My, wasn’t it a lovely day for a round of golf? This contention was supported by the fact that we had seventeen members (including new boy on the block, Peter Sein) turn out to sample the joys that Ivanhoe had to offer. With AndrewN putting in his second card and James Hale along as a guest of BrentL submitting his first, the prospects for membership are looking almost as sunny as the day itself. The course continues to be in fine fettle, with the fairways being fairly forgiving in the run department, and the greens being smooth and true. So, once again, there was absolutely no reason not to score your pants off. And, by and large, the scoring was nothing to be embarrassed about, with the majority of the rest of the field only just out of the points.
To start off with a double bogie on the first would not elicit a comment. However, scoring a triple on the seventeenth when you are one over the card on the back nine did result in a few comments about protecting handicap and other dastardly deeds. Despite this little aberration, ChrisJ was able to report a personal best stroke score of 78 and a very impressive plus six for the round. Old Reliable was back to his old reliable self today, largely due to not leaving his putts short, as has been the case a few times recently. It can make a huge difference, so you have to wonder why so many of us do it so consistently. CJ is getting to be almost as reliable as Old Reliable, and he was able to join Craig in second place with his score of plus two. It seems that the turf difference between the ‘Hoe and the Frog requires a bit of an adjustment to his chipping technique, which he reckons he has just about worked it out. Seems to show in the results at any rate.
Brent is back after a bit of a break, and he brought along his mate James. They drew the short straw and had to lead out the field. With a group of shamateurs just in front, things almost took a nasty turn on the first green when James took a solid blow on the lower leg from a very errant shot from the second tee. This is not the sort of welcome we normally hand out to prospective members on their first round. Usually, it takes a bit longer! Despite this little incident, Brent was able to show that the break has not seriously affected his game, and he collected third place for his score of plus one.
Ken was very quiet about his round that included a couple of bright spots as well as a couple of dull spots. These pretty much cancelled each other out, and he played exactly to his handicap to occupy the fourth spot on the podium with a square card. On the bottom deck, with a score of minus one, we had a fair sort of crowd. Adam was pretty pleased with his chip in for birdie on the 13th, which would have helped his Eclectic score. It also contributed to the twelve that the club scored today. Bob seems to have completed the round without a buggy incident, and if it hadn’t been for a couple of ‘fat ladies’, he could easily have been further up the table. Peter didn’t muck about with his first competition round, playing from his GA handicap. It took him five or six holes to adjust to the Ivanhoe course, after playing at Northern in recent times, so we might see more of Peter on the podium before too long. Even though the tee on the second was on the front block, a remarkable number of members had triples on the hole. SOS was one of them, but it was about the only real blemish on his card.
Having been put in charge of putting out the markers for the Nearest the Pin, Brent obviously thought that he should put his name on every one of them. Well, almost every one of them. Unfortunately, people had other ideas, and none of his attempts survived. On the 12th, the first BallPin went to Craig, while the second, on the 18th, went to Pepsi. The ProPin was on the 4th, and it could have been a bit challenging with the tee set well back. However, Pepsi came to the fore once more, and scooped the pool with his shot to 1.8m.
The Birthday Birdie has one call to make this week, and that is to our old mate Keith, who is still on the road to recovery, and who we look forward to seeing back into the swing of things soon. Have a good one, Keith.
Raj has obviously been impressed by the skills of the Priems. On the 8th, his tee shot headed in the direction of the 6th before getting tangled in the trees, from whence it was ejected back onto the fairway. The next shot was headed well out into the billabong, before it was subject to a multiple ricobound, to once again finish out in the middle of the fairway. Pepsi found the pond on the 11th, and decided that the ball was playable. There was a massive explosion of water and mud, out of which exited the ball, which finished nicely on the green about a metre and a half from the hole. And, while talking about the 11th, Porks just happened to drive the green, but missed the putt for the eagle by the narrowest of margins. Stan could have been disheartened after the front nine, but he demonstrated that he is made of sterner stuff and stormed home to finish only just outside the points distribution
Results for Saturday, 21 Jan 2023
1st Chris James (+6) 2nd Craig Cameron (+2) 2nd Chris Priems (+2) 3rd Brent Loeskow (+1) 4th Ken Watson (□) 5th Adam King (-1) 5th Bob McDonald (-1) 5th Peter Sein (-1) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan (-1)
Seniors Results: 1st Chris Priems (+2) 1st Craig Cameron (+2) 2nd Ken Watson (□) 3rd Bob McDonald (-1) 3rd Peter Sein (-1)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Andrew Petricola BallPin No 1 – 12th Craig Cameron BallPin No 2 – 18th Andrew Petricola