The list of people putting their hand up to play was looking a bit dire early in the week, but a bit of a late rush tipped us over the six to a comfortable eight. One withdrawal, two added guests (AndrewN brought alone his two pals, Barry and Verge), and two walk-ups resulted in eleven people teeing off to try for some ‘easier’ points. The forecast was for fine and warm and that is the way it turned out, with the feeling approaching ‘hot’ as the last few up-hills took their toll on flagging energy levels. The course was in good condition, and the sand (or was it fertiliser?) that was spread on the greens during the week was not noticeable. However, there were numerous reports of putts left short, and three-putt greens that prevented people from scoring better than they did. Seems that story has done the rounds before, or at least something very similar in content.

Before he teed off on the first, Stan had a bit of a whinge about the haircut that his handicap has taken last week. His par on the first was a portent of things to come. The pars kept coming, and with his second shot on the 9th finishing on the slope just below the green, he whacked up his best chip, and the ball rattled into the hole for birdie, and 39 off the stick for 23 points at the turn. He didn’t want to know his score for fear of putting himself off, but he did regardless, and the back nine was not quite so spectacular. Playing in new territory with only one stroke per hole, he accidentally cribbed a point on the 13th, which brought his final points score in at 38, after taking 84 strokes for the round. A triple on the 18th prevented him from at least matching his age, two weeks in a row, or even beating it with a simple bogie. Well done Stan. Michael arrived at the after-round table, glanced at the top card, and immediately went into ‘huff’ mode. If only he hadn’t left ‘x’ putts short, etc., etc.

JQ was in the field for the first time in a while, and Santa has determined that he is in the ‘nice’ corner, and is going to bring him a new set of irons for Christmas. One of the claims about his card was that he had every possible point score from 0 to 5 on his way to carding 38 points for the round as well. How do you score five points, you might ask? Well, what you do is take one of your ‘about to be pensioned off’ irons from about 149m out on the 16th fairway, and you watch it fly straight for the hole, land, take one bounce, and plonk into the hole. So, what with ten balls from the Eagles Nest, one from the ball run, and the dozen that he bought before teeing off, he should be well supplied for his trip to Merimbula. And the new set of irons might just have some company. The upshot of all this is that we actually had a three-way tie for first place.

Whitey was also on the blocks for the first time in a while, and he started off well enough before suffering a bit of a slump in the second half of the front nine, although he did manage to round the turn with 18 points in hand. A sprinkling of singletons through the back, was enough to pull him back to 16 points for the second half, and second place on his own in the points table. When Michael thought he had been beaten out of first place, he was consoled somewhat by the fact that, with those results standing, Whitey would have filled third place in the Seniors, and Harry would have missed out. In the event, the rearranged results moved Michael and Whitey up a notch and let Harry in with a point for his 33 and 3rd place on both podia.

Peter had one of those days. His game was good, except! The main problem seemed to be around the green, with the pitches carrying long, and the chipper alternating between short and long. On the 13th, they worked pretty well, and he was able to snag a bogie, that resulted in a very handy three points. On the 14th tee, Harry walked up, demanding an Uber ‘pick-up and delivery’ fee for rescuing the chipper and wedge from the middle of the 13th green. A gash on the 14th, down to said chipper and wedge, probably had Peter wishing that they had been left for the following group to pick up. SOS hit his first tee shot well enough, but it finished hard against the base of a tree, which didn’t get him off to a very good start. From the 3rd onwards, things picked up more than somewhat, until the 7th. There, a shrieking cockatoo was making its presence felt, and it finally got the better of SOS, who hefted his club in the general direction of the offending bird, which departed for parts unknown. Fortunately, the club returned to ground, and did not stay in the tree like once before. He then proceeded to duff his tee shot, and finished just shy of the red markers. Michael reckoned that the beer tasted so good, that he could easily be tempted to take it up again. Unperturbed, SOS whacked the ball onto the green and sank the putt for the par. At the end of the round, he had racked up 32 points, and joined Peter in 4th spot. Last in the points was Andrew, who fell into the final spot on offer with his 28 points.

Andrew, Barry and Verge were sent out in the first group with a very critical mission – to remember to put the NTP markers out on the 7th for the ProPin, and the 15th for the BallPin. Unlike last week, the mission was successfully accomplished. The tee marker was well back on the 7th, and the early betting was that the ProPin was unlikely to go off. Such a bet would have paid out, and there will be a Double Jackpot next week. A very good reason to register and come along. The BallPin of the 15th saw Barry get his name on the card with a ball that was barely on the front of the green. Peter was probably closer, but his ball was off. In the end, SOS put it beyond doubt, and he collected the ball(s) on offer. The BallPin on the 18th looked as if it too might have gone begging, until along came SOS, and made it a clean sweep of the balls.

ChrisJ monstered his drive on the first, and pitched on to a comfortable distance from the pin. The ball rattled into the hole for the easiest of birdies, one of the five (plus eagle) that we managed for the day. What happened on the 2nd didn’t bear mentioning, but he followed that with a par, and three points, so maybe things were going to be alright. On the 10th, he was again in a position to birdie, but the putt slipped by, and his partners wondered whether it was on purpose so as not to ‘jinx’ the back nine. If so, it was to no avail, and just let’s say it wasn’t a good day at the office. Verge managed to put one past a fence somewhere, and had to execute a commando crawl to get under the wires to retrieve his ball. According to reports, only the crawl was ‘commando’.

Results for Saturday, 23 Dec 2023
1st Stan Blackshaw (38) 1st Michael Gourlay (38) 1st John Quinlan (38) 2nd Rodney White (34) 3rd Harry Boughen (33) 4th Peter Sein (32) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan (32) 5th Andrew Noble (29)

Seniors Results: 1st Michael Gourlay (38) 1st Stan Blackshaw (38) 2nd Rodney White (34) 3rd Harry Boughen (33)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 7th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 15th Stephen O’Sullivan BallPin No 2 – 18th Stephen O’Sullivan

Eagle’s Nest Results: Eagle – 16th John Quinlan

The prospect of a good feed to finish off the day might have been enough to persuade some members to brush off the cobwebs that, like long forgotten Christmas garlands, had festooned their golf clubs and bag. For others, perhaps it was the prospect of collecting at least one trophy after having failed to crack one during the year. And perhaps it was just the prospect of a lovely spring day (astronomical summer hasn’t started yet), and the relaxing vibe of the Ivanhoe course that was the main attraction. Whatever the reason, twenty-three members and Ryan’s guest, Tim, presented as the largest field to tee off for some time. There was still a little nip in the air at tee time, and some were ruing their choice of ‘tropical’ dress mode, while others repaired to their car to retrieve something a little warmer to start the day. Apart from some leaves on the greens at the first and the tenth, the course was in good condition, and the stage was set for some good scoring to be had.

There were two significant events contested today, the David Primrose Champion of Champions (stroke) for those members skilful (or lucky) enough to win a trophy during the year, and the Chump (Champ) of Chumps (stableford) for those who had been less fortunate in the trophy cabinet department. The whole field competed for the ball run and points based on their Stableford score.

Far and away the best score of the day was presented on the card with Stan’s name on it. The young fellah barely put a foot wrong all day. He methodically took the front nine apart and reached the turn with 42 strokes and 22 points, and the moon to shoot for. The form continued unabated, with the only ‘blemish’ being a singleton on the 14th, and he reached the end of the round in 41 more strokes and another 21 points. His 83 off the stick was not quite a personal best, but it was very close to shooting his age. Stan plans to repeat the performance after his next birthday so that he can cross that one off his bucket-list. NOTE: Stan wishes to be forgiven his Senior Moment – he actually is 83 already and has thus joined the ranks of ‘age-shooters’. His forty-three points was more than enough to take out the day and to collect the Chump of Chumps Trophy.

The next best score for the day came from the hands of CharlieG with thirty-nine points, a score that, on most days, would have taken the cake. It was a bit of an inauspicious start with a couple of sevens, but then he managed to par the 3rd for a very handy four points. Another pair of triples took the shine off that one, but the sixth hole marked quite the renaissance of his fortunes, and he was able to finish the front nine with 16 points on the card. An almost flawless back nine, that included a birdie (one of eleven that we scored for the day) on the 14th for another four points, produce 23 points to take his total to 39 to fill second place to open his championship points account.

Harry had a bit of a run-in with a tree as he negotiated the second, and the gash (score-wise) that followed dented his spirits a little, but he soon sparked up following a par on the 3rd. Things continued nicely as the nine progressed, but a chip-in for a birdie (think eclectic) on the 8th really heightened the mood. Twenty points on the card at the turn had his playing companions making all sorts of rash statements, requiring a conscious effort not to be put off. A singleton on the 10th elicited another good talking to (self) and three pars and a good recovery bogie on the 13th put the scoring train back on track. A bit of a chipping failure on the 16th was immediately compensated by par on 17, only to have the good work undone, by the short game on the 18th. Still, the 38 points for the round was enough to gather third place on the day. More importantly, the 84 off the stick, and the resulting net score of 66 was the best score of the Champion of Champions field, and Harry now has his name on this trophy for the second year in a row. But, nothing wrong with trying for more!

Now, the field started to get a bit crowded. Gordo started off well enough, and set a cracking pace for the first eight holes. Something (unspecified) went drastically wrong on the 9th, but the form looked to have made a return as the back nine began. Three holes good, three holes bad and three holes good meant that he could only accumulate sixteen points on the back, giving him 36 for the round. ChrisJ didn’t show any sudden change in form, but just managed to pepper his card with more singletons than he would have liked. Massive shanks on the 12th and 18th could have cost him the chance of challenging for the CoC, as they left him with a net score of 68, just two behind the winner. Rob was feeling pretty depressed after four holes of posting triples for the accumulation of just one solitary point. Whatever bee got into his bonnet on the 5th, it certainly got things moving, and, by the end of the nine, he had twelve points on his card. On a back nine that included a gash, he then proceeded to garner another 24 points. In the process, he installed himself at the top of the Eclectic table, so it will be interesting to see if he can hold on and not be pipped at the post again. SOS managed to write in six three pointers on his front nine card for 21 points, a score that was right up there in the scheme of things. Something of a fade out in the closing stages of the back nine, left him with thirty-six points to share the fourth podium spot.

Filling out the list of point scorers, we have the father/son combination of Josh and Matt. Josh started off a little shaky, but, by the back nine, he was storming home. Dad, on the other hand, played his cards in reverse and faded as the round progressed. Adam parred the first four holes for triplets all round. Perhaps the bee skipped from his bonnet to Rob’s, because the shine went off pretty much completely until three/three on the last two holes restored a bit of respectability. Brendon also got off to a good start over the front nine for a pretty respectable twenty points. After owning up to a moved ball on the 11th, things never did quite get back on track, and the final total of 34 points was a bit of a disappointment for him. Along with most of the field leaders, CJ started out pretty well, but the three pointers wouldn’t come, and the singletons kept turning up through the back nine, and, he too, had to settle for a share of fifth spot.

It’s hard to get good help these days. Just ask Santa! He tasked a couple of his trustiest elves to put out the NTP markers on the 7th for the ProPin and the 15th for the BallPin. As they left the 7th, Stan, reportedly, asked the number one elf if he had put out the marker. Reportedly, the number one elf replied ‘yes’. Number one elf claims no recollection of uttering that word. Upshot, no ProPin marker, and nobody could honestly claim to have been within five metres, so the result was declared a Jackpot with a good healthy ante to start, and a very good reason to register for next week to get a bonus dividend just in time for Christmas. There are no reports of what happened at the 15th, but the lack of a marker meant another non-event, and another Jackpot was declared. Thankfully, the marker for the 18th was in place, and Brent finished just a few centimetres past the hole with a shot that must have been a cats-whisker from being a hole-in-one, and he collected a ball for the effort.

Steve is wont to take a couple of practice swings in preparation for most shots. Unfortunately, as he prepared for his second shot on the first, the club contacted the ball, and it skittered a few metres. The third finished off the green to the side, and the following chip was travelling at a fair clip. That is, until the ball hit the pin, stopped dead and dropped into the hole for the par. The fortunes varied a bit from then on, but, on the 13th, Steve was playing his fifth shot from the back of the green. Once again, the ball was travelling at a fair clip, and looking to be headed for the slope at the front of the green. That is, until the ball hit the pin, stopped dead and dropped into the hole. ChrisJ hit a shot on the 6th that was a bit on the wide side, and it slammed into the garbage bin by the 7th tee, from whence it veered left and finished nestled right at the base of the remains of the old pine tree. Fortunately, it didn’t quite find the root hollow that beckoned quite nearby. As his group were preparing to tee off on the 18th, Brendon was noticed wandering, distractedly, around on the 17th fairway. He was looking for his phone, that must have fallen out of the pocket on his bag. Having played out the 18th, and before he headed off to search more diligently, Brendon was persuaded to check his bag one more time. And, what do you know, there was his phone! Bob didn’t have a great day today. He managed to run his buggy into pretty much everybody else in his group’s buggy at one time or another. He also score the only reported draughtie on the 8th, when his driver contacted the ground at least 300mm behind the ball, and it was probably dirt and grass that actually dislodged the ball from the tee-peg.

After the round, there was the usual break-up gathering (although we don’t actually break up) for the Christmas lunch and Trophy Presentations. There was a good spread of meats and salads, and a number of members showed their approval by heaping their plates and returning for seconds. The open bar also proved to be a popular spot to visit. After lunch, President Rob spoke, and asked members to think of Keith’s family as they spend their first Christmas without him. He also moved a vote of thanks to Gordon for his efforts in arranging the function, and to other Committee members for their sterling efforts during the year. Captain Matt then presented the trophies that had been awarded during the year, and a list of trophy winners can be found on the web-site (Statistics/Hall of Fame – V2 – Trophy Lists -Year by year tables – 2023). A few selected photos will be posted anon.

Results for Saturday, 16 Dec 2023
1st Stan Blackshaw (43) 2nd Charles Gibbs (39) 3rd Harry Boughen (38) 4th Gordon Hill (36) 4th Chris James (36) 4th Robert Priems (36) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan (36) 5th Josh Hunt (34) 5th Matt Hunt (34) 5th Adam King (34) 5th Brendon Mitchell (34) 5th Chris Priems (34)

Seniors Results: 1st Stan Blackshaw (43) 2nd Harry Boughen (38) 3rd Gordon Hill (36)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 7th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 15th Jackpot BallPin No 2 – 18th Brent Rowley

The weather was a bit wild and woolly overnight, with some of the gusts approaching gale force. The trees on the course appear to have come through unscathed, except for losing their fair share of branchlets, twigs and gumnuts that were liberally scattered across pretty much every green on the course. Even on ones with no trees nearby. The weather bureau had promised rain for the day, and they were not far wrong. The forecast might very well have put some members off turning up, but some fourteen plus Raj’s pal from way back, Waseem, headed out in conditions that were looking pretty promising, although heavily over-cast. Last week, CJ was recalling that the VOM seemed to be very much susceptible to being affected by rain, so a check of the records was made, and as far back as 2012, there were no reports of rain on the day. Perhaps CJ’s memory was being affected by his experience back in 2008 when he was leading the VOM after the first round, and the second round was rained out. His request for a ruling to award the trophy to the first round leader fell on deaf ears. Perhaps this refusal was due to the fact that he was spreading Valvoline around the course at a furious rate. Not enough rain for a repeat of that cancellation today, and the field was able to finish, and a genuine winner was crowned.

Pepsi started out with a three point buffer from the rest of the field, although there were probably a few that fancied their chances of making a lunge from behind to snatch the cup from his hands. He started off smartly enough, with a par on the first, and a bogie on the long-playing second. By the end of the front nine, he was four over the card, and looking comfortable enough to maintain his lead of the pack. Another couple of bogies and a double in the first half of the back started to raise the ante, but a couple of pars and a birdie, helped to stem the flow of strokes. A final total of 77 for the day added seventy-one to last week’s sixty-seven, and 138 all up was just enough to take out the Vin O’Meara for 2023.

Adam had to dash off to other commitments, and led the field out in the first group. He, too, started his round par/bogie, and managed a fairly respectable front nine, if it had not been for a triple on the 9th. Now, it seems that Adam was right in touch with his short irons today, and terrified the pins on anything up to eight occasions during the round. It wasn’t a short iron, but he really terrified the pin on the 15th, when the ball crossed the hole, hitting the pin, and finishing within gimme distance for the birdie after barely missing the HIO. That was his second birdie for the day, which helped us to a total of seven between the lot of us. Adam’s net of sixty-five, when combined with his fifth-placing seventy-four from last week, brought him within a stroke of Pepsi, to take out the runner-up trophy for the event.

As well as filling the 3rd placing in the event with his net score of seventy-one, Michael also collects the Gullible Golfer of the Year award. Despite Pepsi’s assertion that he thought he had registered for today, his name did not appear on the sheet. CJ, very seriously, said to Michael, that Peps had been disqualified for not registering. Michael took the bait, hook, line and sinker, and immediately rushed about protesting at the unfairness of such a ruling, until Harry took pity on him, and straightened him out on the subject. Brendon was not too happy about his form on the front nine, where pars proved elusive, and a triple on the 9th was the icing on the cake. The walk to the 10th seems to have settled thing down a bit, and the prospects looked right up with a couple of birdies on the 13th and 14th (eclectic, muttered Brendon). A dead centre hit on a tree branch on the 16th might have cost one shot, while the tee shot on the 17th finishing in the rough by the pear tree also looked a bit dire. After much to-ing and fro-ing about unplayable lie and club selection, another five gave a total two over the card for the nine, and the net seventy for the day produced a share of 4th place for the event.

SOS turned in cards with scores in the reverse order to Brendon’s. Quite possibly, his final score, if not his mood, might have been affected by his draughtie on the very first tee. Probably best that there was not a large gallery at the time. A further frustration would likely have been the resting place of this drive. And, no, this is not a repeat of last week’s photo for Stan. There were also reports that he cleaned up a duck on the 16th. So, all in all, he probably did well to card his net seventy-three. Raj continues to make his presence felt after his tear-away win in the Championship last year, and he has accumulated points already by taking out fifth place with his total of 145 for the two rounds.

The other big event that was finalised today was the Strokeplay Championship. The top spot in the handicap event went to Pepsi, who played some very consistent golf to finish with a total net score of 214. He was fairly closely followed by ChrisJ and Raj who were tied up on 216. In the scratch event, it was pretty much a two horse race, and those horses were inseparable after two weeks of the event, and, so, the final result came down to performance on the day today. Michael turned in a 75 off the beater today, to beat Pepsi, who turned in a 77, by two strokes. Well done both of you.

There was BallPin on the 4th today, which could have proved a bit of a challenge with the tee set well back. SOS managed to get it on, and nobody could get any closer, so he can give himself a ball next week, since he had to dash off to Shep today. The ProPin was on the 12th, and SOS looked as if he was going to have a field day, that is, until Brendon came along and pipped him by 200mm with a shot to 1.94m. The second BallPin on the 18th was mightily contested, but Michael was able to knock off both Adam and Gordo to collect a ball. And, talk about fussy!. He asked for ProV1x, and Gordo produced a box so labelled and handed over two balls (one from last week) only to have them summarily rejected because they were ProV1 (and I can’t hit those!).

There was a fair swag of draughties today. Rob had one on the 4th, and it might even have been a double! Geoff had one on the 5th. Josh had one on the 2nd, and, if it hadn’t been for a bounce off the bitumen, there could have been a second on the 15th. Gordo didn’t quite have a ‘cricket score’ on his card, but he did get a ‘duck’. His was on the 17th, but it cannot be confirmed that it was the same one that SOS got on the 16th. Despite some troubles from the tee, Rob was actually going pretty well, that is, until somebody commented to that effect on the 16th, and the rest, they say, is history. Though, it must be said that he did return to good form for the last two holes. Raj’s pal, Waseem, gives the impression of being a dab hand with a golf club, if his tee shot from the first was any guide. The fact that he carded an eagle is another suggestion that he might know what he is doing. The Eagle was quite relieved to learn that the Nest can only be raided by paid-up members.

Next week is the David Primrose Champion of Champions event. The field (from winners in the competition year) is listed above, and they will be competing in a stroke competition, but they should keep their Stableford score for the day’s placings and ball run. The rest of the attendees will be competing for the Chump of Chumps, which will be determined from the Stableford scores. So, everyone scores Stableford, but the CoC field has to play out as a stroke competition.

The golf will be followed by the Break-up lunch (including some drinks) and the trophy presentations. We really do need immediate registration if you are going to attend the lunch (you don’t have to play). We would hate to under-cater because of a lot of walk-ups, just as much as we would hate to over-cater, to waste both food and money. It’s easy. It’s on the web-site under Registrations/Break-up. Just do it!

Results for Saturday, 09 Dec 2023
1st Andrew Petricola (67, 71, 138) 2nd Adam King (74, 65, 139) 3rd Michael Gourlay (71, 71, 142) 4th Brendon Mitchell (73, 70, 143) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan (70, 73, 143) 5th Rajesh Mahto (74, 71, 145)

Seniors Results: 1st Michael Gourlay (71,71,142) 2nd Harry Boughen (71,81,152) 3rd Chris Priems (75,79,154)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Brendon Mitchell BallPin No 1 – 4th Stephen O’Sullivan BallPin No 2 – 18th Michael Gourlay

The BOM was forecasting rain, but the radar looked pretty reasonable as nineteen members ventured out to tackle the first round of the VOM, and, for some, the second round of the Strokeplay Championship. There was a bit of a mizzle, that was just enough to dampen everything down and to make the greens just that little bit slower, which resulted in more than a few putts finishing short of the mark. There were a couple of ‘dry’ breaks, but, just as the first group was finishing on the 18th, they pulled out the plug in the hold below, and the ship was going down. Actually, the other way around. There were a few good impressions of drowned rats to be had as the later groups straggled in with their tales of using chippers and wedges on the greens in, sometimes, vain efforts to loft the ball over the water lying around. There was even a suggestion that Rob’s chipper shot on the 17th actually ‘floated’ as it stopped on the edge of the hole and didn’t fall in. Archimedes would probably have something to say about that!

This was like water off a duck’s back for Pepsi, who managed to sink some long putts despite the water-logged greens to card a one over back nine. And that included the after effects of a draughtie on the 17th tee that resulted in a bogie and beers for the boys. Matt, for one, was certainly relishing the freebie. After a four over on the front, he was able to present to the scrutineers with 73 off the stick and a net score of 67, leaving the rest of the field with a bit of catching up to do next week.

SOS was probably feeling that he was struggling a bit as he turned after nine holes. Only a single par on the 9th and a triple of doubles had used up a fair proportion of the handicap. That par marked a bit of a turning point in his fortunes, and the par tally reached five after the next five holes. It was at this stage that the rain would have set in, and the scoring proved to be slightly more difficult. In the end, he finished up with 85 off the stick and a net of 70 to score second place on the leaderboard. The big question is, can he crash-tackle Pepsi and get his name on this final major trophy for the year?

Harry and Michael were in the lead group, and probably had the pick of the weather conditions. They started out as clubhouse leaders, and held that heady position right until the last group handed in their cards. Harry might have been a bit on the rusty side after his break for a bit of international travel, although he did have a bit of a warm-up during the week of just nine holes. The real disappointments of the round related to some problems with trees on the second, for a quadruple, and the boundary fence on the 8th, for a triple. A very respectable 40 on the back nine restored some pride and resulted in a net of 71 to fit into 3rd place. Michael scored a bogie on the 3rd, and expressed the view that he had displayed all three of the deadly faults in his game in the process. He did manage to pick up four pars out of the next six holes, but he was less than pleased with his 40 off the stick for the nine. Pars on the next seven holes looked to be turning the round into something respectable and competitive, but some poor club choices (according to Michael) and poor putting left him with bogies on the last two to finish two over par on the nine, and tied up with Harry for 3rd place.

Stan is also just back from OS, although he did own up to having played a round (not around, at least that he is owning up to) in England. He rented clubs, and thinks it was probably the same left-handed set that he used some years ago at the same course. His score today was not helped by the shot that placed him in an unenviable, and unplayable, position at the base of a tree. Josh put in a very steady round, but reports suggest that if he can put in some work on his short game, he will be a force to be reckoned with. He was playing the 17th at the height of the downpour, and smashed a putt, only to see it heavily braked by the water to finish less than halfway to the hole. Heart-breaking stuff! ChrisJ creamed his drive from the 11th, only to see it trickle into the pond to the right of the green. As he took his drop, he had a bit of a laugh as Rob found the pond from the 12th tee. In what was probably karma, Chris promptly shanked his drive from the 12th into the pond as well. Brendon had nothing to report, and he probably considers his card to be less than average. Nothing really good, and nothing really bad, just not good enough. He ended up with a net score of 73, which was precisely the same as Stan, Josh and Chris, and they all shared the fourth podium spot for the day. Only one shot further back in fifth place on the leaderboard were a trio of hopefuls in Matt (they’ll let anyone into the Seniors, it seems!), Adam and Raj, with a net score of 74. Something must have distracted Raj in the walk from the 9th green to the 10th tee. When it was his turn to tee off, he thought he had misplaced his ball and walked back to his bag to get it. When he could not find it there, he looked in his hand, and there it had been all the time!

In the Nearest the Pin competitions, somebody chose to put the first BallPin on the 7th on a Black tee day. Undaunted, everybody tried hard, and several ‘almost’ made it. One person did make it, and that was Brendon, who collected another ball for his collection. The second BallPin was on the 18th, and Michael put a hopeful entry on the card, but he was easily knocked off by ‘Mango man’ Ken. Thanks Ken! There was a Jackpot ProPin on the 15th, and Michael made another hopeful entry on the card with his shot to 4.12m. In this case, that distance was enough and the dosh will be coming his way next week as he had to dash off to a five-year-old’s birthday party. He was really looking forward to all the activities at Bounce. The length of the putt was beyond him, and his card did not show any of the feathery blighters today, so the total of six for the team were down to others entirely.

Ken reckons that he couldn’t have bought a putt today, and Gordo claimed to be similarly afflicted. So much so that he was planning to come along with a supply of Weet-bix next week. The only saving grace for Gordo was a couple of pars on the last two holes. CJ bought himself a flash new wedge, and he was out to christen it today, although maybe he hadn’t planned on quite so much water on its head. First use on the second, and, wouldn’t you know it, he chipped it into the hole. The wedge probably wasn’t involved, but on the 15th, his first drive was likely OOB. The provisional definitely was. The second provisional was short of the green, lying five (potentially). The original ball was found in bounds, so the eventual 4 was a very welcome result. CJ also reckons his electric buggy is not well suited for the wet. Despite having ‘wet weather’ tyres, it struggled on the hills, and actually turned turkey a couple of times as he gunned it to keep it moving. Porks had a bit of a shocker on the 16th after he over-shot the green and lost his ball in the long stuff on the bank behind. Anything less than the quadruple would have had him on the podium, at least. Geoff had his ups and downs, but the low-light was probably the draughtie that he scored on the 5th tee.

The Birthday Birdie has been somewhat remiss while fluttering around overseas. Belated wishes therefore to BrentL, Sean and Rajesh over the last few weeks. If there are any others that have missed a mention, consider yourself wished as well.

Results for Saturday, 02 Dec 2023
Leaderboard Round 1: 1st Andrew Petricola (67) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan (70) 3rd Harry Boughen (71) 3rd Michael Gourlay (71) 4th Stan Blackshaw (73) 4th Josh Hunt (73) 4th Chris James (73) 4th Brendon Mitchell (73) 5th Matt Hunt (74) 5th Adam King (74) 5th Rajesh Mahto (74)

Seniors Leaderboard: 1st Harry Boughen (71) 1st Michael Gourlay (71) 2nd Stan Blackshaw (73) 3rd Matt Hunt (74)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Michael Gourlay BallPin No 1 – 7th Brendon Mitchell BallPin No 2 – 18th Ken Watson