Yearly Archives: 2025

The confidence was flowing so thickly around the first tee as twenty members and one guest (Nalin’s mate, Colin) prepared to tee off to decide the winner of this year’s Winter Cup that wellington boots were needed. Fred’s lad, CJ, promised the greatest comeback since Lazarus as he slammed one away, and strode off down the hill. At the end of the day, it seems that Lazarus was not inclined to rise from his deathbed on command, as hoped. When Gordo was asked to ensure that there was a photo of the winner for the blog, he reckoned that he would have to send a selfie. JQ had a feeling in his water that he was able to bridge the gap, and quite a few others harboured quiet hopes for a good result, however unexpected. There had been some rain, and more was predicted, and a few eyes were cast fearfully at the threatening cloud cover, but the CBD dome was very effective, and the wet-weather gear remained firmly folded in their pockets. The course was damp, but still firm, and the greens were ‘slow’. At least compared to Heidelberg, according to Whitey, who suffered from a serious case of the ‘shorts’, and, even more frustratingly, only ‘centimetre shorts’, today.

The shout out for the round of the day has to go to Dan, who was a late entrant to the field after Marc had to opt out. Unfortunately, Dan had not played in round one, so his 39 points were to no avail as far as winning the trophy went. That privilege went to Gordo, who played another very steady round on his way to thirty-eight points on the day, and seventy-four overall. His card did include three singletons, but he just about compensated with a four pointer for a birdie on the 8th. His drive required him to take out his one iron to shape a shot around the bend to maybe 5m from the pin to be followed by a very satisfying putt to seal the deal. As the professionals say, only Gordo can hit a one iron!

Raj had his chances, despite taking the whole of the front nine to get warmed up. He started the back nine on a charge, and looked for all money to be well on track to catch, if not to overtake Gordon. Singletons on the last two holes robbed him of the chance to, at least, need a countback, and he had to settle for second place and to cry into his beer and wonder what might have been. JQ started out well enough, but he was not 100% happy with some aspects of his game, at least until the 6th. There, he whacked his third to about 5cm from the hole, missing the eagle by a hair’s breadth, and gratefully accepting the four points for the birdie, just one of our six for the day. Having made the green from the tee on the 7th, he rattled the putt in for another birdie and another four points. His vision of catching the leaders was reinvigorated. The back nine was less kind, and the scattering of singletons on the card makes one wonder what might have been.

The conditions did not seem to suit Ryan and Pres today, as they both faded from their previous week’s form, and had to settle for third place, but still not to be sneezed at from a points point of view. Whitey, on the other hand, turned in an identical score, but he reckons it should have been much better if not for the ‘slow’ greens. Harry improved by a bit, and Steve by quite a bit, to climb into the placings in fourth, while Brendon’s better round got him the last pair of points for the event. Brendon’s iron play from the tee today let him down on several occasions. Particularly on the 18th, where he had signed up for video coverage. His second shot made it to the bottom deck of the green, and his ‘power’ putt up the hill crashed into the pin and dropped into the hole for par. Recovery from adversity was certainly a feature of his play today.

The first BallPin was on the 12th, and Harry was the only one to get his name on the chit. Matt put his name down for the BallPin on the 18th early on, and, although he wasn’t all that close, his was the only name on the chit at the end of the day. The ProPin was set for the 15th, and nobody was able to get within the required 5m of the pin, so there will be a very handsome Jackpot on offer next week, particularly if we can get a similar registration to today.

The barbecue was catered very satisfactorily by SOS, and there were no reports of shortages, despite some expressed concerns about numbers beforehand. It is not clear whether Colin will be joining us on a regular basis, but let’s hope that he will not be put off by being roped into cheffing as a member of the first group off the tee. The tantalising smells of the snags and burgers was certainly inviting as the later groups played out the 18th, and Harry was almost tempted to forego the family lunch that he had in the offing.

Next week, Wazza will be a year older, so the Birthday Birdie says, have a good one mate! Not sure whether Targe had hopes of sticking it to Raj in the fight for the Trophy. But, his cause was not helped as he played the 14th. His tee shot finished on the 16th, and he headed for, and hit, JQ’s ball. Unfortunately, he was beyond hailing range to be saved from the error. A salutary lesson for all. Put a distinctive marking on your ball, and, check before you hit, particularly on a fairway that is not your own. Josh had a bit of a near-miss today when a fore-called stray shot whizzed past his ear. Matt and Wazza ducked on the call, but Josh stood his ground, but, who knows, does ducking help?

Results for Saturday, 26 Jul 2025
1st Gordon Hill (36, 38, 74) 2nd Rajesh Mahto (38, 34, 72) 2nd John Quinlan (34, 38, 72) 3rd Ryan Porker (35, 31, 66) 3rd Robert Priems (34, 32, 66) 3rd Rodney White (33, 33, 66) 4th Harry Boughen (31, 34, 65) 4th Steven Gervasoni (27, 38, 65) 5th Brendon Mitchell (30, 34, 64)

Seniors Results: 1st Gordon Hill (36,38,74) 2nd Robert Priems (34,32,66) 2nd Rodney White (33,33,66) 3rd Harry Boughen (31,34,65) 3rd Steven Gervasoni (27,38,65)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 12th Harry Boughen BallPin No 2 – 18th Matt Hunt

Who will it be? Who will it be? Who will have the wisdom? Let it be! (with apologies to Lennon and McCartney). The leader board is pretty crowded, with only ten points (or so) from the leader to the tail-end Charlies. Anything could happen, and probably will. The first group were not too tardy, and they remembered where the nearest the pin markers were to go. The weather was fairly benign to start with, but, as the morning progressed, the wind picked up and took on a particularly gusty and swirling character. At times, the wind could be at your back and the flag could be standing at right angles to your line. Possibly based on individual performances, there were early predictions that playing to your handicap might be a bridge too far.

Raj stepped up to the first, and smashed one, just about out of sight, giving rise to the suggestion that he was targetting the top of the Order of Merit again (not updated yet, slight glitch). Despite the impressive start, the front nine was not particularly kind, with a couple of gashes knocking a hole in the total at the turn. However, he must have revelled in the swirly conditions that developed, as he absolutely demolished the back nine, just two over the card and twenty-three points. The thirty-five off the stick was a PB for the nine. Well done, Raj! Targe also got a good one away from the first tee, giving rise to the suggestion that he might be in for a good one today. And, a good one he did have! The card did include four singletons, so an even better result was not too far out of reach.

The pressure of leading out the field, and having to remember the NTP markers obviously weighed on Gordo’s mind, and he started off fairly slowly. Once he had passed the 4th, and had successfully cleared the first NTP hurdle, he obviously relaxed, and his driver started working well, and continued to do so for the rest of the round. So much so that there was not a score under two for the rest of the round, and third place was his. Pepsi would have been fairly happy with his front nine, despite a couple of bogies, that limited him to just nineteen points for the half. A couple more to start the back would have been a disappointment, but the scoring picked up smartly from there. That is, until the last, where an uncharacteristic double undoubtedly wiped the smile from his face. Porks played a pair of three over the card in his round, with a triple on the 16th really taking the shine off an excellent back nine. SOS suffered a bit of a slump half way through the front, but the back was a completely different story. Other than perhaps the 17th where he ‘went for the green’ despite the wind in play. From just off the green, he chipped across, needing to chip on and two putt for a point saving five. Coulda, shoulda!

In the excitement of sorting the cards, Prez almost got over-looked in the announcements, but he was not to be over-looked, and complained bitterly. Sorry, Prez! JQ’s mood was a bit up and down as the day progressed, and his game and luck oscillated between good and ordinary. As an example, a good drive on the 11th was followed by a good pitch that found a ‘twig’ that dropped the ball virtually at the base of the tree. The follow up pitch found the green and rolled just past the hole, missing by a whisker, leaving just a putt for a par. So, a four point turn-around is all that is required for this leading list of members. And, the rest of the field is not too far behind. Next Saturday could/should be moving day!

There were two balls to play for on the 4th, and Marc put in an early claim for the pair. Unfortunately for Marc, JQ managed to finish closer to the hole, even though he did not really see where the shot had gone. You don’t have to post pictures on Instagram! The pin on the 18th was just at the foot of the slope on the bottom deck, which might have contributed to the close fought contest for the ball on offer here. AndrewV put in the first claim from just over 12m, which means it must have been barely on the green, in whichever direction. CJ was obviously closer, but he was no match for Stan, whose shot to 6m was enough to take our day, but we will have to wait and see if he held on for the inside comp. Stan’s short game was apparently OK, as he was credited with one chip in and one putt in from off the green, as well as his 6m putt here for his birdie, and one of the six that the eighteen of us could score on the day. The ProPin was on the 12th, and getting close enough to the pin was difficult with a fair old cross-wind in play. Harry had a go, but his little fade took him just a bit too far to the right. Craig, however, was right on the money, and caused some oohing and aahing as the ball rolled past the hole to the tune of 4.465m. We won’t say how many putts he took, but he finished with a four for the hole.

On the 11th, Whitey put his drive into the trees on the right, and was about 100m out from the green. The brought out his legendary putter which he used to put the ball onto the green about 2m from the hole, much to the amazement of a couple of our newer members. SteveG was thought to have been abducted by aliens as they played the 6th hole. Last seen as they left the tee, he was nowhere to be seen as the rest of the group gathered on the green preparing to putt. Eventually, he was spotted jumping up and down and waving his arms from the other side of the turkey’s nest dam on the 1st fairway. Needless to say, he did not end up in a scoring situation from that sort of location. Marc’s game oscillated between pretty good to pretty awful, according to his group, leading to the suggestion that he might qualify as Young Unreliable.

Make sure that everybody planning to play next week registers so that we can get the catering right. Doesn’t matter if you didn’t play this week, everybody is welcome, and you could win yourself some cash or a ball, or two. If you don’t register, and you turn up, there might not be a sausage or burger for you. And, we would hate that to happen!

Results for Saturday, 19 Jul 2025
Leaderboard Round 1: 1st Rajesh Mahto (38) 2nd Targe Mifsud (37) 3rd Gordon Hill (36) 4th Andrew Petricola (35) 4th Ryan Porker (35) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan (35) 5th Robert Priems (34) 5th John Quinlan (34)

Seniors Leaderboard: 1st Targe Mifsud (37) 2nd Gordon Hill (36) 3rd Robert Priems (34)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Craig Cameron BallPin No 1 – 4th John Quinlan BallPin No 2 – 18th Stan Blackshaw

It was a Beast of a day! Well, not really. It actually turned out quite pleasant in the end. However, we should keep our eye on the clocks rather than rely on how dark it looks from inside the Clubhouse. Our first group was rather late off the mark, and, although nothing was said (as far as is known at this stage), we really should be out there to play at the earliest reasonable opportunity. The rain continues to soften the course, but the grass has yet to get a grow-on. The greens were sanded during the week, and there were a couple of comments about playing ‘down the Peninsula’. But, it didn’t prevent some spectacular putts going down. One worthy of mention was from Pepsi on the 10th after duffing a chip just onto the edge of the green for three. With about twelve metres to go, he lined it up, gave it a good crack, and watched it nestle nicely into the hole for his par. On the other hand, CJ blamed the contrast between the greens at Ivanhoe and the Frog, for his ‘failures’ with the flat stick.

Asked during the round how he was going, the reply from Porks was, not so good. Which was probably fair enough, as he had used all of his handicap on the front nine. But, all he had to do was negotiate the back just one over the card to present with a winning score of 35 points. Craig jumped out of the blocks on the front, and carded four pars on his way to 19 at the turn. The back nine was not quite so kind, and he had to settle for second place, just one point behind. He wasn’t alone on the podium, and he was joined by Gordo, who got to the same total in the reverse order, making 19 points on the back. He might have had a share of top spot if he had not picked up on the 12th, only to realise that he still had a stroke in hand for a point. Raj, on the other hand, played a very even hand with seventeen on both halves. Pepsi was a bit of a surprise addition in this spot, with an ‘over-write’ on the front not being transferred to the bottom line and being used in the total. Tut, tut, Pepsi and his marker – you know who you are!

This left CJ on his own in third place, which he managed, despite his ‘problems’ with the greens. He also did a forehead slap when the found out, after the round, that there were preferred lies in play. Early reports had it that Stan had scored a ‘birdie’, but it turned out to be a ‘duck’. Strictly, it’s a goose, but who’s counting. Anyway, the injured party was able to limp off, and didn’t require despatching with a seven iron, like an infamous ibis some years back. Dan was able to drag himself away from playing ‘It’s a Knockout’ to join us for a round, and, if it hadn’t been for a fair sprinkling of gashes and singletons, he could have finished much further up the order than fourth with his 32 points. Bob was really on a roll today. It started on the 13th, where he managed to drive his buggy into the gutter by the path up the hill and it rolled. Then, on the 14th tee, he walked into the chain between the posts, and went for a roll of his own. Then, on the 15th, trying to play a shot off a 60 degree slope, he overbalanced and narrowly avoided a more serious injury than the cuts and bruises that he sustained. Perhaps an unplayable might have been in order. Despite all this, he snared a share of fourth place as well. Marc and Whitey rounded out the points getters, only four points behind the winner. While we are on a roll, Whitey did admit to giving his putter a ‘roll’ today to get himself out of some tight spots. Nothing from the tee, apparently.

There are often jests made about the lead group not putting the nearest-the-pin markers on the correct hole if they do not get onto the correct green themselves. CJ was in charge today, and he had made both Beast and Dan repeat after me – put the markers out on the 4th and the 12th. Both CJ and Dan got onto the 12th, and, allegedly within five metres with Dan, allegedly, closer, and they both didn’t twig that the marker should go out. So, the ProPin eventually went out on the 15th, and Gordo was more than happy to give himself the dosh, for his shot to 1.85m. The first BallPin, correctly, went out on the 4th, and will be Jackpotted to next week after the far back tee placement proved a bridge too far for everybody. On the 18th, Pepsi was the only one to get his name on the chit with a shot just under 13m away from the pin.

We could only manage six birdies today from a field of 15 players. One of these was down to Harry on the 16th, lying about 30m out for two, the pitch was right on line, the ball settled into a roll, and continued until it disappeared ever so gently from sight into the hole. Never looked like missing, said Bob. The four points helped him to make close to half his total points over the last four or five holes of the round. So, definitely a highlight. SteveG did not join us today, so maybe he was saving himself to celebrate a birthday that is coming up, which gets him a visit from the Birthday Birdie. JQ started out with a pretty reasonable front nine, and, for one hole, that looked like continuing on the back. It is unclear what happened, but perhaps his ‘luck’ on the 16th can give an idea. The tee shot finished towards the 14th green. The second was absolutely ‘creamed’ and was going like a rocket. Except, that it found a small tree in its path, around which the ball rattled about four times before being ejected back over his head, to finish further from the green than he started. Some days are diamonds, some days are tish!

Results for Saturday, 12 Jul 2025
1st Ryan Porker (35) 2nd Craig Cameron (34) 2nd Gordon Hill (34) 2nd Rajesh Mahto (34) 2nd Andrew Petricola (34) 3rd Chris Priems (33) 4th Stan Blackshaw (32) 4th Dan Marie (32) 4th Bob McDonald (32) 5th Marc Phillips (31) 5th Rodney White (31)

Seniors Results: 1st Craig Cameron (34) 1st Gordon Hill (34) 2nd Chris Priems (33) 3rd Stan Blackshaw (32) 3rd Bob McDonald (32)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Gordon Hill BallPin No 1 – 4th Jackpot BallPin No 2 – 18th Andrew Petricola

A fairly mild winter’s morning was on offer to the seventeen members who fronted the starter to vie for the July Monthly Medal. There was a fair bit of debate about whether it was light enough to tee off again, but first light should start to get earlier from now on. At least until daylight saving kicks in. It was a red letter day for a couple of members. Matt was brimming with confidence for his 200th game with the Club, following some good form on away turf in recent times. Pepsi was also angling for a birthday gift, giving up a sleep-in and breakfast in bed for a tilt at a medal for the pool-room. Despite the incredulity evident when he announced his age, the records showed that he was telling the truth, and had not started counting backwards. As the morning progressed, the temperature climbed, and the hand-warmers were left to warm the insides of pockets rather than pinkies. This was obviously beneficial, as the majority of players had improved totals on the back compared to the front.

Old Reliable did not quite lead out the field, but he did manage to lead it in. This was largely thanks to a ten stroke turn-around, with the back nine taking just three more strokes than the card. This makes the winner’s penalty seem insufficient, particularly if he can repeat the effort for the first half of the round. There wasn’t a huge margin in the victory, though. AndrewV had Craig’s measure on the front nine, but, just failing to make a few pars on the back, left him just one stroke short of the top spot. This high placing scored Andrew a rocket in the Order of Merit, which has seen a few moves today. Ryan started off with one of our two birdies, but, by the end of the front nine, he had used all of his available handicap. Four over the card on the back brought him home with seventy-two and gathered third place for the day. Ryan was another mover in the OOM, and now sits on the top of the order for the first time.

Matt didn’t win himself a Medal to celebrate his 200th, but he did get some points for coming in fourth. Having used up his handicap, plus a couple on the first nine, he did well enough on the back to make a bid for fourth place, three strokes further back. Gordon could be said to have been playing under difficult circumstances today. On the third green, he spotted a pitch mark, and decided to do the right thing and repair it. As he leaned down to do the repair, he steadied himself with his putter resting on the ground. At this point, the hosel of the putter snapped, and Gordon was lucky not to do a face-plant. However, what was he to do about putting. He tried with his 2-iron, but finally settled on his 3-wood. So, scoring fifth place was probably not such a bad effort. An inspection of the break by the resident metallurgist suggested an existing flaw in the metal, and not a superfluity of force. Ken’s regular attendance seems to be paying off, and he has become a regular in the points distribution.

The Nearest the Pin competition attracted a fair amount of interest today. The first BallPin on the 12th hole attracted three names on the card, but Stan was the man to tip out Prez and Raj for the pill. The story was similar on the 18th, but the changes in fortune must have been marginal. SOS was victorious after edging out SteveG by a matter of millimetres. And Steve had managed to upstage Matt. However, SOS was probably less than half a metre onto the green, so, how far onto the dance-floor had Matt’s ball been? The ProPin was on the 15th, and, as the last group approached, there was no name on the card, and hopes were raised for a Jackpot for next week. Unfortunately, the last group included Pepsi, and he whacked his ball in to 2.31m to collect the money, although he did mention that he really needed a ball rather than cash.

There were several draughties today, all in the one group. Harry and Marc came to grief on the second. There was no doubt about H disappearing into the reeds, but some careful alignment was required to declare Marc’s about 10mm short of the mark. Wazza came to grief on the 14th after heading one in the direction of SOS’s car in the car-park before it caught a tree and stopped dead in the tan-bark. Gordo probably wished he still had a head on his putter when faced with a ball hard against the base of a tree. Also on the 3rd, Raj had a putt of about 5m, which he sent on its way running true to the hole, only to stop about 20mm short of the mark. As he walked up to the hole, the putter ‘slipped out of his hands’, and managed to hit the ball, moving it further from the hole. What didn’t move further from the hole was the putter itself, which wedged itself firmly into the hole, requiring running repairs to the hole surrounds, and a longer putt than before. SteveG also had a slippery glove on today when he repeated his backswing on the 11th tee, taking Blighty by surprise when the club made contact. No damage was done, and this was not the cause of Blighty’s bad back. He was putting the blame firmly on the ‘housework’ that he was doing during the week. Using muscles that he has never used before, apparently. Wazza paid his $3 at the 18th, and put his best effort into making the shot. A cry came up – it’s on the green! Only problem was, it was on the 9th green, not the 18th.

Results for Saturday, 05 Jul 2025
1st Craig Cameron (70) 2nd Andrew Vogan (71) 3rd Ryan Porker (72) 4th Matt Hunt (75) 5th Gordon Hill (76) 5th Ken Watson (76)

Seniors Results: 1st Craig Cameron (70) 2nd Andrew Vogan (71) 3rd Matt Hunt (75)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Andrew Petricola BallPin No 1 – 12th Stan Blackshaw BallPin No 2 – 18th Stephen O’Sullivan