Opinions were divided. Well, one voice said that the course was in terrible condition, and that the Club should complain to the management. But, the most common gripe was that the sand spreader had been out during the week, and the greens were still liberally coated with a layer of sand. Was it sacrilege or had they been sacrificed? That was the question! With a certain amount of dewy moisture around, the sand very nicely coated the ball (and putter faces), and might, just might, have contributed to a perception of missed putts as a result. The fact that eighteen members were able to report eighteen birdies could put the lie to that thought. Although there were more than a few chip-ins if reports are to be believed. The weather was fine, the temperature was mild, and there was little to no wind. So, it is perhaps not surprising that there was some scoring to be done. But, despite the impressive tally of birdies, there were only five double pointers on the cards, and only two of those featured among the array of place-getters.
Club Captain, Matt, showed that the benefits of his Police benefit week away were no mere flash in the pan. The only real blemish on the first half of the card was a double on the 6th, and he turned one over the card and three up. The back nine started with one of the two-pointers, but bogies on the next two effectively off-set that. In the end, he finished the back nine square, and the plus three scoreline was one of the best for the day. The other one of the best for the day was presented by Geoff, who is amassing a very impressive total in the Championship table, and his strike rate is increasing week by week. Surely the Handicapper has got to hobble him soon! Still, his round was not without its moments. It seems that, on the 16th, he produced the Claytons air swing. There wasn’t actually much ‘air’ in it, as the club struck the ground about 300mm behind the ball, and the club head buried in the ground. Probably should have been called a ‘ground swing’. Still, a very good result overall.
For a while there, it looked as if Peter might end up being labelled a ‘square’. That was the result of his scoring on each of the first six holes. A minus on the 7th was followed immediately by another two squares, making eight out of nine. However, once he turned the corner, squares almost never appeared on the card again, and the plus three on that nine brought him home in second place with his tally of +2. Stef, as usual, was attacking the green, from the tee! On the 8th, he finished just a smidge short of pin high. He chipped on, and the ball stopped, looking for all the world as if it was resting against the pin. The Eagle heaved a great sigh of relief when it was determined that the ball was still above ground about 2mm from the hole. Pepsi presented himself with some interesting shots today when the ball strayed from the centre-line of the fairway. However, the judicious use of some ‘Priems’ tree deflection did help on occasion as well. As a result, he was able to present to the judges one point above the line to join with Stef in third place.
There was a question as to what is the greatest count of ties for the same placing in an event. This came about because there was a five-way tie for 4th place today. And, do not despair, the answer will probably be forthcoming. Anyway, regardless of whether it is a record or not, Zimmer, Craig, Raj, Porks and Brent all finished with square cards to collect a couple of points each. Ryan might not have been so well-placed when he over-cooked his chip to the 14th, and the ball finished off the other side. Not at all dismayed, Ryan calmly chipped it into the hole for the birdie and the attendant plus on the card. Brent also had a birdie on the 14th after he barrelled his drive straight at the pin and had Stef jumping up and down that it could roll in. It was not much more than a metre short, and the Eagle was watching nervously from the eyrie. Fortunately for the Eagle, and unfortunately for Brent, the slope proved too great, and the putt slipped by to leave a simple tap to finish off. Last point for the day went to Harry, who was just a single missed putt behind on minus 1.
When asked where he would like the ProPin to be today, Stef nominated the 4th, because it is, he reckons, the only real challenge on the course. Others might disagree, and certainly not Pepsi, who very neatly placed his shot to 4.14m (and not cm as appeared to be written on the card) to prove that there really was no challenge, and to collect the cash on offer. The first BallPin was on the 12th, and Stef tried to prove that there was little challenge there by getting his name on the card. Unfortunately, he didn’t count on Porks coming along and showing that it was even easier to get another ball for his ever-growing collection. As usual, the second BallPin was on the 18th, and getting the ball on the green proved too difficult for Stef, and a lot of other people as well. CJ did get his name on the card, but only until Peter came along and took out his driver for a shot from the front half of the tee box and knocked it to within a metre or so to take home the ball.
The Matchplay continues to go gang-busters, and there are only two matches left to play in Round 2, and we aren’t even up to the deadline for Round 1 yet! Today we saw Matt up against Zimmer in a virtual off-the-stick event with only one stroke to be given by Matt. For the first six holes, it looked as if the match could be anybody’s, as the score oscillated, but, as Matt, not too succinctly, put it, Zimmer couldn’t quite get it up. The score tilted more to Matt’s side of the ledger, and, by the 10th, he was three up. A small sortie from the trenches bby Zimmer gained a bit of ground, but a barrage of artillery soon forced a retreat. Despite a small scoring error by the Captain, the match went dormie 3 at the 15th, and a halved hole on the 16th gave the match to Matt, 3 and 2. Harry was up against Brent and was dismayed to find that Brent has a five stroke difference between his Club and Daily GA handicap, and he would be getting only five strokes rather than something more substantial. Brent declared that he hadn’t played for months, and anything could happen, so the match went on in good heart. The first three holes went Brent’s way, and, then, ‘things’ started to happen. By the 7th, the match was evenly balanced. On the 8th, Brent’s approach overshot the green, and he was about to declare it lost in the long grass, when Stef spotted it not too far off the green. The chip rolled and fell into the hole, really putting the pressure on. Fortunately, Harry had a stroke and his par was able to halve the hole. The match was still square after the 12th, but three wins to Brent made the match dormie 3 after the 15th. A valiant rear-guard action kept the match dormie to the 18th, which developed into a putt-off which finished square, giving the match to Brent, 1 up.
ChrisJ would like to forget his 12th hole today. His tee shot was a fearsome shank, that finished well into the penalty area, and seriously wet. Rather than take the penalty at the hazard, he elected to play from the tee. The resulting shot was virtually identical to the first. Chris did not feel like taking his chances for a third attempt, and he was out of strokes, anyway. Another player, who was out of strokes on a hole, just tapped the ball away without bothering to hole out. It was then that Zimmer reminded Matt that the hole was still in play in the match. Oh, dear! It didn’t affect the outcome, though. Gordo started out with high hopes for the round that he was going to put together, and he was apparently talking in terms of results on the plus side of the ledger. He would, perhaps, prefer not to mention how far on the wrong side of the ledger he did finish.
Priems Cup is on next week. There won’t be the advertised Club lunch, mainly due to the current lack of a barbecue at the Clubhouse, and we don’t want to impose on the kitchen staff again. The situation should be rectified by the time of the second round of the David Ford in May, one way or another. Also, the wheels are now in motion for the Annual Challenge in Cobram, in October. Captain Matt will be circulating details shortly and will be looking for expressions of interest and deposits to secure places. Check (and read) your emails.
Results for Saturday, 22 Apr 2023
1st Matt Hunt (+3) 1st Geoff Lyall (+3) 2nd Peter Sein (+2) 3rd Stefan Belevski (+1) 3rd Andrew Petricola (+1) 4th Kazim Akdag (□) 4th Craig Cameron (□) 4th Rajesh Mahto (□) 4th Ryan Porker (□) 4th Brent Rowley (□) 5th Harry Boughen (-1)
Seniors Results: 1st Geoff Lyall (+3) 2nd Peter Sein (+2) 3rd Craig Cameron (□)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Andrew Petricola BallPin No 1 – 12th Ryan Porker BallPin No 2 – 18th Peter Sein