‘Prestidious is a word, isn’t it?’ said Rob as he waxed lyrical about his mate Matt taking the mustard jacket back to The Basin for the third time in four years. Unfortunately, the defending champion was not present to wear the jacket to the Saturday dinner and to present it to the new champion but a couple of things intervened to keep him away. There must be something in the water at Ivanhoe with a set of twins presented to Brent recently following not so long after ChrisV suffered the same fate. Congratulations, and well done, to Brent and Emma. Carolyn is, apparently, beside herself and over the moon if such a juxtaposition is possible in this universe.
It was probably some sort of a record for attendance between the two venues. Nineteen members and one guest tried their hand at the Rich River layout in Moama while twelve members set out to tackle the rather more benign Ivanhoe set-up. Trevor decided that he needed a bit of exercise and opted to walk the Ivanhoe course but the hill up from the 13th proved to be a step too far and he had to retire from the event. A brave effort.
Ivanhoe was set up on the black course for the Clubhouse Monthly Medal and the course was in good condition with the greens having been freshly mowed though there were still a few problems with the flat stick for some players. Simon had worked hard to drum up support for the event at Ivanhoe and he thought he had cracked and shared top spot in both championship points with a card of 37 points. Except that Blighty and his marker had missed a point on one hole and when the checks came in it was Andrew who scored the double header on his own with 38 points.
RodG finally lashed out and bought himself a new driver a few weeks back and he seems to have mastered the beast and is hitting the centre of the fairway with great regularity. He came home with an impressive 23 points on the back nine including a four pointer for a chip in for par on the 16th and an equally impressive birdie on the 18th. That birdie was one of nine for the day.
Pepsi might have been better placed if it hadn’t been for finding OOB and the water on the 17th and he had to settle for 4th place with his card of 33 points. Joe rounded out the point-getters with his 32.
There was apparently a bit of angst due to slow play and all members should remember the requirement that your group should keep up with the group in front and not just in front of the group behind. However, we should also remember that new players should be coached and encouraged but should not be vilified.
The Nearest the Pin competitions were not contested.
Meanwhile, back in the jungle.
On Saturday, the round was played on the rather tougher East Course at Rich River and the scattering of water hazards took in their fair share of balls. The tree lined fairways were eminently capable of punishing anybody straying from the turfed area. The greens were true and fast particularly after the dew had burned off. This meant little to Matt who, after a few holes to warm up, blasted them down the centre and followed up with accurate chipping and putting. His 35 points put him in the box seat but with only a single point separating him from Dave who seems to have a happy knack of getting his name on the Nearest the Pin markers.
Ben counted an air swing among his treasures for the day but the other big talking point was his effort on the 18th, a nominal 492m par 5 hole, that he managed to put his second shot through the green causing the group in front to scatter as the ball bounded through. Ryan also scored an air swing although his ball was hard up against a tree and perhaps he can be forgiven under the circumstances.
Damo scored an eagle on the 11th and then followed up with a p.e.s.u (post eagle stuff up) on the 12th making it in for a double bogie. Gordon chipped in from 40m for a birdie on the 10th and that brought the total for the day to seven. Bob just missed a birdie on the 17th and if the putt had gone in he would have made it a five pointer. There were some concerns ,early in the round, that Chrispy was contemplating slashing his wrists, so despondent was he about the progress of his game. Fortunately, sharp objects were in short supply and a modicum of form returned to lift his spirits. Harry’s little fade found the trees and water on a regular basis and one ball was struck only once as it directed unerringly into the next water hazard.
On Sunday, the task was to forget the hangover and to tackle the rather more gentle West Course although it too had its fair share of trees and some water. Matt obviously had ambitions and he was closely monitored by Harry (who drew him in the Calcutta) and so his alcohol intake on Saturday night was best described as moderate. The strategy seems to have paid off and Matt was able to come home with 37 points to tally up the best total for the weekend and to collect the jacket, trophy and top points.
David, on the other hand, was not quite so abstemious, though he did claim to have gone to bed early, and he surprised some by making it to the tee and playing remarkably well. Once again he managed to get his name on the NTP markers several times (a total of five for the weekend) and a couple of missed eagle putts could have made all the difference to the outcome of the event. His trio of birdies made up half of the tally of six for the day.
Ben maintained his pattern of play by taking an air swing on the tee by missing the ball by some 50mm but perhaps it was his psychedelic shorts that kept him on track to come into third place with an aggregate score of 67 points. Brendon slipped a bit from his first day performance while Dale found some extra form to leap up the ladder and slip into 4th place beside Brendon on 63 points.
Damo also had a bit of a slump to finish in fifth place but perhaps it was down to the fright he took when Dave hit a power shank that crashed into the cart about half a metre from Damien as he was in the process of returning his club to his bag. As they say in the classics, a point is a point.
Stef did manage to sink his eagle putt on the 17th but it means that he will get only one ball after Damo cleaned out the nest the day before (unless, of course, Damo takes pity and shares).
Noodles and Ryan were playing together and, being out of contention, decided to swap drivers on the last hole. Noodles made a fair fist with the left handed club while Ryan’s right hander was little better than a duff. Noodles was so disgusted with a chip with his 9 iron that he gave it a drop kick (something of a habit, it seems) and bent the shaft. Wouldn’t you know it, he then chipped in for a par. Not with the bent club though, which would have been illegal. Ryan. on the other hand, abandoned one ball when he sprayed it into an adjacent housing area. The fate of roof-top solar panels is indeterminate.
Mehmet was noticed buying a round for what seems to have been the only draughtie for the weekend (ignoring air swings). Perhaps he was still shaking from a near-death experience when a stray ball crashed into the windscreen of the cart he was sitting in at the time.
ChrisV is licking his wounds and reviewing his estimates of Hayley’s golfing ability after she out-scored him on both days and even more comprehensively on Sunday.
However, the event of the day, and it resulted in the award of the Cocks Plate (for the stuff-up of the weekend), involved none other than Chrispy. Harry had one of his misfortunes with a water hazard and the thought was that it would only have trickled in and the ball might be recoverable. The edge of the pond was vertical and maybe just a little undercut. Chris ventured just a little too close to peer into the water and his 115kg (his words) proved to be just a little too much and the earth crumbled. Frantic clawing at the bank managed to prevent total immersion and, though many would have loved for that to have happened, the damage was limited to one wet shoe, sock and leg and claw marks on the bank.
The early start allowed plenty of time to relax and the pool and spa was a popular spot after a hard day on the course on Saturday. The adjacent bar-be-cue was the location for Sunday lunch but the need to drive home meant that the sole swimmer was John’s lad. A big thank you to the wives who organised the goodies for the Sunday lunch.
Results for Saturday, 06 October 2018
Ivanhoe: 1st Andrew Blight(38) 2nd Simon Powell(37) 3rd Rod Grant(35) 4th Andrew Petricola(33) 5th Joe Wagenecht(32)
Rich River: 1st Matt Hunt(35, 37, 72) 2nd David Mullenger(34, 35, 69) 3rd Ben Akdag(32, 35, 67) 4th Brendon Mitchell(33, 30, 63) 4th Dale Webb(28, 35, 63) 5th Damien Lee(33, 29, 62)
Seniors Results: Ivanhoe: 1st Andrew Blight (38) 2nd Simon Powell (37) 3rd Rod Grant (35)
:Rich River:1st Allan Davies (29, 29, 58) 2nd Gordon Hill (26, 22, 48) 2nd Bob McDonald (22, 26, 48) 3rd Harry Boughen (17, 21, 38)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 – No contest ProPin No 2 – No contest BallPin – No contest
Eagle’s nest Results: Eagle Damien Lee (Saturday Rich River) ;Stefan Belevski (Sunday Rich River)