With a completely clean slate to work on and a potential sixteen points on offer, there was an expectation that the turn out of members would be right up there. The weather gods smiled down benignly and the temperature was right in the Goldilocks zone. The course has dried out somewhat, but the trimmings still line the fairways despite the chipper being on site during the week. A few people ran foul of the persisting obstruction, and it promises a ball of a time for whoever eventually moves the rubbish away. After much gnashing of teeth by CJ, we sent off five groups for a total of seventeen players. About twelve of that seventeen were game to back themselves as a chance in the Calcutta pool. The dividend won’t be quite the level of the recent Powerball, but probably won’t go astray in the lead up to the festive season for whoever tops (and seconds and thirds) the list of those who shelled out.
Trev was one of those who did not shell out. He got himself a bit confused about what the event was and was actually set to go to the movies next week to rest up for the following week and the break-up. It was noted that Trev’s dulcet tones had not been heard about the course today, and, when the cards were handed in, the reason became crystal clear. Trev had turned in a blinder with a net score of 64. Now, he was in a fix. Would he play again next week to take advantage of the rush of form, or would he stick with his plan to go and see Spiderman. The vote from the gallery was – to hell with Spiderman! So, if anybody is looking for a ticket to the movies, Trev might have one for sale.
The gallery raised a cheer on the first as Old Reliable started out in Old Reliable style with one right up the centre. It didn’t stop with the first shot, and Craig started off the new competition year in style with a birdie on the first. And, it didn’t stop there. He rattled off two more further down the track, making fully 30% of the 10 that we all managed for the day. This gave a flying start to the quest for the Eclectic, and he is the one to catch at the moment. Bobbie was not game to bring his electric buggy, despite the fact that an electrician had apparently given it a clean bill of health. He did have a bit of a whinge about the fact that he had been cut by three strokes as a result of his win last week. If today’s performance is any guide, the cut might not have been severe enough and there will be more pain to come after he joined Craig with net 65. The combination of the two weeks rounds pretty well puts Bob in the box-seat for the Handicap Strokeplay Championship.
ChrisJ seems to have found his form with the driver after complaining bitterly about being let down by it last week. Chris is a great one for using his range-finder regardless of the distance from the hole. Apparently, when he checked the range to the pin from near the bunker on the 5th, it came up with the letters FLW. The ‘L’ seems to mean ‘long’ and the ‘W’ seems to mean ‘way’. It was a bit of a struggle to work out what the ‘F’ stood for! Despite having ‘done nothing different’, Chis was able to slot into third spot with a very creditable net of 66.
Keith didn’t say what exactly had happened, but he was bemoaning the fact that he had scored ‘double figures’ on the 16th. When compared with the rest of his card, that little aberration could have cost him a spot up alongside Trev. Five strokes is not an impossible task to achieve, and a net 69 is nothing to be ashamed of. CJ didn’t have any real horror holes, but the dreaded double bogies (and one triple) turned up just often enough to result in a share of fourth place as well.
Stan was another who managed to present with a double-digit number on his card, and as a result had to content himself with his net score of 70 and a share of fifth place after the first round. Rob claims that he is pleased that he missed the birdie putt on the first, as everybody knows that things go down-hill really fast if you birdie the first (unless, of course, you are Old Reliable). Even with the par, things did go down-hill quite quickly, with reports of maybe three or four strokes to get past the red markers on the very next hole. Rob was spotted with his hands in his pocket after the round, but the setback was not sufficient to stop him from coming in to share fifth spot on the leader-board. A couple of chunked chips did not help SOS’s cause, and he seemed rather pleased that he was able to sink ‘recovery’ putts with apparent ease. Ken has taken over from Brett Sutton as the pin-up boy of the golfing ladies after they were offered a chance to load up with mangoes when members felt that they had collected an elegant sufficiency for themselves. The boxes of fruit did not impede his game too much, although he did flirt with the dreaded double-digit on a couple of occasions (and one of them on a par 3).
The first BallPin today was on the 4th, and there were the usual complaints as to why the tree on the left hadn’t fallen over in the storm. There turned out to be a fair contest with three names on the card, but the closest by a fair margin was SOS. The second BallPin, on the 18th, was barely legal with the marker only just on the green proper. The perpetrator of this robbery was none other than Craig, who reckons he only put his name on the card for the sake of getting his name on it. The ProPin was on the 12th, and nobody was able to get closer than Pepsi who whacked one to 3.82m early on. SOS was just a bit muscly and the ball must have run across the edge of the hole on its way to the back of the green.
Targe was doing the right thing and keeping Stableford points for his inside card. On the 3rd, as he missed another short putt, he bent down and went to pick up his ball, only to be pulled up ‘short’ by SOS reminding him that it was a stroke event. Targe also managed a five putt green on the 15th. Porks put his driver away part way around today. Not because he was afraid of driving through the green, but because it was being a bit erratic. He wasn’t in the front-runners today, but he does have a handy lead in the Scratch Strokeplay Championship. Pepsi has just a bit of work to do to catch him. Maybe Pepsi should play with Ken again next week, as they were apparently involved in some very intellectual conversations together today. The Beast went close to driving the green on the 14th, and then proceeded to get the birdie, which made the round slightly less horrific (his words) than last week.
Don’t forget that the subs for Club and Golf Access are due by 18th December. Any GA memberships not paid by then or notification received of your firm intention one way or another, will be suspended until payment is received as the Club will be billed, and we cannot afford to support inactive GA memberships. Payment by bank transfer is preferred, and details appear on the web-site under the Bank Transfer menu.
The break-up will be on the 18th after the Champion of Champions round, with a catered lunch and some drinks provided. There is talk of an adjournment to a nearby hotel for the thirsty members after the trophy presentations that will take place after the repast is completed. Gordon needs to know numbers by 09 December (Next Friday). Just reply to his recent email (not Reply All please).
Results for Saturday, 04 December 2021
Leaderboard Round 1: 1st Trevor Jackson (64) 2nd Craig Cameron (65) 2nd Bob McDonald (65) 3rd Chris James (66) 4th Keith Delzoppo (69) 4th Chris Priems (69) 5th Stan Blackshaw (70) 5th Robert Priems (70) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan (70) 5th Ken Watson (70)
Seniors Leaderboard: 1st Trevor Jackson (64) 2nd Bob McDonald (65) 2nd Craig Cameron (65) 3rd Chris Priems (69) 3rd Keith Delzoppo (69)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Andrew Petricola BallPin No 1 – 4th Stephen O’Sullivan BallPin No 2 – 18th Craig Cameron