Category Archives: Club News

Another great roll-up today.  Maybe it is the warmer weather or maybe people are just trying to suss out the form for the Vin O’Meara or maybe the close finishes in the championships have created a new interest.  Whatever the reason it is great to see the tee times full and if a few more of our sick and injured make it back we might need to plead for extra space – which would be good – a sign that the Club is kicking along.  The course continues to be maintained in close to the pink of condition and it was pretty darned good today except maybe for some casual water in front of the 6th green.  At least we didn’t need our raincoats as the sprinklers had been turned off (more or less) by the time that we got there.

Well, just as some were beginning to think that the young Turk, Zimmer, was showing signs of slipping a bit he puts one together and picks up the top points with the greatest of ease though there was one hole that showed signs of being into double figures.  That is what comes from playing a par and a stroke event in combination – no option to pick up.  This will do wonders for what the punters are prepared to pay next week though they will have to take into account the handicap adjustment that goes with it.  Right along-side, in the field as well as in the result was the other half of the terrible twosome, Stefan.  And they marked each others cards.  The saving grace is that they were playing with Michael and Snags and it might have been the incentive to try to better Michael that lifted their game.  Well done, B1 and B2 – and no the B doesn’t stand for Butthead.

Michael also had a pretty reasonable round and came in with a +1 to share third spot with Harry.  Both had their chances in the main comp with a number of putts just missing the mark.  But the real story was from the Yellow Ball Team consisting of Michael, Snags, Zim and Stef.  They were going gangbusters and had managed to be seven up after thirteen holes.  A ‘safe’ shot by Stef from the 14th into the fairway on the 16th didn’t look as if it would pose a problem.  However, the ball was nowhere to be found despite strong suspicions that it had been souvenired by players on the other fairway – who incidentally denied all knowledge.  Maybe it was just karma as a pay-back for Snag’s shot on the 13th that was heading so far out of bounds that it looked like going into orbit when it hit the No Trespassing sign and ricochetted back into play.

A nice little group of three came in square with the card so CraigC, Oliver and Pepsi have done their handicap no harm and Oliver picked up a couple of valuable points in his chase for the Championship.  It must be the different shape of the earth down here compared to Sydney as Pepsi is still ‘spraying’ them a bit – relatively speaking.  Craig has become quite a regular in the winners list and could be one to watch for the Calcutta and the Vin O’Meara.  Last cab off the rank was Chrispy who also picked up a valuable point to remain in the group of four who have a chance to win or tie the Championship Table.  Should make for an interesting round next week which will be the December Monthly Medal and also the first round of the Club Stroke Play Championship.

The Seniors Championship also has a bit of life left in it with three of the old codgers with a chance to win or tie and given that they are also contenders for the Club Championship, the Leader Board will take care of that grouping as well.

Not a great number of birdies around today considering the number of players in the field and almost the only change to the Eclectic were down to the newer players in the Club.  But there is still some interest in the result and a couple of strategically placed birdies or eagles next week could make all the difference.  The dash has been left a bit late for handicap movements to help out.

The Nearest the Pin for a ball on the 12th went to Michael and rumour has it that he had his name on the inside ProPin on the 4th as well.  Our ProPin on the 18th was taken out by Stefan who seems to have had a pretty good day of it.

Today we welcomed along for his first card round Paul Rowland and according to all reports he enjoyed himself.  He was in a group with Blighty who went to great lengths to convince them all that today was actually the December Monthly Medal and a stroke round.  So there was a mad scramble to work out the Par scores after they were told in no uncertain terms by Snags what the real situation was.

Brendon’s Dad, Dave, was along again today and provided one of the more amusing shots of the day.  The ball was quite deeply buried in long grass on the river side on the 17th green and Dave fairly bravely opted to play it out.  Lo and behold when he struck the ball, two balls emerged from the rough.  It seems that there was a second ball buried even deeper in the long grass right next to his that he hadn’t seen.  That would be one for the Rules fanatics!  Quite probably, Dave didn’t want to be out-done by Brendon who managed to put one close to the 4th green – from the 8th tee.  Not a shot that you would see too often.  He had a bit of trouble getting the distance to the flag with his laser ranger from there.

Not sure if Chrispy found his ball on the 14th as there were some reports that it was deep in tiger country on the slope down from the tee boxes.  Maybe that is why he tried to steal the Beast’s beer from under his nose after the round.

On the subject of Rules, there has been some discussion recently about the rules for relief from (lateral – the only type that we have) water hazards.  A while back, there was a post on this topic and in the interests of providing easy access, there is now a link to this under the Rules menu at the top of the page.  It would be a good idea if everybody had a read and makes sure that they understand the application of the rules so that nobody is seen to be unfairly advantaging themselves by incorrect practice.

Don’t forget, December Monthly Medal, Bar-be-que and Calcutta Auction for the Vin O’Meara is on next week.  The order of sale will be reverse Championship Points for those that have nominated.  Scratchings and unlikely starters will not be sold.  This round, together with the two rounds of the Vin O’Meara make up the Club Stroke Play Championship that is determined by the best nett score for the three rounds off your starting handicap.  We should be back to the normal Blue tees for the Vin O’Meara.

Results for Saturday, 22 November 2014
1st Kazim Akdag(+3) 2nd Stefan Belevski(+2) 3rd Harry Boughen(+1) 3rd Michael Gourlay(+1) 4th Craig Cameron(□) 4th Oliver Gross(□) 4th Andrew Petricola(□) 5th Chris Priems(-1)

Well, how about that, a whole round played from the back tees.  And more to come over the next couple of weeks as the Course Championship plays out its course.  Sounds as if Ed might have had some input in urging the Course Management for such a move.  Perhaps he thought it might nobble a few of his pursuers in the Championship Table.  In the event it was Old McDonald (that is Bob) who showed that his performance a few weeks ago in the Fred Kitson was no flash in the pan and obviously the longer shots required suited his game.  The bare stroke under his handicap means that most of the pain comes from the winners penalty and it will be interesting to see if Bob can back up again next week and show some of the lower markers a thing or two about playing from the ‘tigers’.

The fine weather has done no harm to the condition of the course and there were favourable comments about the condition of the greens and fairways.  It seems that a few people were seeking to explore other areas of the course with a number of OOB’s, particularly on the 13th.  Some sort of Great Attractor seems to have settled up there amongst the houses with Chrispy, Snags and Trevor (twice) finding the dreaded course boundary.  It seems Snags almost found one of the actual houses.  Noodles was maybe a bit luckier in that his got caught up in the temporary fencing which allowed some much needed relief and maybe saved him from a worse fate.

The other Craig had no such problems and in his first outing with us for a few weeks managed to match his handicap for second place on his ownsome and also picked up a nice little dividend in the form of the ProPin on the 15th which stood at a very healthy $24 in line with the full complement that presented at tee time today.  Though there were a couple that were running a little late when the first tee time was imminent.  Some people just can’t get out of bed in the mornings.

Another one of the quiet achievers who has been gracing the podium a bit lately was Keith who was only a single point behind Craig and there were a couple that got away, particularly on the back nine where three misses separated Keith from a really great score.  It was also noticed that the ibises on the course were looking quite relaxed, so the trauma of a few months back seems to faded from their memory.

There was a fair cluster filling the 4th level on the podium stairs and all of them could very easily had significantly better scores.  The group included Gordon, Pepsi, SOS and Michael.  The golf gods didn’t smile on Pepsi today with a number of birdie chances just slipping by or perching on the lip of the hole.  And despite the longer course there were a reasonable number of the little feathered ones today with 12 in all.  There were some Eclectic improvements but nothing of significance in the front runners.  With only two weeks to go, time is running out to make a last minute bid for the prize but a couple of well placed birdies could make all the difference.

The last single point fell to RodG who seemed to find it hard to believe that he was left in the points table, but there you go, it’s not over till the fat lady (or at least the President) sings.

The Nearest the Pin for a ball was on the 12th and it must have been pretty hard to hit as over half the field had been through before Harry put his name on the marker and nobody managed to get inside him, so he has a ball to collect for that.

The interesting thing is that none of the front runners on the Championship Table were able to garner any points today so the status quo remains with six with a mathematical chance to taking or tying the Championship.  So, the Leader Board will prevail with the setting of most of the last two groups over the next two rounds so that they can try to sledge one another out of the running.  The Seniors is still a three horse race so there is still some interest there as well.

On the subject of racing,  the Calcutta on the Vin O’Meara will be run on the 29th after the December Monthly Medal.  There are a swag of rules associated with this and they are on the web site under the Rules tab.  So that we can set the Order of Sale and get the Form Guide in place we need to know who will be playing and who wish to be available for the Calcutta Auction.  An email will be sent out that everybody should respond to with their intentions to avoid unnecessary work and confusion on the day.

In other news from the course.

SOS was so intent on looking for somebody else’s ball that he didn’t see some course furniture and promptly tripped over it but his Academy training obviously sank in well and he executed a perfect commando roll to avoid potential injury.  There is no news as to whether he drew his weapon or was actually travelling ‘commando’ at the time.

Chrispy had a pretty bad day of it and at one stage decided (if you can decide to do something stupid) to kick his bag in disgust.  No injury to himself but it seems that the bag is a little worse for wear.  Another member, in a fit of pique, helicoptered his wedge some considerable distance after a duffed chip.

One player thankful for the ‘rub of the green’ was Oliver whose ball, a few centimetres off the green at the 4th, was struck by another players ball and knocked well onto the green in the direction of the hole.  Others benefitting from lucky chance were Michael and Keith when shots that would have been well off the green or even OOB hit the pin for a save and in at least one case the ball might even have dropped in.

Ryan blasted the ball from the tee on the 11th and went close to reaching the green.  Was he happy with the result – not really as the ball ‘came off the heel’.  Just imagine the result if he had centred it.

After the round, Craig was noticed sitting next to Mehm and was absent mindedly stroking Mehm’s knee.  It was the one that Mehm had bandaged so maybe Craig was just massaging it.  The bandage didn’t stop Mehm taking his characteristic metre long backward leap as he strikes the ball and his playing partners had to be reminded not to stand too close behind on a couple of occasions.

Results for Saturday, 15 November 2014
1st Bob McDonald(37) 2nd Craig Cameron(36) 3rd Keith Delzoppo(35) 4th Michael Gourlay(33) 4th Gordon Hill(33) 4th Andrew Petricola(33) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan(33) 5th Rod Grant(32)

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Well, Movember is upon us and it is not clear whether Mehm is being sponsored for his efforts but there were definite signs of hirsuteness about the young Turk’s chops (that’d have to be lamb of course) when he fronted up with a determined look in his eye though he did get off to a bit of a shaky start over the first few holes.  But, the head seems to have kept down pretty well after that and he emulated the Melbourne Cup winner by leading the field home by a couple of lengths (well, strokes to be precise).

It was a good day for scoring as the warm weather has dried the course out quite a bit with a bit of run to be had and the rough not quite so thick and grasping as it has been in the recent past.  The greens were fairly speedy but that doesn’t seem to have affected the ability to make birdies.  There were fourteen an all and a couple of notable ones.  One from Michael who who followed up on his Nearest the Pin effort at about a metre from the hole on the 4th and another from Trevor who swept all before him for the ProPin on the 18th with a 1.7 metre effort.

There were a few improvements in the Eclectic scores as a result and the event is still fairly open with about half a dozen within one and a half strokes so some birdies (or eagles) over the next few weeks could turn the field over itself.  On the main Club Championship, there are still half a dozen with a mathematical chance of making the top podium spot over the three weeks of competition that are left in this year’s calendar.  Mehm, of course, leapt right into calculations with today’s effort and any of the six are easily capable of making up the points.  The Seniors also still has a few permutations that could eventuate but it is really only a three horse race at this stage.  Speaking of Championships, the Course management will be running their stroke play championship over the next three weeks in the usual three grades and our Stroke Play Championship will kick off on the 29th (December MM) and run on over the two rounds of the Vin O’Meara.  So more than plenty of reasons to turn up for good fellowship and, just maybe, some good golf over the next six or so weeks leading up to our Champion of Champions, Presentations and Christmas Lunch on the 20th December.

The larger field was good to see today and there were a couple of faces that we haven’t seen for a while, including Targe and Dennis.  Let’s keep the home fires burning and with any sort of luck with a few more back from gallivanting and returning from injury and so forth we will see the whole block of tee times filled on a regular basis.

And, no, I haven’t forgotten the rest of the field.  In second place  was one of our more senior players who quietly lurks around and every so often gets one of those soft little smiles of his when he hands in a good card.  Unfortunately not quite good enough for Keith to add to his trophy cabinet but a very creditable effort and his handicap will suffer just a little as a result.  Blighty was also there or thereabouts and just a single stroke behind though it seems that there might have been a bit of Chrispy’s technique of using the trees to advantage and finishing with par where, in different circumstances, bogey (or worse) or out-of-bounds might have been in the offing.

Bob is also keeping up his run of recent form and played nicely to his handicap to snag the fourth spot alongside Michael who seems to be intent on showing that the handicap that he so recently acquired with us was no fluke by playing to it on a regular basis though there were also a couple of double bogies to belie what might have been.

And so we come to the one point brigade and quite a brigade it was.  Brendon brought along his Dad, Dave, to show him how much better the courses are in Australia than New Zealand but as a result he had to restrain himself so as not to get a clip around the ears for misbehaving.  Targe is back, not so much in golf form as back from his break at being shop-keeper and whatever else has kept him away for the last little while.  Joining them for the point was Gordon who has also been a little on again off again in recent times but who assures that he is back.

And now for the also-rans – well at least those who didn’t get a podium spot today.  Ryan was spotted looking as if he was in trouble on the 13th but it seems that it was unclear whether his first tee shot had gone into the left hand hazard so he played a provisional and again and again until he reached his original ball which had made it into the hazard.  He dropped the ball and played it out for a respectable enough bogey rather than who knows what for his provisional.  On the 16th, the group had the pin nicely surrounded with three putts of a metre or so and one maybe only half or less.  The short putt person pleaded to the golf gods for a full set of single putts and it seemed as if the golf gods were going to smile upon the group as in turn one, two, three of the longer putts fell into the hole.  Needless to say, Oliver was close to tears when the final putt rimmed the cup and didn’t fall.

We’ve booked six spots for next week so another good turn-out would be good.  Bren (Gun) Mitchell is going to bring Dad and Dave along again (only one person unfortunately) so an ideal chance to see who’s really to blame not to be missed.  Don’t forget, if you are not happy with the way the Club is being run, all Committee positions will be open for contention at the AGM and nominations are open so that you have time to prepare your campaign and arrange financing and vote rigging.  The Committee will be meeting in the next week to finalise next year’s Calendar and a few others matters relating to the end of year festivities.

Results for Saturday, 08 November 2014
1st Mehmet Akdag(64) 2nd Keith Delzoppo(66) 3rd Andrew Blight(67) 4th Michael Gourlay(68) 4th Bob McDonald(68) 5th Gordon Hill(70) 5th Targe Mifsud(70) 5th Brendon Mitchell(70)

 

 

Some people have been struck by Cup Fever, some people have been struck by Cabin Fever, and Chrispy has been struck by Gypsy Caravan Fever.  He was super impressed by the Clydesdale and the way it darted into the fray (if not the other thing) and such a good time was had by all that he had to call for fresh supplies of beer by Saturday afternoon.  There were no reports on how the suspension stood up to the strain but something must have gone well as Chris broke the news that he is getting married on 28 March next year.  Congratulations to the both of you and may the next sixteen be as fruitful and happy as the last.

Mehm and Pepsi managed to shake off the Cabin Fever when they were assured that the rain was mostly gone though it did make them rather late to the blocks.  No such problem for Ed though as he was up and at ’em with the sparrows and rather than run the risk of it being declared no contest, he headed off with some other poor unfortunates into the pouring rain.

As it turned out, the wait until the death-knock of the nominated tee times paid off and the few showers that remained, and that recurred for a little while, were more an inconvenience than a problem.  Bill was so confident that it was going to be ephemeral that he almost thought about not putting any wet weather gear on but was sure that if he did put it on  it would surely go away.  Which it pretty much did.  Bill also reckons he left something in a bunker at St Andrews and that was his swing which did seem to lead him somewhat astray from time to time today.  When Harry teed off, he was the only name on the list for the C grade comp inside but the form of last week was so firmly in the past that he reckoned even if he was the only player, he still wouldn’t win the event.  This theory is unlikely to be tested as, by the end of the morning, there were several more names on the board.

As the numbers looked like being small, it was decided that there would be barely enough to warrant the 4BBB competition and the only interest for the day was the ProPin that was supposed to be on the 12th.  On the first tee, there was a certain amount of banter about Snags putting it on whichever hole he managed to get onto the green.  When the marker wasn’t on the 12th, the natural assumption was that Craig hadn’t put the ball on the green.  However, the story is that he just straight out forget – probably thinking about which horse he was going to back in the Derby.  So the event was relegated to the 15th and wouldn’t you know it, the Club Captain, Chrispy swept all in his path with a shot to 2.3m.

The other things of interest were the ongoing rivalries between selected members whenever they play.  Mehm and Noodles continue their little year-long contest and it seemed that at long last Noodles was going to break his losing run and the jinx of Habib Corner.  A five stroke turn-around on the 16th meant that Noodles had leapt into a seemingly unassailable lead with only two holes to go.  On the 17th, Noodles proceeded to put 2 out of bounds while Mehm looked to have put his into the hazard.  Still anybody’s match.  Unfortunately for Noodles, it was not quite and Mehm recovered to actually par the hole and clawed back the lead.  A squared result on the last gave victory to the Turk once more.

Chrispy and Craig were also having one of their contests cum slanging matches and Craig was giving Chris heaps when he seemed to have a strangle hold on the match.  SOS was so bemused by it all that he was consulting the Apple Oracle, Siri, to come up with answers to some of the questions being asked and as to the likely outcome of the match.  It seems that some of the questions about Craig left Siri absolutely stuck for words.

Speaking of SOS, it seems that the new family addition is at last starting to settle in.  SOS was so keen to get a good night’s sleep before today’s game that he repaired to the sofa last night but, wouldn’t you know it, bub slept through and SOS tossed and turned in his unaccustomed doss.  SOS was also very appreciative of the thought to purchase a welcome gift for the baby and he wants to thank all those who chipped in so generously.

Damo was able to take a break from his coaching duties and graced us with his presence.  At the last training, he was persuaded to ‘roll his arm over’ for a few deliveries in the practice nets.  Damo being Damo, he bent his back to the task and found out that the body maybe isn’t as young and fit as it used to be and the shoulder was giving him a bit of curry as a result.  And perhaps the effects of aging are not so surprising in that the Birthday Birdie whispers that Damian has a celebration due this week.  It seems that his son is giving him a new pair of golf shoes but there might be a problem getting them clean after today’s round.

Others lining up for birthday wishes this week are Mal and CraigC.  Happy Birthday chaps.

It was a bit hard to do a proper census for next week today so could all members please advise yes or No by email or through the Registration as soon as possible (before Monday preferably) so that we can confirm numbers with the Course Management.  We are looking for a big roll up over the next few weeks to try to keep Ed out of the points – the more players, the more chance.  Just joking, but seriously, we really would like to see better numbers to maintain our position as the premier social club at Ivanhoe.