Yearly Archives: 2016

They’re back.  After a period of hibernation due to cold and/or wet weather and footy finals, the members finally came out to play and there were 22 smiling faces to front the starter this morning.  And, what a nice day it was.  The sun was shining (mostly), the temperature was not too low, the course has dried out a bit and the maintenance staff have managed to get a bit of mowing done.  The Cape Weed is in bloom so those that use a yellow ball take an extra risk as even the white ones can be hard to find when they nestle down amongst the succulent growth.  Hopefully the mowers will get a full week to get the place all back under control.

The new water feature at the second was in full operation and the fountain in front of the tee will give you a free ball wash if you keep it low enough.  Things got a bit out of hand though and the staff had to do a rush job when they were appraised of the fact that their hard won water was flushing down a drain into the already strongly flowing Yarra River.

So, with such nice conditions, there should have been great scoring all round.  Weeelllll – that’s not quite the way it worked out for a large proportion of the field.  But, for a small proportion of the field, the conditions suited to a tee and Targe was able to strike form with an 83 off the beater for a nett 65 to take the Medal for the month.  With a major coming up next week perhaps not the best time to take a cut but, then again, Targe informs that he will be away in the Alice for the next few weeks so maybe that is why he threw caution to the wind.

The Beast obviously put his golfing holiday in China to good use and he played another good steady round to come within a whisker of capturing the top points two weeks in a row.  A couple of stray shots from the tee on 16 and 17 could have been the difference.  Or maybe it was the shock of almost walking into the flight of Stefan’s tee shot on the 11th which whistled by within inches and finished about 300mm short of the hole.  As a result, Stefan, after nearly having scored a beast, had to settle for an eagle and went home with his arms full of eggs from the Eagle’s Nest.  Our Sizzling Senior is now well in the lead in both the main Championship and the Seniors and it will be up to the juveniles in the club to catch him in the main event, if they can.  Though, Bill will be off on another golfing holiday later in the month, but he will be here trying for the double points in the Fred Kitson over the next two seeks.

Next comes a bloke who has been having one of his better years for a bit of a while and, mostly, he doesn’t have a lot to say.  He’s probably not in the running for the Championship but he is right up there in the Seniors and the person in question is Bobbie who came in along with Joe with a nett card of 67.  Now, Joe, it seems, was not too happy with some of his equipment and he decided to teach it a lesson in how to swim.  Not sure how far Joe had to strip down to get his club back.

Eagle-boy Belevski was next cab on the rank and, for a man who hasn’t been on deck too many times this year, he seemed awfully interested in how many Championship points he had scored with his placing.  As well as his eagle, Stef managed to get a birdie on the 6th and contributed to the total of 7 birdies that the whole group were able to manage for the day.  Michael spent the day worrying about the double birthday party that he has to organise and could only manage to score himself 5th place.

The ProPin today was on the 15th and CraigC managed to put his ball onto the green.  Walking to the green, Craig opined that he was outside the 5m limit but, after some urging, he relented and took the tape to find that he was 4.89m from the hole.  And, what is more, that was enough to collect the DoubleDollars for Medal Day.  The BallPin has no such limitation and Harry’s shot on the middle of the top deck on the 18th (the pin was on the bottom deck) might have had a chance if it were not for Brendon who managed to put it within a couple of metres.  He didn’t get the birdie but he still holds the lead in the Eclectic and the number of rounds available to hunt him down is rapidly declining.

DennisT joined us for the first time in a while today sporting some facial hair that we have not seen before.  Dennis was so overcome by the fact that the footy season has finally ended that he stopped counting on the 15th.  The other Dennis(W) is obviously a keen Doggies supporter and was wearing his members cap.  The only problem was that it was the 2014 version.  Maybe he is just a fairweather friend.  He did have a bit of a highlight on the 15th when, after two very errant shots that left him not on the green, he chipped in for his par.

Lee Trevino is noted for claiming that not even God can hit a one iron – but Gord can!  It seems that the trusty implement was put to good use again today.  Rob sprayed his tee shot on the 13th out into the trees and finished with the ball resting on a tree root.  The preferred lie offered little, if any, relief so Rob played it as it lay and did a mighty fine job of it in the process.

Rob might be going to take up poultry farming as he was overheard talking about counting his chickens.  But, then again, it could be related to the wheels coming a bit loose after a good start on the front nine.

JohnQ was back on deck for the first time in a while.  He was in a group with Brendon so it is a good bet that there was a fair amount of sussing out of form and likely strengths and weaknesses ahead of the big Matchplay shoot-out next week.  They ended up with equal cards today so it is likely that they will be evenly matched.  Zimmer was also back on deck now that the soccer season has finished and maybe playing with the big round ball has affected his game with the little round ball.  He was heard pleading for a free shot at the back of the hazard on the 17th though it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

The warm day yesterday must have been enough to wake the snakes from hibernation as one was spotted near the ramp up to the 17th tee today.  Doesn’t augur well for the summer.

The Birthday Birdie has one wish to pass on this week and that is to Snags who will undoubtedly share his cake with all of his regular passengers.  Trevor’s do is on tomorrow and Trevor would probably love to see you even if you haven’t replied to his invitation.

Results for Saturday, 08 October 2016
1st Targe Mifsud(65) 2nd Bill Eastoe(66) 3rd Bob McDonald(67) 3rd Joe Wagenecht(67) 4th Stefan Belevski(70) 5th Michael Gourlay(73)

Seniors Results: 1st Targe Mifsud (65) 2nd Bill Eastoe (66) 3rd Bob McDonald (67)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 15th Craig Cameron BallPin 18th Brendon Mitchell

Eagle’s nest Results: Eagle 11th Stefan Belevski

There is more than one game in town though you would be hard pressed to tell if the numbers on the golf course was any guide.  And yes, there had been quite a bit of rain during the week, it was cold(ish) and there were showers forecast until lunch-time at least.  Despite all that, we were able to send out two groups of four players into one of the showers that the bureau had so accurately forecast.  Now, two of the players were counted out (or counted themselves out) of the competition so that left six, the bare minimum possible for a competition, to slug it out for the points.  Who, if anybody would miss out?  And, as five of the six were counted as Seniors, if not senile, then there was going to be a battle for Seniors points as well.

The Beast is recently back from a holiday and, although he denies it, there is a suspicion that he might have included a bit of practice while he was at it.   Despite the slightly ugly conditions during the front nine, Bill managed to rack up a pretty impressive 20 points at the turn.  One of the surprises of the day was that the new tee on the 2nd was in use which has the effect of changing the aspect of the hole more than somewhat.  Did this faze the Beast?  Not in the slightest and he now lays claim to being the first Club member to par the hole from the new layout.  He did have to chip in from off the green, but a par is a par and you don’t have to draw pictures.  Playing right to his handicap limited the damage to be inflicted by the handicapper.

Michael had sent out an APB with a request to be in the first group with quick players as he had to get away to do the RSPCA run with his daughter.  Whether it was because he was having a good(ish) round or for some other reason but his better half did the run for him and he was able to stay back and bask in the glory of his second placing with 35 points.  Michael was the one player not in the ranks of the Seniors and, apparently, he had to produce his drivers license to the Club Captain to prove the fact.  That would almost have to be a first but we are talking about the Club Captain after all.

Simon also has been travelling a bit on a roadshow that he is involved with but there were also suspicions that he was secretly attending Golf University and tuning up his game.  Simon had matched Bill on the front nine under the same bad conditions.  His form continued into the back nine when a couple of the wheels got a bit of a wobble up and things looked looked like turning from gold to the other stuff.  After two drives OOB on the 15th and 16th and a not spectacular result from the tee on the 17th, Simon went close to collecting 19 balls for an eagle by going close to slam-dunking it from over 100m out.  Unfortunately, the birdie did not eventuate but they weren’t all that common today with only two from the official cards.

After last week’s stellar effort, Gordon never really got a good run going and he struggled into 4th place with a card showing 30 points.  He did manage one of the birdies though on the 12th after there was some speculation that he might have pulled off a hole-in-one.  In the event, the ball finished under half a metre from the hole and directly in line.  On the walk from the tee, Gordon was checking to see whether he had his credit card with him though it probably would have been a fairly small shout.  Bob  didn’t start off too well and managed to sell himself short on a couple of holes where he got two strokes to put in a card that totalled 28 points in the end.  Now, if you are any good at maths you will realise that, of the six eligible players, five of them were in the points tally leaving a balance of one.  If Bill used his holiday to practice, Harry obviously didn’t.

The ProPin was on the 15th and, because of the numbers, the pool was not all that great but that did not stop Ed from putting his hand up to collect the dosh after putting his drive to about 3m from the hole.  He sank the putt for a birdie and that helped him to put in a par equalling score on the back nine.  The bogey was on the 17th where he duffed his drive and then cleared the tree to finish off the back of the green with a chip and a couple of putts to finish it off.  The BallPin was on the 18th and the Beast was the only one to worry scorer in that event.

We were also joined today by Tony Mifsud for a catch up with his old Club mates, though, as it turned out, it wasn’t much of a catch-up.  Or maybe that was the idea.  At least he got to meet a couple of our newer members.

Trevor was on the deck this morning although he couldn’t play because of other pressing commitments.  The Birthday Birdie (and Trev) let it be known that it was Trev’s 70th yesterday though he can’t have celebrated too hard on the day given the hour that he was up and about this morning.  Trev is having an open-house (finger food provided – BYO other stuff) at his place on 09 October at 1200.  Trev will be taking acceptances right up until next Saturday.  He’ll even supply a map.

As notified by email, some sections of the web-site will not display properly after Monday but the important Competition tables will be manually updated, in a slightly different format, until alternative arrangements can be made and implemented.

Results for Saturday, 01 October 2016
1st Bill Eastoe(36) 2nd Michael Gourlay(35) 3rd Simon Powell(34) 4th Gordon Hill(30) 5th Bob McDonald(28)

Seniors Results: 1st Bill Eastoe (36) 2nd Simon Powell (34) 3rd Gordon Hill (30)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 15th Ed Kloprogge BallPin 18th Bill Eastoe

Conditions were tough again out there, dewy fairways, freshly sanded greens, long and thick first cut rough and some blustery wind resulted in some lower than usual scoring across the board. Only 4 birdies for the day reflected this although there was one member who could have almost had a blinder if not for a few late scratches, but ended up beating his handicap by 1. This was none other than Gordon, who has been away for a few weeks and the break has not done him any harm and a 1st place in the competition was well deserved.

“Michael said Gordon’s round was built on his trusty 9 iron being hit perfectly time and time again into the greens for easy two putt pars, including brilliant shots over the trees on the third and fourth. A spectacular chip in for par on the 10^th also kept his round on track, but the highlight was on the 9^th when, after hitting his drive short and way right, near the 18^th tee, Gordo pulled out his trusty 1 iron – yes a 1 iron – and hit it flush, low and under the trees with a big left to right curve. It bounced on the hill just before the green and skipped up to about 15 feet for another easy two putt par. Michael is still shaking his head with how good that 1 iron was!”

Rob Priems, who would have thought that a -3 would have maybe snuck in for a point, but was good enough for second place overall.  Now we thought that SOS had equaled him in second, but after an official review of the score cards his score of -4 placed him in third. A birdie on the 1st and 18th holes assisted with this and 50% of the clubs birdies for the day.

Not to be outdone, there were 5 guys tied for third, with Bob, Brendon, Dennis and Jason all coming home with -4. Keeping the tradition alive, Jason in his first eligible competition scored points. Rod G ended up just one behind on -6 to take out 4th position.

Now not sure if this should qualify or not, but 5th place was shared by Michael and Ryan, with -7! Ouch. I won’t say how the others went who did not qualify in the top 5, but they did not do any better than -7…..

Seniors results today were Gordon 1st, Bob and Dennis sharing 2nd and Rod 3rd. Simon needs to lift his game if he is any chance of catching the beast. Dale who has come along with Brent and Jason put in his 2nd card today.

There were quite a few balls lost, and some could not be found at all when they appeared to land just off the fairway. The longer than usual rough caused havok and in some cases balls could not be found unless stood on.  Making up for losing a few balls, (6) Ryan made up for it by winning the nearest the pin on the 18th. There was some confusion about the placement of the money vs the ball hole, but in the end the money went to Michael who put it close enough on the 12th.

There has not been an eagle for quite a while, currently there are 19 balls in the eagles nest. Something to look forward to over the next few weeks, with the weather warming up the chances of the trend breaking are getting better and better.

There are a few birthdays during the next week, the Beast, Michael and Trevor all celebrating milestones. Happy Birthday guys.

A shout out to Matt Hunt who has been battling an unexpected health issue and is having a procedure this week to sort it out. We are all thinking of you and hope to see you recover and back out on the course soon.

Results for Saturday, 24 September 2016
1st Gordon Hill(+1) 2nd Robert Priems(-3) 3rd Jason Hopkins(-4) 3rd Bob McDonald(-4) 3rd Brendon Mitchell(-4) 3rd Stephen O’Sullivan(-4) 3rd Dennis Ward(-4) 4th Rod Grant(-6) 5th Michael Gourlay(-7) 5th Ryan Porker(-7)

Seniors Results: 1st Gordon Hill (+1) 2nd Bob McDonald (-4) 2nd Dennis Ward (-4) 3rd Rod Grant (-6)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Michael Gourlay BallPin 18th Ryan Porker

It may have been the threat of sunshine, or the humiliation of Hawthorn bowing out in straight sets, but only 10 members plus two newcomers turned up to play. Things weren’t looking good at the nominated registration time as only two people were on time, however some later comers improved things to ensure an official club competition was possible.

Brent has started off in good form with some minor places in recent weeks, however came through with the goods to take out first place with 39 stableford points. He was claiming that he only had 9 points for the day when Chrispy came in from the 18th but he wasn’t fooling anyone.

Kazim played his first round with us in a while after finishing up football (eh soccer!) season, and there was no rustiness to his game as he put in a respectable 37 points for second place. He was joined by his partner in crime who followed up in 3rd position and 35 points, looks like George still has maintained an almost impeccable record of being in the points each week he plays.

The ever reliable Priemsy ended up on 32 points to come home in 4th place, and last but not least Stefan taking 5th place with 30 points. Conditions were not too bad, greens are playing nicely at the moment (at least for Ivanhoe) but there are still a few patches of mud and standing water to contend with.

Seniors results were interesting, with only two members qualifying just by turning up. Simon and Mal taking out first and second places respectively. Good to see Mal back after the colder months are behind us. Jason put in his 3rd card today and now has a club handicap for his efforts, another one of Brent’s mates, Dale,  came down for a look and put in his first card.

The ball hole was on the 4th and no one managed to put it close. The money was on the 15th and after a jackpot from last week it was fiercely contested, however Zimmer put one close to take out the cash. Mehmet was back after a few weeks off, he was hoping somehow he would have learnt how to play decent golf in this absence, but no.

The championship is still up for grabs with only a few months to go, Brendon, Bill and Priemsy all hovering around the pointy end but it could be anyone’s game.

Results for Saturday, 17 September 2016
1st Brent Rowley(39) 2nd Kazim Akdag(37) 3rd George Tenaglia(35) 4th Chris Priems(32) 5th Stefan Belevski(30)

Seniors Results: 1st Simon Powell (26) 2nd Malcolm Fleming (22)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 15th Kazim Akdag BallPin 4th Jackpot