As usual with a small field (we managed 9) there was interest in whether it might be one of those days when everybody wins a prize/gets a point.
Well sort of that’s how it worked out. Porks was a clear NAGA and missed out on the points, but he did win a Nearest-the-pin ball after a stellar shot into the 18th nearly went in for a hole in one.
Everybody else managed at least a point with Dan and Steve sharing 5th on 31 points, CJ in solo 4th with 32, the trio of Harry, JQ and Blighty sharing 3rd on 35 and “summer specialist” Gordo – in preparation for defending his January Monthly Medal next week – in solo 2nd with 36. This left Michael in front with 39 points to collect his first points of the new season.
CJ – whose Eclectic Card already has 5 birdies in the first 6 holes, started on fire again until some discussion on the sixth tee about the number of trees down around the course, presumably due to the wind on Boxing Day. From the sixth tee you could see one fallen down and covering a fair bit of territory in the right rough and protruding into the fairway. CJ promptly hit his worse drive of the day right at it and there was discussion about the rules if the ball was amongst the branches, most of which would have been too big to move.
It was soon discovered that CJ’s ball had pulled up short of the fallen tree and nestled beautifully into the base of another tree. No Priemsy luck there. After an unplayable and a missed putt, 7 a wipe went on the card and a bit of air went out of the pumped up tyres. Another wipe on the 8th after hitting two balls into the Yarra attempting the hero second shot over the trees and CJ was on the back foot all day thereafter.
Unusually, the greens had actually been mowed on the morning before play and were running fast and true. Despite ideal putting conditions, including very few tricky pins, there were plenty of blokes complaining they still couldn’t hole a putt. Porks hit 9 greens in regulation but still managed to shoot 13 over the card off the stick and lost count of how many birdie putts turned into three-putts.
Harry putted well early but then started doing his “just shaving the hole” thing on the back 9. With a bit of better luck with his putter on holes 10, 12, 13, 16 and 17 his score might have been 4 or 5 better.
Michael, despite being happy enough to shoot par off the stick was still shaking his head about having 6 birdie putts from 4-6 feet and only making one of them.
Gordo turned with 21 points on the front 9 but a wipe on the 13th was costly, as was a double bogey on 16. Handily, with a handicap of 14.5 = 15, there was no damage to the Gordo handicap and who knows, the extra sneaky 15th stroke retained might be handy when the January Monthly Medal is run and won next week.
JQ and Blighty both had good rounds going and might have finished with higher honours if not for some hiccups on the last few holes (wipes for Blighty on 16 and 18 and single pointers for JQ on 17 and 18). As some consolation, Blighty gains an extra shot on his handicap, moving from 20 to 21.
Michael won the $9 ProPin on on the 4th with a good shot into 2.2 metres (but of course missed the putt). Harry hit a great shot into the 15th, arrow straight all the way into about 5 metres from the pin and looked a certainty for the ball there until Gordo hit it left of the green and got a lucky bounce off the hill to sneak inside Harry. Funny game golf.
Meanwhile, I am not sure if this is a new initiative, or whether I just hadn’t noticed it before, but it was good to see a “JOIN ONE OF OUR 4 GOLF CLUBS” ad prominently displayed on an A-frame on the way into the Pro-Shop today. Through our various different strategies, let’s hope there are a few more Andrew Vogans out there who will discover we exist and bolster our membership numbers for 2025.
Meanwhile big cheerio to club stalwart Bobby McDonald (958 games and still counting). Bob has been crook and had a stint in hospital and missed our end of year break-up. Via Gordo, Bob is reported to be feeling better and despite doctors orders to rest-up he plans to be back playing and adding to his games count tally before too long. Cheers Bob! Get well soon.
Results for Saturday, 28 Dec 2024
1st Michael Gourlay (39) 2nd Gordon Hill (36) 3rd Andrew Blight (35) 3rd Harry Boughen (35) 3rd John Quinlan (35) 4th Chris Priems (32) 5th Steven Gervasoni (31) 5th Dan Marie (31)
Seniors Results: 1st Michael Gourlay (39) 2nd Gordon Hill (36) 3rd Andrew Blight (35) 3rd Harry Boughen (35)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Michael Gourlay BallPin No 1 – 15th Gordon Hill BallPin No 2 – 18th Ryan Porker