The new Priemsy

After this week’s round, don’t be surprised if Charles turns up in ads for the services of Club Pro Chris. After a lesson from Chris recently, Charlie stepped up to the first tee with confidence, blasted it way past the usual “Charlie bush”, chipped in for a par and then blitzed the rest of the course for 42 points and the win. And in the “what ifs” column was a short missed birdie putt on the 17^th and a wipe on the 18^th, so 45 points was there for the taking until those mishaps.

Along the way, Charlie’s eclectic score improved by 7 shots and he rocketed from 14th to 4th in that contest. Raj is still in the lead with Porks (who moved from 3rd to 2nd) and Adam the nearest chasers.

Reports suggested that Charles did have a few lucky “Priemsy” bounces off or through trees today. His playing partners Prez and CJ were sufficiently impressed to anoint him as the new Priemsy. The Assistant Apprentice Handicapper was pleased to chop Charles’ handicap by four as we head into next week’s first round of the Stuart Clarke Memorial.

Coming off a net 93 at Growling Frog last week (yes I did say net) in his 1,100^th game for the club (yes I did say 1,100 – next best is Bobby and Targe in the 900’s) CJ celebrated with a round of 40 points, which on another week might have been good enough for better than second place. “Just good solid consistent play all day mate, nothing special” suggested CJ when asked for his highlights. His win in the Seniors has Michael and Harry looking over their shoulders.

Brendon has also been getting some lessons recently (a mystery on-line instructor). Among other highlights of his third place 38 points he hit what SoS described as some “big balls out there”. Off the 13^th his drive was measured at 315 metres and on the 16^th he was about 20 metres from the green off the tee (I think Chris J once got closer with his 5 Wood off the 16^th but a good gorilla effort from Brendan nonetheless).

Raj kept his handicap intact (again) with 36 points and a fourth place finish. Wipes on the 13^th and 14^th cruelled his chances of higher honours but a four point birdie on the 17^th, one of 9 birdies across the field today, had him smiling again.

The morning was not as hot or windy as predicted, but nonetheless there was plenty of steam coming out of Michael’s ears as the missed putts and duffed chips starting adding up on the front nine. He steadied on the back enough to claim fifth place with 35 points, but more importantly sneak another point ahead of Harry in the Seniors Championship. Much to Michael’s disappointment, Harry’s 29 points were good enough for a third place seniors point. Stan, Craig and Blighty, hang your head in shame.

SoS’s 34 points was deemed a very creditable 6th place (but very sadly no points for SoS) especially after coming back from a wipe on the first hole. His first 3 pointer of the day came on the 4^th where he hit it nearly out of bounds off the tee, chunked it out of the rough way short, then hit another chip that was going well through the green, but it hit the pin and dropped in.

Blighty’s playing partners enjoyed a beer after the round courtesy of his effort off the 15^th. With the tee as far back as it could possibly be, it was always going to be a likely beer hole. Blighty very hopefully walked past the red markers looking for his ball, found two others there, but then much to the delight of his thirsty playing partners (it was getting hot by then) his ball was finally located behind the reds.

Prez Priems, who managed exactly half the winners score today to bring up the rear of the field, was seen looking in the Yarra for his drive off the 14^th tee, having cleared the 16^th fairway and some. The wind had got up by that stage and no doubt was a factor in that spectacular effort.

Stan and Craig only just beat Prez home for equal second last. Stan has finally finished the renovations in Castlemaine so with that distraction over and done with, he can be expected to be back in form very soon.

Not surprisingly, Craig struggled a bit today to back up from his big “first up from a spell” effort last week. Michael was already writing the blog headline “Craig missed a fairway” when his shot on the 2^nd was slightly off line to the left. It very unluckily hit a cross branch and somehow came straight back about 50 metres.

Porks also struggled to back up from his big win last week. Charlie’s mate Dan started well with a par on the 2^nd and another on the 7^th, but couldn’t sustain his run on the back 9. Like Stan, back Dan in for some big results sometime soon.

Craig showed some “old reliable” form off the 7^th tee to claim the first nearest the pin ball, with Michael saving his best shot of the day to reach the top tier on the 18^th and claim the ball there. Michael also took out the $13 on offer for the Pro-pin on the 12^th after hitting a skinny seven iron that skidded forward after bouncing. Brendan’s wedge in there landed closer to the hole but sucked back out of the money. Shame that.

Finally, please note the all important Club Annual General Meeting (AGM) has been postponed a week to now be on the 23rd of March, the second round of the Stuart Clarke Memorial. There will also be a club BBQ that day, so put it in your diary to stay late (or if you’re not playing just come on down) and share some off-course fun.

Results for Saturday, 09 Mar 2024
1st Charles Gibbs (42) 2nd Chris Priems (40) 3rd Brendon Mitchell (38) 4th Rajesh Mahto (36) 5th Michael Gourlay (35)

Seniors Results: 1st Chris Priems (40) 2nd Michael Gourlay (35) 3rd Harry Boughen (29)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Michael Gourlay BallPin No 1 – 7th Craig Cameron BallPin No 2 – 18th Michael Gourlay