Best laid plans on 08 September 2022

Annual Challenge by Gordon

Thanks to Matt Hunt for the organisation of the Annual Challenge ( 3 years in the making!). Half the group went up early to get in a round before the weekend, but it rained incessantly on the way up. The decision was not to play, but to head to the bar for the day – very likely the start of a few headaches. Friday night saw the draw of the groups for Saturday, the Calcutta and the collection of $50 for Punters Club funds. It was good to see old faces back with Ivanhoe MSGC – Stef, Mehmet, Chris V and Ken. The brothers Priems were noticed hitting the dance floor for some ancient disco dancing – together. There were a few questions on the size of handicaps (especially Steve G as it turned out, and Mehmet, who hasn’t played for ‘years’ and still only gets 12!). ‘Bloody Harry – when do we get a new handicapper’. Harry says – play more often!

Day 1 and the skies had cleared overnight, and the weather was sensational. Plenty of roos around the course and some puddles on the course (and in the bunkers), but the condition was exceptional (given the recent weather). The club house had the disco music blaring out loud, making for a real party atmosphere. On the 5th hole, Brendon was putting uphill when Bon Jovi came on the speakers and, you guessed it, “Woah, we’re half way there, woah, livin’ on a prayer,”
… yep, he left it short by a long way.

One other highlight was the swooping of Brendon by the resident maggie, which had him doubled over in defence. First swoop got him on the cap, and from then on it was look out! Day 2 came with a warning from the ProShop of maggies doing a lot of swooping, so “look out”. We all then had stories of holding putters above our heads to scare them away, but not all that successfully. The lady from the Proshop had a 3” scar down her face from an earlier attack.

But, what about the golf, you might ask. Well, the highlight would have to have been the performance by Steve who top scored on both days with 35 and 37 points to take out the Mustard jacket on his first attempt and by a wide margin. Brendon was equal top score on Day 1, despite the magpie attack, and his 67 scored him second place. Matt, Rob and Ken trailed further back to fill the remaining point scoring places.

Poor old Chris J was hampered by his back injury from the previous week, and only had enough drugs to get him through Day 1. Day 2 – he shaped up much better, although the scores did not benefit greatly, and the NARGA was his for the taking. Pepsi was not his usual self on Day 1, and only managed a point per hole, which might be explained by the excesses of Friday night (or not, as the case may be). As usual there were lots of good hits, giggles and expletives for the 2 days. Not too many misses, though, although the Cock’s Plate (for the worst shot of the weekend) went to Rob Priems who skied one shot straight up, the ball coming down flicked his cap and landed at his feet.

History repeated itself and the NTP’s were dominated by Matt Hunt and Brendon. Porks won the Calcutta – he doesn’t win all the time, but then he does seem to most of the time, somehow. On the other hand, history did not repeat, the Punters Club played well – they got their $50 back plus $5 ! Better than they normally do on these trips (or any time for that matter!). The cocktails got a hammering on Saturday night, and no luck for any trying to chat up the locals – the locals had taste.

Ivanhoe by Craig

On the local front, after all the rain on Thursday and Friday, what would be the condition of the course on Saturday morning. Blighty said it would be a quagmire and opted to stay at home and catch up on some outstanding jobs. Michael was at the course bright and early, but, on the proviso that, if we did not have the numbers for a comp, he would not play and go home, which he did, but it might very well have been via Macca’s.

Stan, SOS and Craig stood on the first tee, fearing the worst, hoping for the best, and landed somewhere in between. Those parts of the course that suffered during the winter wet were no better, but overall the course had not suffered as badly as was thought might be the case. They were joined by James, who was at the course early to play a round of golf, but with no-one to play with.

After the first 3 holes the consensus comment amongst the playing group was that “I can’t remember ever playing these first 3 holes so badly”. It was hoped that things would improve, and they did, but not by a big margin, lost balls – plugged, in hazards and OOB – taking their toll on the scores. Don’t mention the poor golf shots. It was possible to rationalise the ordinary golf by the fact that this was a social round, and therefore it did not count.     

One thing worthy of mention was that Stan was nearly taken out by a branch that fell from a gum tree as he was waiting to tee off on the 18th. A fortunate miss and a timely warning. A perfect sunny Spring morning for golf, it was just a pity the golf did not match the weather.  

Results for Saturday, 08 Oct 2022
Ivanhoe: No Competition

Challenge: 1st Steven Gervasoni (37, 35, 72) 2nd Brendon Mitchell (32, 35, 67) 3rd Matt Hunt (31, 32, 63) 4th Robert Priems (33, 29, 62) 5th Ken Watson (27, 33, 60)

Seniors Results

Ivanhoe: No Competition

Challenge: 1st Steven Gervasoni (37, 35, 72) 2nd Ken Watson (27, 33, 60) 3rd Gordon Hill (24, 26, 50) 3rd Chris Priems (19, 31, 50) 3rd Geoff Lyall (25, 25, 50)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – – No Contest BallPin No 1 – – No Contest BallPin No 2 – – No Contest