Yearly Archives: 2016

Never before in the annals of golf at Ivanhoe did so much blood, sweat and tears go into deciding which clubs to put in the bag for the Three Club Challenge.  Planning and running six-figure projects paled into insignificance compared to the decision between driver and three wood, six iron and wedge or rescue and putter.  But fifteen souls finally bit the bullet, slipped their selection into the bag and came prepared to live with the consequences of their choices.  And, despite the difficulties of chipping with a nine iron (who has a problem with that) or putting with a three wood (who’d even think of doing that) the prognostication from last week that it was possible to break your handicap without a bag full of iron-mongery was borne out by the result today.  So much so, that a couple of people are seriously considering only taking three clubs up to Numurkah next week for the Annual Challenge.

One of those thinking of this option is none other than Rob who bounced back after handing over his Dad’s trophy to brother Chris a few weeks back and took the first spot easily by a five point margin with 37 of the best Stableford points you could imagine.  And, it could have been better but it seems that something went astray at the 4th for a zero and there were a couple of singletons as well.  He did crack a birdie to be part of the ten that were carded today and he improved his gross score on the Eclectic card but that was off-set to some degree by his handicap adjustment so he is still a stroke behind Brendon in that event.

Another man who is considering taking only three clubs to Numurkah is Mehmet who continues his run of non-winning by coming in second with 32 points.  Whether this was due to him keeping his feet on the ground or that he wasn’t confused by all the numbers on the bottom of the clubs matters for little.  If you want to find out how long it is since Mehm has had a first placing you can look it up in the records or you can just ask Mehm.  He’s going to have to score quite a few seconds between now and the end of the year if he wants to challenge for the Championship.  Right alongside Mehm was the Beast who just about broke Simon’s heart by coming in at the head of the Seniors (again) and in the process increasing his lead in that event.  If it is any consolation to the rest of the Seniors, Bill will be away during September (and so will Harry) so there is a big chance to make a move and stake a claim to the top spot.

JohnQ did little but complain the whole way round about how much he hated this event and how he was going to take over the Presidency next year and get it dropped from the program.  Just to keep him in his place, Chrispresident kept dropping bits and pieces of his gear (putter cover, glove, towel etc etc) and used him as his chief picker-upper.  So driven to distraction was John that at one stage he only had one club left in his bag.  He hadn’t broken them, they had just gone walk-about.  Anyway, believe it or not, after all that, John scored 29 points and collected a third placing for them.  Just goes to prove that you should never ever lose heart.

Michael was persuaded by Chrispy that he should try out the Volvik brand that has become a bit of a favourite with Chris because/despite it being one of the top balls on the Ladies Tour.  Michael was also in possession of a new putter with a nice fat grip that was meant to turn his game around.  The ball lasted two holes before it was retired and replaced by a Bridgestone but there was little option available to retire the putter.  Still, it did have its moments and Michael managed to birdie the 11th which is one that he wanted for his Eclectic card.  Twenty seven points was enough on the day to score a couple of Championship points with 4th place.  Harry struggled a bit for distance with his club selection but he did manage a few chip/putt-ins to scrabble together 26 points and another 5th place to his tally.

What are we supposed to do?  The first group included the Social Secretary and the Club Captain who were charged with putting out the Nearest the Pin paraphernalia.  The BallPin was slated for the 4th but when the second group came through there was nothing to be seen.  Eventually, the ball marker showed up on the 15th but there was no container with the name cards to be found.  It seems that Gordon was so excited to put his name on the slip that he put the container back in his bag instead of by the green.  Fortunately, somebody put it closer than he had and we weren’t left wondering who in the heck had made it to the green.  The lucky camper was none other than our comp winner, Rob.  The ProPin was on the 12th (where it was supposed to be).  Simon got very excited and assured everybody the he had heard the ball hit the pin and it could easily have gone in.  Not that it was Simon who had hit the ball.  In the event, the ball finished 0.89m past the hole and the man that was able to have his name put onto the card was Michael who is now thinking of retiring and living on the proceeds after taking our Double Divvie and the inside ProPin last week.  However, Michael did inaugurate a new twist to the ‘draughtie’ by shouting his playing companions after leaving his putt further from the hole than his ProPin marker (plus he missed the up-hill back).

While on the subject of draughties, one group reported that they could have had three in two holes from one player.  No names, no pack-drill.  Trevor opted to try to putt with his three wood and mostly it didn’t really come off.  Trev reckons he had at least fifty putts in his round.  Bob opted for his hybrid as a putter and for starters it gave him all sorts of trouble but then he seemed to develop a bit of a knack for it before he eventually got a bit knackered and lost it again.

Brendon was reported to have lost interest part way around and helped to keep his companions amused by doing Ray Warren impersonations while commentating on the progress of play.  Chrispy was up to his usual tricks and using the trees to advantage to put his ball back into play.  Somewhere on the 11th he managed to skull one and collect a tree pretty much dead centre but if the tree hadn’t been there he would have killed Rob for sure the ball was travelling so fast.  Luckily Rob was behind the tree and not in front of it.  While on the subject of killing things, there was a magpie on the ground in front of the 18th green and the Beast nominated that he was going to have a go at hitting it as it might be the one that has been stealing dim-sims etc from people’s mouths.  He didn’t, but it was apparently a close run thing.

ChrisV wasn’t here today so no slaps on the back and shouts for him.  However, the Birthday Birdie does have a bit to do this week with JohnQ and Zimmer in the frame for a bit of a celebration.

The Annual Challenge is on at Numurkah next week-end and we have sixteen or seventeen going up and the competition looks like being fierce.  Chrispy swears he is going to behave himself and the garden beds are quite safe.  The handicaps for the weekend will be posted on the website under the Competitions sub-menu.  Players without a GA handicap will be given one based on their Ivanhoe cards, suitably adjusted for the slope difference between the two courses.

For those not going to Numurkah, there are some slots reserved at our usual time and you are more than welcome to play a social round.  Please advise if you are going to play so that we can give the Course management an idea and also so that you can be credited with an attendance for a Social round.

Simon is looking for interest in extra shirts with a long-sleeve option and if he can get a few more orders for caps, that will help to keep the costs down.  Reply to Simon’s e-mail to show your interest.

Results for Saturday, 13 August 2016
1st Robert Priems(37) 2nd Mehmet Akdag(32) 2nd Bill Eastoe(32) 3rd John Quinlan(30) 4th Michael Gourlay(27) 5th Harry Boughen(26)

Seniors Results: 1st Bill Eastoe (32) 2nd Harry Boughen (26) 3rd Bob McDonald (23) 3rd Gordon Hill (23) 3rd Simon Powell (23)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Michael Gourlay BallPin 15th Robert Priems

For some the conditions were challenging.  Brendon reckoned that it was the coldest day we’ve had yet. Targe reckoned that the greens were the complete opposite of last week (whatever that means).  Gordon reckoned that the condition of the course is better than it used to be.  Whatever the truth of the matter is, there were nineteen of us out there today fighting off whatever demons were infesting our brains while trying to play some reasonable golf.  For a while there it looked as if reasonable would do but then along came SOS.

It seems that Stephen was veritably on fire, at least for the first nine holes which he managed to negotiate in just three over the card.  Things got a bit slippery on the back and he took a couple more off the stick to end up with 10 over the card overall for a nett score of 65.  This was more than enough to eliminate the rest of the hopefuls and the grasp the medal very firmly indeed.  It has to be said that SOS must have been taking some lessons from Chrispy because, on at least three occasions, his ball headed comprehensively into the trees only to be flung back out onto the fairway by a fortuitous ricochet.  The shot on the 17th was heading out of bounds for all money and though he could only manage a five on the hole there had been potential for a much higher score.

There is no evidence of collusion, but Stef and SOS played together and marked each others cards and, lo and behold, Stef came into second place with a nett score of 69, which is apparently Chrispy’s favourite number.  Both Stef and SOS went close to slam-dunking for eagles on an unspecified hole with one pitch mark very close and the other extremely close.  The return shots couldn’t have been that easy though as there was no hole where they both got birdie. The Beast is making a quiet run up the inside straight in the Championship race and gathered himself a swag of points in both the Open and the Seniors table with his tie for second today.  He could have been a lot better placed if not for the seven on the 4th.

Snags joined us for the first time in a while today and he reckons he only came in third because he wasn’t eligible to win the Medal.  His other stated reason for coming along was so that he could show Chrispy how to play and he certainly beat Chris by a fair margin.  He also picked up his new Club shirt and proceeded to wear it over the top of his old one.  As a result of the extra layers, people could not decide whether Snags had conditioned up or not.  Still, he reckons if he lost weight he wouldn’t know where to swing the club.

Everybody knows that Mehm has a unique approach to making a golf shot though it has to be said that it can be remarkably effective even if he hasn’t won any sort of event since who knows when.  Mehm actually does know when but he doesn’t want it made public just yet.  Mehm was so keen to get onto the green at the 15th for the ProPin that he threw himself almost off his feet and went very close to landing flat on his back(side), much to Pepsi’s amusement.  Michael and Targe joined Mehm on the fourth place podium and gracefully accepted the cheers of the crowd.  Of course we are all aware of the competition between Chrispy and Brendon at the top of the table and today it was Brendon’s turn to win back a point on Chris.  However, they had both better watch their backs if the Beast keeps up his smooth swinging ways.  Bill is swinging so smoothly that Mehm reckons that when he grows up he wants to swing just like Bill.  That’ll be a long time coming (Mehm growing up that is).

The BallPin today was set on the 12th and Harry cracked on to about 2.5m to hold out all comers (only just, it seems) to collect a ball.  The putt was good enough to fall for the birdie which contributed to the total for the day of ten.  Not a great number but maybe it says something about the conditions.  There is a thing amongst some members known as a PBSU (or to give its full title – Post Birdie Stuff Up).  And on the very next hole Harry managed to take four putts from less than 1m from the hole.  Reports do suggest however that he might not have been alone in this regard.  The ProPin was set for the 15th and with the tee well back and the pin reasonably well back it was not the easiest of targets.  So much so, in fact, that it came down to the last player in the last group before somebody put the ball inside the circle.  So, the man who collected the DoubleDivvie was Michael who finished 3.63m out.  Michael did not add to the birdie total on this particular hole.

CraigC had a bit of strife on the 3rd and managed to place two balls outside the boundary fence which didn’t help his score a great deal.  He did make up for it a bit on the 6th when he played some text-book golf to bring home a birdie.  This didn’t help his Eclectic card and other moves were a bit thin on the ground.  Brendon still holds the lead and has actually increased his margin slightly by dint of his handicap moving out.

CraigS shared a cart with Trev today and at one stage as they were coming up the hill from the 13th green, Chrispy decided to hitch a ride by standing on the back.  Steering was a little difficult as the front wheels were off the ground but the path did get graded by the rear end scraping on the ground.  Trev was a bit at sixes and sevens today.  So much so that he had six sevens in a row on his card.  He retrieved his card after he had submitted it to correct an error in addition of the half round totals which was fair enough but it did not fix the error in the summation of the hole scores.

Simon has been away on a road-show for three weeks and he just couldn’t wait to get his hands back on a club.  It wasn’t Simon’s best day so maybe he shouldn’t have been so keen and he also had a bit of difficulty in totalling his scores across the halves.  Snags seems to be a bit of a fan of Lydia Koh, but particularly the way she grips the club.  When he took up a suggestion that he should try that technique, the result wasn’t pretty but, then, what can you expect from Snags.  Noodles wasn’t too happy with the result of his drive on the 6th and sent his club after the ball to ‘fetch’.  The fact that the club didn’t get as far as the red markers caused Michael to ask whether this fitted the definition of a draughtie.  Probably not, and there were no other reports of enforced shouts either.

The Birthday Birdie has a bit to do this week.  Harry will have to be sure not to get his whiskers burned and Pepsi will be able to share some cake with the kids.  If ChrisV plays next week, be sure to give him a slap on the back and/or buy him a beer.

Next week is the Three Club Challenge and in case you don’t know or have forgotten, you are only allowed three clubs in your bag.  Your choice – putt with your driver, drive with your putter or any combination in between.  It’s not as tough as it seems and people have been known to break their handicap in this event.  It pays to try as you will be playing for points (and handicap adjustment).

The week after will be a Social Day at Ivanhoe so those who play here can organise their own event.  It would be nice to know who will be at IPGC so that we can do the management the courtesy of letting them know the likely numbers.  The rest of us will be at Numurkah playing for the Annual Challenge Trophy.  Gordon is organising a swag of associated events with Nearest the Pin on every par 3 and a nearest in two on one of the par 4’s.  There will be a secret nine and who knows what else.  Maybe Gordon will set it all out and advise beforehand.  There seems to be a push for some people to get there early enough to play Shepparton on Friday.

Results for Saturday, 06 August 2016
1st Stephen O’Sullivan(65) 2nd Stefan Belevski(69) 2nd Bill Eastoe(69) 3rd Craig Sharp(70) 4th Mehmet Akdag(71) 4th Michael Gourlay(71) 4th Targe Mifsud(71) 5th Brendon Mitchell(73)

Seniors Results: 1st Bill Eastoe (69) 2nd Targe Mifsud (71) 3rd Harry Boughen (74)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 15th Michael Gourlay BallPin 12th Harry Boughen

Whether it was the Friday night footy or the Champions League or just a night out on the ran-tan but it seems that there must have been a few sleep-ins today.  As late as 0715, the field was still looking pretty darned skinny and it was only a last minute rush that managed to get the numbers up to a half-respectable 15.  Apparently there were supposed to have been 16 but one of the sleepy-heads didn’t surface until 0830, by which time it was a bit late to even make the effort to get to the course.  You’ll never win the Championship that way, Mehm!  Even without a win on the cards again.  There was a bit of mist in the air early on and the air was a little chilly though there were a couple of reports of a warm patch down by the river.  There wasn’t a politician or a balloon in sight so if it was real it must have been a natural effect and we are assured that it had nothing to do with Chrispy’s favourite French Impressionist.

There was a bit of wild-life out on the course other than the usual avian denizens that crap all over the greens or that steal your hard earned nibbles from your hand.  The course is apparently alive with Poke-Mon and one avid hunter seemed blissfully unaware of the hazards of wandering around a golf-course with his face stuck firmly into his i-Phone.  SOS classified him as a sus-loiter, which is police-speak in case you were wondering.  There was also a fox spotted and Noodles got rather excited by the prospect until he realised that it was the furry four-legged variety rather than the other sort.  But, apparently, it looked rather well fed, perhaps feasting on some of the aforesaid avian denizens and it seemed quite unconcerned as it wandered across the green and held up play briefly as the group waited for the green to be cleared.

Now, ChrisV hasn’t been able to play a lot lately what with his concerns about Hayley and the prospective bub.  Chris reports that all is still in place and the prospects for a favourable outcome are improving day by day.  The whole Club hopes that the situation continues to improve and that the happy event is indeed a happy one.  Hang in there Hayley from all of us!  So, today, Chris did hang in there as well.  His playing companions reckon that he put on a master-class in all aspects of the game but particularly for putting on the front nine in which he garnered most of his points and matched the par for that part of the course.  Not that the back nine was that bad but there were a couple of minuses that brought unkind suggestions that he had either a need for the Butter Menthols or that he was protecting his handicap.  The +6 from a round of three over par is still a great result in anybody’s language

The Beast was another one that played a round of two halves and if he had kept up the pace that he set on the front he could easily have challenged for the top spot.  In the process, Bill managed a couple of birdies and so contributed to the total of seven carded for the day.  One or two very near misses could easily have added to that total.  There were only a couple of improvements on the Eclectic table today and Brendon still has a small margin over second place while the rest of the field have a bit of work to do.

Now, Chrispy has a bit of a lead on the Championship Table and he is very keen to keep his eye on Brendon and to keep the Kiwi honest.  So it was today that as tee-marshall, Chris arranged for Brendon to be in his group and also connived to mark Brendon’s card.  All seems to have been fair and above-board even though Chris did manage to place in front of Brendon for third place with a score of -1.  He didn’t have that spot to himself, however, and he had to share the adulation of the crowd with SOS and Targe.  There weren’t any official draughties today but there is a strong suspicion that SOS could have had one on the 15th.  His playing companions were so convinced (or so thirsty) that they spent (SOS estimates) ten minutes searching behind the red markers and found no less that seven balls but not one that could be ascribed to having been owned by SOS.  The Magistrates Court would throw the case out for lack of evidence, according to SOS.

Chrispy’s bid to keep Brendon out of the points was only marginally successful and Brendon and Gordo managed to secure 4th place with a tally of -3 points.  They were closely followed by Noodles, Harry, JohnQ and Whitey with -4 points apiece.  And, despite the admonitions that they should be ashamed to collect points with that sort of score, they have no qualms at all about accepting whatever is on offer.  John did offer that he was surprised, both by his score and the fact that he got a point, after playing so badly.  For those of you with an arithmetic bent, you should be able to discern that, of the fifteen players contesting, only four were not included in the points table.  It’s been a while since we have had that sort of percentage on the podium.

The Nearest the Pin competition today saw the ball up for grabs on the 4th and a lot of the shots seemed to be pretty well astray.  A couple of people did manage to get onto the green from the tee and Whitey was victorious with what he claimed was his best shot of the day.  The ProPin was on the 18th and it ended up being a bit of a non-event after CraigC put it to 2.32 metres and in so doing closed out all players in the following groups.  Not a great divvie but a welcome relief from an otherwise ordinary day.

Harry managed to find himself in a similar position on the 17th to that of last week (hopefully it’s not a trend) and, after last week’s successful extrication, a similar shot was in order.  This one didn’t come off and the ball finished in an even more difficult spot.  The next and several subsequent shots produced similar results and a well earned gash for the hole.  Lo and behold, Dennis put himself into a spot at the back of the green with his second and virtually repeated the performance.  Perhaps stupidity is contagious.

Gordon put his second just onto the green on the 9th and decided that it was too far from the hole to putt so he opted to chip the ball.  Fortunately no green-keepers were watching and he didn’t take a divot but, unfortunately, he left the ball quite a bit short of the mark.  Unperturbed, Gordo slotted the putt for his par.  Oh, what a player!  Gordo also saw fit to congratulate Blighty for a great shot to the green on the 7th.  The only problem was, it wasn’t Andrew’s ball.  It belonged to the Beast.  Oh well, one golf ball does look rather like another from a distance.

Not wanting to seem to be picking on Gordon but after the game he settled down at the table with his drink and potato cake when he remembered that it would be polite to retrieve the Treasurer’s bag from the office.  So, he ordered his ‘twin brother’, Targe, to go and get it.  Targe responded, ‘So, I’m the youngest, so I have to wear my legs out first?’  And everybody thought his legs were already worn down to the stumps.  Targe might be putting some surplus baby capsules on the market in the near future.  He reckons that they are unused except for transporting grog home safely from the bottle-shop and he assures that they well suited for that purpose.

Blighty ‘dropped’ his putter on the 14th and, despite the wet condition of the ground around, when it was recovered there was only a bit of mud and a couple of drips on it.  Except, of course, for the big drip on the grip end of the shaft.

This report is hard to believe but there is a suggestion that Ryan is ‘lying down’ (and the quote taken from his own mouth) to get his handicap out for Numurkah.  Now, why would anybody do that?  The committee can always handicap ‘on suspicion’.  Chrispy doesn’t have a problem with his new handicap.  Though he did have a bit of a whinge early on about how hard he had been dealt with after last week’s result.  But, after nine holes on the new mark, Chris was busily imagining how it would be to play on a plus handicap, things were going so well.  As somebody once said, Pride cometh before the fall, and things went awry fairly smartly after the turn.  Still, he did beat Brendon!

The Birthday Birdie tells that one of our ex-members will be celebrating this week so, if the Turkish community can send a big birthday wish to Ben, the BB would really appreciate it.

The numbers have been rolling in for the Annual Challenge in Numurkah and Gordon assures that there are still places available.  He’ll probably put out a program of events sometime soon but please don’t hold back just because you don’t know what loot is up for grabs.

Next week is the August Monthly Medal and, for the hungry ones, there will be the double divvie on the ProPin.  Still only $5 comp fee though.

Results for Saturday, 30 July 2016
1st Chris Vinecombe(+6) 2nd Bill Eastoe(+1) 3rd Targe Mifsud(-1) 3rd Chris Priems(-1) 3rd Stephen O’Sullivan(-1) 4th Gordon Hill(-3) 4th Brendon Mitchell(-3) 5th Harry Boughen(-4) 5th Stephen Butterfield(-4) 5th John Quinlan(-4) 5th Rodney White(-4)

Seniors Results: 1st Bill Eastoe (+1) 2nd Targe Mifsud (-1) 3rd Gordon Hill (-3)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 18th Craig Cameron BallPin 4th Rodney White

What a day!  It was dark, it was cold and there were lines of showers streaming in from the south-west.  How many would show was the big question amongst the early risers?  Maybe there would be some easy points provided that we got our six for a quorum.  As it turned out, everybody who said they would be here last week turned up and, although he was having some doubts about whether to start or not, Trevor was here as well.  Trevor was out having some practice when he rushed in with the news that it was raining again which sent shivers down the spine both actually as well as metaphorically.  Lo and behold, when the first group repaired to the tee, there was nary a cloud to be seen though the wind was blowing and it was bitingly cold.  By the looks of it, the Pro-shop has been doing a roaring trade in winter gloves.  One member was moved to comment that it was a bit like playing in a cross between a washing machine and a tumble dryer though I think that a tumble dryer might have been a bit warmer than it was today.

So, the question now was, would Whitey be able to hang onto his lead or was there anybody in the pack who could run him down and, if so, how far would they have to run to do it.  As it turned out, it looks as if Fred is up there somewhere looking out for his kith and kin (or maybe he is just lurking somewhere around the 17th tee).  So, cold and wind and an unfortunate mishap on the way home from hospital during the week seems to have inspired Chrispy to put his new weaponry to the ultimate test and he came home with a very impressive 41 stableford points from a 72 off the stick for a grand total of 76 points for the event.  A fine round in anybody’s terms.  So, for the second year in a row, the name Priems will be going on the Fred Howe.  Unfortunately for Rob, he wasn’t able to summon up the scores necessary to make it back to back.

It would have to be said that Whitey made a fair fist of it overall but missed out on a share of the top spot by three shots.  Unfortunately, it seems to have taken him about 11 holes to really warm to the task and he was really blitzing it down the home straight with the whip fairly flailing but by that time the horse had bolted and Rod had to settle for second place with a still pretty respectable 73 points for the event.  Things were obviously a bit tense on the 14th after a ‘chunked’ chip led to what might be termed tree abuse but a second chip and a putt still handed him a par so obviously things were going all right.

Bill also seems to have taken a few holes to warm up and he wasn’t able to capitalise as much as he would have liked on the holes that he had strokes on and in the end a couple of gashes and a handful of singletons cost him dearly in the race to the line.  A nice round 70 points for the event was enough to garner third place in the field.  Matt was another one that was right up there with a good chance to take it all but things didn’t quite go to plan and Matt could only manage 30 points today but that was enough to get the points for 4th place, a position that he had to share with his partner in crime (fighting), SOS.  SOS was being spooked by shadows today which was something that wasn’t really expected early on.  While players and gear can be moved, the shade cast by trees is just a bit more problematic.

And, finally, there was Bob.  Nothing spectacular, but consistent across the two weeks and that was enough to slot him into 5th place and keep the points ticking over in both the main Championship and in the Seniors.  Whilst he is well up there in the main event, the new leader, Chrispy, has a fair margin over the main part of the field and a bit of a buffer ahead of Brendon who is desperately trying to think of ways to farm out the children over the next month or so when baby-sitting duties seem to have priority.

The ProPin today was on the 12th and quite a few people made it to the green but who were not able to get their name on the card until Rob managed to get it to 2.79m.  Harry would have liked to make the competition the nearest pitch mark to the pin as his would have been hard to beat.  Unfortunately the run went beyond the qualifying distance.  Rob did manage to make the birdie and that was one of 11 that were carded today.  As a result, there were only a few movements on the Eclectic Table other than those due to handicap changes but Bill, JohnQ, Paul and Whitey were on the list of improvers.

The BallPin was supposed to be on the 15th.  The markers had been given to Trev as a man with a trustworthy look about him.  Obviously, nobody in the group made it onto the green there and so the marker was ‘forgotten’ and had to be ensconced on the 18th as a last resort.  In the end, the ball went to CraigC who still needed a couple of putts to get it into the hole.  Perhaps this is part of his campaign to get his handicap let out since he was heard dropping hints about the handicapper taking pity on him after the round.  Afraid there’s no more to be had, Craig.

Chris and Rob were playing together (again) and Rob lined up on the 14th and landed his drive amongst the next group gathered on the 15th tee.  Pin high again but just a smidgen off line after last week’s effort.  Chris, who is noted for his ‘power fade’ managed to hook his severely to who knows where but obviously well out of bounds.  Chris played his provisional and then as they walked down the track, what should be lying at the bottom of the hill but Chris’ distinctive pink ball.  Whether it hit a house or a tree is unclear but Chris reckons that he should have known better than to doubt that when he and trees are involved, something good usually results.

On the 13th, Blighty was on the slope at the back of the green for two.  The lad was on fire, having come in with a very impressive 39 points on the day.  His chip down to the green, not easy off the slope, managed to hit the GUR marker dead centre and the ball dropped dead in the sand.  Still, it could have been worse, it might have missed and run off the other side of the green given the location and that green.

Brendon was out and about with the kids for some sauce art at the bar-be-cue and a bit of putting with the brand new kids set of clubs.  Brendon seemed to be making a reasonable fist of putting with a half metre long putter.  Maybe we’ll see him out on the course with it in the near future.  Not sure what it is with the Club membership at the moment but the vast majority seem to be in the process of moving house, if not for themselves, at least for somebody else.  Blighty and JohnQ were the ones dashing off today for a session of lifting and lugging.

The Birthday Birdie is going to be exhausted this week as he will have to wing his way all the way to Yankee-land if he is going to wish Oliver well for his up-coming special day.

Results for Saturday, 23 July 2016
1st Chris Priems(35, 41, 76) 2nd Rodney White(39, 34, 73) 3rd Bill Eastoe(38, 32, 70) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan(35, 33, 68) 4th Matt Hunt(38, 30, 68) 5th Bob McDonald(34, 32, 66)

Seniors Results: 1st Bill Eastoe (32,38,70) 2nd Bob McDonald (32,34,66) 3rd Andrew Blight (39,25,64)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Robert Priems BallPin 18th Craig Cameron