Notes by Porks, padding by Uno Hu.
There was a fair bit of uncertainty in the air as the opening of the new year of competition approached. Would the Vin O’Meara be played on the regular course? Would the third hole play at full length? Should any scores there count for the Eclectic? So many questions. However, despite that, there were sixteen members on hand to try their luck at getting their scoring off to a good start with some double points. Pepsi also managed to drag along an old schoolmate, Dan. Almost right on cue, the weather was almost summery warm, and the mercury managed to climb into the 30s. Most of the puddles on the course had dried up and the course was looking in fine form except for a few dead looking patches suffering from long term inundation. The greens were deemed to be hard and fast, and the early morning dew hung around for a while until the sun warmed the ground enough. Despite the generally drying trend, there were still preferred lies, and this could have helped the scoring along a little, although there were a couple that had two digits in the square. And, despite the decimation of the wattle trees along the 8th, there were a remarkable number of ‘fat ladies’ recorded for this hole. Maybe the trees used to have a ‘saving’ grace.
There were calls for a swab when it was announced that Steve was the leader after he had been complaining about not having played too well and having had a ten on one hole, particularly when the highest score recorded on his card was a nine. However, this is a two-week event, and there are any number of players snapping at his heels to put the pressure on. He does have a bit of form over a distance as the current wearer of the prized Mustard Jacket from the Annual Challenge. There were even more raised eyebrows when it was announced that his playing companion and card marker, Geoff was holding down second place just two strokes further back on 68. Geoff only managed to score an eight on one hole and was lining up to buy some drinks for a draughty on the 12th so the rest of the round was pretty fair.
Michael seems to be keeping out of the vote counting as the Greens try to make up their mind whether they have won or lost a seat. There were no reports on whether he was particularly happy or unhappy about any aspect of his game, but his net 71 leaves him in a reasonable position to challenge, and it gives him a very early lead in the Eclectic. SOS is similarly well-placed on 71, and he probably feels that he could be a lot better placed but for a couple of triples on the back nine. Pepsi must have been trying to beat his mate, Dan, because he tried to crib an extra stroke on his handicap, so, if there was any money riding on the result, he better not have spent it. Seventy-two net was what was required to tie up fourth place in conjunction with Craig, who would be happy to be back in the placings (leaderboard) after a couple of weeks on the outer recently. ChrisJ and Whitey rounded out the leaderboard placings on 73 after Rajesh also tried to crib an extra shot.
At long last, the minor placings in the 2022 Club Championship have been finalised after Porks and Whitey fought out the play-off in the Matchplay. Even though both were pretty average on the putting front, particularly early in the match, Porks had difficulty winning a hole. Just about the only way he seemed to be able to get a win was to score an eagle on the 6th and birdie on the 13th. It must be said that he could have taken about six shots more and still have won the latter. With still some hope of retrieving the situation, Porks was pleased to see Whitey faced with a long downhill putt for par on the 14th. Wouldn’t you know it, he sank the putt to beat the bogie and to take the match, 5 and 4. The comparative standard of play was deemed to have been much closer than the score-line indicated. As a result, Ryan collected only the four points for 4th place, which left Brendon just a whisker in front, in second place, and brought Ryan up to tie for third with CJ.
The first BallPin was set on the 4th, and the tee markers were well back on the tee box. This proved to be no real challenge for Old Reliable, who left his ball a mere metre away from the hole. The birdie putt proved to be elusive. On the 18th, the pin was on the top deck, and, unperturbed, Craig put his shot to within a metre again. Only to miss the birdie yet again. Two chances to increase our daily total of eight gone begging. The ProPin was on the 12th, and Stan the Man was right on the money with his shot to 4.05m. As Ryan scored yet another eagle today, the poor old eagle has been crying tears of blood as her Nest was raided for its single egg. In the process, he set a new club record by raiding the Eagle’s Nest six times in the one calendar year on no less than five different holes (and the year isn’t over yet!). The previous record of four nests in one year was set in 1999 by David Primrose.
Rajesh managed to sneak under the radar of the Birthday Birdie, and celebrated his birthday last week. Here’s hoping it was a good one, Raj.
Don’t forget, we have the Champion of Champions coming up, and this will be followed by the Christmas Lunch and presentations. If you haven’t let Gordon know by this, then, by golly gosh, you could go close to missing out. Everybody is welcome, whether you have been playing regularly or not. At least you will get something for your sub!
Results for Saturday, 03 Dec 2022
Leaderboard Round 1: 1st Steven Gervasoni (66) 2nd Geoff Lyall (68) 3rd Michael Gourlay (71) 3rd Stephen O’Sullivan (71) 4th Craig Cameron (72) 4th Andrew Petricola (72) 5th Chris James (73) 5th Rodney White (73)
Seniors Leaderboard: 1st Steven Gervasoni (66) 2nd Geoff Lyall (68) 3rd Michael Gourlay (71)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Stan Blackshaw BallPin No 1 – 4th Craig Cameron BallPin No 2 – 18th Craig Cameron
Eagle’s Nest Results: Eagle – 6th Ryan Porker