The Japanese pilots were out and about again this morning, and there was a tendency for the twelve members who made to the tee-box today to seek the spots on the fairway where the sun made its presence felt through the shadows. In contrast, as the morning progressed, the strategy changed to seek the diminishing shade, where possible, as the temperature climbed towards the predicted low thirties. Still, it did take most of the first half of the round for the dew to disappear from the greens, but it is doubtful if that is a reasonable explanation for the fairly measly two birdies that we managed to score for the day. ChrisJ managed one of those after he drove the 14th green and barely missed raiding the Eagle’s Nest. The greens did receive a treatment with wetting agent during the week, probably aimed at improving the effectiveness of watering, but, who knows, it might even help them to drain when it rains! With not a breath of wind, there would seem to have been no impediment to some fancy scoring in the contest for the February Monthly Medal.
So, it was a bit of a surprise when the cards kept rolling in with a seven as the first digit in the net score column. That is until Bob toddled in and laid one down on the table with a six at the front. It was only just less than seventy, but sixty-nine was exactly what was required to win the day and the Medal. Bob’s round was punctuated by a few sevens and one eight, but it was his chipping and putting that really kept him in the game. He did cause a bit of a stir at one stage when he tried to head off with his trusty electric buggy. He was a bit concerned when it didn’t move on command, having had some problems in the past, so he kept pressing the button. Problem was, he had his eye on CJ’s buggy while his was merrily ‘bobbing’ along, heading in some random direction at high speed. Fortunately, nothing was injured other than Bob’s pride.
Now, here’s where things get interesting. Targe put in his card, showing a net score of 70, which caused a bit of an ‘if only’ from JQ, who had a pretty good back nine except for a short missed putt, which would have won on a count-back if he had tied, and 70 had been the winning score. All hypothetical, of course, given that Bob settled the question about winning. However, both Targe and his marker had recorded and added the front nine scores correctly, but had recorded an incorrect value in the OUT row and subsequently in the Total and net result. CJ was also having a bit of a moan about the fact that he had scored a ‘fat lady’ and a triple that rather took the shine off his round. He also caused a bit of confusion about whether we were playing Stuart Clarke with his fairly loud Hawaiian shirt, that turned out to be promoting some other Club called the Renegades. Some people have no pride! However, the pair of them should now be pleased that they have been promoted to second place with their equal scores of 71 net. Not sure how that affects the Ball Run!
Targe and Prez were playing together, and marking each other’s card. After six holes of scoring identically, Prez decided that, if he was going to beat Targe, he had better get his act together and start making some better scores. Which he did, though the cause was helped a little when Targe played a wrong ball on the 8th. Maybe they were both hoping that the two stroke penalty would go away when they transferred the incorrect total for the nine. So a Senior and an apprentice Senior filled 3rd place with a score of 72 net, which also squeezed Harry out of a point in the Seniors (gloating not allowed, Michael!)
By and large, Harry was pretty unhappy with his short game today with an unmentionable number of short putts that actually missed the hole, not to mention the thin and fat chips around the green. There was one short game highlight when a chip, from below the green on the 9th, ran smoothly up the slope and rattled into the hole, which was located precariously close to the start of the slope. Unfortunately, there was little in the way of an audience, as the rest of the group were too busy chatting and looking elsewhere. Adam was wearing shorts today, and that seems to have translated into his putting, with a significant number coming up well short of the required distance. His second shot on the 6th also did not make the required distance. It was directed a bit to the left of the desired line to the green, and hit a tree about 50m further down so firmly that it came straight back and finished exactly in line with the point that it had been struck from, just a bit more centred in the fairway. In another scorecard fail, ChrisJ’s marker (initials GH) used the incorrect handicap for the net score calculation, so Chris’s announced placement was also incorrect. As a result of the scorecard mayhem, Porks was able to sneak into fifth place with his net score of 75.
A masochist set the first BallPin and the ProPin this week with the white tees as a starting point. The ProPin was on the 4th, and the trees played a big psychological role in causing people to ‘try’ something different. As a result, nobody was able to get within the required distance of the pin, and there will be a Jackpot for next week (note – single jackpot – two lots of money). The BallPin was set on the 7th, and the extra distance made it even harder to make the grade, which nobody did, and it will also Jackpot to next week. On the other hand, the BallPin on the 18th was hotly contested, with one member of each group getting their name on the card while at least one other member was beaten by only a couple of hundred millimetres. In the end, it was Bob who put his hand up for the pill.
Prez was also pretty pleased that he didn’t have to reach into his pocket to shout a round, and there were no other draughties made public. After Targe saw Adam’s effort on the 6th, he thought he would try the same trick with his next shot. He did hit a tree, but not nearly as hard or as cleanly, and his ball came only part way back. ChrisJ had his driver working well on occasions, and after his efforts on the 14th, he smashed a monster on the 16th, reaching almost, but not quite, to the green. And, with an affliction that seemed to be fairly rife today, Chris missed a lot of putts. Raj just could not play the par threes today, which just might explain his rather glum look after the round. With three three over and two two over, that would make just about anybody glum.
Don’t forget, registration for Matchplay is open. If you do not register that you wish to be included, you will not be included in the draw for seeding when it is made at the end of the month. Also, you have to be a financial member for the current year to be eligible. Now, there are still a number of members with their membership payments outstanding, so, if you could get that organised by transferring the necessary funds (Club and GA, if applicable) to the Club bank account (details on the website) as soon as possible, that would be great.
The Birthday Birdie did mention, last week, that today was Josh’s 21st birthday today. He’s not game to check out the party, as it could be getting a bit raucous by this stage. Have a great one, young fella, from all of your mates at Ivanhoe.
Results for Saturday, 03 Feb 2024
1st Bob McDonald (69) 2nd Chris Priems (71) 2nd John Quinlan (71) 3rd Targe Mifsud (72) 3rd Robert Priems (72) 4th Harry Boughen (74) 4th Adam King (74) 5th Ryan Porker (75)
Seniors Results: 1st Bob McDonald (69) 2nd Chris Priems (71) 3rd Targe Mifsud (72)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 7th Jackpot BallPin No 2 – 18th Bob McDonald