opportunity, even if they did feel a little guilty about taking the ‘advantage’ offered. This did not offer any advantage on the green, however, and Harry, Craig and Porks were none too happy about their respective performances with the flat stick. The weather was very mild with very little wind, and there should have been no reason not to score well on the day.
As it turned out, the best score on the day, turned out to result in the best score for the event. When a spot in an earlier group eventuated at tee time, Matt was only too happy to remove himself from the ‘pressure’ group, using the excuse that he had to get away to work. The strategy seems to relaxed him, and he started off with a couple of pars, and looked like setting a cracking pace for the round. Things did quieten down a bit, and he carded squares on thirteen of the next sixteen holes, to finish the round with a +3 and a final, winning, score of +1. He opted not to take the trophy to show to his mates at work.
It is not clear whether Gordon is back in love with his putter, but it must have worked reasonably well today as he has able to produce the second-best score of the day, which, coincidentally, also happened to produce the second-best score for the event. The round for Gordon was rather topped off on the 18th, where he put his drive to about 3m to take out the BallPin on that hole, and he sank the putt for a birdie, which brought the total for the day to seven.
Now, coincidence is a marvellous thing, if it wasn’t for coincidence, nothing would ever happen at the same time. However, by another stroke of coincidence, Michael produced the third-best card of the day, which also happened to result in the third-best score for the event. Michael obviously has a keen interest in placings, as he aspires to overtake Brendon before the points Championship finishes. Next week could prove very interesting. At this point, the run of ‘coincidences’ ran out. CJ also produced a card with +1 on the bottom line today, but, unfortunately, that was not sufficient to drag him up from the depths to which he sank last week. CJ seems to have moved away from his favoured ‘power fade’ to a more straight forward approach. On the other hand, brother Rob has taken up the baton to keep the Priems Power Fade in common use. This was good enough to bring Rob home with the fourth-best score of the day, which slotted him nicely into a share of fifth spot for the event. And this despite another Draughtie on the 7th.
Brendon was hoping for much better things today so that he could have put the Championship to bed and take a relaxed attitude into next week’s event. Unfortunately, the horizontal lines kept showing up with some regularity, and he was only able to come in fifth best for the day, which was enough to grab a share for fourth place for the event. Craig was hoping for a sudden downpour to soften the greens, and maybe even to add a film of water, as he struggled to adjust to the radical change in condition from that of last week. As a result, he did not make up any ground on Brendon, but he still does have a chance to overtake Michael if he can arrange a mafia knee-capping during the week. Harry and Ryan shared Craig’s problems with managing the speed of the greens, and they both slotted in with the Prez for a share of his fifth place for the event.
The 4th green did its best to avoid having to hand out a ball, but a few people did manage to be accurate enough to get onto the putting surface, and Jason was the one to win a ball for his efforts. The 15th did an even better job of protecting the money for the ProPin. That is, until Craig came along. Last shot in the last group, and he put it to 3.78m to take home the money again. Some members seem to think we should have a rule about being able to take the ProPin two weeks in a row.
Jason also got his ball onto the green on the 7th. The tee shot was best described as a ‘spray’ and it headed for the trees and the landing was not seen. As the group searched, they ignored the white spot on the green because they thought it was a NTP marker! Jason must have been taking lessons from the Priems boys. Matt decided to make up for the absence of Noodles by indulging in a bit of equipment abuse at one stage. Brent Loeskow joined us again and turned in a fairly creditable card. His shot from the 18th tee, over the fence and onto the 17th green was particularly impressive.
The day finished off with a very well enjoyed barbeque that was excellently catered and cooked by our Social Secretary, Gordo. Just a bit of a pity that there were not more members there to enjoy it. As an aside, Gordo celebrated his 800th game with the club today, while Porks managed to rack up his 300th. Well done, you!
We also held an impromptu Committee meeting, and, as a result of only 12 horses nominating to be included in the Calcutta Auction and the apparent declining interest in the event over recent years, it was decided that we will not conduct the Auction. The Form Guide will still be published in due course. Instead of the Auction, it was agreed that the Calcutta Pool would be upgraded. The cost to ‘buy’ yourself will be $30 and the pool will be divided between first, second, and third of those who participate and in the proportions specified for the Calcutta Auction in the Club Rules. Monies will be collected on the first day of the Vin O’Meara on 4th December (no rain-checks).
Results for Saturday, 20 November 2021
1st Matt Hunt(-2, +3, +1) 2nd Gordon Hill(-5, +2, -3) 3rd Michael Gourlay(-5, +1, -4) 4th Craig Cameron(□, -5, -5) 4th Brendon Mitchell(-2, -3, -5) 5th Harry Boughen(-1, -5, -6) 5th Robert Priems(-4, -2, -6) 5th Ryan Porker(-1, -5, -6)
Seniors Results: 1st Gordon Hill (-5, +2, -3) 2nd Michael Gourlay (-5, +1, -4) 3rd Craig Cameron (□, -5, -5)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Craig Cameron BallPin No 1 – 4th Jason Hopkins BallPin No 2 – 18th Gordon Hill