It was a lucky thing that the potential rain event actually did hold off until the middle of the day. The course management (mis)managed to run out of the fairly solid scorecards that have been handed out for the last few years, and have had to resort to using photocopies instead. Besides offering nothing firm to write on, and being easily subject to puncturing in the process, they would very likely have dissolved had there been even a hint of moisture in the air. Despite this little annoyance, eleven members and Ryan’s mate, Tim, set out to do battle for the October Monthly Medal. After a hiatus of some eleven months, Tim has finally submitted his third card, and will be rearing to get stuck into the competition now that he has a Club handicap to play with. Welcome to the Club, Tim, your name will be added to the registration system so that you can join us next week in our efforts to get enough local players for a formal competition while the rest of the gang go swanning off to do battle with the delights of Cobram, both on and off the course. The course was in pretty good nick, although the gum nuts on some of the greens made for some interesting putts, and some interesting discussion as to whether it would be legal to carry a battery operated blower for the purposes of clearing a path for a putt. The sand coating from last week was somewhat settled in, but there was still enough around to pick up on a damp ball.
The decision about the winner of the Medal was a somewhat fraught affair. On the cards presented, there was a tie for top spot, and the necessary calculations were made to determine the winner by count-back. This seemed to indicate that CJ had beaten Harry by half a stroke on the back nine net basis. And this is where one Senior moment came to light. Harry teed off on the 10th, and cracked a beauty straight down the centre of the fairway. It was only when Stan lined up to follow suit, that it was realised that H had inadvertently teed off from the blue markers. The resultant two stroke penalty appeared to have robbed him of the medal. But, then, there was another Senior moment! CJ had handed in his inside card to the Club and vice versa, meaning that his actual score was 72 and not 70, so Harry did eventually win the Medal. Just goes to show, it pays to concentrate on what you are doing, both on and off the course.
Craig has been described as the metronome of the Club. Tick, tock, tick, tock, down the centre again. Of course, that wasn’t much help when it came to negotiating the gum nuts on the greens, with one example being described as ‘big as a walnut’, and really should have been spotted and cleared from the path. A pretty handy back nine, just four over the card, allowed him to finish just a stroke behind Harry on net 71. CJ is hoping that the ProShop take pity on him and adjust the handicap on the card he submitted to them. In point of fact, they don’t have to, as the rules state that playing to a lower handicap, the score recorded stands, whereas playing to a higher handicap results in disqualification. The two stroke difference, that we kind-hearted types correct for rather than disqualify, means that he gets to fill third place with a net of 72 strokes.
Stan mostly had his driver working well today, and a few times expressed surprise that he managed to avoid some of his ‘usual’ travels to one side of the fairway or another. His shorter game did present a few moments during the round. A serious shank?, on the 8th, headed for the OOB fence at a fair rate of knots. Possibly, fortunately, it hit one of the fence posts absolutely dead centre and came straight back towards him for most of the distance. But, despite the short game glitches, a net score of 73 was enough to get fourth place, and the fourth Senior in a row. Could the oldies clean sweep the points? The answer to that question is no! Brendon put his drive on the first out onto the 10th, and managed to thread his way through the trees to leave the ball just through the green about pin high (from the normal approach). The putt never looked like missing, and the ‘birdie first’ omen was invoked. He managed to need a provisional to complete the third, and took a penalty on the sixth, which ended up leaving the front nine card looking a little sorry. The back nine was a little better, and he was able to scratch together a net score of 74 to take the final point on offer.
The ProPin today was set on the 4th, which, with the white set a fair way back, proved to be too much for the field, and there will be a Jackpot on offer next week (provided that we get enough players for a comp). The first BallPin was on the 12th, and Brendon had hopes of getting something more than a point for the day. However, Porks came along and went a bit better and added another ball to the long list that was owing to him from previous weeks. On the 18th, Brendon managed to make it onto the bottom deck, and, fairly reluctantly, measured the distance for the inside ProPin, which came out to something like 15.94m. Once again, he was foiled in his quest for loot when CJ got inside him, even if it was still some 12.5m from the hole. Needless to say, neither of these efforts resulted in a birdie, but we did manage to rack up a total of six for the day.
When Porks was asked about his game today, he indicated that he was suffering from a hangover. Not the alcoholic kind, but a hangover from his handicap busting performance last week. Bob had a couple of moments today. He managed to capsize his buggy, again, and bumped into others. While standing by the green on the 14th, he felt a bump on his leg, looked down, saw a ball and thought he had dropped his, so he picked it up. Only problem was, the ball was actually incoming from JQ. And, while on the subject of JQ, he might have made an error of club selection on the 18th and finished well short of the green, hard up against the base of a tree, which was a bit surprising given the slope of the ground in the vicinity. As an aside, for some time in the ‘clubhouse’, until the last group came in, and the mistake by CJ with card submission was detected, it looked as if a net score of 82 (multiple cards) could have scored a point. No names, no pack-drill.
A couple of birthdays didn’t get a mention last week. Michael actually had one last Saturday, and Adam celebrated one during the week. So, a little belatedly, the Birthday Birdie says, hope you had a good one, and many more of the same.
Results for Saturday, 05 Oct 2024
1st Harry Boughen (70) 2nd Craig Cameron (71) 3rd Chris Priems (72) 4th Stan Blackshaw (73) 5th Brendon Mitchell (74)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (70) 2nd Craig Cameron (71) 3rd Chris Priems (72)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 12th Ryan Porker BallPin No 2 – 18th Chris Priems