Seventy percent chance of rain, less than 1mm. So said Brendon’s forecast during the week. Interestingly, it probably proved about right. There was rain as we teed off, and it probably amounted to less than one millimetre. The only problem was the 5mm or more that came down during the night, which just sat on top of the already saturated parts of the course in nice little mini-oceans a few millimetres deep, There was soft ground to swallow a ball, and longish grass to hide it from prying eyes. Despite this, there were few reports of lost balls, although some searches possibly lasted longer than the regulation three minutes. Trees were reported to have sprung up and interfered with the trajectory of balls that were deemed to have cleared said tree by the proverbial country mile. But, then again, perspective can be deceptive. Everybody should be familiar with the shot that looks to be almost in the hole from fifty metres out, when, in reality, it is several metres away. Despite some early concerns about having numbers for a competition, in the end, we had a quorum and a half, with nine players battling it out for the points on offer. And, at the end of the day, nobody was disappointed, as there were just enough points available for everybody to score at least one. It’s probably been a while since that has happened. With that thought firmly at front of mind, some enquiries were made, and it was determined that such an event has happened four times in the last ten years. The most recent was almost exactly five years ago on 16th September 2017, from a field of eight. Records show that it has happened with fields of up to fourteen.
The man who didn’t really have to Hunt for his ball today was none other than Captain Matt. Although, he was wishing for a bit of luck on the 10th when the ball headed for the tree line on the right. A bit of a miss-hit or a stray ball did not prove to be a problem, as the approach game was exemplary. It was easy to lose count of the times that approach shots finished close to gimme distance from the hole. Matt reached the turn with one point on the credit side of the ledger, and then he really decided to play. He managed to complete the back half of the course with just 32 strokes (one under par) to amass five more points to bring his total to six for the round. This was more than enough to take out the top spot on a day when conditions for play were not all that great. The handicapper’s axe needed just a little more than a hone to do justice to the execution.
Geoff hit the ground running and was putting the lie to his rather generous handicap to be two strokes over the card after five holes. A bit of a bumpy patch around the turn took the shine off things just a bit, and the tally was all square after the 12th. At this stage, a show of form returned, and the double points paid dividends, so that he was able to finish the round in second place with a score of +3. The handicap is now slightly more realistic. There was some surprise expressed when Craig announced that his score was -1, as he had been ‘hitting them up the centre all day’. As they say, Old reliable can be deceptive like that! There were plenty of squares to be had on his card, but the plus putts just would not drop in. There were no reports on how up the centre SOS was, but he did manage to produce the same pair of nine hole tallies to match Craig and to share third place. However, there were reports on his sense of fashion.
Harry was pretty happy with his front nine as he took on the water soaked greens and sank putts from just about any range. The happy knack was rather short-lived, and the back was punctuated by numerous putts missed from short range, much to his chagrin. So, it was a pleasant surprise to be in at fourth place with his score of -5. Brendon was in a forgetful mood, as he arrived at the course without his trusty putter once again, and had to suffice with a borrow from the ProShop. Which club he blamed in large part for him also scoring -5 for a share of the spot with Harry. He was also spotted searching frantically in the pockets of his bag for his banana. There is no evidence available that he found it, and it can only be assumed that he left that at home with his putter as well. With only three members of the field left unaccounted for, it was up to Michael, Gordon and JQ to present with cards of -6 to fill the last placing available and to use up all of the players available as well.
Geoff was the only one left at the table before tee time, so he was asked to nominate the first BallPin. On the basis of having gone close to making a hole-in-one there last week, he nominated the 7th. With the tees placed well back, it looked as if there was a fair chance that it would go begging. No such luck. Michael did the deed, and put his name on the chit to collect yet another ball and save the Club a fortune with his predilection for cheapies. On the 18th, Matt managed to get his ball onto the green, and he almost seemed reluctant to put his name on the card. His reluctance might have been well-founded, because Geoff did manage to get closer to collect the ball. There was a suggestion that there was another contender who missed out on beating Geoff by a shoe length. Then there was the quadruple Jackpot ProPin on the 12th hole. The first group tried valiantly, but couldn’t quite get a name on the card after Brendon’s shot was accurate enough, but finished just a bit too long, and actually off the back of the green. The second group was a little more successful, and Craig managed to sneak inside the required distance, Then, along came Team Gourlay. As Michael’s shot was arcing assuredly towards the pin, frantic negotiations began about the possibility of sharing the pot. Actually, it had been decided beforehand that a split was in order, but that’s not nearly so good a story. Discussions within Brendon’s group for a similar deal had earlier proved fruitless, and demonstrated once again that he is, proudly, tight as a kiwi’s cloaca. Anyway, the shot to 2m was plenty good enough to score the money for the team. Michael did not make the birdie there, but he did manage one for the round to contribute to the field total of five.
Results for Saturday, 10 Sep 2022
1st Matt Hunt (+6) 2nd Geoff Lyall (+3) 3rd Craig Cameron (-1) 3rd Stephen O’Sullivan (-1) 4th Harry Boughen (-5) 4th Brendon Mitchell (-5) 5th Michael Gourlay (-6) 5th Gordon Hill (-6) 5th John Quinlan (-6)
Seniors Results: 1st Geoff Lyall (+3) 2nd Craig Cameron (-1) 3rd Harry Boughen (-5)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Michael Gourlay BallPin No 1 – 7th Michael Gourlay BallPin No 2 – 18th Geoff Lyall