We certainly could have done with some fires out on Old Ivanhoe this morning! Jack Frost had been out and about, sprinkling his fairy dust far and wide. There were complaints that it was so cold that the hand warmers took nine holes to get going, by which time some people were beginning to thaw out. Harry, on the other hand, reckons he finally began to feel his fingers by the time that he got to the 14th. Maybe it was the prospect of some icy mornings that prompted only twelve members to register, and for only eleven to make it to the course to take their chances with the icy and somewhat slushy conditions. As far as the tee positions went, there seemed to be no middle ground. Either they were as far back as they could go, or they were right at the front, competing with the red markers for position. There were a couple of draughties reported, which, hopefully, were at least when there was a bit of separation to be negotiated. This was certainly the case for Targe on the 8th, but the situation for Bob and Steve was not clarified. The ice gathered around spikes did result in some interesting ‘dimpling’ of the green surface, and some complained about the effect this had on their putts. Any excuse! At least the management did not close the course to protect the green surface, as Craig reported happened to one of his friends once.
In the end, Craig was more than happy to continue playing. However, he did think that the Golf Gods were against him when his drive on the 6th appeared to have disappeared from the middle of the fairway. No purloiner was noticed, although there was another ‘stray’ ball left on the fairway. Perhaps, by way of compensation, the gods looked down favourably on the 16th where a putt had stopped hanging on the edge of the hole when a fortuitous gust of wind gave it the extra nudge it needed to roll and rest against the pin to be counted as in, even though about 90% of the ball was still above the surface. It seemed that every time SOS scored a plus, it was followed pretty smartly by a minus. And, if he happened to score a couple of minus, there would soon be a plus to fix that right up. At the end of the round, the plus scores exceeded the minus scores by one, and he was able to ‘plod’ a +1 to finish tied up with Craig to share first place. Craig’s win, puts him back at the head of the Championship table by the narrowest of margins, and with the end of the Competition year rapidly approaching, there could be a fair sort of tussle between Old Reliable and Porks.
Adam took a few holes to get going, but the positives proved elusive, and the front nine finished four on the wrong side of the ledger. The back nine proved rather more prolific, but Adam still felt that his card should be well down the pile when he handed it in. In actual fact, his -3 was enough for him to score second place, with the step on the podium to himself. Steve, today, asked about ‘insurance’ for holes in one, to be told by SOS that, yes, the Club shouted a round for the occasion. Not the point, it seems. Steve reckons that some life insurance policies, in South Africa, will pay out for an Ace. The burden of proof would undoubtedly be pretty onerous if insurance claims in Oz are anything to go by. With that weighing on his mind, Steve managed a -4 to catch himself a piece of fourth place. Geoff was still reeling a bit from the hatcheting that his handicap took after his win last week, but there was a thought that he might have managed a HIO on the 12th, where his drive was direct in line with the hole, but it travelled ninety percent of the distance along the ground. So remarkable was the blow that he struck that, despite this, the ball still finished off the back of the green. And, despite this, Geoff also finished -4, to share fourth place.
Despite lacking feeling in his fingers for two thirds of the round, Harry still managed to come home with a score line of -5. He was joined on the scoreline, if not the frozen fingers, by Michael and Rob to enjoy the points for fourth place. And, last in the points, Bob managed to limp in with -6 for the final point on offer for fifth place. Which, if anybody has been counting, leaves only two members out of the points on the day. NN, NPD. But, it shouldn’t be impossible to work out who, if you so wish!
The ProPin was set for the 12th hole today, and nobody was able to get close enough to put their name on the card. There was the usual hard luck story from Michael, claiming that he was a mere 200mm outside the limit, and not able to stretch the tape enough to be able to claim it. Anyhow, eleven dollars was barely worth winning. Come back next week for the Jackpot. The first BallPin was on the 15th, and Old Reliable was able to get his name on the card with a pretty fair shot. Porks insisted on stepping the distance out when Michael managed to get his a little bit closer to take out the ball on offer. On the 18th, for the second BallPin, it was Porks who made it closest and no stepping out needed as he was the sole contender. In what might have been the story of his day, he did not even make the par, although his birdie on the 13th brings him tantalisingly close to birdie or better for the course in the Eclectic and widens his margin in that event even more. As a result, he contributed to the measly total of four birdies on the cards for the day.
There was the final match of the semi-finals played today between Michael and Porks. For two of the lowest handicap holders in the Club, it would have to be said that the result came down to who played the least worse. All week there has been a bit of a cloud hanging over whether the match would even be played today as Ryan’s partner is due to deliver any time now, and discussions were held as to what would happen to the match if the call came part way through the round. A bit like AusPost the delivery is still parked in a facility somewhere, but Ryan could be forgiven for not concentrating as well as he might have. Indicative of that was the fact that he apparently took four shots to get onto the fairway while playing the second. By the finish of the 12th, Michael was five up. A nice little five iron into the 13th about 3m from the hole had him thinking that this would wrap it up, given that Ryan was off the back of the green on the start of the slope up the bank. Unperturbed, Ryan chipped it in for the birdie, which put the jitters into the opponent, who promptly missed the putt and lost the hole. A similar scenario played out on the next hole, and Michael began to think that the match could be slipping from his grasp. But, it was not to be, he won the 15th to finish the match 4 and 3, to book himself a place in the Finals while Ryan will have to content himself with a chance in the play-off for third.
The Birthday Birdie has a call to make this week, but he is having trouble getting his beak around ‘Doğum günün kutlu olsun’ as he prepares to wish Ben all the best for his day coming up. Also, a big shout-out to Keith from all of us to wish him a speedy recovery, and a quick return to golf and to his old form.
Results for Saturday, 30 Jul 2022
1st Craig Cameron (+1) 1st Stephen O’Sullivan (+1) 2nd Adam King (-3) 3rd Steven Gervasoni (-4) 3rd Geoff Lyall (-4) 4th Harry Boughen (-5) 4th Michael Gourlay (-5) 4th Robert Priems (-5) 5th Bob McDonald (-6)
Seniors Results: 1st Craig Cameron (+1) 2nd Geoff Lyall (-4) 2nd Steven Gervasoni (-4) 3rd Harry Boughen (-5) 3rd Michael Gourlay (-5)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 15th Michael Gourlay BallPin No 2 – 18th Ryan Porker