The first round of the Priems Cup back in April attracted a field of 15 (7 a side, plus a 15th – JQ – who didn’t count for either team).
After the dust settled on the score entries back then, Team Chris lead Team Rob by one stableford point, 209 to 208.
For those interested in a detailed recap, hit April 2024 in the Archives list on the left hand side of the home page of the website (and scroll down past “Eagles, birthdays and finally Raj!” – 27 April; and “Twinkle Toes Brendon” – 20 April, to “Priems Cup Cliffhanger!”) or put Priems Cup into the search.
Of the 15 that played that day, 8 were back for Round 2, including of course the two Priems brothers, Team Captains Chris and Rob. Such is the nature of team selection and the mid-season Priems Cup draft, other than Rob and Chris only two players – Michael and Stan – played Round 2 for the same team as they did in Round 1.
This time around it wasn’t a cliffhanger. Team Rob, lead by Dan, the day’s individual winner with 37 points and Rob himself (individual 3rd with 35) gathered 235 points with three players scoring 33 points (Brendon, SoS, Bob) and Michael and Craig both 32.
Despite the best efforts of Chris (individual second with 36 points – announced as 37 on the day but later adjusted to 36 after the Harry system score check) Team Chris could only gather 214 points, with JQ scoring 33, Stan 32, Whitey and Porks 31 and Geoff and Targe in the 20’s.
So Priems Cup bragging rights go to Rob for 2024 by a total 20 stableford points (total 443 across the two rounds, at an average score of 31.6 points per round per player) to 423 (30.2).
We have trialed a few formats for Priems Cup scoring over the years, but have now settled into this two round format (with total stableford points rather than match play) and it will be a feature on the Playing Calendar again for 2025.
Your blog writer played with Rob and Chris and they both played brilliantly.
Rob’s driving was the feature of the day. His straight as an arrow monster drives on 2, 13 and 16 would give the best of Porks and Steff a run for their money, absolute monsters!
Chris was steady all day long except a wipe on the 7th where his tee shot managed to hit a tree near the left of the tee very hard and bounce at a 90 degree angle across the 8th fairway with the ball never to be seen again, perhaps going all the way out of bounds near the river on the right hand side of the 8th. Quite spectacular effort that!
There’s a lot of run on the course at the moment and this brings the 7th into play as a fair enough choice for one of our nearest the pins as, unlike in winter, everybody can make the distance, even if it does require the best hit with a driver for some.
For those who fancy Jackpot $, go for it on the 7th this week because despite Porks effort to shrink the tape measure and get inside the 5 metre limit, Jackpot won the day.
On the 12th Rob added a ball to his bragging rights with a great shot in there and Dan added a ball on the 18th (and the Inside NTP too) with a shot to 5.63 metres.
Meanwhile on the 4th, everybody felt a bit weird on getting to the tee because not only had they cut some trees on the right hand side of the tee (which will allow the tee to get more sun and hopefully better grass coverage) but the big tree on the left had been trimmed.
In theory now you can hit a straight ball at tree height and hit the green rather than having to do a Craig (nice low draw under the tree) or a Porks (big high shot over the tree).
Undeterred Rob stuck to traditional values and hit a big high shot over the tree to the left hand side of the green, so players addicted to going over or through that tree can still do so!
With the 2024 playing season (for points) drawing to a close over the next two weeks, Brendon is keeping an eye on his lead in the prestigious Eclectic. He looks unbeatable, having birdied every hole except the 2nd and with an eagle on the 17th, has a gross eclectic score of 50, 18 under par for net 43.5. Next in line is Raj 47.3, Charles 47.4, Harry 47.5 and Bob 48.1.
Charles is obviously going to struggle from London to improve his score, but what chance a Raj (are you back this week Raj?) or a Harry or a Bob finding 4 or 5 shots, e.g. all Raj has to do is birdie 6, 7, 8, 10 and 18, or perhaps Harry can birdie 3, 5, 9, 11 and 18?
Harry, how many times has Brendon won the Eclectic previously? Do we have a list of past Eclectic winners and their scores on the website? Is Brendon’s 43.5 a world record?
After the round, and Michael’s failed attempt to take a decent photo with Priems brothers and Dan and all players looking at the camera, the Club Committee had a meeting and discussed various matters.
This includes that club finances are a bit tighter than in previous years. In due course there will be an email with information about key decisions, including handing out fewer trophies this year and a small increase in membership subscription fees for 2025.
Meanwhile it is full steam ahead with the drive to recruit new members, with Harry adding a new “Care to Join Us? New members always welcome” section at the top of the club’s home page this week. If you know anybody interested in joining, give them a copy of the new membership pamphlet (copies available in the clubhouse) or point them to the website.
Results for Saturday, 16 Nov 2024
Priems Cup Results: Team Rob {Dan Marie (37), Brendon Mitchell (33), Stephen O’Sullivan (33), Bob McDonald (33), Craig Cameron (32), Robert Priems (35), Michael Gourlay (32)} 235 def Team Chris {John Quinlan (33), Stan Blackshaw (32), Rodney White (31), Ryan Porker (31), Geoff Lyall (28), Chris Priems (36), Targe Mifsud (22)} 213
1st Dan Marie (37) 2nd Chris Priems (36) 3rd Robert Priems (35) 4th Bob McDonald (33) 4th Brendon Mitchell (33) 4th John Quinlan (33) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan (33) 5th Stan Blackshaw (32) 5th Craig Cameron (32) 5th Michael Gourlay (32)
Seniors Results: 1st Chris Priems (36) 2nd Bob McDonald (33) 3rd Craig Cameron (32) 3rd Michael Gourlay (32) 3rd Stan Blackshaw (32)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 7th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 12th Robert Priems BallPin No 2 – 18th Dan Marie