No, we didn’t play a new format. But we did play as two groups of four as there were only eight members who could see their way clear to make it to Ivanhoe on a beautiful clear spring day. Conditions were pretty much ideal. Lovely warm sun after a slightly cool start to the morning. Hardly a breath of wind for most of the round, and then only the slightest of zephyrs to ruffle your hair (or what is left of it!). With no precipitation of any note during the week, the fairways had a bit of run, and the greens could be a bit quick for the unwary with a down-hill putt. There was a query as to whether putting off the green constituted a ‘shout’ or not, but, in the case of Stan, at least, he claimed that sinking the putt back from off the green negated any such ‘tradition’. The question out of all this would have to be, why, then, didn’t we shoot the lights out.
For ‘historical’ reasons, we’ll start the story with Pepsi, who tried to set up his excuses early by explaining that, having followed orders and rested his knee for a month, he was going to give it a try, or go mad if he didn’t give it a try. He’s hoping for a repair job in the New Year. He made a fine start, and was even par after four holes before dropping a couple on the next. Recovery was swift, and he was able to make the turn just one point down on 17. The back nine was completed just two over the card to add another nineteen points, making 36 points for a handicap equalling round. During the round, Pepsi managed to put one onto the 15th green, and qualified for the jackpot BallPin that was on offer there. With the announced results as solo first place getter and BallPin Jackpot winner, Pepsi was awarded four balls. However, between Blighty and Bob, there were a couple of discrepancies between the reported scores and the calculated points, and both were recipients of an extra point on holes marked as a miss. As a result Bob moved up to a score of 36 points as well. Bob’s front nine was a little mixed, and in particular somewhat mixed up on the second hole. The group behind stood on the tee and watched in bemusement, as the group wandered back and forth, and round about, like chooks with their head cut off. What on earth could be going on? Bob was adamant that he knew where his ball had finished, but that it had vanished. What sort said SOS. TaylorMade. What number. Don’t know, it has a black ring on it. Oops, says SOS, I picked that up thinking it was a lost ball! To be fair, there were, apparently, a number of stray balls in the area at the time. Anyhow, despite the dicky front nine, Bob stormed home and racked up 21 points on the back to produce the best nine hole tally for the day.
For reasons that we won’t go into, Michael’s card had the appearance of a dog’s breakfast. His GA number was written on it, scribbled out, written on again, not scribbled out, but we were assured that it was his Club card. Despite the scribblings, it does appear that the scoring calculations were correct, and Michael rambled home with 33 points, which was enough to snare him second place points to extend his total in the Championship table even further. He did show some signs of unhappiness with his game today, particularly when he played a ‘cricket’ shot rather than a ‘golf’ shot. His self described ‘shank’ on the 15th robbed him of the chance to challenge Pepsi for the BallPin Jackpot. Blighty’s card was a good example of why it pays to do a hole by hole check of points recorded because, even though the totals reported on both cards agreed, there was a compensating error on each that disguised the ‘missed’ point. In the process, Harry’s hopes of picking up an extra point were dashed when Blighty’s total moved to 30 points to collect third place. Harry held on to 4th place with a disappointing 29 points due largely to a major fade-out on the back. Stan picked up the last point on offer for his fifth place winning 28 points.
There was a Jackpot ProPin on the 12th, and there were a few hopeful strikes that didn’t quite cut the mustard. However, SOS was able to slot his within the required distance at 3.9m, and so the day was not entirely pointless for him. No birdie was forthcoming for SOS and there was none for Pepsi on the 15th. However, Pepsi did manage to score two elsewhere and another, down to Michael, brought our total for the day to three. Nobody could get the ball onto the green at the 18th, so that will Jackpot to next week. And speaking of the 18th, it seems that the CCTV camera systems, installed at the tee and green, form some sort of money printing scheme, where you can ‘pay’ to have your shot and result filmed on the off-chance that you get a hole-in-one. The details are a bit vague at the moment, as there was no sufficiently knowledgeable management available when the question was asked.
SOS was bragging about the fact that he was able to hit the same tree twice with the same club as he played the 6th hole. Apparently, no club was injured in the process. And, yes, it was a club involved, and not a ball. SOS was also minding his own business waiting to play a shot on the 11th when Blighty played a ‘stray’ one that whistled pretty close by his left ear. Pepsi managed to sky one shot that, reportedly, travelled higher than it travelled long. Harry’s drive on the 3rd looked to have mixed it with the trees on the right, so he opted to play a provisional. Stan came across Harry’s ball in the middle of the fairway. Had it hit a tree and done a Priems? If it did, it was a mightily delayed effect, as H was in the midst of hitting his provisional when the ball re-entered the playing area.
Don’t forget, it is the second round of this year’s Priems Cup. The Captains would like to have some players to select from, so get in there and register early (but there’s no point in registering often). It’s just like a normal round, and the Captains add up their team’s total scores to determine which team wins (provided that they remember who is on their team!). CJ has the first round lead by a single point, so there is everything to play for, and the prize is anybody’s.
Results for Saturday, 09 Nov 2024
1st Bob McDonald (36) 1st Andrew Petricola (36) 2nd Michael Gourlay (33) 3rd Andrew Blight (30) 4th Harry Boughen (29) 5th Stan Blackshaw (28)
Seniors Results: 1st Bob McDonald (36) 2nd Michael Gourlay (33) 3rd Andrew Blight (30)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Stephen O’Sullivan BallPin No 1 – 15th Andrew Petricola BallPin No 2 – 18th Jackpot