Footy season over? Nice spring weather? A Medal up for grabs? Last minute dash for points? Whatever the reason, we had what could be a record field for this October Monthly Medal. There were twenty eight sent out from the first tee with a consist of 26 members and two guests. One of the guests was Brendon’s Dad who is visiting from across the ditch for a couple of weeks. The other was a friend of Joe. Brent by name. Unfortunately Brent aggravated a wrist injury and retired hurt after nine holes but he assures us that he will be back to get his cards in and join the Club. A big welcome to both.
The preferred lie sign was nowhere to be seen so it was back to ‘real’ golf. MattN reckons that all amateur golf should be preferred lie given that the courses are generally not as well groomed as those used by the pros. But, despite that slight lack of perceived advantage, there was quite a bit of run on the course and this led a few to sample the delights of the slightly ‘rougher’ rough. The weather was a bit chilly to start and the dew hung around on the sheltered greens until well into the round. The sweeping of the greens looks to have fallen by the wayside. Perhaps we need Simon back to sweet-talk the ground staff.
The lack of preferred lie advantage and the dewy greens were no obstacle to our eventual winner who came home by the length of the straight. Jason fairly played out of his skin to card an 80 off the stick for a nett score of 62. The round was only marred by a triple bogie on the 8th. Jason collected a swag of pars but he did not manage to card a birdie and so he did not contribute to the grand total of 12 for the field.
Brendon obviously benefited from coaching by his Dad as he was able to come into second place with a nett score of 67. It wasn’t all smooth going between father and son as there was a need to get clarification of the rules relating to areas of relief from lateral water hazards at one stage of the round. The query did not relate to Brendon’s ball and he was heard to say ‘I told you so’ or words to that effect.
Pepsi could probably be forgiven for starting off with a bit of a wobble following the recent passing of his father. Black armbands were worn and President John expressed the Club’s condolences to Pepsi and his family.. However, like the true stager that he is, Pepsi got his game back on track and finished off the round with 72 by the beater for a handicap equalling 68 nett. It’s hard to keep a good man down.
Brent was a single stroke behind in 4th place with 69 and the last spot on the podium was filled by MattN who came in with 70. With only five points getters (doesn’t happen very often) and the large field there was some discussion as to whether the ball run could/should extend beyond the podium positions. Notionally, there were seven balls for distribution but there were three players with the next best score of 71. This would have exceeded the ball tally in any case but for the record, the ones who missed out were Ryan, Blighty and SOS. SOS made the call, by the way.
The Ball Pin today was on the 7th and playing from the white markers it should have been a long shot. Curiously, on a number of holes today the whites were in front of the blues and this may have been the case here as well. In the event, the man who got his name on the ticket to collect a ball was none other than Chrispy. JohnQ acted as tee marshall and made to call to put the event on the 7th, which he later regretted after he put his drive on the 4th to within ‘gimme’ distance of the hole and dead in line. There is photographic evidence but it is not to hand but can be posted when it comes to hand. The first ProPin was on the 15th and Joe hit one of his better tee shots for the day to get his name on the card. Unfortunately, the Beast came along later and put one closer at 3.26m to take out the cash. The second ProPin on the 18th went begging once again and the kitty now stands at $66. So, depending on numbers next week, there could be anything up to $90 up for grabs. A great incentive to turn up in anybody’s books.
Harry had decided that he needed to come second every week for the rest of the year while keeping Michael out of the points to catch him in the Championship with maybe a win in the December Monthly Medal to steal the big prize. After draining a 6m putt for birdie on the first, things looked to be off to a good start. Or was that a bad start? Turned out it was pretty ordinary in the end. On the other hand, the flat stick abandoned Targe today and despite putting for par on at least eight holes, he did not manage to score one until the 18th. No wonder he is off the Kangaroo Island. But that performance pales into insignificance when compared to certain members of the Priems family. Jake took a total of five putts to get it in the hole on the 11th and Chrispy and others were fairly heaping it on him as a result. On the very next hole, karma took her revenge and Chrispy managed to take six (putts, that is) for a total of 9 on the hole.
There was a curious tale of a draughtie today, the only one reported and paid. Dale played his tee shot (notes say it was the second) and for some reason there was a thought that it might not be found so he played a provisional that hit a tree and bounced back almost to the point of departure and definitely behind the red markers. A search located the first ball which was also behind the red markers and so it was deemed that it was only a singleton draughtie rather than a doubleton. Another member to get off lightly was the Beast who hit one on the 3rd that was possibly out of bounds. His provisional hit a tree out to the right so hard that it bounced back and finished across the 5th green. Luckily for Bill, the first ball was found to be in bounds. Blighty also flirted with not getting past the reds on a number of occasions but we all know how Andrew hates to part with his cash.
The Birthday Birdie has been on holiday in Italy so if anybody has missed out on a birthday call in the meantime then please accept a late one now. There is one to send out this week and that is to the big fella, Snags. Have a good one, matey.
The first round of the Fred Kitson is on next Saturday and there will be the usual bar-b-que lunch after the second round the following week. The Committee will also be meeting next week after the round and, if you have any items that you would like the Committee to consider, get in contact with your friendly committeeman and give him the details as soon as possible. Note, this is not a general club meeting, only the committee.
Results for Saturday, 07 October 2017
1st Jason Hopkins(62) 2nd Brendon Mitchell(67) 3rd Andrew Petricola(68) 4th Brent Rowley(69) 5th Matt Nicholls(70)
Seniors Results: 1st Andrew Blight (71) 2nd Bill Eastoe (75) 2nd Harry Boughen (75) 2nd Targe Mifsud (75) 3rd Keith Delzoppo (79) 3rd Trevor Jackson (79)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 15th Bill Eastoe ProPin No 2 18th Jackpot BallPin 7th Chris Priems