Twenty four people came out today and most of them seemed intent on reminding Mal about how many strokes he had lost after last weeks effort. But was Mal fazed by all of the attention. Well that remains to be seen. Another really nice Melbourne summer day with the temperature creeping up into the low thirties and with just the slightest of breezes to take the bite out of it. There were actually only twenty three members as Zimmer had brought along his mate George who is, reportedly, only a new-comer to the game but who also, reportedly, drove the 14th. So the score on his first card might not stand for too long. Anyway, welcome along George and we look forward to seeing you on the tee from now on.
With the fairly benign weather conditions and the course still having a fair bit of run on the fairways that are struggling to green up from the drink that they have had over the last couple of weeks, it might have been anticipated that there would some good scores to be had. In the event, there was only one person who broke his handicap and this was our almost new-comer, Les, who seemed to have relished the conditions and took out the Monthly Medal by a margin of two strokes with his 80 nett 67. Now you know why we dock your GA Daily Handicap when you join the Club. Well done Les.
Simon was all concerned about losing a stroke for winning and he and Bob sweated out the agonies of being Club House Leader while waiting for the last groups to come in. So much so that he had Targe working out the count-back to see whether he or Bob had won the Medal. Hate to tell you this Simon, but it wouldn’t have mattered, ties for first place all lose the stroke regardless of the count-back result. Simon was also bemoaning fact that the 13th was doubly unlucky for him after he carefully put his tee shot into the hazard, took the penalty and carefully put the next shot right back into the same hazard. So, three seniors filling the first two places means that Simon is creeping up on Gordon in that race with the aim of beating him at the end of the year.
SOS is wearing a red mark that looks suspiciously like a love-bite on his left shoulder-blade but he assures us, and hopes that Colleen believes him, that it was caused by a hit from a ball struck by Steve who sliced it around some trees into the group standing on the next tee. Despite his run-in with the law, SOS apparently read the riot act, Steve came home with a nett 70 to gather third place by himself.
Just a single stroke behind came a group of three players, Mehmet, Mal and Brendon with 71 nett. So, Mal proved that last week was not just a flash in the pan and if it wasn’t for a couple of errant shots he could easily have played to the new mark. More points today keeps Mal at the top of both tables. Mehmet seems to be sticking to his resolution not to win an event again this year. Although he is currently in fifth place, he does have a bit of catching up do do and some seconds would help bridge the gap. Brendon started off looking as if he was going to be the one to beat by starting out par, birdie but then he leaked some oil for a while until the gasket took up a bit and he came home with a bit of a flurry.
Craig, Targe and Rob filled the last podium position and early taws it looked as if they might have to make room for Chrispy as well. But, Chris had put his inside card in with us and vice versa so there was a bit of a scramble to rectify the situation. Wouldn’t want to the DQ’d again, hey Chris?
The BallPin hole was the 15th and several groups went through without worrying to use the marker. The eventual winner was Steve who almost had to duck when the ball was handed out by SOS. Wonder why that would be? It obviously wasn’t close enough for Steve to get the birdie but there were 15 other occasions when birdies were recorded today. There was also an eagle on the 6th. Now, today was the Monthly Medal and the competition tees were off the black (white) and the 6th tee markers were about as far back as they could go. Half of the area was a bunker and the other half had shrubbery so close that it interfered with your back-swing. Probably not a strictly legal placement but be that as it may. Despite all this, Michael managed to cream his drive and followed up by creaming his fairway wood to finish through the green on the fringe and then chipped putted it in to collect the two balls on offer from the nest. Definitely no ball shortage for Michael now.
So, with the spate of birdies and general improvements in tallies, there has been a change of leadership in the Eclectic table and the field has really bunched up with quite a few players within a stroke or two of the lead. Ryan is the man with his nose in front at the moment.
The ProPin was contested on the 12th and that green seemed to be difficult to get upon as well. Sure the tee was right back but it’s still only about 120m. But at the end of the day ChrisV managed to finish 1.79m from the hole and also contributed to the tally of birdies in the process. According to Chris, today was the first time that he has collected a ProPin since joining the Club. There you go, Chris, everything comes to he who waits.
Ryan was dressed for the warm weather today and sported a pair of shorts that wouldn’t have been out of place on the Surf Coast and could easily have been purchased at Savers. The Beast is back from his holiday and had every intention of improving his Eclectic score even if he wasn’t eligible to take home the Medal. As it turned out, the holiday didn’t really set his game on fire and he didn’t improve his Eclectic but he did make one fairly spectacular save on the 8th. His second shot looked to be leaving the playing area at some speed and heading for the other side of the billabong on the right when it hit a tree dead centre and bounced back into play. Bill was seen to be reaching for his provisional before the surprise at the result almost knocked him off his feet.
Fairly early in the piece, John was on record as ‘not really wanting to be here’. Typical of his woes was a shot from the bunker on the 10th. John opted not to shift the rake from where it lay in the bunker and wouldn’t you know it but the ball hit the rake and finished up who knows where. John’s shoulders were almost dragging on the ground as he trudged out of the sand. Might not have even raked the bunker! Rob also had his moments and, as a result of his tee shot on the 8th, he had to dip into his hip pocket to honour the draughtie that resulted. Plus he almost took out John in the process.
Chrispy had a visit from that friendly lady, Mrs Shanks, today but he wasn’t able to blame it on Snag’s clubs because he was using his own. Maybe they were getting back at him for abandoning them last week.
The Birthday Birdie was a bit remiss last week in not sending a wish to Les, who obviously came out to give himself a present today. And the Birdie is going to be worn out this week getting around to drop wishes off the Ken, Bob and Brent who all share the same day. What are the chances? Quite high actually.
Subscriptions are due and the Treasurer is making a list of those who haven’t paid up yet. Before next week would be good and non-financial members will not be eligible for the Matchplay Championship which starts at next month’s Medal round.
The AGM will also be held on March Medal day. All Committee positions will be spilled and up for grabs. So, if you want your Club to be better run, get in and nominate for the positions that take your fancy. The Nomination form can be downloaded from the web-site in the side panel under Forms. If you aren’t sure of the positions available, have a look at the Committee list, also on the web-site or ask one of the Committee.
Results for Saturday, 06 February 2016
1st Les Kitchin(67) 2nd Bob McDonald(69) 2nd Simon Powell(69) 3rd Stephen Kelly(70) 4th Mehmet Akdag(71) 4th Malcolm Fleming(71) 4th Brendon Mitchell(71) 5th Craig Cameron(72) 5th Targe Mifsud(72) 5th Robert Priems(72)
Seniors Results: 1st Les Kitchin (67) 2nd Bob McDonald (69) 2nd Simon Powell (69) 3rd Malcolm Fleming (71)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Chris Vinecombe BallPin 15th Stephen Kelly
Eagle’s nest Results: Eagle 6th Michael Gourlay