Category Archives: Club News

Well, things were a little brisker out on the course this morning.  Yes, the temperature was a bit lower than it has been in recent times, but the main source of the briskness seemed to be in the pace of play.  There was some waiting on tees but that was mostly because people were keeping up rather than lagging behind.  So, keep up the good work, practice your time saving procedures and, who knows, we might be able to get it down even further.  All in all there were 20 happier campers this week, none less than Whitey who observed that he was starting his second beer rather than still being out on the course at the same time of day.  That was by the clock of course, rather than by the position of the sun relative to the yard-arm, given that we all got an extra hour of sleep last Sunday and we were back to earlier tee times today.

When he had his last win a little while ago, Targe had been complaining about wanting his handicap let out as he hadn’t been playing anywhere near to it.  Rumour has it that he made a few attempts not to play to it again today.  There were at least three shanked chips and on the 4th his tee shot mustn’t have been too far from a draughtie as he was on the path 110m out (according to reports) and the hole is only 121m (according to the card).  A putter shot still left him 10 m short but another putt went to 50mm for an easy as you like 4 and 2 points.  Despite the trials and tribulations, Targe had a very balanced round with 19 points on each half for his winning total of 38 and a new handicap to complain about.

While on the subject of draughties, there was one of the better ones for all to see on the first tee.  Not sure what DennisW did but the ball departed almost at right angles to the line and hit one of the buggies parked on the path beside the teeing area.  The ball finished back on the tee ground about 4m in front of the point of departure.  Targe seemed to be quite enjoying the drink so kindly provided by Dennis as a result.  Targe also collected the top points in the Seniors Championship.

Michael was back on the tee today after a bit of nip and tuck to restructure his abs but he steadfastly refused to show his new ‘six-pack’.  Now, it would have to be said that the first shot of the day was not one of his better ones and he had to negotiate some trees for his second.  But, he managed to regain his ground and settled for a bogey.  But after that the pars and birdies kept rolling in and he finished the day with 37 points to put his hands on the second place points.  If the reinforcements that the surgeon put in have stabilised his swing, watch out when he has a bit more practice.

Harry was with a group today that had quite a discussion about Ernie (Els, not the fastest milkman in the west though he did come into the conversation a few times).  Anyhow, the group decided that any putt from under a metre that slid by the hole would be called an Ernie.  And there were quite a few of them on the cards by the end of the round.  Harry’s collection of Ernies managed to turn several potential three point holes into singletons.  As a result, the total for Harry at the end of the day was 36 points and enough for a third place spot.  The card included a couple of birdies and a couple of strokes off the Eclectic card as well.  The whole field managed to put together 10 of the little featheries today, including one from Brendon who also improved his Eclectic card as a result and he now has a four stroke lead on the field.  Surely, somebody will start catching him soon.

The report card for the next two place-getters probably should read ‘could have done better’.  John and Simon both left blanks on their card mixed in with a scattering of singles but they still manged to gather 35 points to secure 4th place by a bit of a margin.  A couple of points further back was Blighty who didn’t really set the world on fire on the front nine but managed to keep his head well down for eight of the back nine and slip into fifth place.

The second round of the matchplay is now under way and this round has to be completed by/on the 7th of May.  The table is up on the web-site so check out who you have to play and get organised.  We don’t want the Walkover family dominating this round as well as the first.  Anyway, one pair managed to get together today and play their match.  Eddie and Brendon battled it out and it almost appears that the least worse score on each hole carried the day.  Still, it is the best player on the day that wins the match and today, that turned out to be Ed, 4 and 3.  The Match was dormie after the 14th but, with no strokes left, Brendon would have to have really lifted to push for a square and a chip-off so a squared result at the 15th was enough to give Ed the Match.

After a bit of confusion early taws about which hole was going to be the ProPin and which was going to be the BallPin, one thing was announced but the markers were put out, before the round, on the opposite holes.  Anyway, the BallPin was on the 4th and nobody got particularly close, but Harry got close enough to squeeze out Ed by about half a metre to collect the ball.

The ProPin on the other hand was on the 18th.  Bob had decided that today was the day to bring out one of his spare sets of clubs and, to say the least, some of his comments during the round about the worth of said clubs were less than flattering.  Come the 18th, Bob fairly cracks one off the tee and it looks to be heading straight for the pin and likely to finish pretty darned close.  Walking up the hill, the Beast wondered whether he should run ahead and knock it in so that Bob would be persuaded to shout.  Discretion was the better part of valour as Bill couldn’t think of a way to break it to Bob what had happened without endangering his life.  But, as it turned out, if Bob had hit the ball just that little bit harder there is every chance that such skullduggery would have been unnecessary.  As it turned out Bob was glad that it wasn’t an ace so that he didn’t have to shout the bar.  Easy birdie and easy money.

Chrispresident was seen consulting with the local (golf) Pro about the set-up of his new driver and fairway wood and while the first shot wasn’t necessarily the best, by the end of the day the reports were that things were going pretty well, all things considered.  However, Chris reckons that his old irons got themselves in a bit of a huff with the new kids in the bag and were misbehaving like spoiled children.  There was also a bit of an experiment going on with a new wedge that added to the angst.  All in all, he finished lurking in the nether regions of the field.

While on the subject of nether regions, the question was asked by one of our newer members – what was the lowest Stableford points score ever recorded with the club.  A search of the database suggests that you would have to plumb the depths of single figures to claim that record and nine is the lowest on record though there is anecdotal evidence of an even lower one.  But, if it happened, it does not appear in the database.

Brent played his first official competition round today and his first shot caused Chris and Rob to remind him that he was now in competition  and not just playing for his handicap.  He obviously took some notice and finished the round better placed that either Rob or Chris.

What does occur in the database, for most people anyway, is a record of your date of birth and as a result the Birthday Birdie will be out and about spreading good wishes to RodG and SOS in the coming week

Results for Saturday, 09 April 2016
1st Targe Mifsud(38) 2nd Michael Gourlay(37) 3rd Harry Boughen(36) 4th Simon Powell(35) 4th John Quinlan(35) 5th Andrew Blight(33)

Seniors Results: 1st Targe Mifsud (38) 2nd Harry Boughen (36) 3rd Simon Powell (35)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 18th Bob McDonald BallPin 4th Harry Boughen

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Things were a bit glacial out on the course today but it had nothing to do with the weather which, in fact, was quite mild with the temperature above the forecast maximum for the day at 0600.  No, it was more to do with the rate of play with some groups getting more than two holes behind.  Yes, it was a stroke competition and every ball had to be played out, and some of our members aren’t as young as they used to be, but pushing out to five hours for a round is maybe a bit over the mark.  Let’s see if we can up the pace from now on with ‘ready golf’, mark cards while waiting at the tee, plan shots ahead, practice swing while waiting and all the other little tricks that shave a few seconds off here and there and you will be surprised how they add up by the end of the round.  It is your responsibility to keep up with the group in front.  The upshot was, that, by the time that the last of our nineteen members and one guest got in, the majority of the front groups had headed off to pastures greener, or, at least, home to lunch.

Still, the rate of play had absolutely no effect on our eventual medallist who put in his best round yet by two strokes, 73 off the stick for a nett score of 62.  The round was however not quite flawless and on the 17th, there might have been just a modicum of luck involved.  A duffed drive left a shot from a fairly sloping lie half way down the embankment.  The shot sailed over the trees by a mile and out across the fence heading for the river.  A tree interposed itself and the ball conveniently ricocheted back into bounds and onto the green, barely missing falling into the hole on the way past.  The result was a, casual as you like, par.  As they say, it’s not how, just how many.

Laurie hasn’t been able to join us much over the last little while and maybe he has been away practicing his putting stroke because according to all reports he single putted at least 14 of the 18 holes.  And it wasn’t only because his chipping was good because there were some monsters among them as well.  So, after being club-house leader for what seemed like an interminable time as the stragglers trickled in, Laurie had to settle for second place from his 89/65 result.  This scored him a nice swag of Senior points as well.  The one downside for the day was that Laurie had a draughtie on the 14th, which is not a bad trick considering the drop away in the front of the tee there.  He seemed to be happy enough buying the drinks.

When Targe was announcing the second place getters score, Blighty became a little agitated and was about to protest vehemently when he remembered that he was thinking of his inside competition score and that, with us, he was rightly in third place with 67.  He was joined on that score by Simon, who was maybe expecting better things on his birthday, and by JohnQ who celebrated in some small way by winning his Match against CraigC 4 and 2.  The match could have gone either way but one hole in particular probably broke Craig’s heart.  John had hit 2 provisionals from the tee on the 3rd but found that his original ball was playable.  His second and third were a bit ordinary and left him short of the green.  Craig was on in 2.  John chipped in for par and Craig two-putted to square the hole.  Go figure.

Dennis knocked back a chance to go to work at the Darklands and opted to play golf instead.  There were no home emergencies today and he finished the round with a good enough score to pick up fourth place.  He did opine that he had left a few out there.  The Beast was playing it very cool today and managed to score a birdie on the 18th to improve his Eclectic a little.  There were only 9 again this week and four of them were down to ChrisV.  The other ChrisPresident managed to match it with Bill to gather the fifth place points.

The ProPin today was on the 12th and, as Gordon walked to the tee, he wanted to be assured that it was the ProPin hole as he didn’t want to waste a shot just for a ball.  He then proceeded to put it to 79cm, heading straight for the hole and eliminating almost all prospect for a contest before the event had even started.  He even reckoned that the position of the marker ball would prevent anybody getting closer than him by stopping/deflecting the ball.  The BallPin was on the 15th and Gordon again put his ball onto the green but Harry managed to put his closer and, in the end, close enough to win the ball.

George Tenkelia put in his third card today and he is now qualified to play competition and has his handicap.  If past experience is any guide, we should see him stepping up to the podium before long.  Welcome to the Club, George.

The Birthday Birdie reports that Mehmet will be moving one step closer to joining the Seniors ranks this week.  Hope you get some Turkish Delight (if not afternoon delight) for your birthday, Mehm.

Gordon had a bit of strife with the trees in the hazard on the 13th and, after playing a discretionary shot to safety, played his next shot high into the bleachers around the back of the green and nicely ran the ball down onto the green.  Almost as if he had meant to do it.  Chrispresident must have been feeling a bit weary after the 13th as he hitched a lift on the back of Laurie and Trev’s cart.  Despite Chris’s concerns that the front wheels might lose traction, they made it to the 14th tee without incident and the occupants realising that he was there.  Luckily they hadn’t been bad-mouthing him just at that time.  There was one more draughtie to report today and that was down to Targe who is often found to come up short.

Somebody, possibly school-kids, had done some ‘burn-outs’ on the 5th green overnight and the management put in place a ‘drop-zone’.  Gordon and Chrispresident were both just on the front of the green and had a good 10 metre advantage by being able to take relief to the drop-zone.  Chris thought it was bad that he had three putted but he didn’t feel quite so bad when he heard that Gordon had taken five.  There was some discussion afterwards about what could be done to prevent vandalism on the course and suggestions ranged from razor-wire fencing to smart ‘phone home’ cameras.  Blighty suggested that maybe we just needed some signs saying ‘No kids allowed’.  Like, that would work!

The second round of the Matchplay is now in full swing.  It is unfortunate that the first round resulted in so many walk-overs.  Let’s try not to have that happen in the second.  You have until the May Monthly medal to arrange and get your Match out of the way and the sooner you start organising the better.

Also, now that Daylight Saving has finished (or it will tonight) our tee times have moved back to the earlier time slot so if you think to turn up at a quarter to eight, you might find that you have been left behind.  You have been warned.

Results for Saturday, 02 April 2016
1st Chris Vinecombe(62) 2nd Laurie Mannix(65) 3rd Andrew Blight(67) 3rd Simon Powell(67) 3rd John Quinlan(67) 4th Dennis Tiernan(70) 5th Bill Eastoe(71) 5th Chris Priems(71)

Seniors Results: 1st Laurie Mannix (65) 2nd Andrew Blight (67) 2nd Simon Powell (67) 3rd Dennis Tiernan (70)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Gordon Hill BallPin 15th Harry Boughen

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It has been seven years to the day since Stuart left us and there was a good turn out of members decked out in loud or ugly shirts as befits this Memorial day.  It is a moot point whether the blue Club shirts really do count as ugly but then beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder.  There were twenty three out on the course which included one ring-in from the front desk and Bob, who Chrispy managed to forget about in the juggling of groups to fit in the matchplay pairs and extras.  At least it explained the extra five dollars that appeared to be in the count when SOS collected the monies. The weather bureau keeps making noises about rain and showers but very little seems to make the ground and today was no exception with calm and overcast making for pleasant playing conditions.

Brent joined us again today and put in his third card and so he now qualifies for competition starting with a handicap of 20.  Joe Wagenecht, a soft sounding mid-western Yank from Chicago (Oliver Gross territory) also joined us for the first time today.  He had to put up with Gordon and Brendon but he seemed to enjoy himself despite that and came in not too far away from his GL adjusted Club handicap.  As seems to be the case quite often (except for ChrisV of course) new members seem to score on the Nearest the Pin competitions.  So, it is perhaps no surprise that Brent scored the ProPin on the 12th with a 2.16m putt for his birdie (that he didn’t get) and Joe gets himself a ball from the BallPin on the 18th.  While on the topic of birdies, we only managed to report 9 today which is a bit on the low side.  Pull your socks up chaps if we are ever going to dislodge Brendon from the top of the Eclectic Table.

As it turned out, the conditions suited the Beast and he surged in the home straight from the middle of the field to take the trophy with a combined total of 72 points.  The group in front had a fair idea that Bill was doing OK with his ball being in front of the drives and/or first on the green.  As well as the 16 points in the main Championship, Bill also scored the double points in the Seniors so a very successful day all round.  The round of the day, however, went to Gordon who, on the face of it was ‘out of the running’ in the chef’s group. But, 39 points was enough to put him up into second on 69 points and the scuttle-butt has it that if he hadn’t tripped at the 18th he could have snatched a tie or even a win.  Gordon also collects a swatch of Seniors points.

Now, you might be wondering why the next placings don’t agree with the announcements at the presentations.  Well, you can blame Harry for that, firstly for adding up Chrispy’s scores incorrectly and secondly for a points error on Simon’s card.  Ah well, nobody’s perfect.  So, despite Mehmet’s horror day, he managed to get himself into third place alongside Chris and pushed himself a few slots up the Championship table and maybe he can catch the leader without an actual win on the board.  Chris had his first round with his new driver and if his shot from the first is any guide, it could be a good thing.  He used an orange ball, in line with his current policy, despite being presented with  a B51 by Gordon before the round.  Make of that what you will.

Anyhow, Simon kept his fourth spot despite the one less stableford point and Harry and Ryan moved up one spot to collect a few more championship points than might have been the case.  Both Simon and Harry left a few out there on the course with quite a number of putts refusing to fall into the hole.  And, in what will be a surprise for them when the read this, Brendon and Noodles will get a couple of points apiece from their promotion into 5th spot.

There was only one report of a draughtie today and that was from Harry who skulled it off the 3rd tee and  rued the all-clutching turf that stopped the ball just shy of the red markers.  On the other hand, SOS managed to put his drive from the 17th onto the green with a good chance to clean out the Eagles Nest.  Unfortunately, it was not to be and a simple par was the ultimate result.  ChrisV also took on the green at the 17th and in the process nearly took out one of the players in the group in front.  No harm done, but do take care on that one chaps.  One of the flag pins probably has a serious bend in it after Bob collected it dead centre and bent it almost double.  The ball fell dead to the green but if it hadn’t been for the flag, it would have been a long chip back.

CraigC looked as if he was going to tear up the course on the front nine but he settled back to the pack on the back and played neatly to his handicap, which is always a good thing.  Joe played well to the green but he had a bit of a tough time of it on the green.  So, if he can get his flat stick working, then you might soon see him on the podium.  Rob managed to put two balls into the hazard on the 8th and decided that he was at least going to have a look for them.  He came out of the hazard with eight.  Not a bad return.  Ed’s tee-shot into the creepers from the 4th could have had a similar dividend if the search had continued for much longer which caused one of the searchers to comment that if proved that a lot of other people played s**t golf as well.

There were two Matches contested today.  ChrisV and Mal did battle in the first and, although the score-line looks a bit dire at 5 and 4 to Chris, it seems that it was lost with the putter more than anything else as Mal kept missing them when they counted.  In the other battle royal, Eddie and Simon locked horns and took it pretty much in turn to win (or lose depending on your perspective).  The match went dormie at the 14th and Simon needed to win the rest to make it square.  He won two but could only manage to square the 17th and so Ed was victorious 2 and 1.  There are still a lot of matches to be played or otherwise determined next week.  Just because you are on the bottom of the match pairing doesn’t mean that you can’t have been badgering your opponent to play.  Some Round 2 matches are known and they can now be played at any time between now and the 5th May.  Get on with it.

The Birthday Birdie will be fluttering around next Saturday to shower wishes upon Simon and if he is lucky, the Golf Gods might shine on him as well.  Simon has been doing some work on the Club shirt front (as distinct from the shirt-front) and had some samples on show today.  They appear to be good quality and quite reasonably priced.  White, blue and black were on show and a straw poll suggests that white could be the preferred colour.  There was also some discussion as to whether to revert to the old helmet logo.  If you would like to have some input on the matter just get in contact with Simon.

There was the usual bar-b-que after the round with a wide range of sausages and patties expertly cooked by Brendon and Gordo.  The pack of chili sausages must have had all the chili in one sausage as it was reported that Laurie almost ‘exploded’ when he bit into his.  Damo and Harry on the other hand reckoned the makers should be had up for false labelling with no detectable chili.  Either that or Brendon forgot where they were on the hot-plate.  Who-ever’s dog got the left-overs might have a tail to tell.

Results for Saturday, 26 March 2016
1st Bill Eastoe(35, 37, 72) 2nd Gordon Hill(30, 39, 69) 3rd Mehmet Akdag(41, 26, 67) 3rd Chris Priems(33, 34, 67) 4th Ryan Porker(39, 27, 66) 4th Simon Powell(35, 31, 66) 4th Harry Boughen(35, 31, 66) 5th Stephen Butterfield(33, 29, 62) 5th Brendon Mitchell(26, 36, 62)

Seniors Results: 1st Bill Eastoe (35, 37, 72) 2nd Gordon Hill (30, 39, 69) 3rd Harry Boughen (35, 31, 66) 3rd Simon Powell (35, 31, 66)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Brent Rowley BallPin 18th Joe Wagenecht

The equinox is nigh and it seems as if the autumn break has arrived.  A goodly drop of rain in the last day and a brisk southerly bringing in the occasional shower this morning and keeping the temperature down so that people were glad to don their wet weather gear to keep warm as well as to keep dry.  The hardy souls with shorts and no rain pants just had to grin and bear it.  Despite the inclemency, nineteen members managed to get here on time although Rodger was cutting it a bit fine after stopping for breakfast on the way.  He’d been written in and then written out (but not off) with space in the last group for him and any other stragglers.  A later start next week might even allow the Lodger to have breakfast and get here on time.

So, did the rain affect the outcome of the days endeavours?  It doesn’t seem so by the look of the scorecard that Mehm managed to persuade somebody to fill out for him.  After being told last week that he would have to pull his socks up if he wanted to feature at the end of the year, that is exactly what he did and racked up a total of 41 points as a result.  Regardless of whether he manages to keep it up and wins the event, the handicapper is going to come calling after that one.  Mehmet’s marker and partner in crime, Ryan, only managed to come up with 39 points to sit comfortably in second place and with every chance to overtake Mehm before the event is finished.

Just a couple of points further back is Rob who could easily have been the front runner had it not been for three holes for which he did not get a point.  The last tee group should make for some interesting competition next week as these three slug it out.

Thirty-five points was a pretty popular score but it does leave a bit of work to do next week to catch the leaders.  Those with their work cut out include JohnQ, Simon, Harry and the Beast.  Just a point behind, and capable of anything, are Bobbie, Blighty and Whitey.

Only one Matchplay match today between Noodles and Harry.  Harry had a pretty good front nine and briefly got to 3 up and started the back 2 up.  Some errant shot making on the odd holes gave Noodles a sniff and after the 16th the match was dormie 2.  A win for Noods on the 17th raised the spectre of the match finishing square with a chip-off decider but Harry’s win on the 18th gave him the match 2 up.  There are still a lot of matches to be played in the first round and only two more Saturdays left.  Get on to your opponent and arrange a match or arrange a result.  There is no extra time.  Those that know their opponent for round 2 can play any time they like from now on.

The BallPin was on the 15th and it looked as if the Beast was going to collect himself another ball.  But, it was not to be, Last Group Gordon came along and put his name on the ticket.  I guess that would have to be what you call pay-back for Bill’s effort last week.  The ProPin was on the 18th and for a while it looked as if it was going to go begging but then along came Ryan who put it close enough to get his name on the ticket and close enough to win the dosh.  He didn’t manage the birdie, however, and the whole group could only come up with 13.  There will be a few moves on the Eclectic Table after today but you won’t see them till next week.  Simon was one that managed to improve today and he puts it firmly down to the new set of artillery that is filling his new bag alongside the driver and fairway woods that he acquired a while back.  Reckons he will have to put off his retirement, though, as a result.  Must be the season or something because Chrispresident is also lining up to be fitted for new hardware.  Not as speccy as Simon’s by all accounts.

At one stage during the round, Noodles was heard to tell Harry to keep his pants on.  Now that would have be the pot calling the kettle black!  In other action on the course, Chrispresident reportedly had an airie on the 11th and after a couple more duffs he picked up less than half way down the fairway.  This seemed to set the tone for the rest of the nine with a fairly serious oil-slick following him around.  In a similar vein, Bob had a draughtie on the 7th and Harry went close to the same outcome on a couple of holes with only a metre or two in it.

Blighty managed to tee his ball up between the red markers and was only saved by the good graces of his partners pointing out the error of his ways.  That really would have rubbed salt into the wounds that resulted from several journeys out of bounds as well including one on the 15th that required a trudge back to the tee.  Rodger was feeling pretty pleased with himself to be just off the green for two on the 14th but a chip and four putts soon deflated that balloon.  Not to be out-done, JohnQ put his tee-shot on the 18th green and then managed 5 putts to register no score.  That could have been expensive had JQ been playing next week.

The rain was tapering off when Gordon got to the 9th green and he put his (open) umbrella down while the group went about their business on the green.  Just as they finished putting, a bit of a buster arrived and the umbrella took off with Gordo and Rodger (in the cart) in hot pursuit.  They finally managed to crash-tackle the escapee in the middle of the 17th.

So, despite the on again – off again showers during the first half of the round, a good time was had by all.  The relative closeness of the scores means that there will be some fierce competition next week as they strive to get their name on this prestigious trophy (and the double points of course).  There will be the usual bar-b-que after the round which will be a good opportunity to reminisce by those who knew Stuart and to admire one anothers loud/Hawaiian shirts that we always wear in remembrance of his exquisite dress sense.  Even if you didn’t play today, everybody is welcome, but try to let us know so that we can be sure that the catering is adequate.

Results for Saturday, 19 March 2016
Leaderboard Round 1 1st Mehmet Akdag(41) 2nd Ryan Porker(39) 3rd Robert Priems(37) 4th Harry Boughen(35) 4th Bill Eastoe(35) 4th Simon Powell(35) 4th John Quinlan(35) 5th Andrew Blight(34) 5th Bob McDonald(34) 5th Rodney White(34)

Seniors Leaderboard

1st Harry Boughen(35) 1st Bill Eastoe(35) 1st Simon Powell(35) 2nd Bob McDonald(34) 2nd Andrew Blight(34) 3rd Rodger Clarke(33)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 18th Ryan Porker BallPin 15th Gordon Hill