The recent rains have been mercifully light to non-existent, and so the course has been holding its own. It actually looked downright inviting from the Clubhouse hill looking back down the ninth. There wasn’t much run on the fairways if you had any sort of a launch angle, but the greens were surprisingly fast. Just ask Steve, who managed to miss the green twice from just a few metres out on a couple of occasions. And this despite a chipping lesson with the Pro during the week. There were some dark looking clouds around first thing, and they didn’t really clear away, although they did lighten up as the day went on. Also, there was not a breath of wind the whole morning, so our 15 members who made it to the tee should have had little excuse from the conditions. Bob almost had an excuse for not turning up after his navigation system kept taking him around in ever decreasing circles, somewhere in the vicinity of ShoppingTown. In the end, he called his well honed bush skills into play and relied on his unerring sense of direction to get him to the golf course that he has been playing regularly for the last 30 years. Maybe the 900th game last week went to his head.
Now, many golf clubs have a day on their calendar that is known as President’s Day. Unfortunately, we don’t have such a day on our calendar, so Prez decided that he would exercise Presidential prerogative and declare that today was just such a day. It wasn’t all roses, as he did have to shout after his drive on the 2nd powered through one of the bushes in front of the tee, only to collect a tree that pulled the ball up well short of the red markers. However, his pitcher was working a treat and a number of approach shots finished pretty much within gimme distance of the hole. A couple of longish putts also helped to keep the wolf from the door, bringing him home with a nice round net score of 68 to minimise the damage to his handicap. If that wasn’t enough, he also managed to get his name on the two BallPin markers at the 4th and 18th to collect a couple of Precepts, which are now his favourite ball, in addition to the one for the win. SOS, please note!
ChrisJ produced a bit of a mixed bag on the front nine, but definitely lifted his game on the back to produce a swag of pars. A triple on the 13th was the only real blemish for the half, and he finished the round a couple of strokes back with a net of 70. Porks was deadly with his wedge today, and this scored him consecutive birdies early in the round, and he missed three in a row by the barest of margins. He now has a very nice lead in the Championship and a couple of strokes to play with in the Eclectic. Still room for improvement in that department, as there are three holes on the course that he has not yet birdied or eagled.
El Capitano was rather reluctant to talk about his own game, which didn’t quite come up to his usual high standard. In actual fact, he was rather more keen to take part in Dob-in-a-Bob Week, perhaps showing a yearning for his halcyon days in the Cubs and Scouts. When Akela cried Dyb, Dyb, Dyb, he was probably the very first to reply We’ll Dob, Dob, Dob. Anyhow, he did provide graphic evidence of the draughtie on the 16th tee. And, he managed to slip into third place with his net of 73. There were a remarkable number of ‘fat ladies’ on the cards today, and a rather unexpected appearance was made on Brendon’s card. Brendon was in one of his pedantic moods today, wanting to argue about what constituted and airie. He contended that the fact that he hit the ground before not hitting the ball did not constitute said felony. The fact that he had his backside up against a tree and the ball was in long grass does not provide mitigating circumstances. Despite all this, he also netted 73 and shared third place with Matt.
There were also a few scores that got into double figures on a hole, and Ben was one player who recorded that distinction. Whether that was the same hole that he scored his draughtie and/or did his back in was not declared. There was a round at Sandringham on offer for tomorrow because of the injury. Despite this, a net score of 75 left him in 4th place, with no one else to share the glory. Harry believes that the idea of putting should be changed to running the ball just to catch the edge of the hole, but not to go in. Brent reckons that he has proved once again that if you birdie the first, then the only way from there is down. As a result, they both reported nets of 76 to collect the last point for the day.
The field was faced with a couple of quandaries with the course set up today. The first was on the first, where the signage warned you to keep off, but the white markers beckoned you to come on, sailor. The second was on the 5th, where the tee markers were less than a pace from the back of the brand new tee box. So much for having two club lengths for a teeing area. There was barely enough room for a stance. There were no quandaries on the 15th, where we were competing for the Jackpot ProPin. CJ wasn’t here today to defend himself, but brother Rob was adamant that the oversight last week was definitely down to Chris. In the end, the other ChrisJ was the one who got his name on the card with a shot to 1.37m. Given that we only reported three birdies for the day, and those three have already been mentioned, the evidence would suggest that he did not make the putt.
There was one match played today in the Matchplay quarter-finals, that saw Pepsi pitted against Whitey. The word came back that the whole thing was not pretty, as both players turned out well below their potential. As a result, the match ended up being a pretty close-run thing. Nobody could really get the upper hand, and after the 12th the match stood at all square. Rod then made a bit of a break for it and made it out to a lead of two holes, and Peps started to get a bit anxious. So much so that he produced a power shank on the 15th to finish across the 16th and not too far from the fence to the car-park. He played a great recovery shot and barely missed the par, which would have won him the hole. As it was, the result was a square, not a loss as was recorded. The match was square after the 17th, and it required a win on the 18th for Whitey to take the match one up.
Today, despite the lack of wind, turned out to be pretty draughtie. As well as the ones already mentioned, additional mentions are due to Pat who had to dip into his sky-rocket for two rounds, and to Targe who did not make the best of the day. Rob got away a good drive on the 11th, although it did drift a bit to the right and into the tree line. He also made good contact with his second shot, but, unfortunately, the ball also made good contact with a tree several metres away. The rebound almost took off Prez’s head, and the ball finished some 30m behind and almost back on the 10th green. Bob reckons we should have more news about good shots, so here goes. On the 13th, Bob had a shot from behind the penalty area, with the contained forest between him and the green. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Bob pulled out a wedge, and gave it all he was worth. He didn’t see where it went, but he was very pleased to find that it had finished on the green. A pretty mean feat, you would have to say.
Now, we must, unfortunately, bring some very sad news. During the week, our old mate and stalwart of the Club for 30 years, Trevor took a tumble in his own home and injured himself so severely that he was not able to summon help, and he died alone and probably in great pain. Our sincerest condolences go to his family and friends. As a mark of respect, we ask that everybody playing next week wear a black armband. President Rob has been in contact with Trev’s family, and he will advise details of the funeral for those members who would like to attend to pay their respects. Rest in Peace Trev, there’s bound to be plenty of carts available for that great golf course in the sky.
Results for Saturday, 02 July 2022
1st Robert Priems (68) 2nd Chris James (70) 2nd Ryan Porker (70) 3rd Matt Hunt (73) 3rd Brendon Mitchell (73) 4th Ben Akdag (75) 5th Harry Boughen (76) 5th Brent Rowley (76)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (76) 2nd Bob McDonald (78) 3rd Andrew Blight (79)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Chris James BallPin No 1 – 4th Robert Priems BallPin No 2 – 18th Robert Priems