Category Archives: Club News

While some people went for the Tattoo (the non-ink variety), 15 members and Brent turned out to pit their wits against the wiles of the ground staff at Ivanhoe.  There were no reports of skull-duggery with the placement of tees or pins and it sounds as if the course was playing easily.  This observation was supported by the number of birdies carded with a total of 15 making an average of one per member.  Not every member got one of course, mainly because Brendon snagged four of them on his way to a personal best score of 70 off the stick and a very handy 43 points of the Stableford variety.  This win has vaulted him to the lead in the Championship table and also in the Eclectic Table thanks to the string of freshly birdied holes.

Pepsi had better get back on his pins soon as the plethora of score improvements this week has really rearranged the field and it is now hard to see how it might all shake out as the year progresses.  While on the topic of injuries, Michael has advised that a medical condition has put him out of circulation for six to eight weeks and we all wish him a speedy and complete recovery with a bigger and better return to form later in the year.  It does mean that Michael will be a scratching from the Matchplay field which is a handy reminder for any other members who might wish to qualify by playing between now and the end of the month or who wish to scratch themselves for any reason (by using the on-line registration form).

Mehmet obviously paid heed to last week’s advise and kept his feet on the ground (maybe) to gather enough points to come in in second place with 41 on a card that had some potential to have been better and right up there with the top place-getter.  He was joined by CraigC on the number 2 podium step.  Craig also fairly blistered the course on the front nine but leaked just a smidgen of oil on the run home.  Still, it did get Craig the top spot in the Seniors group and he now has some runs on the board in this event.

Steve was a bit off the pace in third place but a couple of empty blocks on the card could have made all the difference if they had been filled in a similar manner to the rest.  Further back again were a trio of members with 34 points and doing no harm to their handicap in Blighty, Bob and Chrispy.   This might surprise some who were at the after game announcements but some arithmetic and transcription errors on at least two cards contributed to a slight rearrangement to the order of things.  Try to be careful and accurate chaps.

Last, but not least, to mount the podium for 5th spot was none other than Mal who is keeping up his good form despite a hammering from the handicapper and gathered a point to keep his lead in the Seniors.  As for the rest, let’s just say that they all weren’t too far away.

The BallPin was on the 12th and the lucky golfer to collect was Craig.  There can’t have been too many contenders because Craig was obviously a long way from the hole, otherwise why would he have taken another three strokes to put it in?  The ProPin was on the 18th and John was able to get his within the requisite 5m distance from the hole which would probably have gone some way to making it a better day for John.

The Birthday Birdie is a bit ahead of time this week but it won’t do any harm to give everybody a chance to wish Noodles  a happy one next week.

Brent put in his second card this week and might have made a better fist of his short game by putting in a better card than he did last time with the reports on his long game prowess.  One more card and he will be able to chance his arm against the rest of the Club in real competition.

Results for Saturday, 13 February 2016
1st Brendon Mitchell(43) 2nd Mehmet Akdag(41) 2nd Craig Cameron(41) 3rd Stephen Kelly(37) 4th Andrew Blight(34) 4th Bob McDonald(34) 4th Chris Priems(34) 5th Malcolm Fleming(33)

Seniors Results: 1st Craig Cameron (41) 2nd Andrew Blight (34) 2nd Bob McDonald (34) 3rd Malcolm Fleming (33)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 18th John Quinlan BallPin 12th Craig Cameron

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Twenty four people came out today and most of them seemed intent on reminding Mal about how many strokes he had lost after last weeks effort.  But was Mal fazed by all of the attention.  Well that remains to be seen.  Another really nice Melbourne summer day with the temperature creeping up into the low thirties and with just the slightest of breezes to take the bite out of it.  There were actually only twenty three members as Zimmer had brought along his mate George who is, reportedly, only a new-comer to the game but who also, reportedly, drove the 14th.  So the score on his first card might not stand for too long.  Anyway, welcome along George and we look forward to seeing you on the tee from now on.

With the fairly benign weather conditions and the course still having a fair bit of run on the fairways that are struggling to green up from the drink that they have had over the last couple of weeks, it might have been anticipated that there would some good scores to be had.  In the event, there was only one person who broke his handicap and this was our almost new-comer, Les,  who seemed to have relished the conditions and took out the Monthly Medal by a margin of two strokes with his 80 nett 67.  Now you know why we dock your GA Daily Handicap when you join the Club.  Well done Les.

Simon was all concerned about losing a stroke for winning and he and Bob sweated out the agonies of being Club House Leader while waiting for the last groups to come in.  So much so that he had Targe working out the count-back to see whether he or Bob had won the Medal.  Hate to tell you this Simon, but it wouldn’t have mattered, ties for first place all lose the stroke regardless of the count-back result.  Simon was also bemoaning fact that the 13th was doubly unlucky for him after he carefully put his tee shot into the hazard, took the penalty and carefully put the next shot right back into the same hazard.  So, three seniors filling the first two places means that Simon is creeping up on Gordon in that race with the aim of beating him at the end of the year.

SOS is wearing a red mark that looks suspiciously like a love-bite on his left shoulder-blade but he assures us, and hopes that Colleen believes him, that it was caused by a hit from a ball struck by Steve who sliced it around some trees into the group standing on the next tee.  Despite his run-in with the law, SOS apparently read the riot act,  Steve came home with a nett 70 to gather third place by himself.

Just a single stroke behind came a group of three players, Mehmet, Mal and Brendon with 71 nett.  So, Mal proved that last week was not just a flash in the pan and if it wasn’t for a couple of errant shots he could easily have played to the new mark.  More points today keeps Mal at the top of both tables.  Mehmet seems to be sticking to his resolution not to win an event again this year.  Although he is currently in fifth place, he does have a bit of catching up do do and some seconds would help bridge the gap.  Brendon started off looking as if he was going to be the one to beat by starting out par, birdie but then he leaked some oil for a while until the gasket took up a bit and he came home with a bit of a flurry.

Craig, Targe and Rob filled the last podium position and early taws it looked as if they might have to make room for Chrispy as well.  But, Chris had put his inside card in with us and vice versa so there was a bit of a scramble to rectify the situation.  Wouldn’t want to the DQ’d again, hey Chris?

The BallPin hole was the 15th and several groups went through without worrying to use the marker.  The eventual winner was Steve who almost had to duck when the ball was handed out by SOS.  Wonder why that would be?  It obviously wasn’t close enough for Steve to get the birdie but there were 15 other occasions when birdies were recorded today.  There was also an eagle on the 6th.  Now, today was the Monthly Medal and the competition tees were off the black (white) and the 6th tee markers were about as far back as they could go.  Half of the area was a bunker and the other half had shrubbery so close that it interfered with your back-swing.  Probably not a strictly legal placement but be that as it may.  Despite all this, Michael managed to cream his drive and followed up by creaming his fairway wood to finish through the green on the fringe and then chipped putted it in to collect the two balls on offer from the nest.  Definitely no ball shortage for Michael now.

So, with the spate of birdies and general improvements in tallies, there has been a change of leadership in the Eclectic table and the field has really bunched up with quite a few players within a stroke or two of the lead.  Ryan is the man with his nose in front at the moment.

The ProPin was contested on the 12th and that green seemed to be difficult to get upon as well.  Sure the tee was right back but it’s still only about 120m.  But at the end of the day ChrisV managed to finish 1.79m from the hole and also contributed to the tally of birdies in the process.  According to Chris, today was the first time that he has collected a ProPin since joining the Club.  There you go, Chris, everything comes to he who waits.

Ryan was dressed for the warm weather today and sported a pair of shorts that wouldn’t have been out of place on the Surf Coast and could easily have been purchased at Savers.  The Beast is back from his holiday and had every intention of improving his Eclectic score even if he wasn’t eligible to take home the Medal.  As it turned out, the holiday didn’t really set his game on fire and he didn’t improve his Eclectic but he did make one fairly spectacular save on the 8th.  His second shot looked to be leaving the playing area at some speed and heading for the other side of the billabong on the right when it hit a tree dead centre and bounced back into play.  Bill was seen to be reaching for his provisional before the surprise at the result almost knocked him off his feet.

Fairly early in the piece, John was on record as ‘not really wanting to be here’.  Typical of his woes was a shot from the bunker on the 10th.  John opted not to shift the rake from where it lay in the bunker and wouldn’t you know it but the ball hit the rake and finished up who knows where.  John’s shoulders were almost dragging on the ground as he trudged out of the sand.  Might not have even raked the bunker!  Rob also had his moments and, as a result of his tee shot on the 8th, he had to dip into his hip pocket to honour the draughtie that resulted.  Plus he almost took out John in the process.

Chrispy had a visit from that friendly lady, Mrs Shanks, today but he wasn’t able to blame it on Snag’s clubs because he was using his own.  Maybe they were getting back at him for abandoning them last week.

The Birthday Birdie was a bit remiss last week in not sending a wish to Les, who obviously came out to give himself a present today.  And the Birdie is going to be worn out this week getting around to drop wishes off the Ken, Bob and Brent who all share the same day.  What are the chances?  Quite high actually.

Subscriptions are due and the Treasurer is making a list of those who haven’t paid up yet.  Before next week would be good and non-financial members will not be eligible for the Matchplay Championship which starts at next month’s Medal round.

The AGM will also be held on March Medal day.  All Committee positions will be spilled and up for grabs.  So, if you want your Club to be better run, get in and nominate for the positions that take your fancy.  The Nomination form can be downloaded from the web-site in the side panel under Forms.  If you aren’t sure of the positions available, have a look at the Committee list, also on the web-site or ask one of the Committee.

Results for Saturday, 06 February 2016
1st Les Kitchin(67) 2nd Bob McDonald(69) 2nd Simon Powell(69) 3rd Stephen Kelly(70) 4th Mehmet Akdag(71) 4th Malcolm Fleming(71) 4th Brendon Mitchell(71) 5th Craig Cameron(72) 5th Targe Mifsud(72) 5th Robert Priems(72)

Seniors Results: 1st Les Kitchin (67) 2nd Bob McDonald (69) 2nd Simon Powell (69) 3rd Malcolm Fleming (71)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Chris Vinecombe BallPin 15th Stephen Kelly

Eagle’s nest Results: Eagle 6th Michael Gourlay

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Twenty players turned out today to support the Michael Gourlay Benefit event.  The fairways are looking greener already after the rain in the last few days though there are still a few dry weather lies to be had around the course.  The temperature was cool to start and there was a bit of mist along the rivers before the sun came up.  When it did get up and come out, it didn’t take long for the temperature to rise and the extra layers of clothing to be stripped away.  All in all, another great day to be out and about on the golf course.

The conditions obviously suited Mal who fairly played out of his skin today and he even went close to playing under his age.  He would have done it too if it hadn’t been for a triple bogie on the second.  So his +8, from an 84 off the stick, smoked the rest of the field and caused some to ask what he had been smoking.  This result scored him the points to snatch the lead in both sides of the Championship tables.  There’s definitely life in the old fella yet.

Michael got off to a shaky (or should that be shanky) start on the first and made the observation that it took a few holes for his shoulders to loosen up enough the swing the club properly.  It really only took two holes to shake out the cobwebs and he put together a string of pars and birdies that brought him home with a par round (68) and a +2 on the points line to score him second place.  Just imagine what he might be able to do when the shoulders are fully recovered.

Chrispy spent the whole day agonising over whether just to buy the same club set-up as the set that he has borrowed from Snags to try out before he buys his own.  Will he have a proper fitting, does he need the ‘toe up’ lie that Snags has,  will he get the Big Bertha or the Great Big Bertha.  So many questions, so few answers.  Regardless of what the answer ends up being, the day out with a borrowed set didn’t work out too badly and Chrispy came home in third place with a +1 on the card.

Brendon got into holts with the trees on the left of the 4th and finished in the hazard and the shot from there went close to being OOB.  A half baked chip raised visions of a negative result on the hole but he got so excited when he chipped in for a square that he completely didn’t notice that the 4th was the BallPin hole  and spent the rest of the round looking out for the marker (sort of like others and the ProPin marker, but more of that later).  And so, the mix of stray shots and brilliance continued to produce a square card at the end of the day.  Brendon was joined on that score by Harry who looked to be heading for a much better result before fading a bit on the back with some less than accurate putting being the main cause of angst.

Then came a swag of players, almost too numerous to mention with a score of -1 to fill the final points spot for the day.  Mehmet, Steve, Bob, Pepsi, SOS and ChrisV formed the happy band who collected a point apiece for their trouble.  Steve needs to get into the habit of checking his handicap on the sheet provided as it does change from time to time and he could easily have missed out.  Just imagine the agony of missing the Championship by a point if the cards had been accepted at face value.

Blighty apparently had a shocker today.  He was tasked with putting out the nearest the pin markers on the 4th for the BallPin and the 12th for the ProPin.  He managed the BallPin OK but the ProPin wasn’t remembered until the death-knock at the 18th.  As well as that, he sat down somewhere right where a bird had left a deposit and, to add insult to injury, he also managed to drop the dimmy that he had purchased at great expense at half time.  When the nearest the pin holes were announced before the round, Michael declared that he had to win the BallPin because he was running short of balls.  Guess who’s name was on the card for the BallPin, Michael.  Guess who’s name was on the (Jackpot) ProPin on the (eventual) 18th, Michael.  So, between the ball run, the BallPin and the ProPin, Michael should be able to be well supplied with balls for some time to come.

There was a fair swag of birdies today with a total of 13 all up.  Only one of those were down to Pepsi who didn’t improve his Eclectic today and the gap has closed a little with quite a bunch of players within a couple of strokes.  The changed handicap calculation could easily make this event a lot more interesting as the year progresses.

Rod was taking the opportunity to give his putter a rest today with a couple of chips-in though one should probably be classified as a pitch-in as it was from at least 30m out from the green.  Steve played in the group with Rod and Gordon and submitted a request to play with them every week on account of the free issue of cream caramels and liquorice during the round.

The Bingo Barrel was used to good effect to make the draw for groups today and pretty much removed the thought that the system of randomisation could be somehow ‘fixed’.  Except of course that the tee marshall only realised almost at the end that his ball wasn’t in the barrel.  Chris reckons that he will have to lose weight in his fingers so that he can pick up the rather small balls without fumbling so much.  A couple of more tweaks in the ball management area should have the system working flawlessly.  The plan is that the draw will be done every second week except for the second week of majors when the leader board will determine playing order.

The Matchplay Championship is coming up and the Rules for this year are now on the Rules page.  Basically, everybody that has played at least one round since the start of December last year as of the last round in February will be seeded using their most recent three gross scores (calculated for Par and Stableford Competitions). The Competition draw will be filled based on that seeding order.  Anybody who doesn’t want to be included in the seeding should advise by using the Matchplay Registration Form on the website before 27 Feb (and the sooner the better).

We have now paid the dues to the VGL for our membership for this year and the Club coffers have been severely depleted as a result.  So, could those who have not yet paid their subs (GolfLink and Club) please do so as soon as possible or in a week or two we will start naming and shaming.

Gordon has obtained a set of variations to the Rules of Golf that he would like to see accepted for the Seniors in the Club (and maybe the not so seniors).  The list is rather long so they will be used from time to time as a filler (along with some real Rules of Golf determinations).

Rule 1.a.5: A ball sliced or hooked into the rough shall be lifted and placed on the fairway at a point equal to the distance it carried or rolled into the rough with no penalty.  The senior should not be penalised for tall grass which ground keepers fail to mow.

Rule 2.d.6 (B): A ball hitting a tree shall be deemed not to have hit the tree.  This is simply bad luck and luck has no place in a scientific game.  The senior player must estimate the distance the ball would have travelled if it had not hit the tree and play the ball from there.

Now from the real world.  Ball strikes edge of hole-liner and bounces out of hole. 

Q: A player’s ball struck the rim of a hole-liner which had not been sunk deep enough, and bounced out of the hole.  Should the ball be considered holed in such circumstances.

A: No. Under the Definition of ‘Holed’, the ball must be at rest within the circumference of the hole.

Results for Saturday, 30 January 2016
1st Malcolm Fleming(+8) 2nd Michael Gourlay(+2) 3rd Chris Priems(+1) 4th Harry Boughen(□) 4th Brendon Mitchell(□) 5th Mehmet Akdag(-1) 5th Stephen Kelly(-1) 5th Bob McDonald(-1) 5th Andrew Petricola(-1) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan(-1) 5th Chris Vinecombe(-1)

Seniors Results: 1st Malcolm Fleming (+8) 2nd Harry Boughen (□) 3rd Bob McDonald (-1)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 18th Michael Gourlay BallPin 4th Michael Gourlay

The rain gods did visit during the week but the libation that they delivered was not all that generous and though the grass on some of the fairways did look a little fresher for the experience, there was still plenty of run to be had.  Fifteen members and two guests had not taken the extra day to get away for a long long weekend and turned up to try their skills against the wiles of the course architects at Ivanhoe.  There would have been at least one more on the tees if SOS hadn’t lead himself astray last night and got lumbered with baby-sitting duties for his sins.  Still he did make it to carry out his escort duty for the coffers.

We welcomed Les Kitchin who is a bit of a regular at Ivanhoe and who is going to join us on a regular basis on Saturday mornings.  Also along today was Brent Rowley, who just happens to be Chrispy’s son-in-law and who might very well join us when he moves a little closer to town from his current digs.  Having Brent along obviously distracted Chrispy as he plodded his GA daily handicap on his card but it was scored according to his Club handicap.  Anyhow, a big welcome to Les and Brent and we look forward to seeing them round and about.

Although the course was unaffected by the rain, the scoring today was not all that fantastic, with only one member breaking their handicap.  Perhaps it was the effect of the heavy mist/showers that had people going – umbrella up, umbrella down, jacket on, jacket off and so forth.  Reminded one a bit of Mr Miyagi in the Karate Kid – wax on, wax off.  And, the one to break his handicap today was none other than ChrisV who karated his way to a grand total of 37 points and he seemed pretty pleased by the size of the thumbs up that he gave himself.

Rob had a bit of a day of it and, despite complaining about the size of his handicap before the round, managed to play exactly to it and so picks up a bunch of points with no other damage.  While it is a while since Rob has played on a really regular basis, he was given a task today to pick up the markers from the BallPin and the ProPin holes, which just happened to be the same holes as the ProPin comps for the inside competition players.  So, what does Rob do but pick up the inside markers as well.  It is unclear how many following players might have missed out on a trophy as a result but, if anyone did and they find out – watch out Rob.

A bit of a bunch followed in third place with Gordon, Steve and Bob coming in with 35 points.  Bob reckons he should have done a lot better after playing so badly (in his opinion).  Then again, doesn’t just about everybody reckon if only they had sunk that putt etc etc.  Bob did chip in on the 18th for his par and, judging from the commentary around the tables there were quite a swag of chips-in (or should that be chip-ins) to be had today.  Ed put his drive from the 17th out past the 18th tee, pitched over the fence and then chipped it in for the birdie.  And while on the subject of birdies, we managed to produce a total of ten today which you would have to say is fair to middling.  The poor old Eagle was ruffling her feathers when rumours started circulating that Ryan had managed to get his ball from the 14th tee and into the hole with just two shots.  Which was true enough, the only problem was that he had carefully placed two others out of bounds and was actually hitting five off the tee and had to settle for his six.

Michael had to rush off to do his RSPCA duties and there were no reports on how the shoulder(s) are coming along but things can’t be too bad when he can put together 34 points to gather 4th spot on his ownsome.  Simon will be relieved to know that Michael is not yet a member of the Seniors and so Simon’s 33 points got him the points in both the main Championship and an extra one in the Seniors.

In those events, the lead generated by the double points for the Vin O’Meara are being whittled away and there could soon be some changes at the top.  There were quite a few moves on the Eclectic today but from now on, for most, it will be a slow grind to try to wear down the lead that Pepsi has in the event at the moment.  For the less birdie and eagle conscious among you, the par holes now have a colour of their own.

The BallPin on the 4th was collected by Gordon who edged out somebody else who edged out somebody else who put the marker out on the green but did not write their name on the ticket.  Still, it didn’t matter as, in the event, they wouldn’t have won it anyway.  The ProPin was on the 18th and, despite some valiant efforts, nobody managed to get on or within the required distance and so there will be a Jackpot to next week.  That should take some of the pain out of another Par round.

In other news, DennisW reckoned it was a beautiful walk that was somewhat spoiled by the presence of a little white ball.  Reports also have it that Dennis has a new club in his bag but there are some doubts as to whether it is actually any younger than the rest of the set.  Chrispy also had a new club in his bag today and it seems that the wished for new set is inching inexorably closer.  He has to clear it with Carolyn but he thinks that he really needs a stiffer shaft.  Draw your own conclusions about that!

Simon tried to repeat his return to home base shot from last week on the 11th but the rebound only made it back to the blue tee side of the reds which, unfortunately does count as a draughtie.  Rob also had a draughtie on the 4th which pleased Chrispy and the rest of the group no end.  Chrispy also reckons his tree luck has run out with every hit finishing in or under rather than in the middle of the fairway as it usually does.

The Birthday Birdie has just fluttered around with a big birthday wish for Keith, who we haven’t seen for a while due to a foot injury.  Have a great birthday Keith and hope you are back to full strength and with us soon.

At great expense (to somebody) we now have a Bingo barrel and this will be used next week and afterwards on alternate weeks to draw the groups so that the socialising gets spread around a bit more.  There will be spaces available in the first group on request for anybody who has to get away.  When the Matchplay starts, those playing a match will be grouped together provided that notice is given of the intent to play (ie to the tee marshall on registering).  Speaking of Matchplay, just a reminder that seeding will be done on the most recent three cards (gross) scores as of last round in February.  So, still time to get three counters in before then but you will have to hurry.  If you absolutely do not want to be in the event or feel that known absences will interfere with your ability to compete please use the Matchplay Registration page to make your intentions known.

On another administrative matter, there were a few errors on the cards today which required cross checking on the markers card.  The points calculations are not so bad as it is up to the Committee (read Handicapper) to check these but when the strokes are incorrect, according to the Rules of Golf, there should be a penalty.  So please check your hole by hole scores and not just the totals as it seems that in some cases, totals were adjusted which then did not correspond with the recorded hole by hole scores.  According to the Rules of Golf, if you sign for a score higher than actually taken, that score will stand.  If you sign for a score lower than actually taken, then the player is disqualified.  If the Club applied the Rules, then one of our leading players today would have been disqualified.  Most members have received the latest Rules of Golf and it would pay to remind yourself of this rule (and many others).  If you haven’t received your book, let the Handicapper know as we have a plentiful supply.

Results for Saturday, 23 January 2016
1st Chris Vinecombe(37) 2nd Robert Priems(36) 3rd Gordon Hill(35) 3rd Stephen Kelly(35) 3rd Bob McDonald(35) 4th Michael Gourlay(34) 5th Simon Powell(33)

Seniors Results: 1st Bob McDonald (35) 1st Gordon Hill (35) 2nd Simon Powell (33) 3rd Trevor Jackson (32)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 18th Jackpot BallPin 4th Gordon Hill