Birrarung isn’t quite in danger of breaking the banks, but parts of the course were pretty soggy with the regular doses of rain recently, with not much in the way of drying weather in between. Today, the showers threatened a couple of times, but it only looked to be a bit serious just as the barbecue was being packed away. Even then, it only lasted for a few minutes before the sun was trying to break through again. It is Melbourne, after all. In the end, after a couple of late withdrawals, we had twelve members turn out for our day to mark the anniversary of Trev’s untimely departure. Bob turned up to help demolish the snags and burgers with the news that his back is still a bit crook and under investigation, but he is hopeful that he will be fit enough to rejoin the fray in the near future. President Rob said a few words about Trev and his role in the Club, and SOS also shared a memory of his sense of humour. Harry marked the occasion by passing around a packet of Mars Bars as another memento of Trev’s time with us, and they were appreciated by all.
Of course, the main reason for the day was to contest the July Monthly Medal, and it is probably not often that the first group is asked by the course management to ‘put out’ the white markers. It seems the staff member detailed to do the job left them beside the tee box, but didn’t put them out to mark the teeing area. As far as can be determined, the members of the first group did not take advantage of the situation, nor did they correct situations where the white markers were in front of the blue. Then again, they didn’t rush in to get the barbecue started either. Despite all the shenanigans and the wet patches on the course, Pepsi was the man of the day, putting together a round of 73 off the stick for a net score of 67, which was exactly the right number to win the Monthly Medal for July. His situation was helped just a little by a magnificent chip in for an eagle on the 6th hole. So, the poor old Eagle is back to square one, and has threatened to put a hex on the 6th to avenge the three raids on her nest from that quarter this year. Of course, this was just after Peps was heard having a Pups about his putting on the 5th green.
Brent turned out today all fired up to take on Stef in their third round match, only to get a message that Stef couldn’t make it either today or before the deadline, and so was forfeiting the round. But, it was also Brent’s 100th game with the Club, and he was a game behind in his ‘challenge’ with CJ, so he was here to play. However, he wasn’t here to break his handicap, so he very carefully arranged to finish with a net 68 to come in second and to collect the five points. His second placing and with no sign of CJ in front, it seems that the family grudge is now all square.
Brendon was copping heaps today as a member of the first group, and he claimed that he had no experience at cooking barbecue because he has never been in the first group on barbecue days before. That is what you call subtle bragging! Despite his best efforts at segregating the ‘hot sausage’ from the regular sausage, there were some tastes that didn’t exactly agree with his classification. The cooking can’t have been too bad, as there were relatively few snags left at the end of the day. As far as the golf went, that ended up reasonably satisfactory as well, and a net 70 was good enough to score the points for third place. The big B was not alone on that score, though, because Prez Rob put in a great burst on the back nine to card just 39 strokes to finish the round with 70 net as well. The front nine did not play quite so well, although he went close to getting a par on the 8th through playing his ball from the centre of the fairway each time. The first time thanks to a tree. The second time thanks to a post in the OOB fence. As the old saying goes – you don’t have to post pictures on Instagram!
Michael might have been a little distracted today after receiving news that his Mum was in hospital, but his net 73 was enough for 4th place, together with top spot in the Seniors. Porks might also have been a little distracted, as he was deeply involved in his match with Gordon. Despite that, he was also able to card a net 73 to share the fourth podium spot with Michael. Raj was hovering around at the barbecue as the cards were being sorted, desperate to find out whether he had won himself a point or not. As it turned out, his net 74 was exactly the amount he needed to get just the one point for the fifth place for the day.
The match between Porks and Gordo was described as one of attrition. For a while there, it looked as if it could end up being a close run thing. Although Gordo couldn’t quite get on the right side of the ledger, he was just one hole down after the 12th. A couple of ‘disasters’ on the 13th and 14th turned the tide in Porks favour, and after a square on the 15th, the match went dormie 3. Squaring the 16th was not an option for Gordo, but he did, and the match went to Porks, 3 and 2.
The Tee Marshal (emeritus) took pity today and put the ProPin on the 12th. When it became obvious that there was already a name on it, Harry (in the second group) opined that we should stop sending the markers out with the first group if they keep ‘winning’. However, he need not have worried because Prez was able to measure his shot at 1.65m, to beat out Raj at 2.4m. And the rest of the field as well. There was an even bigger smile on his face when he rattled the putt in to bring our total for the day to six. The first ProPin was on the 15th, and, once more, Raj put out the marker, but, having a premonition, he did not put his name on it. His premonition proved to be accurate because Harry was able to get his shot closer in to take the ball. And, no – he did not use a hand span relief to get the ball onto the green! The BallPin on the 18th was looking to be heading for Jackpot territory until along came Porks who was able to lay claim to the ball as a result.
Pepsi turned up today with a box of balls from his Dad’s garage that were estimated to be about 20 years old. They were all CROSS_OUTS and included B51s, Pinnacles and assorted other brands. In a fit of nostalgia, CJ grabbed one of the B51s, and managed to get away a pretty good drive on the 1st hole. Then he decided that maybe it was a bit ‘dead’. When he sank the putt for his par, it felt good off the club, and he thought maybe it was worth another hole. The double bogie on the second saw the unfortunate ball despatched to the wilderness. However, on the 3rd, with his second shot heading through the tree towards the green until an insignificant twig stopped it in its tracks, CJ wondered why the tree gods were not on his side today. Maybe it had something to do with his flirting with the coconut trees in Fiji! Not at all sure why Pepsi features so much today, but according to SOS, he must have super sensitive hearing after he blamed a duck quacking for a missed putt. Everybody knows that a duck quack does not echo (allegedly) and SOS reckons the offending duck was ‘miles’ away in any case.
Results for Saturday, 01 Jul 2023
1st Andrew Petricola (67) 2nd Brent Rowley (68) 3rd Brendon Mitchell (70) 3rd Robert Priems (70) 4th Michael Gourlay (73) 4th Ryan Porker (73) 5th Rajesh Mahto (74)
Seniors Results: 1st Michael Gourlay (73) 2nd Harry Boughen (75) 3rd Chris Priems (79)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Robert Priems BallPin No 1 – 15th Harry Boughen BallPin No 2 – 18th Ryan Porker
Eagle’s Nest Results: Eagle – 6th Andrew Petricola