A line of showers passed over the course a while before tee time, and there were suggestions that the greens might be unplayable due to casual water. Prez and Michael sussed out the situation and declared that all was good, so the twelve members who managed to get themselves from under the feathers girded their loins for the fray, and strode purposefully to the first tee. As it turned out, a couple of the greens did have a few patches wet enough to take relief from. Other than that, the course was in fine condition, even if a little less ‘runny’ than it has been in recent weeks. That, and the ‘heavy air’, copped a bit of the blame for the occasional shot that did not reach quite as far as might have been imagined in those ‘wild erratic fancies’. The sun managed to break through a few times, and there were just a couple of spots of rain. However, very few umbrellas were unfurled, and a few jackets were removed as the competition, if not the day, heated up.
There is a, perhaps unjustified, feeling that Par is not the preferred competition type among members (and golfers in general). One member was moved to comment upon this fact on the first tee, but he added the rider that he often seems to do all right at the format. Maybe it was all the practice that he managed to get in while he was swanning around up on the Gold Coast, but Capt. Matt set a cracking pace to finish the first nine just two strokes over the card and with a handsome three points to the good. The pace looked to continue on the back, where he opened with a birdie (one of only two that we scored for the day). The resulting plus was soon offset, and seven squares meant that the scoreline stayed at +3 (and the stroke count only four over the card), which was more than enough to take the top spot and top points for the day.
Stef was only two points behind in second place, and maybe his excuse was that he was often having to wait on the tee. Not because the group in front was slow, but because he was waiting for them to clear the green. He and Porks both put their drives onto the green on the 14th. Stef managed to get the other birdie for the day, and so the Eagle is resting easy for at least another week as the Raider of the Lost Nest, Ryan, could only manage a par on the hole. This little putting ‘lapse’ left Porks with an evenly balanced card and a square, handicap matching bottom line, and third place.
Geoff started off a little shakily. Someone left his clubs out in the rain….. – to bastardise a song line! As a result, he spent a fair bit of time wringing water out of the grips so that he had some chance of holding onto them and not flinging them down the fairway after the ball. He wouldn’t have had to fling his driver too far on the second, and the resultant draughtie provide Matt with his free beer. By about the 5th, the grips must have been handleable, because the scoring turned around and a plus three on the back turned the card into a fairly respectable -1 for 4th place. However, he didn’t have the podium to himself, because he was joined by Andrew. There was a suggestion that there was a modicum of ‘luck’ in getting to that score, although there was a suggestion that he was channelling the Priems when a shot heading for the pondage on the 5th hit a tree and finished mid-fairway. And he was obviously channelling Stef when his drive on the 11th finished on the 12th tee, raising questions as to whether his current handicap was a fair thing. Despite playing in ‘longs’, Harry was playing in ‘shorts’ today, and was frustrated in his search for scores by needing to sink mid-length putts. His final effort of -3 was enough to gather the last point on offer for 5th place.
The ProPin today was set on the 4th. The tee was a little way back, but the green should have been an easy enough target, despite the wet grass and the heavy air. Raj tried to bamboozle the Match Committee by writing out the ticket at 19ft 11inches. However, the ball marker was not deployed, so a quick check, by the expedient of pulling out the tape to determine the equivalent metric, confirmed that it must have been outside 5m, and so, there will be a Jackpot ProPin on the 4th next week. The first BallPin was on the 15th and Porks had his name on the card, although ever-hopeful Harry did pace his out only to find he was about a pace too far. On the 18th, Raj seems to have read the correct side of the tape, though maybe that one was single scaled, when he measured his shot which collected our ball, if not the inside ProPin.
Gordo and Stan decided that they would play their second round match today. Gordon wasn’t too happy about having to give Stan thirteen strokes, of which seven were on the back nine. But, as it turned out, the match was pretty evenly balanced. The score was never more than one hole either way, and the lead changed several times during the match. After the 16th, it was all square. On the 17th, Gordon was down in five, and Stan was on the green in two. Surely he was going to win the hole. Not quite, as he took five (yes, five) to put the ball away and the match was dormie 1 Gordon’s way. All Gordon had to do was to square the last. Needing to chip on, he carefully moved the inside tape holder out of his way, only to scuff the shot and finish still short. The next shot was looking good, until it hit the NTP marker that had been carefully placed by Raj. Two putts handed to hole to Stan. So, the match ended up all square and required a chip-off. Gordo and Stan both over-cooked the first chip a bit, and the pair of putts apiece called for a second round. Stan scuffed his to finish well short, and Gordo looked to have a chance to be well-placed after his. Except that his chip hit Stan’s ball, and finished a similar distance from the hole. Stan scuffed his putt while Gordon sank his, and so Gordon was able to advance to the third round while Stan had to console himself with what might have been.
Michael apparently went close to joining Geoff in the draughtie club on the 8th tee. He took an almighty divot and the ball travelled not much more than 10m. Fortunately, the distance to the red markers was less than that. Rob swears that the divot was so deep that he was in danger of turning his ankle in it. You would reckon that people who carry their bag would only carry a minimum number of balls, if only to keep the weight down a bit (CJ comes to mind). However, when Andrew picked up his bag from the verandah after the presentations, an indeterminate number of balls escaped the confines to scatter far and wide, down the stairs and across the pavement as well.
For those that had the Priems Cup pencilled in as their ‘must-do’ item for next week, it has been postponed for two weeks to the 29th April. It seems that there is just the small matter of Rob’s son getting married next Saturday, and the Captains will be otherwise occupied, even though the wedding isn’t until at least 1500! Just joking.
Results for Saturday, 08 Apr 2023
1st Matt Hunt (+3) 2nd Stefan Belevski (+1) 3rd Ryan Porker (□) 4th Geoff Lyall (-1) 4th Andrew Noble (-1) 5th Harry Boughen (-3)
Seniors Results: 1st Geoff Lyall (-1) 2nd Harry Boughen (-3) 3rd Michael Gourlay (-4)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 15th Ryan Porker BallPin No 2 – 18th Rajesh Mahto