Yet another lovely Melbourne winter’s day. There was just a nice little gap between the weather fronts coming through to produce a day that was not too cold, and definitely not too hot. As Goldilocks would say, it was just right. Of course, the showers that accompany the weather fronts have done their bit to keep the course well damped down, and there was a certain amount of squishiness underfoot in places. Plugged balls were evident from time to time, but they are subject to relief in any case. The preferred lie ruling was certainly welcome, but the ‘claytons’ ruling on the (non)use of carts by the ProShop caused more than a little consternation, among the twelve members who managed to make it on deck. One who had to bail was out SOS who has been struck down by the dreaded C, and is trying to console himself in isolation. Get well soon old mate, we need somebody to handle our balls. And, while on the topic of getting well, Bob was back on the course today after an extended break due to his hand problem. Although he did not exactly blitz the course, he did manage to score a two-pointer, and he finally got to play his 900th round with the Club. Congratulations, Bob.
What sort of a score would you expect to see from a player who manages to square twelve of the eighteen holes in a round. It probably depends on whether a square is a ‘good’ result, or a ‘bad’ result. In Brendon’s case, they were more like a ‘bad’ result, with plus scores out-numbering minus scores by four to two. This balance kept his tally for the round to just +2, which turned out to be just enough to win the top points by a fairly comfortable margin. Whether the team tee-shirt helped the performance in any way was not immediately obvious, but Brendon was heard to mutter something about ‘sticking it to those Collingwood supporters’.
Harry felt that his score should have been a bit better after a two point putt missed by a hairs-breadth. However, he was also rather thankful when a longish downhill putt on the 14th trickled in for a par after a couple of less than satisfying approach shots. At the end of the day, -1 was probably a fair result. Last week, when H and Michael battled it out in their match, they finished with identical results for the round. Today, they did it again, as Michael also presented with a score of -1. According to reports, Michael was on the verge of throwing it in and going home when he had completed the sixth to be five on the wrong side of zero. He must have given himself a good talking to, as he managed to play the last twelve holes with two strokes under the card, which converted his five down to one down to get the points for second place. The birdies involved (three) helped us to a fairly respectable tally of nine for the day.
It has been a little while since Craig has popped his head above the battlements, which could mean that he is preparing to go ‘over the top’ and lead the charge for the enemy trenches. Or at least for the head of the Championship Table. Rob did not feature in any reports of ‘coming up short’, which some might say is a bit unusual. Although there was a good smattering of plus signs on his card, there was a bit of an excess of minuses, leading to his final score of -2, which scored him a share of the third podium step. Brent scored the other of the two ‘doubles’ for the day on his way to being three up at the turn. At this point, the run of form seemed to abandon him, and five downers on the back brought him back to the pace for his share of third.
The hole was not specified, but Whitey managed to find a tree that, rather unexpectedly, managed to play a return shot that left his ball on the ‘wrong’ side of the red markers. Which probably explains why he was buying a round of drinks after the game. Despite this little setback, he was able to put together a nice little back nine, a couple on the plus side, to finish on his own in fourth place with -3. Although he had his handicap cut last week, Ryan probably cannot blame that alone for his rather nasty front nine that matched Michael’s over the first six holes, but lacked the MG recovery on the last three of the nine. He did manage to equal par on the back to bring some respectability and one point for fifth place. CJ would have been reasonably pleased with his game for the first nine holes where he managed to play to his handicap and square the card. Perhaps it was the anticipation of the afternoon’s events at Jake’s Baby Shower that brought on the slump in form over the first half of the back. Or did it bring on the recovery over the last four? Whichever it was, he teamed up with Porks to collect a single point for the day.
You would reckon that a team of champions, such as Prez, CJ and Brent, could be relied upon to put out the NTP markers on the designated holes. To give them their due, they did manage to get the job done on the 4th, which was the first BallPin. Craig managed to get his name on the card briefly, only to be knocked off by Harry, who finished a good metre and a half nearer. It was the ProPin on the 15th where the best laid plans came unstuck (Baby Shower again?), and the paraphernalia was nowhere to be seen by the following groups. As a result, there was No Contest today, and the funds in the pool will Jackpot to next week. The pin on the 18th was on the top deck today, which is thought to be the more ‘difficult’ location. Not so for Michael, who managed to balance it not too far past the brow to collect the ball on offer.
The Beast was a little off his game today, although he did make what appeared to be a good strike from the tee at the 12th, eliciting cries of ‘in the hole’ as the ball arced towards the pin. Unfortunately, the shot came up short on the slope and promptly headed down hill at a rate of knots, eliciting cries of ‘in the pond’ before it came to a halt in the longish grass at the bottom of the slope. Steve was a bit unhappy with most aspects of his game today. The short game came in for its fair share of questioning, particularly after he had made three approaches to the 9th green for no forward progress after the ball persistently stopped short and rolled back down the slope to his feet.
Results for Saturday, 25 June 2022
1st Brendon Mitchell (+2) 2nd Harry Boughen (-1) 2nd Michael Gourlay (-1) 3rd Craig Cameron (-2) 3rd Robert Priems (-2) 3rd Brent Rowley (-2) 4th Rodney White (-3) 5th Ryan Porker (-4) 5th Chris Priems (-4)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (-1) 1st Michael Gourlay (-1) 2nd Craig Cameron (-2) 3rd Rodney White (-3)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th – No Contest BallPin No 1 – 4th Harry Boughen BallPin No 2 – 18th Michael Gourlay