Category Archives: Club News

What a lovely day for a game of golf! Well, maybe for some, it was a nice walk in the park. Sixteen members made it to the tees. They were joined by CJ’s frog prince Peter, and Dan’s big hitting mate, James. The weather was pleasantly cool to start with, and warmed up just enough to be comfortable by the end of play. The course was looking good, but everybody did seem to find the bare patches that persist in significant numbers. There have been some ‘major’ improvements with the installation of three ‘target’ pins and mini-greens on the teaching fairway, which was voted to be a long over-due addition to the course. However, despite the benign conditions, we could only manage to put away 6 birdies between us. However, the scores and handicaps did change enough for us to now have a tie in the Eclectic. With one round to go, that means that the result could be determined by a fractional difference in handicap change next week.

SOS set out with a steely glint in his eye, and proceeded to play as if he was going to take the course apart, and, after a birdie on the 7th, he was sitting on +4, and starting to count his chickens. So much so that he put the ProPin marker out, instead of the BallPin marker. But, more of that later! He was through the green on the 8th, when he was ‘momentarily’ distracted as he ‘watched’ a nubile young thing jog past on the adjacent shared path. It obviously did his eyes good, because, when he recovered his senses, he chipped it in for his par. A couple more pluses followed, but then the rot set in, and he dropped four of the next eight for losses, finishing the day just two on the credit side of the ledger. Still, that was enough to win the day, and to do some damage to his handicap for the Stroke Championship that kicks off next week.

Gordo won a few and just as easily lost a few to finish the front nine square after sinking a ‘monster’ putt on the 9th, that was somewhere between nine and eighteen metres, depending on who you listened to. A slight surplus of wins on the back won him second place with +1. Targe’s handicap has been known to give some scoring problems with three strokes on some holes, but, today, all was good, and he too was credited with a +1 to line up for the second place points as well. Wazza freely admits that he can be a bit erratic at times, and that did show up a few times during the round. However, the rest of the round was good enough for him to finish square with the card for 3rd place. Blighty started out smartly with a par on the first, and a birdie on the 4th, but these were followed by something of a slump through to the 9th. He obviously gave himself a good talking to, and finished in positive territory for the home run, and only one down for the day. Porks took things quietly, and finished the front nine just the one stroke over par. A three over on the back was just enough to keep his points accumulation ticking over, as he tied it up with Blighty for the two points. Stan and CJ brought up the rear of the points places, and were grateful to get one point each for their card of -3.

Did you ever see such a schemozzle!? Prez noticed the error with the ProPin box out on the 7th, and ran after SOS to get him to put it on the proper hole (15th). In the meantime, the BallPin was to be placed out on the 12th, given that most had been through the 7th already. When Prez’s group finished, the question was asked, where was the ProPin box? Raj was sure that SOS had put it out. Harry felt sure he had seen it at the back of the green. But the last group also didn’t see/collect it. Raj headed off to retrieve it. Harry texted SOS, who reported back that it was safe and sound in his bag! It’s definitely hard to get good help these days! Anyway, the 12th was hard fought. SOS got on, and put his name on the card. Nalin and Porks got closer than SOS, and it took several measurements to separate them by the length of Wazza’s big toe. CJ took it off of Nalin until SteveG came along, and it took another round of detailed measurement to give the ball to him by about a thumb width. On the 18th, Raj was the only one to get within cooee, much to his surprise. Anyway, the Jackpot BallPin will be on the 7th next week, and the Jackpot ProPin will be on the 15th. Provided, of course, we can get some decent help on the job.

Dan lined up for his tee shot on the 10th, and seems to have had a mind to knock the cover off of it. The resulting ‘snick’ did remove the ball from the tee to finish about 400mm in front of the blue markers. He finished the hole with a chip-in from the fringe, but not for a par. Prez suffered a brain-fart (his words) on the 3rd tee where he watched Targe tee off, and then proceeded to smash his ball down the centre into the midst of the group in front. He arrived, breathless, full of apologies for his lack of care. The ravens were extra inquisitive today. They were particularly taken by Ryan’s packet of ball markers, and managed to extract it from his bag pocket on a couple of occasions. They were even more adventurous with Raj’s cart, which was noticed spinning its wheels in some shrubbery after a raven had apparently pecked on his start button sufficiently hard to start the drive. Either that, or Raj forgot to turn it off!

The end of the year draws nigh, and we need to know numbers for the breakup lunch on December 20th. The registration form will be open shortly, so please register as soon as you can so that we can liaise with the caterers to ensure adequate goodies for all. You don’t have to play on the day to come along and enjoy the Christmas cheer, but please let us know, for caterings sake.

Results for Saturday, 22 Nov 2025
1st Stephen O’Sullivan (+2) 2nd Gordon Hill (+1) 2nd Targe Mifsud (+1) 3rd Warren Capes (□) 4th Andrew Blight (-1) 4th Ryan Porker (-1) 5th Stan Blackshaw (-3) 5th Chris Priems (-3)

Seniors Results: 1st Gordon Hill (+1) 1st Targe Mifsud (+1) 2nd Andrew Blight (-1) 3rd Stan Blackshaw (-3) 3rd Chris Priems (-3)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th No Contest BallPin No 1 – 12th Steven Gervasoni BallPin No 2 – 18th Rajesh Mahto

The mystery of the ‘two Denzils’ was finally solved. Stan was blaming autofill for changing Diesel to Denzil, but everyone else was sure it was the bottle of red on the table next to him that did it. Anyhow, welcome back Diesel, get that membership application in, and you can start playing in the ‘prestigious’ Priems Cup when it comes around next year. And, prestigious the event must be as we had eighteen members rock up to take part, and, with Diesel and Neil (from the afternoon players) we ended up with five groups of four, which is still no excuse for a fairly lengthy round. Try to keep in mind the need for prompt play with, maybe, a few fewer practice swings, not quite so long hanging over the ball, and finish putting rather than marking the short ones, to name a few. It was a nice warm sunny day, but those extra minutes in the sun can add to the skin damage, that some of us can ill afford. Generally, the course is in great condition, although there are still a few barish patches that seem to have some sort of fatal attraction to golf balls.

The main attraction of the day was, of course, the second round of the Priems Cup for the year. TeamRob was a bit behind the eight-ball with a seven point deficit from the first round earlier in the year. However, Rob was quietly confident that his selection was right on the money, and the team would have no trouble pegging that back with points to spare. In true Captain spirit, Rob went out today and showed the team how it should be done, and romped home with the top score for the day of 36 points. He was ably supported by his teammate, Wazza, who matched him with a 36 point scoreline, setting the team up with a good foundation to build on. Nalin, apparently, plays both Saturday and Sunday, so it is not surprising that he shows little difficulty in playing to his ever reducing handicap, and he too came home with 36 points on the card. The points today put him a fraction of a point behind Porks for the Vardon Trophy, and, with just two more rounds for the year, there is a distinct chance that he could snatch victory in the event before the year is out.

Craig is no longer Old Reliable, he reckons he has become Mr Invisible after he was ‘overlooked’ in the team draw. It’s hard to get good Team Captains these days! When he was finally recognised (among a flurry of emails overnight), he landed with TeamRob, so his tally of 34 points was a welcome addition in Rob’s fight for supremacy. Pepsi balanced him out on the other team, but the double in first place still weighed heavily on TeamChris. Dan was accused of having raided the medicine chest after some pregnant pauses over tee shots, but his 33 points injected another smidgen of hope into CJ. Matt and Porks were batting for Prez, so they exactly offset both Gordo and Dan. Denzil clawed back another point for CJ, but would it be enough. At the end of the place-getters, the tally was 170 points to TeamRob, and 164 to TeamChris. Just a smidgen short of overturning the deficit from round one. Would the also-rans make a difference?

Now, there were a couple of adjustments to the scores reported after the round, but, in the end, the overall result was unchanged, as TeamRob presented with 275 points, while TeamChris could only manage to gather together 266 points. Adding in the round one scores, TeamRob finished the year with 537 points, to wrest the trophy from TeamChris, who produced 535 points in total. A close-run thing indeed!

Somebody set the first BallPin on the 7th, and the tee was set well back, and nobody could make it onto the green, so there will be a Jackpot there next week. The ProPin was on the 15th, and the 5m circle proved to be elusive once more, so there is a nice little pot on the go for the Jackpot next week. On the 18th, the BallPin went to Mike (I mean Matt!), who had to rush off to work and could not collect his loot. Despite the pair of Jackpots on the NTPs, we still managed to plod seven birdies for the day.

It proved to be an expensive day for Marc, if he was using new balls, after several had to be ‘abandoned’ at various stages of the round. There was one highlight, though, when he missed the green short-sided on the10th. The very tricky chip from the ‘fuzz’ to a short down-hill pin placement proved to be no problem, as the ball rolled down the slope and into the hole. Pepsi probably would have been happier if the ball had made its way into the ‘mousehole’ rather than the ‘impossible’ lie that he was faced with on the 13th. The players in the first group reckoned that they got right into the swing of the ‘Priems’ brothers when pretty much every one in the group made use of the trees to stay on the fairway over the first four or so holes. Speaking of Priems brothers, CJ was heard bragging about how well he was hitting his driver, and the fact that it was the same model as Dave Mullenger’s! SteveG was quite over the moon as he walked from the first green with a par already under his belt. Maybe that par under his belt interfered with his swing on the second tee, because the shot did not quite reach the red markers. SOS doesn’t remember much about the round, but he does remember that!

Results for Saturday, 15 Nov 2025
1st Warren Capes (36) 1st Robert Priems (36) 1st Nalin Samaranayake (36) 2nd Craig Cameron (34) 2nd Andrew Petricola (34) 3rd Dan Marie (33) 4th Gordon Hill (32) 4th Matt Hunt (32) 4th Ryan Porker (32) 5th Denzil Flood (29)

Priems Cup Results: TeamRob {Robert Priems (36), Matt Hunt (32), Warren Capes (36), Rajesh Mahto (26), Harry Boughen (28), Ryan Porker (32), Marc Phillips (23), Stephen O’Sullivan (28), Craig Cameron (34)} 275 def TeamChris {Chris Priems (27), Nalin Samaranayake (36), Andrew Petricola (34), Gordon Hill (32), Targe Mifsud (24), Dan Marie (33), Stan Blackshaw (28), Steven Gervasoni (23), Denzil Flood (29)} 266

Seniors Results: 1st Robert Priems (36) 2nd Craig Cameron (34) 3rd Gordon Hill (32) 3rd Matt Hunt (32)

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

Rain, rain, go away. Don’t come back ’til Christmas Day. For a while, at the registration desk, there were concerns that we might not reach a necessary quorum for a competition. In the end, only one of those who registered didn’t show his face, and there were a nice round two groups of four who braved a delightful spring, Melbourne day to try their chances against the vagaries of good old Ivanhoe. Raj did venture out in shorts, but the rest of the field tried to rug up as best they could for the conditions. That didn’t do Harry a lot of good, as, despite wearing full rain wear, every single layer of clothes, including socks, managed to get wet. Getting home to strip off and don something dry and warm was a blessed relief. He almost had to ask for help in the men’s, because his hands refused to cooperate to operate his zip. The gentleman at the next spot did not offer assistance, for some reason. Despite the vicissitudes, the whole field ‘waddled’ in, and settled down at a table in the cafe to thaw out. Porks had to rush off to collect his Mum from Flinders Street Station, where she had been patiently waiting since at least the 14th hole.

As a result, Ryan was not there to bask in the adulation afforded him for his exploits for the day. He started off steadily enough with a couple of two pointers. Then, on the third, he chipped in for a birdie (one of only three for the day), scoring a cool three points. Then, on the fourth, to use his words –
“4th hole, 8 iron, tried to hit a cut which is not my normal shot, it was right in line and landed on the green but couldn’t see it due to the mound in front of the hole.
When it landed, I said, ‘Oh, that’s in the hole’, as a joke.
Got down to green and thought my ball was long at the back, went to hit this ball but turns out it was Steve’s.
No other balls around so I checked the hole and low (sic) and behold, it was in the hole.
So I only had 3 putts after 4 holes to that point.”
As he said, “Unfortunately, it didn’t go that well after that.” and he only managed to finish with 30 points. More than enough to be a joint winner for the day, to top off an Ace, a Jackpot ProPin and the Eagles Nest, which pretty much makes him the King of the Championship etc, etc. The Club round of drinks for the dedicated eight will have to wait until next week.

Steve, last week, had threatened Ryan with a knee-capping until it was pointed out that, even then, he could not catch him, but, he still objected mildly when Ryan was bumped into his group in the re-grouping. Still, he managed to play to the standard of the field and shared the top spot. Wazza managed to scramble a fair collection of three pointers and a four pointer, which he did need to offset the almost matching number of gashes that he took, to join the top group. Brendon was tootling along quite nicely for eleven holes, when something must have gotten into his britches, and the scoring rate collapsed to only five points in the last seven holes. But, play often, and come second is a recognised Championship strategy, unless, of course, you are up against Ryan. Blighty was urging everybody to try his licorice rings (or whatever they were) after the game, and speculating whether he qualified for the NARGA. In actual fact, he easily picked up third place. Harry and Raj straggled into a tie for fourth place, while Nalin, the other half of the sub-continental cabal, picked up the final point on offer.

Speaking of the cabal, both Nalin and Raj managed to make draughties on the day. Nalin made several attempts before finally succeeding. Raj had his on one of the par threes, but, on the ones that counted, the 12th and the 18th, his shot finished on the green, and he collected both BallPins on offer. Toward the end of the round, there were a few serious wind gusts, one of which was strong enough to whip Nalin’s umbrella out of its holder to send it on its way from the front of the 18th towards the group putting out on the 9th. No worries. Brendon was on the job, and made a valiant effort to bring it to a halt. Which he did, sort of, but in the process the umbrella came off second best, and Brendon narrowly avoided doing a hammie or an ankle. The field agreed, there should be bonus points for playing on a day like today.

Results for Saturday, 08 Nov 2025
1st Warren Capes (30) 1st Steven Gervasoni (30) 1st Ryan Porker (30) 2nd Brendon Mitchell (28) 3rd Andrew Blight (27) 4th Harry Boughen (25) 4th Rajesh Mahto (25) 5th Nalin Samaranayake (20)

Seniors Results: 1st Steven Gervasoni (30) 2nd Andrew Blight (27) 3rd Harry Boughen (25)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Ryan Porker BallPin No 1 – 12th Rajesh Mahto BallPin No 2 – 18th Rajesh Mahto

Hole in One Results: Hole in One – 4th *** Ryan Porker ***

Who cares about horses sniffing jockey’s rear ends as they gallop around Flemington, or wherever? Certainly not the fifteen members who fronted up for the penultimate Monthly Medal for the year. It would have been sixteen, but Craig was ordered to stay in bed (presumably by a medico, and not his wife). So get well soon, old buddy, and grace the course with your smiling face and ridiculously straight drives. There were a couple of members, at least, who tried desperately not to let their punting investments (the term is used loosely) interfere with their game, but it did constitute a fair portion of their conversation, and attention to mobiles, for at least a few holes. The weather was very kind, and any need for extra layers evaporated soon enough, and by the end of the round, you could say that it was downright balmy. The ground staff seem to have taken off for the unofficial ‘long weekend’, and the greens were not cleared of litter, but otherwise there was little to complain about the course. Other than, perhaps, the missing chunks on the fairway, where some sort of scarification seems to have been attempted.

Porks was probably stung by Michael’s comments during the week about Nalin taking over the lead in the Vardon Trophy race. So he went out to show the crowd just who was ‘da boss’. Three bogies ‘spoiled’ the outward nine, and a couple more on the home run put the kibosh on a sub-par run home. So, he just had to settle for playing to his handicap, to take home the medal with minimum damage to his handicap. In the after game chat, there was talk of sub-par rounds and, even, course records, so he obviously reckons there is a bit more horsepower under the bonnet yet.

Brendon didn’t have a lot to say about his performance today, though he was probably a little less than happy about the sprinkling of doubles that marred his card. However, a tally of ten pars, including a run of four on the home straight, kept him well in the running to take out second place, beaten by a neck, to struggle to keep up the racing analogy. Denzil hasn’t been with us for too long, but, in line with other starters, it did not take him long to get his name on the points list. And, as somebody who has not had a great deal of experience with competition golf, he was keenly interested in the discussion of rules and rulings that went on after the game. But more on that later. AndrewV kept up his regular appearances on the podium, but the top spot has eluded him thus far. However, one of the secrets to making the rankings, is to play often and come second!

JQ was torn between completing the Matchplay (much delayed due to Harry’s gallivanting), and concentrating on winning himself a Medal. Try as he might, the ducks would not line up in the latter quest with some chunky chips, and wandering putts getting in the way of a better placing than fourth. He did have a fairly spectacular draughtie on the 9th when the shot went just about vertically, got caught up in the tree just off the path to the right, and dropped into the depression surrounding it, short, even, of the blue markers, let alone the red. Harry struggled on the front nine, with rather more triples to show for his efforts than he would like to own up to. His spirits perked up on the 10th, when a pitch shot from about 50m out bisected the pin all the way, checked and rolled in for a birdie. This helped us to tally five birdies for the day. JQ reckoned he called it from the moment the ball left the club. Anyway, the back nine ended up much more respectable than the front, and H collected the last point on offer. An unfortunate arithmetic error on Prez’s card meant that he did not actually get to share a point for fifth as well.

The ProPin today was on the 4th. The tee was set back about as far back on the tee box as possible, which made the hole even more tricky than usual, and there was all sorts of chat about whether it was possible to go over the trees or whether it was better to play for the low draw. Regardless of the strategy adopted, nobody was able to get close enough to the pin to make a claim, and there will be Jackpot for next week. Hopefully the course set up will be a little more favourable then. Raj got onto the 15th to claim the BallPin on offer there. Harry also got on, but only just on the cut surface, and he was a bare metre behind Raj, which might explain Raj’s mild surprise when his win was announced. On the 18th, Ryan was the only one to get on, and added to his winnings for the day.

Harry’s front nine was not a good way to start out in a matchplay competition. However, he was able to maintain a little respectability for about five holes, before the ‘cracks’ allowed the situation to deteriorate to the extent that, at the turn, JQ was four up, and a major defeat was in the offing for H. The birdie at the 10th was an easy win, but it also ‘wasted’ a stroke, and H considered requesting a ‘carry-over’ to the next hole, but thought better of the idea. The wins then pretty much alternated, until, at the 16th, and Harry’s last stroke, the hole squared, and the match went dormie two. A just missed putt for par on the 17th, meant that JQ took the match 3 and 1, rather than 2 and 1, if the putt had been sunk.

SOS was so intent on playing his draw to the 4th green for the money, that he just about missed the ball entirely, and also had a draughtie, that barely reached the blue markers. Bob had a bit of a bad day, and not only with his golf. His buggy apparently suffered a number of mishaps, he misplaced his specs at one stage, and the buggy controller at another. Then his game went off (less said). SteveG did not get off to a good start, with a shot straight into Charlie’s Bush on the first tee. However, Steve is quite unfazed, and is looking forward to the 28th, for the December MM, as he hasn’t won a MM yet, and he desperately wants to. Dan spoke in confidence to Ryan this morning and revealed that he is in the market for a new set of clubs. He went along for a fitting with the Pro, and, between you, me and the gatepost, it seems that the fitting did not go quite to plan.

Prez hit his drive from the 5th onto the fairway, but, in the fullness of time, and, despite an extensive search, the ball could not be found, but there was some evidence that it could have been picked up (or played) by another player. Rob was a little unclear on how to proceed. Here is a ‘ruling’ from the Captain – Okay, let’s figure out what Rob should do in this unfortunate (but hopefully hypothetical!) situation at Ivanhoe Golf Course.

The Governing Principle: Outside Influence

As before, the core rule here is about outside influence (Rule 9.6). Someone deliberately picked up Rob’s ball and took off with it. This is not a case of accidental movement; it’s a clear outside influence.

The Steps for Rob:

1. No Penalty: Rob gets no penalty for this bizarre event. The Rules of Golf are very clear that a player isn’t penalized when an outside influence causes their ball to move (or, in this case, disappear!).
2. Estimate the Spot: Rob must estimate, to the best of his ability, where his ball was when the lady made off with it.
3. Replace the Ball: Rob must replace a ball on the estimated spot.

Important Considerations:

• Honesty and Reasonableness: Since it’s an estimated spot, Rob needs to be as honest and reasonable as possible in determining where the ball was. If he was in the rough, he should replace the ball in the rough. If he was on the fairway, he gets to place the ball on the fairway.
• Witnesses: If there were other players or course officials nearby, their input might help Rob determine the spot more accurately.
• Proceed with Play: Once Rob has replaced the ball on the estimated spot, he continues play as normal.

In summary, Rob gets a bit of a bizarre golf story to tell, but he gets no penalty, just an obligation to estimate and replace the ball as best he can.

This and other rule discussions from today will be posted on el Capitano’s page (maybe not immediately).

In other news, Life Member Rodger is probably out celebrating big time today to celebrate another birthday. And, hopefully, Craig will be allowed out of bed in time to celebrate his later in the week. The Birthday Birdie (and everyone in the Club) says, have a good one, guys.

Results for Saturday, 01 Nov 2025
1st Ryan Porker (68) 2nd Brendon Mitchell (71) 3rd Denzil Flood (72) 3rd Andrew Vogan (72) 4th John Quinlan (73) 5th Harry Boughen (74)

Seniors Results: 1st Denzil Flood (72) 1st Andrew Vogan (72) 2nd Harry Boughen (74) 3rd Robert Priems (75)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 15th Rajesh Mahto BallPin No 2 – 18th Ryan Porker