So much for having the playing groups all plotted out in advance based on the leader board and those doing the right thing and advising their intentions for today’s frivolities. Still we did manage to get twenty good souls out on the course to fight it out for the honour of hefting the trophy at the end of the day. That is, of course, if the trophy had been there to be hefted. There was a conversation by the bar-be-que while waiting for the field to come in about who had won the event last year and who would have been responsible for unsticking it from their games room bar and bringing it back after living in the reflected glory for the past twelve months. Well it seems that it was the Real Priems was the one that had that honour and the Real Priems was one of those involved in the conversation. Didn’t own up though.
Stef did say that he was going to come back and steal away our Championship points and as it turned out he had a somewhat easier task of it after JohnQ had to withdraw as a result of some pressing engagements in some tropical clime or another where, as well as working, he was going to be working on his tan as well. And so it was that an aggregate of -1 was enough to collect the trophy. Stef was helped along the way by having Noodles driving the cart for him and so it was quite easy for him to rack up at least three of the 17 birdies that were carded today. That would have to be one of our best birdie ratios for quite some time. Noodles, on the other hand seemed to have been put off by the great responsibility of the task and he was heard to be talking very severely to some of his equipment, if not worse.
Interestingly enough, the three people who tied for second place all had an overall score of -2. But more of that later. CraigC put in a very steady round and did his Eclectic no harm at all by putting together another three of our birdie tally. Whitey defied the taunts that were flying during the week and came in well short of his ‘tonne’ to put in one of the better daily cards today with +2. He was only bettered in that regard by Joe who managed to take the daily honour with +3. Perhaps a pity that Joe chose a free round elsewhere last week rather than joining us. Damo put together a pretty impressive string of squares during the round today but he was obviously fumbling around for the Butter Menthols on the last two holes and pretty much cruelled himself for getting the main prize.
Gordo is in the process of changing his place of abode and is having a big clear-out. The golf clubs won’t be going for the high jump just yet as he managed to hang in there to get himself some points for third place with a score of -3. Mehmet played to his handicap to mount the podium alongside Gordon. Gordon had to rush off after the game and the possible excuses are the impending move or the need to get spruced up for his Birthday bash tonight. And in keeping with the birthday theme, the Birthday Birdie will be visiting Targe later this week.
There was only one person in 4th place and that was Michael with a score of -4. Are you beginning to see the trend yet? There were two players in 5th place and they were Brendon and Laurie. And, can you guess what the score was that got them their 5th spot. Go to the top of the class if you reckoned that it was -5, because you would be exactly right. What odds the absolute values of the aggregate score matching the places in the field.
As for the rest, there is always next year.
Harry often reckons that taking a par on the first is a bad sign for what is to come. Imagine what the consequences could be if you birdied it. That’s exactly what he did by chipping in. The rest of the front nine had its moments. Just as an example, the drive on the 4th hit the red tee marker, ricocheted high and far enough to hit the big tree on the left and finished in the mini forest to the left of the green. Rob didn’t have any such trouble on the 17th when his tee shot grounded about 1.5 m shy of the hole and pulled up short to give a pretty easy putt for the eagle. And so the Eagles Nest didn’t quite get to the full dozen but, hey, who’s counting other than the poor old Eagle. That certainly gave Rob’s Eclectic card a bit of a boost and he is now inside a single birdie away from our long term leader Brendon. Harry’s two birdies today (both from chips) has moved him up into 3rd place but a little way back from the front runners.
The ProPin today was on the 4th and it wasn’t much of a contest as there was only one name of the ticket with a distance of 2.24m. That little honour went to Joe who, as a matter of interest also went close to making an eagle today on the 3rd when he left his second shot mere millimetres from the hole. The BallPin was on the 12th and our Joe was pipped out of scooping the pool by Targe.
Despite Whitey’s good round today he did have one moment where he tried to play a draw around a tree. He freely admits that he can’t play a draw. Anyway, the ball hit the tree dead centre and rocketed back to hit his buggy that was parked some metres behind. Needless to say, that is one hole where he didn’t make a score. Mehm also had his moments today despite playing some good golf. So good in fact that he was moved to say that at times like those he can forget that he is a s#%t golfer. Probably after sinking one of a number of monster putts. On the 18th, a skinnied chip from a short drive somehow hit the swale (or something) on the green, popped up in the air and finished near enough to the hole to give him the easiest of pars. Mehm put it down to the high amount of backspin. From a skinnied shot – tell ‘im he’s dreamin’.
Paul Jones joined us today and put in his first card. Paul has been away from golf for a while and he was a bit nervous on the first but as it turns out he got away quite safely from the gallery. Still, there were signs there that he knows how to handle a golf club so I am sure we will be seeing more of Paul once he gets his swing back in order. Welcome, Paul, and we look forward to seeing you on the tee again soon and then in competition when you get your qualifying cards in.
Simon is still after indications of shirt size from a number of members. If you don’t get on his list, the order will be made up with estimates and we would hate to see you stuck with anything either too big or, heaven forbid, too small.
Results for Saturday, 21 May 2016
1st Stefan Belevski(□, -1, -1) 2nd Rodney White(-4, +2, -2) 2nd Damien Lee(-2, □, -2) 2nd Craig Cameron(-3, +1, -2) 3rd Mehmet Akdag(-3, □, -3) 3rd Gordon Hill(-1, -2, -3) 4th Michael Gourlay(-3, -1, -4) 5th Brendon Mitchell(-2, -3, -5) 5th Laurie Mannix(-3, -2, -5)
Seniors Results: 1st Craig Cameron (+1,-3,-2) 2nd Gordon Hill (-2,-1,-3) 3rd Laurie Mannix (-2,-3,-5)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 4th Joe Wagenecht BallPin 12th Targe Mifsud
Eagle’s nest Results: Eagle 17th Robert Priems