The year came to an end with quite a bang with no less than four events to be finalised in the course of one round of the course, of course. This makes it rather hard to know where to start but it could explain why there were no less than twenty nine players out to play and about four more to partake of the Christmas style lunch that was served up afterwards. Without mining the database, this could very well be a record attendance. Among those extras was Mal, who has had an extended lay-off due to some health issues but he is making a come-back to golf and is hoping to be back on the track with us in the near future.
Given that the original event for the day was the Stuart Clarke Champion of Champions, it is probably appropriate to start there. The conditions for golf were just about ideal. The weather was fine and clear and the course had dried out a bit after the recent rain event. There was little wind and the sun soon dried off the dew from the greens and they ran, generally, smooth and true. As a result there was some good scoring and some that might be classed as not so good. There were two stand-out rounds brought in by DennisW and Harry who both managed to put together 41 points and so it was down to that peer of the realm Count Back to determine the ultimate winner of the Champion of Champions for 2017. Dennis pipped Harry by 22 points to 21 on the back nine. Not all that far behind, after a period of fairly thin pickings, was RodG with a very commendable 39 points.
Of course, there is the complementary event to the CoC, known affectionately (or not) as the Chump of Chumps for those that were not quite skillful (or lucky) enough to make their way into the main event. The best of the rest on the day was Big Joe, who was out again during the week getting some tips from Little Joe, and he proved that he was no slouch by making 38 points.
Next cab off the rank on the events front was the Vin O’Meara. This event had the potential for being a closely fought contest with quite a number of players within easy striking distance and a fair amount of folding riding on the result for backers and jockeys alike. Would anybody crack or would anybody star, that was the question. As it turned out, those really in contention neither cracked nor starred and the field mostly just ‘rippled’. In the end, the late shift finishes didn’t get to Jason who put in two very steady, handicap breaking, rounds to get the drinking cup with a total of 130 nett. And there was nobody happier than Rob at the result. Just behind, and all probably a bit unlucky to miss out on snatching (or sharing except for that notorious Count) the glory were Damo, Joe and Pepsi.
Keith and Simon tied it up for 3rd place, just a few too many strokes adrift to have been considered a challenge. There was another tie for 4th with Gordon trying to pick Rob’s pocket as they stood together on the podium. Noodles slipped back from his first week spot into 5th and he was joined by the most improved point gatherer, MattH. We won’t say who slipped furthest out of the first week points positions will we Chrispy.
Now we come to the Strokeplay Championship. This was fought out over three rounds, having started way back at the December Monthly Medal in November. The Off-the-stick Championship went to none other than Pepsi (surprise, surprise) with a total score over the three rounds of 215. Not to take anything away from Pepsi’s achievement, it is perhaps a bit unfortunate that urgent family matters kept Michael away from being able to make more of a contest of it. The runners-up on a fairly distant 240 strokes were Noodles and CraigC. In the handicap Championship, it is also perhaps not surprising that the winner was Jason after his performance in winning the VOM. His nett total of 199 translates to the equivalent of three handicap breaking rounds. Well done and well deserved, Jason. But, in the end it was a close run thing and Pepsi was only a stroke behind to take out the runner-up spot.
There were the usual nearest the pin competitions and, as usual, there was a certain amount of confusion involved. But, in the end, it all worked out. The BallPin was on the 12th and Brendon Onesmileyface was taken out by Gordon Twosmileyfaces but neither were close enough to get the birdie and so they did not contribute to the total of 17 for the day. The mobile ProPin was on the 15th and Simon was pretty pleased to get his to 1.25m from where he slotted it and did contribute to the birdie total. The ProPin on the 18th (where it has been every week for the last little age) quite clearly went to Pepsi when his ball finished a mere 72cm from the hole. Not close enough for the birdie and a chance to square up the VOM and Strokeplay nett scores.
Stef didn’t celebrate his birthday with his best golf but he did claim to be put off by somebody calling ‘fore’ during his swing as he drew it around the bend on the 11th and the ball nearly finished on the green. There were no draughties reported for the day but Stef can’t blame a disturbing shout for barely passing the red markers on the 3rd. MattN is hoping to be able to score an eagle soon after putting four balls into the hazard on the 13th and scoring a record (since records started) 14 strokes for the hole. And, while on the topic of eagles, Stef was on the hunt today and went close a couple of times but none so close as the 17th where his putt just caught the lip and finished a few centimetres past the hole.
Porks and the Beast were having a private long drive competition and it was a pretty close run thing although on one occasion Bill claimed that his ball had landed past Porks but that the ‘backspin’ had brought it back about 20m. Porks has been adjusting the set on his driver and seems to be torn as to whether to set it to the plus or the minus side of neutral. Speaking of clubs, Noodles decided that one of his clubs was a bit dirty and that it needed a wash. After he stripped off his shoes and socks and recovered it from the pond, he played his next few shots in bare feet.
After the round, the membership partook of the usual Christmas style lunch and a few of the cold and frothies. Some of the more adventurous types adjourned to a local watering hole known as the Roo Bar but so far there are no reports of any shenanigans that ensued.
Mehmet was at the lunch as he wasn’t able to play down to being confined to crutches with a dickie knee. It seems that some sort of surgery will be involved and it was suggested that he get them to fix his golf swing while they are at it. Seriously though, hope it all goes well and you are back on deck soon.
After lunch, the trophies were handed out for the year’s events and if you want to see the complete list of suspects you can have a look on the website under Statistics/Hall of Fame.
There are tee times booked for the next two weeks but they will be social rounds only. You can chip in for ProPins and those that play will be credited with attendance for a social round but there will be no points or handicapping.
Here is a wish that everybody has a safe and happy time over the festive season. Please don’t drink and drive or do other stupid things (like riding scooters, jumping into swimming pools etc etc) and we look forward to seeing you out on the course for competition in the New Year
Results for Saturday, 16 December 2017
1st Jason Hopkins(64, 66, 130) 2nd Andrew Petricola(66, 65, 131) 2nd Joe Wagenecht(65, 66, 131) 2nd Damien Lee(64, 67, 131) 3rd Simon Powell(68, 67, 135) 3rd Keith Delzoppo(65, 70, 135) 4th Gordon Hill(66, 71, 137) 4th Robert Priems(69, 68, 137) 5th Stephen Butterfield(67, 71, 138) 5th Matt Hunt(72, 66, 138)
Seniors Results: 1st Keith Delzoppo (65,70,135) 1st Simon Powell (67,68,135) 2nd Gordon Hill (71,66,137) 3rd Craig Cameron (69,70,139)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 15th Simon Powell ProPin No 2 18th Andrew Petricola BallPin 12th Gordon Hill