How come some people manage to perform on days when their handicap won’t be affected? Must be something to do with associating with bird-brains. Regardless of the circumstances, a great round by Eddie with 81 off the stick and 64 nett was more than enough to snare the main trophy. And it included at least four double bogies. Ed wasn’t entirely on his own with Oliver only two strokes behind in second place.
These were the only two to better the course with a veritable flock of ducks carding that popular number sixty-nine. Purely for the sake of curiosity, Mehmet won from the bunch on a count-back.
As well as the Champion of Champions, there was an unofficial event for the Chump of Chumps. Not sure how to determine the ‘winner’ of this one but on the basis of best nett, Tony scored with a nett 70. Out of kindness, it won’t be mentioned who came in at the other end of the field
SOS managed to lob one onto the 12th to score a ball for Nearest the Pin but once again the ProPin on the 15th went begging so Double Jackpot for the next official round for the January Monthly Medal. Lobbying to put it on next week was largely unsuccessful. There’ll just have to be an unofficial one over the next couple of weeks.
There were a couple of unfamiliar faces on deck today. Emilio was back to try to build on his early burst of form but the good food and fellowship in Italy and playing on a ‘flash’ course doesn’t seem to have done his game much good as he was well out of contention.
Club Life member, Neil Argall came along for the after gathering and lunch and reminisced about the good old days and helped out with the trophy presentations.
A couple of weeks ago it was reported that Trevor hadn’t suffered any ill effects from his fall but it seems that his ankle was much the worse for wear as a result and so he only signed up for 9 holes and hobbled around for the love of the game. He sprang up pretty lively though when Gordon presented him with his winnings from the Calcutta Auction.
The weather forecast was a bit ambivalent and things didn’t look too bad to start with but after about an hour it started to look as if we would have to call for the lights to be turned on. And then came the rain – well sort of. After a couple more holes, it started to brighten and the nervous glances at the sky after the one rumble of thunder soon made way for an appreciation of the lightening (and progressively more blue) sky. Not sure whether the weather affected the scoring or not but Bill was being a bit erratic on the second and went close to cleaning up the group teeing off on the 5th. Harry can’t really blame the close call for his score on the front nine but he did manage a fourteen stroke improvement on the back. Pepsi also had his moments and was 3 under after seven but then, to quote, he lost the plot Still, 71 off the stick is not too shabby at the end of the day. Chrispee also had a few moments with a pretty badly shanked chip on one hole – a rare event.
The other item of note was the AGM and the presentation of trophies. The Treasurer reported on the current state of the accounts and Chris leaves the Club with a good financial buffer that will be put to good use to benefit the members. Chris expressed his appreciation for the holiday in Thailand, but not at all sure what he meant by that, and the gibes about fine payments are surely unfounded. Pepsi also expressed his satisfaction at having been able to serve the Club as president over the last few years. He also presented a token of appreciation to Rodger who has retired as Social Secretary and who is also going to concentrate on his new Club membership though he will still play with us from time to time.
The baton now passes to the new committee with Gordon as President and Mehmet as Vice-President. The Turkish mafia is well represented with Ben taking on the role of Social Secretary. David will continue as Secretary while Brendon will take over as Treasurer and will be assisted by SOS who will provide a Police escort for the voluminous Club funds. Pepsi will be the Club Captain while Chris and Craig will team up to run the tee marshalling – volunteers welcome. Harry will continue to run the handicapping and website.
For those taking a break over the Christmas period, have a great one and hopefully Santa will bring you all you could wish for. For those keeping their swing in shape (if not their waist line) there are social events over the next couple of weeks and competitions will be ad hoc with no handicap penalties – unless of course it is on suspicion.