Registrations were a bit slow early in the week, but the call to a Grand Sale, and the prospect of some ‘discounted’ points, seems to have inspired the masses into action. In the end, we had fifteen members line up for the final round of the calendar year. The Bureau had forecast the possibility of showers during the morning, and, true to form, the morning alternated between a bit of drizzle and full sunshine in typical Melbourne weather style. About halfway through the back nine, the course was hit by a squally shower that was quite heavy, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Peter, who called it quits after the 13th. As a result, only fourteen made it to present their cards to the judges. The course was in good condition, even if a few of the greens were a bit leafy, and the weather conditions were hardly bad enough to have had a long term effect on the scoring. Captain Matt, had decided that he was going to ‘keep an eye’ on Stan to make sure that any tilt at making it three in a row was legitimate. Not only did Stan take out the ‘feather duster’ award, but Matt also went very close to joining him on the chopping block.
There were a few cards of note that made it to or near the top of the pile. Harry set out with one challenge in mind, and that was to confound Michael, and, at least, be in the Senior’s points. Squares were the result on the first five holes, with a couple of just missed par attempts. The swing got slightly out of groove on the 6th to produce the only minus on the card. The back nine produced another six squares, but the remaining pluses ended the round +3 overall. SOS, on the other hand, finished the first five holes two up, and rounded the corner on that score as well. His only blemish was on the tenth, and another couple of pluses after that also brought him home with three on the credit side of the ledger. Thus, we had a tied result for first place, and Harry was very pleased to have completely confounded Michael by taking out top place in the Seniors.
Second place overall, and second place in the Seniors, went to Geoff who managed to score one up on the way out, and one down on the way in to finish square with the card overall. It was reported that his putting did let him down on a number of occasions, none more so than on the 12th, where he got his name on the card for the BallPin, admittedly a fair way from the hole, and then proceeded to take four putts to finish the hole. This was a complete contrast to the 8th, where he chipped in from well out to make birdie, which represented exactly one quarter of the number that the whole field could manage for the day. In third place, just a single point behind, we had Targe. Targe started off a bit rough, but settled down a bit, and could easily have scored better if it had not been for a little mishap on the 6th hole. As is his wont, he parked his buggy pretty much adjacent to the ball position. Whether it was a shank or a toe, the ball took off at right angles to the intended line and crashed into the buggy, undoing the good work of a par on the previous hole.
Rob seems to have this happy knack of scoring pars (and the occasional birdie), which ends up giving him an ‘unfair’ advantage when it comes to the Eclectic. So, a good scattering of pars, with the resultant plus score, was able to save him, to finish with -3 and the 4th podium spot for the day. He was helped along by a chip in for a square on the 3rd after he had ‘missed’ the green, long, with his fourth shot. Presumably, he used his chipper, which will be one of his selected clubs for the three club challenge (not at the ‘Hoe) next weekend. Raj was not too forthcoming about what he reckoned was a poor average day, but he was perfectly happy to accept the point for fifth place. By and large, Brendon is not too fussed about the points on offer, he is far more interested in the money on offer for the ProPin, and the balls on offer for the BallPin. So, although he did get a point for sharing fifth, he was much more excited about collecting the Double Jackpot ProPin on the 7th (2.74m), and the ball from the 12th, where he squeezed out Harry, who squeezed out Rob, who squeezed out Geoff. ChrisV didn’t get off to a great start from the first tee, and a tendency to head the ball left on occasion did make scoring on some holes a little more difficult. But, given that he has played little in recent times, he was reasonably happy with his -4 and share of fifth.
The remaining BallPin on the 18th was to a pin placed on the lower deck, and, wouldn’t you know it, the top deck seemed to be more easily reached. The man who did make it onto the bottom deck and close enough to win a ball, was none other than Bobbie, who reckoned that it was the only decent shot he had hit all day. This might compensate a little for the fact that he ran over himself, in the car park, with his buggy, and he managed to capsize it twice during the round. Andrew managed to overshoot the green on the 2nd, and the ball finished half hidden in the lomandra. A penalty would have been too much to bear, and a right-handed shot was nigh on impossible. However, a left-handed shot did offer some hope. The ball was extricated, but only barely, and the effort was to no avail. Harry did get a bit hot under the collar at one stage. No, he wasn’t angry, the sun had come out, and he wanted to take off his rain jacket only to find that the zip was jammed in the up position. Andrew came to the rescue and managed to free it, saving H from a sweaty few holes. There were no reported draughties, but there was a suggestion that Stan had executed an airie on the 5th. Although he did not contact the ball, it did move a few centimetres, so does that still count? Matt lined up for a tap-in putt from about 150mm on the 17th, and the ball took off at about 45 degrees and missed the hole. It seems that he hadn’t wiped the face of his club, and there was a piece of twig stuck to the face with a bit of moisture, that resulted in the misadventure.
Results for Saturday, 30 Dec 2023
1st Harry Boughen (+3) 1st Stephen O’Sullivan (+3) 2nd Geoff Lyall (□) 3rd Targe Mifsud (-1) 4th Robert Priems (-3) 5th Rajesh Mahto (-4) 5th Brendon Mitchell (-4) 5th Chris Vinecombe (-4)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (+3) 2nd Geoff Lyall (□) 3rd Targe Mifsud (-1)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 7th Brendon Mitchell BallPin No 1 – 12th Brendon Mitchell BallPin No 2 – 18th Bob McDonald