Autumn is now with us (astronomically) and there is a fair bet that from now on the coolth will hang around a little longer as the morning progresses. The moisture bearing fronts are still being held out by the highs, and the green-keepers are concentrating on the greens and tees. As a result, some of the fairways are starting to look a bit on the bony side, with bare lies taking a bit of a shine off the extra run that is available. Pretty much everybody from last week turned out again, and the field was bolstered by those keen to sink their fangs into SOS’s sizzling sausages and those keen to be part of the sizzling AGM that followed. We had nineteen regular members to take the field, and two lifers in Rodger and Allan, all resplendent in shirts of many colours, although there were a few who were not quite so resplendent. Regardless of the standard of shirt worn, all were respectful to the memory of Stuart, for whom the trophy is dedicated.
There were four green bottles hanging on the wall at the beginning of the round, and the big question was how many of them would accidentally fall. Brendon started out like a house on fire with a birdie on the first, and continued with something of a birdie master-class to finish the front nine one over the card with 22 points and his hand seemingly glued to the trophy. Raj played his first nine in an ‘average’ sort of way and was bemoaning the fact that he had gone to the driving range yesterday, chipped in with his first practice chip this morning, and thus had used up all of his good shots. Charles thought he had unjinxed the first tee until he stepped up and once again found himself deeply embedded in ‘Charlie’s bush’. However, he made a creditable recovery to finish the nine with 16 points. Harry also started off in good form, but had an unfortunate run-in with a tree branch on the 3rd that propelled his ball OOB, and he followed up with further tree ‘trouble’ on the 6th that meant that after nine, he trailed the group with only 15 points. However, Charlie was just warming up, with the chipping and putting standing him in very good stead. On the 11th, he lobbed his second onto the green, and it ran a fair distance past the hole, at which point, he had a few words to say about the vagaries of golf. And, of course, he rapped it up, and it very politely fell into the hole for birdie and a very handy four points, which helped him to 24 for the back, 40 for the round, and the Stuart Clarke Memorial Trophy with 78 points. Not to mention a shiny new handicap, which he is more than capable of playing to.
At this stage, we have to mention a couple of ‘blow-ins’, who managed to do their handicap some minor injury with their scores today. Our ‘occasional’ Captain, Matt was sitting pretty for quite a while today as daily Clubhouse leader. Matt took a few holes to get going, but he was pretty pleased with his game on the 7th where he put his tee shot on the green close enough to score the first BallPin, and then he topped it off for a birdie for a very handy four points. He finished the back nine, one under the card to score 22 points, which brought his total to 39. CJ started off well enough, but leaked a bit of oil in the closing stages of the front nine to finish the half with just 15 points. The mojo came back with a vengeance on the back with three birdies in quick succession, which helped to bring him home with another 22 points and a total of 37 for the round.
Raj continued the back nine pretty much as he played the front, although he did manage to garner a couple more points to finish right on his handicap with 36 points for the day. His event total of 74 points brought him home in second place. After going close to parring the front nine despite several ‘worm-burner’ drives, Brendon then proceeded to build what he described as a picket fence with a serried row of palings with the occasional one missing. Even a couple of two-pointers in the dying stages of the nine were not able to get him into double figures, but his tally of 31 points was enough to score him a share of third for the event. Ryan went through a series of ups and downs as the scoring chances came and went. The front nine consumed most of his handicap, and the back nine fared only slightly better in that regard. So, despite being only one shot off the lead at the start of the round, the 32 points scored today was enough to tie it up with Brendon for third place, nine strokes from the front.
Despite some confusion about which card was scored which way (we’re looking at you, Allan) SOS was more than pleased with his game today after trailing the field after week one. There were obviously some missed chances, so the score line of 36 points possibly does not reflect the true standard of play. After crashing his buggy into some of the signage by the first tee, Bob was standing around until somebody asked him if he was going to have a shot, as everybody else in the group had hit off. Despite the inauspicious start, Bobbie made a fair fist of the front nine, putting together four three pointers in a row to make the turn with 21 points on the card, rivalling the start that Brendon made. He didn’t quite match Brendon’s picket-fence on the back, but he did falter just a bit to make a pair of 34’s for the event and gathered 4th place for his efforts. The picket-fencing might have been contagious, because Harry also produced a reasonable facsimile on the back nine to produce a final total of 66 points to come into 5th place. Old Reliable started out reliably enough with a par on the first, but the scoring didn’t really get a flow on for the front nine. The back nine was just a little more productive, and Craig ended up sharing fifth place as well.
Prez and Peps agreed to play their second round match today. Pepsi was on record as saying that he liked playing with Prez because he was almost guaranteed a freebie. As it turned out, it was Prez who scored a freebie after Pepsi left it short of the red markers on the 12th. Despite this aberration, the match was pretty closely fought, although Pepsi never did get on the positive side of the square mark. It was still anybodies game after the 16th, with Rob one hole up and two to play. On the 17th, Rob used his trusty chipper to break Pepsi’s heart when he chipped in for a birdie. The win for Rob finished the match with a score-line of two up to Rob.
It was ex-Captain Matt’s day today, as he was able to close out all comers with a very smart shot onto the top deck of the 18th, to collect his second BallPin for the day. The ProPin was on the 12th, and Steve was the first and only cab on the rank with his shot to 2.605m for a nice little dividend from the larger field.
Ken also contributed to the thirst quenching today when his shot from the 8th tee was less than spectacular. Apparently, he found a streak of form in the closing stages of the round, and there were suggestions that the handicapper should take a look at him ‘on suspicion’. Steve was pretty happy with his game today (not only due to the ProPin win). He did go a bit astray on the 6th, and the direct path to the green needed threading a needle between trees. Wisely deciding to play safe out onto the fairway, Steve still managed to hit a tree. After his first ball went OOB on the 3rd, Harry played his penalty shot, and you will never guess where the ball came to rest. With nowhere to go for a fifth shot, a pick-up was the only option.
The barbecue burgers and snags were expertly cooked by Matt and his team of chefs, while SOS revelled in the compliments for his selection of viands. The weather wasn’t sufficiently autumnal to discourage the wasps and at least one member was lucky to notice one on his burger before taking a bite. After everybody was suitably stuffed with tucker, the results were announced and the trophy wasn’t presented. With no trophy cabinet on site, and Gordon firmly ensconced ‘up the river’, there was just a little oversight to make sure that it was available. Apologies to Charlie and Rodger from the outgoing Committee.
The AGM was then held, with the appropriate reports being made and approved. Nominations for Committee positions were announced, and, in the absence of any (serious) nominations from the floor, those nominated were duly elected. President – Rob Priems, Vice-President – Andrew Petricola, Secretary – Craig Cameron, Treasurer – Gordon Hill, Assistant Treasurer – Stephen O’Sullivan, Captain – Brendon Mitchell, Handicapper – Harry Boughen, Assistant Handicapper – Michael Gourlay, Tee Marshal – Adam King.
Results for Saturday, 23 Mar 2024
1st Charles Gibbs (38, 40, 78) 2nd Rajesh Mahto (38, 36, 74) 3rd Brendon Mitchell (38, 31, 69) 3rd Ryan Porker (37, 32, 69) 4th Bob McDonald (34, 34, 68) 5th Harry Boughen (38, 28, 66) 5th Craig Cameron (34, 32, 66)
Seniors Results: 1st Bob McDonald (34,34,68) 2nd Craig Cameron (34,32,66) 2nd Harry Boughen (38,28,66) 3rd Ken Watson (29,31,60)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Steven Gervasoni BallPin No 1 – 7th Matt Hunt BallPin No 2 – 18th Matt Hunt