Who said nobody would play on Christmas Eve? Well, it wasn’t quite a record field, but we easily doubled the minimum requirement for a comp with our twelve intrepid members hitting the tees. There were supposed to be thirteen players with SOS’s guest who apparently ‘chickened out’, but we almost didn’t have SOS either after he forgot to set the alarm, and only leapt out from under the feathers at 0710. Fortunately, the last two groups were only on the verge of being upgraded to fours, when he appeared in the car-park. He was none too pleased by the news that no less than three members were ‘unable’ to pay their comp fee because they only had fifties. At least some members had the good sense to raid the missus’s purse on the way out to do the right thing and bring along a fiver. Not too much to ask, surely? Anyway, it turned out to be a beautiful day, nice and cool and a bit cloudy to start, followed by the sun breaking through and the temperature climbing enough to be pleasant, but not too hot. The course is looking in the pink, and the grass is starting to make a come-back, although the area in the hollow on the third has a little way to go. Steve didn’t have nearly so much trouble there today.
Conditions obviously suited some people because there were some pretty impressive scores handed in. Now, it is a well known fact that there is a bit of antipathy between Club members and the Par format of the game. However, this morning some were heard saying that they were so happy that it was par after so many Stroke rounds in recent times. Who’d have thought? The man who was obviously the happiest about it being a Par event was Brendon, who relished the conditions and the competition so much that he absolutely blitzed the course, matching par on the back and being just three over on the front, to amass five fat and juicy points to sneak into first place. Another who also obviously enjoyed the day, and who was a bit disappointed that he had left a significant number of chips and putts short, was Harry, who took the turn four points to the good. He set out on the back, with Gordo’s ‘you’re on fire’ burning in his brain, determined to at least square the nine and hold the position at the turn. That he managed to do and gathered yet another second placing for his trouble.
Prez Rob expressed a bit of disappointment that he had played his best round for a long time, and had even managed to avoid having to buy a round afterwards, only to find himself relegated to third place on the podium. In actual fact, things were not quite as bad as he thought, because he obviously did not check his handicap, and actually had one more stroke to play with. So, he did not have to share the podium with Matt by taking out third place, alone, with his new score of +3. So, it would be Matt’s turn to be disappointed, having been relegated to fourth place with his score of +2. This then left fifth spot to be shared by Stan and Craig, who followed up a few points back on -1. And we won’t mention the ones who thought they might have scored a point, but now missed out.
The first BallPin was set on the 12th as chosen by Stan before tee time. First name on the chit? You guessed it, Stan! Unfortunately, along came Brendon late in the piece and spoiled the party. Matt was also in the first group and laid an early claim to the BallPin on the 18th, which stood for the rest of the round, until along came Steve and snaffled the ball from Matt’s grasp. The ProPin was on the 15th, and nobody was able to better Rob’s effort to finish about pin high and 2.54m away to collect the money. Harry consoled himself with the fact that he was only about 300mm short of the plug where tomorrow’s hole is going to be. There were quite a swag of birdies scored today. Steve scored one on the 3rd, but the 7th was not so kind to him again today, when he pulled off a virtual repeat of last week’s embarrassment. Gordo, ‘sprayed’ his drive on the 15th well to the left, but took good advantage of the slope and finished pin high and several metres off the green. A chip into the hole brought a smile back to his face that had been progressively darkening as the shots generally did not go his way for most of the rest of the round. Stan had the tree in the way on the third, and calmly played his shot right through the middle without mishap, and then did the chip-in for the birdie. Of course, Brendon scored a couple in his par back nine which, along with others, brought us up to 10 for the day.
Matt reckons that somebody must have put Glad-Wrap over the holes, he missed so many putts that ‘should’ have gone in. Pepsi decided to play an iron from the first tee and was heard to mutter that he hated playing irons after the ball finished, still in the rough, at the bottom of the hill. There was no report on the club used when he repeated the performance on the 10th. Anthony hit his ball so hard from the 10th tee that the tee finished a good couple of metres in front of the red markers. Harry missed the flight of the ball because he was so fascinated by the ‘flight of the tumble tee’. The only thing of note that Porks was able to relate about his game was that he had dropped his sausage roll, and that a crow or magpie did not swoop down and beat him to it.
Another championship points round next Saturday, provided that we get the necessary minimum of six players. A good quick round this morning, so no real problem to fit in the game and still get home to sober up enough to be ready for any festivities planned to see in the New Year.
The Birthday Birdie has yet another week off, and so he will take this opportunity to wish all of our members and their families and loved ones a very Merry Christmas, and he hopes that Santa will bring each and every one something nice, like a perfect golf swing for instance. But then, does such a thing exist? Santa, that is!
Results for Saturday, 24 Dec 2022
1st Brendon Mitchell (+5) 2nd Harry Boughen (+4) 3rd Robert Priems (+3) 4th Matt Hunt (+2) 5th Stan Blackshaw (-1) 5th Craig Cameron (-1)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (+4) 2nd Craig Cameron (-1) 2nd Stan Blackshaw (-1) 3rd Steven Gervasoni (-2)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Robert Priems BallPin No 1 – 12th Brendon Mitchell BallPin No 2 – 18th Steven Gervasoni