Where have all the young men gone? Sounds like a good line for a song. Or a question about the line-up on the podia today. The weather man had promised a bit of a scorcher today, and everybody was very happy to line up for the early start. Fifteen happy chappies, were perhaps a little less happy with the ‘standard’ of players in the groups in front of our happy little band. The day did warm up more than somewhat before we finished the round, and we did not envy those who were just departing the first as we gathered in the shade of the Clubhouse to rest and recuperate. The greens were in fine condition, and they had been heavily watered. So much so that there was a significant pond in evidence on the lower level of the 9th green. However, it did disperse fairly quickly. Unfortunately, the course has no allocation from the river, and, so, only the tees and greens are getting much water, while only the 1st and 9th fairways are getting any at all. You do have to keep up appearances! As a result, there was plenty of run, and some bony lies on the rest of the course.
Harry started off with a par, and tried not to think of ill omens as a result. The second served up a double, but that was OK from the white tees, although playing off the blues would have offered little advantage, with the majority of holes having them either equal with or further back than the whites. A par on the 3rd was followed by a near HIO on the 4th for a birdie, closely followed by another birdie on the 5th, bringing the young fellah square with the card after five holes. He rounded out the front nine with three bogies and a par to finish just three over the card for a PB on the front nine. A number of just missed par putts kept the bogies flowing on the back, and a duffed putt on the 16th resulted in a double. A dash for the line with a pair of pars to finish, brought home a card of 80 strokes, exactly matching his age, and a net score of 62, which was enough to win the Medal and to ensure that he will not be playing off 18 for a little while.
With pretty much the whole field and the following ladies in the gallery, Steve’s drive from the first looked as if it could have been a ‘shout’. Fortunately, the ball had enough momentum to get through the shrubbery, and Steve was able to smash it well up the fairway to finish the hole with a very commendable bogie. There was just enough of a sprinkling of deviations from the standard, including a confidence shattering quad on the 13th, to prevent Steve from outdoing Harry, though he was feeling fairly confident of a win with a net score at the end of the day, of 64 net. With a bit of work on his short game, the local ‘experts’ suggest that he could be a force to be reckoned with in the near future, although he does hold the top spot in the Championship tables at the moment.
Another pair that had moments of wondering, is it possible, were Michael and Targe, who both fronted the judges with net scores of 66. To achieve that, Michael had to par the course, which he did with two birdies and two bogies. One under par from the first, he did wonder whether more than these ducks were going to line up at the end of the day as he strives to match (or improve on) David Primroses’s course record of 62 off the beater. Targe had a bit of a shaky start, but he soon settled down to finish the front nine just a couple of strokes shy of his handicap. He really put the pedal to the metal on the back and joined Michael at two under for the round. Thinking to the future, Michael was even working out the count-back, in case they happened to share top spot.
The big gum tree by the 7th tee is a favourite perch for a rather raucous sulphur crested cockatoo, that seems to delight in screeching at the top of his voice while people are preparing to take their shot. He also seems to have a particular penchant for giving full voice while SOS is on the tee. It was a good thing that SOS did not have his service pistol today, so he had to resort to pitching golf balls to try to move his nemesis along. No such luck either for Whitey and Blighty, who both blamed their less than stellar tee shots on SOS’s ‘mocky cocky’. Despite this little set-back, both were able to finish the round right on handicap with net 68. There were concerns that there might have been double cream when Blighty waxed lyrical over a ‘creamed’ drive from the 9th tee. Rounding out the podium today was Ken, who did not produce mangoes today, but he did produce everybody’s favourite net score to take out fifth place to fill all point winning positions from the ranks of the Seniors.
There probably was never any doubt that Harry was going to collect the first ProPin on the 4th, although some did try to suggest that he had been beaten. The ProPin was set for the 15th, and Michael was very concerned that he had been overtaken by a shot to less than 2.51m, as he had promised to split the loot with his playing partners. He needn’t have worried, and the split was duly made, though he did have to encourage Whitey to put it on one of his horses. Blighty had no compunction taking his share. The second BallPin on the 18th was a bit tough with the tee back and the pin on the top shelf, but it ended up being well contested, and CJ was the ultimate victor from Michael and Targe. CJ was the only one to make the birdie, which added one more to bring our total for the day to 12. Targe was on the lower deck, but did he really need four putts to get the ball to finish.
CJ was pretty pleased with his three over the card for the front nine, and held out high hopes of getting an early entry into the Champion of Champions field. Unfortunately, the gasket on the sump plug started to weep just a little as he rounded onto the back, and at the 13th, the plug fell out completely, and he struggled home blowing smoke until his slightly face-saving result on the last. Perhaps it was a good thing that AndrewV’s wife was keeping him under control from the group of ladies following along. Gordo would have liked to make a better fist of the front nine, but he did manage to improve things on the back, managing to, at least, get a par on the 12th. On the 18th, he decided to chance his arm with the Jackpot for a Hole-in-One, and managed to chunk one to the left among the trees only part way up the rise. Not a great memento of the day! He cracked his next shot to almost gimme distance, and rounded off the round with his second par for the day.
Results for Saturday, 04 Jan 2025
1st Harry Boughen (62) 2nd Steven Gervasoni (64) 3rd Michael Gourlay (66) 3rd Targe Mifsud (66) 4th Andrew Blight (68) 4th Rodney White (68) 5th Ken Watson (69)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (62) 2nd Steven Gervasoni (64) 3rd Michael Gourlay (66) 3rd Targe Mifsud (66)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Michael Gourlay BallPin No 1 – 4th Harry Boughen BallPin No 2 – 18th Chris Priems