A week before Dan heads off to SoS territory for a six month stint of work doctoring at Shepparton Hospital, Charles is packing his bags for a stint of lawyering in London (he might be there already given the delay in getting this blog written).

In Charles last week before heading off, he and Dan, both on the same handicap (19) went toe to toe all day.

Charles stood on the 18th tee with his nose in front by one shot and feeling confident the bragging rights would be his.

With their mate Sebastian (one of three guests who joined us on the day) looking on, Charles fluffed his way down the 18th and put a 5 for 1 on his scorecard for a 36 points total. This left Dan facing a tricky curling right to left 6 footer for a 4 for 2 to join Charles on that score. After various deliberations checking the line, and with Sebastian getting out the phone to film the putt, adding to the pressure of the moment, Dan managed to roll it in and join Charles with the clubhouse lead.

On the day, by the time announcements were made and the winners photo taken, Charles and Dan were declared the joint winners. This didn’t factor in Blighty’s flighty accounting. When Harry got to checking of the cards, Blighty was upgraded from 35 to 36 points and joined Charles and Dan in a triple dead heat for the first.

Blighty’s elevation from 2nd to equal first means all the placegetters announced on the day snuck up one place.

The other guests who joined us this week were Joe Walton and Dan McArdle who played with Peps and CJ. We won’t talk about Peps last three holes – 3 pars would have seen him with 37 points and the win, but instead it was a bogey, bogey, double bogey finish and 33 points which was still good enough for 3rd place points.

Joining Old Reliable Craig on 34 points in 2nd was CJ who Dan Mc and Joe said played remarkably well especially given his extreme jet leg – an apparently very strenuous world whiskey tour on Friday night.

SoS, off the back of a variation on his usual adventures on the 17th (one ball in the Yarra to the left, the next into the pond on the right) signed for 31 points and 4th placed points, while Michael (after the Blighty adjustment) managed to sneak in a championship point for 5th with 30 points. Harry, Raj and Stan were the others in the field of 11 playing for points, plus the 3 guests.

We are going the short blog this week – given the lateness of publication, and none of you ever read it to the end anyway, so just a few highlights.

Charles was very enamoured with his new driver, a Taylor Made Stealth 2, bought with a thank-you voucher from his workplace. It certainly worked better than his old driver – a Cleveland of his dad’s, said to be of late 90’s/early 2000’s vintage. Charles drive on the 10th was as good as Stef or Beast in their prime, a big high draw over the trees and a wedge in. Has Stef passed his prime I wonder?

SoS had a very interesting journey down the 14th. Having hit it out on the 16th fairway off the tee he was somewhat mesmerised waiting and watching and watching and waiting and watching some more as Dan stood over his shot into the 16th green. Dan has been known to take his time standing over the ball and SoS became worried Dan had fallen asleep. Ever patient, SoS might have quietly mentioned his concern to Dan. The whole experience of being quiet and patient obviously did SoS no harm as he lobbed his next on to the 14th green and then rattled in a monster putt for the birdie.

Blighty lost his first ball on the 17th but made a near eagle with his second ball, a crucial rescue to keeping his score ticking along. Craig made a monster birdie putt on the 5th after missing a tiddler on the previous hole (such a stupid game golf). Like Peps, quite a few “if onlys” for Craig who could easily have finished higher on the podium. There were only 4 birdies across the field for the day which must be close to a record low.

The nearest the pins were closely fought. Craig won the money on the 15th with a shot to 4.17 metres. The tee was down the bottom so a much easier shot this week than normal.

CJ came within an inch or two of knocking Craig off for the money, but had to settle instead for knocking Michael off for the ball on the 18th. His 6 iron there to 1.91 metres was a beauty. Peps won the ball on the 4th, a tidy little 9 iron in there.

The coming fortnight is the two rounds of our next major, the Fred Howe Winter Cup. Indeed Melbourne looks like it is turning on some serious winter to get ourselves in the groove for the Fred Howe.

With double points on offer, watch out for Raj and Brendan to make a run at Michael’s lead in the Club Championship, not to mention Prez Priems, SoS, Porks, Harry, Craig, Bobby and CJ who could all vault up the leader board with a win. Johnny Q could too if he turns up.

Results for Saturday, 13 Jul 2024
1st Andrew Blight (36) 1st Charles Gibbs (36) 1st Dan Marie (36) 2nd Craig Cameron (34) 2nd Chris Priems (34) 3rd Andrew Petricola (33) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan (31) 5th Michael Gourlay (30)

Seniors Results: 1st Andrew Blight (36) 2nd Chris Priems (34) 2nd Craig Cameron (34) 3rd Michael Gourlay (30)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Craig Cameron BallPin No 1 – 4th Andrew Petricola BallPin No 2 – 18th Chris Priems

The weather was kind, kind of! There had been some real frit teasers during the week, and the high ridging across the state promises more to come. However, there was just enough high cloud around to keep a bit of a blanket in place, and, although it was fresh, some members were questioning the need for the extra layer and/or the hand warmers at the start of the round. However, there weren’t too many stripped down to their jocks by the end of the round, so it didn’t warm up too much. We had the luxury of preferred lies, but there weren’t a lot of cases where they were really necessary, unless of course you needed the hand span to get out of an inconvenient depression where a pipe, or something of the sort, had been laid. It was our day to remember our good mate, Keith, and it was good to see twelve regulars, and Ben, front up for the competition. Occasional member, Joe, also came along to keep Ben company and to catch up with current members, old and new.

Brent started out with a birdie on the first, which elicited the usual remarks about the only direction from there was down. The auguries were not good when the drive on the second finished on the 6th fairway, and there was a bit of a struggle to finish the hole with a double. Future slightly straying shots proved to be recoverable, and on the 9th, there were hopes for an eagle to equal par for the front nine. The worm-burner from the tee put paid to that idea. Still, the back nine was untouched, and it ended up untouched by anything but par totals, bring him home with 71 off the stick, and, with his ‘ridiculous’ club handicap of 10, a net score of 61. However. By dint of not having played since the last Monthly Medal, Brent was not qualified to win the trophy.

Matt had many fish to fry today, including a session in a corporate area at a footy match, so he was keen for an early start and a quick game. He got both, and kept the pace of the game up by taking as few strokes as possible. As a result, he was able to tear away to start on his afternoon of eating and drinking (and maybe watching Josh play football) with a net score of 68 on his card. With Brent out of the way, would he collect the medal. Unfortunately, Matt, too, had not played to qualify for the trophy, and we had to seek further for a winner. Pepsi might have had a few more bogies on the front nine than he would have liked, although he did snag a birdie on the 6th. The back nine was much more of a par fest, and he was able to finish just two over the card for the nine to play right to his handicap with a 68 as well. Fortunately, Pepsi did sneak in a round last week, and, so, he was qualified for the trophy, and was crowned the June Monthly Medallist.

When asked how he was going at one stage, Ben rattled off the number of double and triple bogies that he had been having. And, he should probably count his lucky stars, as his approach to the 11th green hurtled across the green at a great rate of knots. The general consensus was that the ball would have finished out in the oval if it had not hit the wheel of Brent’s buggy on the 12th tee and stopped dead on the path as a result. With that little piece of luck, Ben was able to win a potato cake from Joe, and finish with a net score of 69, which is not too shabby. If Pepsi had not qualified for the medal, would Ben have won it? The computer says “No”! He, too, would not have qualified for the trophy. Brendon played a very steady hand the whole day. The front nine was completed three over the card, which is right to his handicap. The back nine was not quite up to the same standard, but was given a boost on the 18th. After a very confusing attempt to measure the length of his ProShop ProPin, Brent asked did Brendon want his ball moved. Not a problem. Whack went the club. The ball whizzed up the hill, passed millimetres from Brent’s ball, and rattled into the hole for a birdie, which slotted Brendon into third place alongside Ben on 69. Voted to be the ‘drainer’ of the day.

CJ could easily have given up the ghost after a quad on the second hole. However, it turned out to be little more than a stubbed toe, and his back nine was a very respectable four over par. This rescued him sufficiently to slot into 4th place with his net score of 71 from a total of 82 off the stick. Raj is still managing to keep the points ticking up, albeit only the one this week, for his fifth place for a score of 72 net. Porks was making a feature of his recent elevation to the exalted heights of ‘father of two’, and there was a suggestion that a lack of sleep could have affected the standard of his game. This was certainly not what the rest of the field could claim for not matching his fifth place score of 72 as well.

CJ had been cajoled into joining the first group because the was bound to be some excitement arising from the quarter-final match between Matt and brother Prez. Unfortunately, Rob did not appear to have brought his best game along today, and by the ninth hole, CJ was begging to be relegated to a later group. However, it must be said that it was noted that, at 0653, Rob was rubbing his wrist, and explaining how he had hurt it. Was this a ready-made excuse? Other than squaring the first, the match was almost a one way street, with Rob only able to win one hole and square another on the way to the match going dormie seven after the 11th. With an Everest to climb by winning seven consecutive holes to stay in the match, Rob could only square the 12th to hand the match to Matt, 7 and 6.

There were some jackpots to be had today. A Double Jackpot on the 4th for the ProPin was untouched until Brendon outdid Brent, in the same group, to get his name on the card at 1.815m. That will be hard to beat, said Brendon. Except that Pepsi was able to sneak inside it with a shot to 1.79m to take the money and to rob Brendon of his sneaky little ‘slush fund’. There was a jackpot to be had for balls on the 15th, and Porks was the closest of those in his group that got on or near to on the green. Unfortunately, Ben was able to get even closer, and he collected two balls for his collection. Brendon’s 12+m effort on the 18th was enough to collect the ball on offer there.

Bob didn’t have a great day with the putter today, and his claim was that it was because the shaft was bent. So convinced was he of this that he was seen trying to reshape the shaft by using his head as an anvil. Not to put too fine a point on it, but modifying your equipment during play, unless it is to repair damage incurred during play, is disqualification. On the 17th tee, SOS lined up and announced that he was planning to slice it around the corner onto the green. Instead, he hooked it into the Yarra. Such control!

After the round, Gordon and Lisa had arrived, and set up and cooked the usual fare of burgers, onions, and snags to go with the buns, bread, and trimmings. Members of Keith’s family, wife Marlene, and daughters, Mon and Simone also came along to catch up with members of the Club that had formed a significant part of Keith’s life over the years. Club Captain, Brendon spoke of the regard with which Keith was held in the Club, and recounted in gory detail the infamous ‘Ibis Incident’. Mon and Simone spoke of their appreciation of the input from the Club just on a year ago and their sadness at not having been able to meet with members at the time. Marlene then spoke of her memories and joys of being with and raising a family with Keith, and of his ‘obsession’ with golf and the Club and of taking part in golf trips all those years ago. She even handed out a couple of her ‘special handshakes’ and hugs all round. Vale Keith Delzoppo.

Results for Saturday, 06 Jul 2024
1st Brent Rowley (61) 2nd Matt Hunt (68) 2nd Andrew Petricola (68) MM 3rd Ben Akdag (69) 3rd Brendon Mitchell (69) 4th Chris Priems (71) 5th Rajesh Mahto (72) 5th Ryan Porker (72)

Seniors Results: 1st Matt Hunt (68) 2nd Chris Priems (71) 3rd Craig Cameron (73)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Andrew Petricola BallPin No 1 – 15th Ben Akdag BallPin No 2 – 18th Brendon Mitchell

There were twelve members on the books, but, in the light of the weather forecasts, there was some early speculation that the groups might need re-rearranging. However, in the fullness of time, the full complement rolled up to the check-in, although there was some concern that Charlie might not be able to pay because Dan had his money. SOS has been taking lessons from Brendon in the art of tightly folding notes, and shrapnel was almost the order of the day. SOS had a great time checking for any ‘valuable’ ones. As far as the weather was concerned, it was certainly overcast with a fair sort of a breeze to make thing interesting. In due course, enough light forced its way under or through, and we were able to set off, although it was a couple of holes before the flight of the ball could be seen reliably. At least it wasn’t raining – yet. And the course was remarkably dry, and the greens were fast – for the moment.

The rain made a few half-hearted efforts to start, and it might have been the wind that made it difficult. However, later, when the wind died down a bit, the rain did make its presence felt, more at the level of annoyance than posing a real problem. The view was expressed at one stage that anyone returning a positive score would be lying, and estimates of the winning score were further downgraded once the rain put in an appearance. What the pessimists hadn’t accounted for was the presence of Mr Steady himself, Brendon. Never one to be rushed, Brendon put in a steady enough performance on the front nine, and appeared to be living up to the doomsayer’s predictions to reach the turn one point below the line, although that result was improved by a birdie on the 6th. However, he had obviously brought his wet weather shoes, and absolutely sprinted around the back nine, taking one stroke less than par, and adding four more birdies (two by chipping in) to his little bag. That was almost half of the eleven birdies that the whole field could manage, which, considering the perceived conditions, was a good return from twelve players. Brendon’s plus two score-line means that he will have to try just a little harder next week, but he does collect eight points for his first place on the day.

Second place was shared around with three contenders on the podium step. Harry managed to finish the front nine in positive territory, but the back nine did not maintain the rage (probably engendered some at stages). He did go mighty close to scaring the Eagle on the 17th when his approach ran across the edge of the hole and finished about a metre past. Charlie wasn’t able to come out on the positive side of the ledger on the front, with the low light being an airie on the 5th tee, from which he recovered to square the hole. The back nine fared much better, and although he was helped by an impressive recovery from long grass onto the green to putt for par, he immediately countered with a loss on the 18th. Dan was the star of the front nine when he made the turn at plus two. A run of losses in the middle half of the back knocked a fair hole in that, and he emulated Charlie with a win/loss result on the last two holes.

Blighty commented on the fact that his front nine had consisted entirely of fives and sixes, which left him right up there with a chance as he rounded the turn on minus one. He went close to repeating the strokes on the back nine, except that he did manage to squeeze in a couple of fours. He spoiled his chance for a better score-line on the 17th where his tee-shot speared off at about 87 degrees to the intended line, hit the tombstone dead centre, just about took his head off as it went past, and disappeared into the shrubbery down the hill. Ever hopeful, a search was made on the teaching fairway, but only ‘coach’ balls were to be found. He’ll gladly accept three points for third with a three under.

Michael came into the Clubhouse with a very concerned look on his face, and made a bee-line for the pile of submitted cards that Prez was jealously guarding. When his card was handed in, the cause for his concern became obvious, although, with the lead that he has in the Seniors, there is probably little cause for concern. There was the usual talk of missed opportunities to explain the minus four result that ensued. SOS, on the other hand, was checking and rechecking his arithmetic to be sure that the results would stand up to scrutiny. Maybe it was down to a recent change in handicap, but he took a stroke on the 17th where there was not one due, so he was demoted to join Michael in 4th place. He did lay claim to one of the day’s birdies after he played a fading shot around the tree on the 3rd, and then putted from off the green to sink the putt, quite possibly winning the ‘drainer’ of the day. Pepsi commented on how good it was to get out and about again, despite the slightly adverse conditions. He went very close to filling his card with fours and fives, and only spoiled it be making a three on the 12th. Not a great result for a man of his ability, but minus five got him a point for fifth place, and he plans to come back next week to win the Monthly Medal on offer. And that would be a nice little present for his birthday, which is coming up, and for which the Birthday Birdie wishes him Many Happys.

The ProPin today was a jackpot on the 4th, and, although there was a nearly-almost (5.1m reportedly), nobody got close enough and there will be a Double jackpot up for grabs next week. The first BallPin was on the 15th, and it, too, went begging, leaving a jackpot to be contested next week. The pin on the 18th was on the top deck of the green, which is generally considered to be a more difficult location to reach. No such problems for a couple of people, however it does present a bit of a conundrum. Brendon pipped Michael for our BallPin, but Michael seems to have collected the money for the ProShop ProPin while Brendon took out the best score. Was Brendon in such a hurry to get away to his kid’s basketball that he forgot to add his name to the card?

CJ managed to tear himself away from the Frog, and his only comment at the end of the round was that he had finished. He did have a couple of adventures along the way, though. Now he is rather well known for a couple of things – his power fade and his uncanny symbiotic relationship with trees. Whether he was allowing for his ‘power fade’ or not, but his drive from the 4th headed well into the ‘swamp’ on the left side of the fairway. The sound of contact with a tree was heard, followed by several seconds of silence, followed by the ball appearing from nowhere to land neatly on the fairway. Later on, he had taken his remote controlled buggy up onto the 15th tee to be sure that he had the option to select the correct club for the distance. As he bent down to place his ball and tee, he was made aware of the fact that his buggy had taken off and was heading down the hill towards the 14th green. Much fumbling in pocket to recover the controller to save the buggy from complete disaster. Fortunately, there was no water filled hazard nearby to reproduce the fate of another member recently.

Next week is the July Monthly Medal, so a good chance to come along and collect a bit of silverware for the games room. It is also close to the anniversary of the passing of our old mate Keith Delzoppo, and, to mark the occasion, there will be a barbecue and a drink of your choice afterwards to mark the occasion. It would be nice to see a good roll-up, particularly from those who have known Keith over the years and who have appreciated his sportsmanship and good nature.

Results for Saturday, 29 Jun 2024
1st Brendon Mitchell (+2) 2nd Harry Boughen (-2) 2nd Charles Gibbs (-2) 2nd Dan Marie (-2) 3rd Andrew Blight (-3) 4th Michael Gourlay (-4) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan (-4) 5th Andrew Petricola (-5)

Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (-2) 2nd Andrew Blight (-3) 3rd Michael Gourlay (-4)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 15th Jackpot BallPin No 2 – 18th Brendon Mitchell

When the first group of Raj, Craig and Michael teed off with a morning moon and some mild fog on the shortest day of the year, Michael declared that as the winner would probably come from this group, he may as well save some time and get the main blog photo out of the way early.

And the prediction was correct, with Raj today’s winner with 35 points.

Raj’s highlight, along with his trademark expert lob wedge chipping around the greens was a bomb of a putt for a birdie on the 15th, one of five birdies from the small field of nine.

The lowlight was a birdie putt on the 17th that was dead-centre but with the pin in and angled a bit towards him, it bounced against the pin and stayed out. With pin out there is no doubt that was in the hole, it was dead-centre and rolling slowly. Raj was certainly robbed of one there, but as it turns out he didn’t need it anyway.

With the win, Raj returns to the top (Scottie Scheffler) ranking in the Ivanhoe version of the Official World Golf Rankings (IOWGR), a new Harry the wizard initiative you can find on the website under Competitions/Order of Merit Table. Michael slipped back to second (Rory McIlroy) and Brendon is third (Xander Scahuffele).

Craig managed third today with 33 points, including a brilliant birdie on the 7th after a tee shot to about 5 feet and another birdie on the 14th after a great second shot and nailing a tricky downhill left to right slider.

Michael managed a point for 5th with 31 points, with his highlight being the luckiest 5 for 1 ever on the 8th. After a shocking duffed tee shot into the left trees, he tried to hit a driver off the deck under the trees for his second and sliced it badly and it was heading out of bounds on the right at a great rate of knots before bouncing back off a wooden stake and far enough back into the fairway that he had a relatively easy third shot to the green. He was almost too embarrassed to take the point.

The second group out, Whitey, SOS and Steve were “up the arses” of Group 1 all day, having to wait on most shots. The round was clocked at 4hr 6 mins which it was agreed for a 3 in a stableford round is at least 20 minutes too long, so next time around Raj, Michael and Craig need to smarten up and find a minute a hole, and some. Despite the frustrations of slow play, Whitey with 34 points earned himself second place points (and first in the Seniors) and SOS with 32 was fourth.

SOS’s birdie on the 14th was his highlight, coming off a good par on the 13th, although Whitey reckons SOS’s tee shot on the 15th was more noteworthy – short and left high up the hill and lost for all money but somehow bobbled its way down the hill through the thick wet grass out onto the flat. A good second shot followed and SOS only just missed the par putt. Whitey was still shaking his head after the round about how the tee shot made it out of that long grass on the hill.

We won’t mention the scores in the final group of Harry, Dan and Stan, although Dan hit a great shot into the 12th to about 10 feet to knock off SOS for the ball on offer there. As is usual when the 4th is chosen for the ProPin, Jack Pot won there again. Michael won the ball on the 18th.

Stan wins best trick shot of the day. Standing over his second on the 5th with an awkward side hill lie (especially awkward for a lefty) beside the 7th tee, the ball started to roll during Stan’s back swing. Unperturbed, Stan adjusted his downswing and connected with the ball, hitting it on the run.

Under Rule 9.4b, if it was agreed Stan didn’t cause the ball to move, no penalty applies. Likewise, if Stan was able to stop himself in his backswing, he could have replaced the ball and then played the shot without penalty. As it happens, Stan recorded a 5 for 2 there on the 5th as well as winning trick shot of the day.

The other competition was who could take the best photo of the morning moon. Thanks to everybody who supplied their photos. SOS’s probably wins because he manages to capture a balloon crossing over the moon. Honourable mentions to Whitey and Raj for their moonshots.

Let’s see if we can beat nine starters for next week’s Par Comp. There’s a whole $9 jackpot up for grabs on the ProPin on the 4th.

Rumour has it that Peps will be a starter next week. My money is on him to win the money.

Meanwhile, best wishes to everybody on the injured/recovery/rehab list at the moment, including Prez Priems (dud knee), Chrispy (dud shoulder) and Gordo (dud shoulder). Best of luck boys. Hoping to see you back swinging as soon as possible.

Results for Saturday, 22 Jun 2024
1st Rajesh Mahto (35) 2nd Rodney White (34) 3rd Craig Cameron (33) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan (32) 5th Michael Gourlay (31)

Seniors Results: 1st Rodney White (34) 2nd Craig Cameron (33) 3rd Michael Gourlay (31)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 12th Dan Marie BallPin No 2 – 18th Michael Gourlay