Category Archives: Club News

Well, I’m not too sure who had the lean, Pepsi, the cameraman or the horizon.  Maybe it was just the weight of the trophy that put him off balance – he hadn’t had that many beers at this stage at least.  It was decided that Pepsi should be somewhere near vertical after a magnificent come from behind win with a +4 today and an overall +3.  He didn’t have it all his own way as Gordo shared the honours on the scorecard but lost out in the count-back over the last six holes after being tied over the last nine.  A couple of minor hiccups on the 13th and the 17th for Gordo made all the difference.

Ken Grist put in a steady performance today to ease himself into second place with an overall +1 followed by last week’s front runner Bobbie McDonald and a consistent Dennis Tiernan coming in square for third place.  Krispy Priems and Bill Eastoe held it together to make 4th and 5th to round out the Championship Point getters.

Talking of Championship points there has been some serious movement at the station for the word has got about that the colt from Old Regret has got away.  The pressure of lack of sleep and worrying about his batting average seems to have gotten to Noodles and his run down the straight has stalled for the time being.  Gordo is now leading both Championship tables with the big points for this event.  With the finishing line in sight, the numbers capable of pulling off a crash tackle are diminishing but there are still several in there with a chance.

It seems to have been Pepsi’s day as he managed to score a ball on the 12th for the Nearest the Pin.  Didn’t manage a birdie on that one though he did manage to rack up almost half of the eleven that were plodded.  The ProPin on the 15th, already a jackpot from last week, eluded us all again this week so a double jackpot up for grabs next week.  Should be enough to bring some people out of retirement.

Speaking of retirement,  Allan, it seems, has gone back to work.  They made him an offer he couldn’t refuse and he has to be able to afford golf balls somehow.

After last weeks effort, Tony had a heap of stories to tell about hard luck with trees and bad lies and seemed to be making better of it today except maybe for his second on the 6th that was hard up against the butt of a gum tree.  It required a back of the club left handed shot to get it back into play.  Ken also put himself close up behind a tree on the 16th but managed to pull off a respectable recovery.  How he did it without bending the club around the tree remains unclear.

Bill turned up today without his balls.  Seems he cleaned out the three dozen that had accumulated in his bag and forgot to put a few back in.  Only problem was he worried the whole round about the possibility of losing the brand new balls that he had to buy.  Blighty also had a bit of a brain fade on the 15th and left one of his clubs on the tee – one of those popular Bogan clubs that he uses.

The Bendigo trip is looming up fast and there was lots of money changing hands.  There was also some mis-counting of what was changing hands.  Pepsi is not looking forward to playing Bendigo on his new handicap.

The after barbeque was enjoyed by all although there was a bit of a panic about gas or something early on.  The hamburgers and sausages were of the usual high standard.  Mehm provided some left-over cake that met with high approval from the cake-eaters in the group and SOS, a self-confessed cake-a-holic filled up his doggy bag with the left-overs.  Might have to let your belt out a notch after that lot.  The fate of the left-over snags was less clear with Pepsi’s dog being the front runner after the guys teeing off on the 17th knocked back the chance in favour of a beer after the 18th.

Well, it got off to a fairly brisk start and quite a few were well rugged up but there were a few hardy souls who turned out in shorts.  Other than that, the conditions on the course and the weather were pretty good.  Last weeks coring of some tees and around the greens mainly impacted the ease of getting the tee into the ground but the extra sprinkling of sand (apparently officially called dust) on the greens did not meet with universal favour.  None of this fazed Bobbie McDonald though as he came in with a round in positive territory at +3.  Only one other ventured into handicap breaking realms with Bill Eastoe taking that position with +1.  Dennis Tiernan put in a round of two halves to come in square to the card together with Krispy Priems although the card that Krispy signed had his score at -1.  Then followed a veritable platoon on an actual -1 – Ken, Targe, Damien, Brendon, Gordon, Oliver and Pepsi.  Bobbie will have to keep his head down with talent like that snapping at his heels.

As for the rest of the field, with scores ranging from -2 to -10, you would have to say they were fairly average for the conditions.  These players would have to pull something out of the hat to hoist the trophy but it would still not be impossible to pull off.

The 18th proved to be just too difficult to get onto the green today and so the ProPin will jackpot to next week.  Now there is a bit of interest for the back markers (besides the privelege of firing up the BBQ).  When you’re on a roll, you’re on a roll and the ball hole was taken out by our Bobbie with a fine shot just beyond the hole.  He didn’t manage the birdie though.  Speaking of birdies, there were 13 in total, including one by Harry from 104m on the 10th.  Pity about the duffed second shot though the range would have been a bit too long for an Eagle.  And once again the big bird was left in peace.

Gordon had an interesting approach shot to the second from amongst the gum trees on the left and the way it was flying there was a fair chance that it would have ended in the middle of the oval across the road.  Until, that is, it hit some foliage on the melaleuca by the green and pulled up nicely on the green.  Damien tried for a similar effect from behind the bushes alongside the 11th and managed to miss the lot – and there wasn’t even a gap to be seen.  There were a few expletives dropped around the course, including one from Pepsi on the 18th when an easy putt came up short.  And, despite what you might think, the club did slip out of Harry’s hands on the 11th.

On the matter of points distribution of last week’s event, it seems that I misunderstood the discussions that went on at the meeting.  The situation has now been corrected and Zimmer and David have their points and everybody else has been adjusted down accordingly.  I believe that the handicapping has been done correctly.  If not, it could have implications for this event.

Well, the Fred Kitson still has some potential for an exciting finish and there could be a case for a few hours on the driving range during the week just to get that swing back on plane and a few hours on the lounge room carpet to keep the putter warmed up.  Sees you on the tees.

The Spring-time brings on the shearing – or so the poets say.  It seems that it also brings out the golfers.  Today, Royal Ivanhoe was graced with the biggest field we have seen for a long time.  Good to see Mehm got back safely from his trip back home and other places.  He was noticed getting stuck into some good Aussie tucker (potato scallop with tomato sauce).  Apparently not on the menu in Turkey – or anywhere else for that matter.  Also back in harness were the terrible twins – Zimmer and Stefan.

The wind threatened to blow and the rain threatened to fall but both held off until everybody had finished.  The couple of sprinkles during the round didn’t really count though raincoats and umbrellas were unfurled.

The results were affected as much by the attendance rules as by the course conditions.  Zimmer has obviously been getting some practice in somewhere along the line (and he has been seen on the course in recent times) and would have blitzed it with a nett 62 except that he didn’t meet the qualification for Monthly Medal.  That might have left the gate open for David with a nett 64 but he also did not qualify.  So, still with some fine golf it was down to the Three Musketeers, Trevor, Targe and Dennis to fight it out in a count-back for the prized medallion.  In the event it was the Targe who prevailed by half a stroke.  New handicaps all round fellows.  Gordon, Laurie and SOS squared up for second place followed by Mike on his PatMa in third.  The seniors also dominated the top three spots with SOS the only junior amongst them.

The ball hole was on the 15th and was hotly contested with some fine ricochet shots off the hill going close but ultimately not close enough but I forgot to note who actually won it.  The pro-pin on the 18th went to Stefan so at least he got something on his day out.  There were thirteen birdies recorded but the big bird was left in peace to deposit another egg in the nest though Rodger did speculate briefly on replenishing his ball supply on the 17th after a pretty speccie drive.  He also did his best to put the mockers on Harry on the 10th by bringing attention to a pretty good front nine.

Tony and Bill decided on a little match-off to make things interesting and as a result Tony was spotted downing a muggacino after the game.  Zimmer looks like he is going to have to work a few more Saturdays to be able to afford a new driver after a little ‘accident’ putting one of his clubs back in the bag (or there-abouts).  Stefan is still hitting them long and loving the new tee on the 13th that allowed him to end about 20m short of the green.  Some of his other long shots were less than appreciated by those in front on  the other hand.

Allan Davis turned up for the Club meeting afterwards sporting a bad foot that he is hoping to have back in shape for the Club weekend in November.  Hope it all goes well Allan.

Results for Saturday, 06 October 2012
1st Trevor Jackson(65) 1st Targe Mifsud(65) 1st Dennis Tiernan(65) 2nd Gordon Hill(66) 2nd Laurie Mannix(66) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan(66) 3rd Mike Mann(67) 4th Harry Boughen(69) 4th Ken Grist(69) 5th S Butterfield(70) 5th Damien Lee(70) 5th Chris Priems(70)

Although there was no Club event and most people probably wanted to do something else on Grand Final day (like go to the footy even) three of our members signed up for the two man Ambrose run from the Clubhouse.  Although there was notionally a fourth person in our group, he hadn’t turned up by tee time so we had to form two teams from the three of us.  The Good Guys consisted of Tony and Dennis and the Hardly Normals were Tony and Harry.  Being all similarly handicapped mid-range players, we had to give away nine or ten strokes for the Ambrose handicap.  Birdies were needed to have any chance but despite being in with chances on occasion the putts just wouldn’t drop when we wanted them to.  The really sad thing was leaving putts short by the second putter for the team – no names no pack drill but most of us were guilty at one stage or another.

In the end we were well behind the competition winners but of the two teams, the Good Guys took the honours by half a stroke from the Hardly Normals.

Starting the round on the 14th created a certain amount of confusion with writing up the cards and remembering which hole was which.  The requirement to play at least six drives each for the round left Tony with a choice between the 12th and the 13th.  Tony made the call for the 12th despite a less than stellar result.  As it turned out, Dennis managed to hit the back of the ball with a following wind on the 13th leaving Tony and Harry with two shots to catch him.  The handicapper is a bit concerned about the handicap that has come to Dennis from his three cards.

While you are here on the site, would you all mind checking the member directory for your details and if there are any changes to phone numbers or e-mail addresses could you let me know, prefereably by e-mail or, failing that, next time you are at the Club.