There’s an old adage – if you’re not in it, you can’t win it, and you definitely won’t get any points. The field was on the low side today, with eight members and two guests making it to the tee as dawn broke over the green fields of Ivanhoe. Jack came along again today and put in his second card, so another round and some other formalities will see him able to enter the fray in the battle for the glory that is the IMSGC Championship. Connor also brought along his mate, Ty, who seemed to handle himself pretty well, though it is undecided whether he will pursue the membership crown. Sore shoulders, overseas trips, work, and other unspecified causes that could include weather forecasts or more attractions under the blankets might have contributed to the low turnout. However, the plus side of low numbers is that there is a higher probability of being able to collect a point or two, depending on how the scores roll in. The course was a bit muddy, so the preferred lies were welcome, and some of the high hitters reported instances of plugged balls in places. The wind was fairly gusty and swirled around a fair bit so that it was difficult to make the correct choice of club from time to time. This might go some way to explaining why we only managed to score two birdies for the day, one each to James and Connor.
Adam started out with some uncharacteristically erratic drives that made it hard for him to beat the course on the first couple of holes. However, by the third, the swing started to realign, and the bleeding was staunched. A couple of handy pars where it counted, restored the balance, and the corner was reached square with the card. Another par in the 11th brought the pointer into positive territory, and there was a hint of a smile peeking out from behind the beard. With no assistance from the handicap on the 14th and 15th, the situation took a turn for the worse, and negative territory was being stared in the face. On the 18th, the pin was located in a diabolical spot, right on the crest of the slope between the levels. With his name on the inside ProPin at 11.5m, Adam putted up, and across, the slope, only to see the ball curve around and pick up speed down the hill to finish about 13m from the pin. A good solid crack up the slope ran truly, and the ball plopped into the hole for the par, a plus, and a square card for the round, which turned out to be enough to take the day.
James had a round that was never too far away, but the minus scores kept turning up just a little more frequently than the pluses. A pair of nines, just one point on the wrong side of the ledger, was good enough to get him second place on his own with minus two, and another swag of points for his rapidly growing tally. Raj did not really set the world on fire today, as he struggled to get to his total of minus five for the round. He might have done rather better if he had not fallen victim to the hole location on the 18th. Reports vary, but it seems that he failed to make it from the bottom level to the top several times on his way to six strokes and a minus for the hole. Connor managed to play a very similar hand to Raj to finish on minus five as well, although he was not so unfortunate with his putting on the 18th.
Stan was doing pretty well for the day for the first six holes to be square with the card. Then, something of a rot set in, and he managed to score on the nether side on nine of the next ten holes. This extended lapse resulted in a final tally of -8, but that was enough to slot into the fourth podium level for the day. Blighty was very much down in the dumps on the front nine as the negative scores kept piling on, although he did manage to reach the turn only five behind the pace. The back nine looked like taking a similar turn until, at the 11th, Blighty was appraised of the fact that his theory of putting had been upside down all these years. He then spent the rest of the round trying to justify why his theory had to be the right one, and all the rest of the golf world has got it wrong. Still, he did do a bit better from then on and finished up on minus eight to be in a tie for fourth. Gordon isn’t quite ready to cut his own throat just yet, and he was hopeful of a reasonable result when he turned the corner on minus two. However, he might have caught something from Stan as he put together six consecutive losses on the back nine and also finished in fourth place. The talk in the clubhouse was what sort of scoring combinations were required for Harry to get a point, and, as the cards came in, it was evident that a three-way tie for fourth was required. And, that is exactly what transpired, so a big thank you to Stan, Blighty and Gordo for allowing everybody to score points for the day. Given that all three were Seniors, it also meant that Harry gathered the points for second place in that event after what was a pretty miserable day for the young fella.
The first BallPin was on the 4th, and there was a pretty strong and gusty headwind blowing at the time. So, it is perhaps not surprising that there will be a Jackpot to play for on that hole next week. Conditions were similarly difficult on the 7th for the Jackpot ProPin, and the extra dosh will accumulate to next week to make a Double Jackpot. Adam had his name on the card for the BallPin on the 18th, but Connor was able to get his shot onto the top shelf, and it was his name to counted to collect the ball. There was more than a little confusion associated with the NTP competition on the 18th, thanks largely to Prez Rob, who was on deck to pick up the Honour Board for storage while the Clubhouse renovation is under way. Connor brought in the box, but, being a newbie on the block, he didn’t realise that there was the associated ball marker. Rob ‘explained’ the situation and despatched Conner back to retrieve the marker, but he returned with the ProShop marker, at which point Rob got confused by the tee and ball the Connor happened to be holding and was insisting that it had to go into the box. Anyway, it was all sorted out eventually, and everything ended up in its rightful place.
Gordon is a dyed in the wool Cats supporter, and for many years has proudly sported an appropriate wood cover to show his love. But, time has taken its toll, and the old faithful was replaced by the original cover for the club. Unfortunately, it did not even last for nine holes before it made a bid for freedom. Fortunately, a following group of ladies picked it up and dropped it at the ProShop where it was recovered by Gordo after the round. Harry was a bit offline with his drive on the 9th, and it got caught up in the deciduous tree on the left, and it fell, he knew not where. Fortunately, eagle-eye Adam managed to spot it in the piles of fallen leaves under the tree, but the shot could only be played surrounded by a multitude of thin branches. Playing the 10th, Harry reached up to adjust his hat to shade his eyes from the sun, only to find that his hat was no longer there. Deductive reasoning suggested that perhaps it had been dislodged unawares in the tree on the 9th. A ‘quick sprint’ from the 17th green proved that the deduction had been correct, and Harry was reunited with his hat.
The Clubhouse renovation is planned to start on Monday. This means that most of the area will be out of use for some time. Part of the ProShop will be turned over to seating and tables (obviously limited), and there will be coffee available in take-away cups only. Food will be sandwiches, pies and pasties (maybe muffins) so make sure you have your breakfast unless you fancy that sort of thing. There will be a temporary toilet block (plumbed, not port-a-loo) adjacent to the clubhouse. Parking will also be affected at some stage. Also, the lovely Kate has decided that she will not be returning to the café when it reopens, and today was her last day on the job. Harry and Gordon took the opportunity to thank her on behalf of the Club for her assistance with catering over the years. She did say that she will be calling in as a customer from time to time, so we may get to see her on some occasions.
Results for Saturday, 17 Jun 2023
1st Adam King (□) 2nd James Hale (-2) 3rd Rajesh Mahto (-5) 3rd Connor McIntosh (-5) 4th Stan Blackshaw (-8) 4th Andrew Blight (-8) 4th Gordon Hill (-8) 5th Harry Boughen (-10)
Seniors Results: 1st Andrew Blight (-8) 1st Gordon Hill (-8) 1st Stan Blackshaw (-8) 2nd Harry Boughen (-10)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 7th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 2 – 18th Connor McIntosh