There has been a certain amount of rain around over the last couple of days, so there was a certain amount of trepidation as to what sort of condition the course would be in and the sort of effect that this might have on the scores returned. One discussion suggested that the medallist would be lucky to match his handicap. In actual fact, the course wasn’t all that bad, with the usual slushy patches (and tee on the 15th), but the preferred lie meant that you didn’t have to play with mud on your ball, unless you chose to. CJ reckoned he was put off by the greens because they were more of a yellow colour, which, you would have to agree, is a pretty poor excuse for missed putts. We had 13 members, plus Jake, turn out this morning, and that included Blighty, who owned to still being a bit shaken up after his T-boning last Saturday. Fortunately, there were no injuries other than to his car, which was apparently a write-off. The weather stayed mild and dry, although there were some rather ominous clouds looming after the round. Despite all this, the ‘cold and heavy’ air seems to have had an effect on play for some members at least.
No such problems for Adam, however. The only real blemish on his card was a triple on the 3rd, and his 37 strokes on the back nine was helped along by his birdie on the 12th. This was apparently a bit on the easy-peasy side after he put his drive to 2.4m to take out the Jackpot ProPin on that hole. The birdie was one of only five that we managed to put together on the day. The net score of 65 was a fair stretch in front of the rest of the field. Except, that is, for Jake. Now Jake is hanging out there with Porks awaiting an important delivery, and he hasn’t played for a while, plus, he was lining up for his second round with the set of clubs that he was bequeathed by CJ on the occasion of his birthday. Although he did make use of the Priems tree technique, he did manage to smash together a very respectable score of net 66 from what would have been his old Club handicap.
The next best members were the terrible twins, Matt and Pepsi. Matt apparently went close to spitting the dummy when he thinned a chip to the green on the 9th, and he fully expected the ball to finish a long way past the hole. That is, until it hit the pin and dropped into the hole, at which stage, he proceeded to take full credit for the result. The other aspect of his round was that he went close to ‘fouring’ the back nine. Eight of the nine holes had a four in the score column. Pepsi also managed a triple on the 3rd, but he soon put that behind, and, with the aid of a couple of birdies, he managed to produce a par score for the back nine. Watch out when he masters the front.
Despite his problem with the colour of the greens, CJ was able to rescue his round with a 37 stroke back nine. The new clubs seem to be still behaving themselves and Chris reckons that his new-found accuracy is just what his ‘aging’ body needs, rather than loads of length. He did test the tree line on the 8th, and the ball disappeared into the thick of it until, about ten seconds later, the ball popped out the other side into ‘not too bad’ a spot. SOS started out in pretty good form, and finished the front nine looking like being a hot contender for the top spot. His self-assessment of a really good nine holes might just have put the mockers on him. Nothing went really bad, but, then again, nothing was quite right either, leading to a final net score of 71 and the fourth podium spot. Gordon preferred not to talk about the 16th and 17th holes that managed to rob him of the chance of a much higher placing, and brought him into a tie with Brendon on 72 and the final point for the day.
The first BallPin was on the 4th, and with the white tees well back, the prospect from the tee provided a rather daunting view. The ‘tree’ claimed a fair share of victims, and, as a result, the ball went begging, and there will be a jackpot to next week. On the 18th, CJ was the only one to get his name on the chit, and he collected the ball for that one. The ProShop had neglected to put out their ProPin marker, and CJ was in that competition, but, as he couldn’t be bothered going back to the green to measure the distance, it was up to others to do the hard work for him. Will he cop it if he wins!
Now, as sure as God made little green apples, it wouldn’t be a round if Rob didn’t score a draughtie. Today was no exception and from the ‘slushie’ on the 15th, he managed to fall short of the red markers once again. His round did have one highlight when he chipped in on the 6th hole for his only par for the day. However, Blighty must have been a little cross-eyed when he finished off the card and wrote Rob’s score at the top of the card, because he took Rob’s handicap from his own score. So Rob didn’t just miss out on a point, as Matt announced, as a result. Bob didn’t have a great start to the round, losing a ball off the side of the tee. His tally for the first was not quite a record for a single hole, but it certainly is for the first, and by a reasonable margin. But, like the true trooper that he is, Bob stuck with it and finished the round where lesser mortals might have called it a day. Jake was through the green on the 6th, and his chip was only slightly off-line, but certainly going to miss the hole. Fortunately for Jake, CJ had chipped his ball to a few hundred millimetres from the hole, right in the line. The collision slowed and deflected his ball, and it finished about 20mm short of the hole. Talk about the Priems family working together.
The Birthday Birdie has been resting up over the past few weeks, but this week will see him flapping his little wings off. He has to get around to visit Harry, Ken, Brendon and ChrisV to wish them all the very best for their various milestones. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to fill in for the stork as well.
The year is slipping by, and it will not be long before the Annual Challenge is upon us. If you can see your way clear, payment of the balances owing would be in order. And, if you have a mind to go and your name is not on the list, get in touch with Matt to see what your options are.
Results for Saturday, 06 Aug 2022
1st Adam King (65) 2nd Matt Hunt (69) 2nd Andrew Petricola (69) 3rd Chris Priems (70) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan (71) 5th Gordon Hill (72) 5th Brendon Mitchell (72)
Seniors Results: 1st Chris Priems (70) 2nd Gordon Hill (72) 3rd Andrew Blight (74) 3rd Craig Cameron (74)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Adam King BallPin No 1 – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 2 – 18th Chris Priems