What a difference a week makes. We went from a scant fourteen members last week to a fairly bumper collection of 26 this week. The weather wasn’t any better so the only conclusion can be that it was the possibility of prestige and double points for the major that brought everybody out. Yes, the rain during the week has softened the course a bit and there were some pitch marks on the green to be repaired. Just think, if everybody repaired just two every time they made one, how much better the greens would be. And, if you are unsure as to how to go about it, have a look at the video on the link from the Home Page. The technique shown there works a treat. Anyway, the greenery is beginning to show through and who knows before long we will be complaining about the soggy fairways (or something similar).
With a big field out on the course, JohnQ decide that he would come in disguise by actually shaving the whole of his face. The ruse was particularly effective as Craig didn’t recognise him as one of ours as he wandered around beyond the 1st green looking for his ball as he played the 10th. But, despite the ups and downs rather that the up and downs, John managed to put only one square on the whole card so it was all or nothing for most of the way and he was square with only three holes to go. Something must have bitten him at that point as he plussed the rest and finished the round 3 up to safely put himself onto the top of the leaderboard and giving the rest of the field something to chase. John and the Beast were also playing their Matchplay match and it had been a very close run thing all day with nobody having more than a one shot advantage. The match went dormie at the 17th and John won the last to seal the deal 2 up.
Three points behind but by no means out of the race were another couple of tear-aways in Stef and Noodles with a pair of squares (cards that is). Stef did say that he was going to come back and steal away the Championship points and this despite some surgery on a knee and having to use a cart for the time being. He obviously made good company for Laurie and could easily have inspired him. The knee doesn’t seem to be restricting his swing as he apparently went close to driving the 16th green albeit with something of a tail wind as an assist. His shot to the BallPin hole on the 12th landed beyond the pin by some metres and spun back to run across the lip of the hole to finish only some 300mm away and he slotted it in for the easiest of birdies. He wasn’t alone on the birdie front and there were 15 all up today but perhaps it should have been more given the numbers playing. And, while on the topic of birdies, the eclectic will be updated next week, though, one of these days the handicapper/programmer might get around to set it up to be done on the day.
With the new ball addition rate to the Eagles Nest, the booty is starting to look very attractive though one would have to ask why anyone would really want to collect ten balls. Obviously Gordon would as he went for the green on the 17th and landed it so gently on the edge of the green that it finished only a metre or so from the pitch mark. The putt rolled towards the hole, if a little tentatively, and finished painfully close to the edge after turning away at the last. Maybe next time.
Gordo had his moments today and even owned up to a couple of shanks. Matt played a steady round with only one aberration that kept him having to share the leaderboard place honours with Gordon. Still, four points is not an impossible turn-around, particularly in a Par competition where the slip-ups hurt out of all proportion. Damo put in his first appearance for a few weeks and managed a creditable performance to post a -2 alongside Targe and Brendon. As usual, Damo went for the green on the 17th and hit it well but the ball could not be found. There was some disagreement between the observers as to whether it came up short of the green or long which made for a fairly large search area to cover. Damo was, according to all reports, heart-broken.
The list of people in fifth place is too long to go through but it did include Laurie. Now, Laurie is getting something of a reputation as a giant-killer. He played a Matchplay match against SOS today and, after a round of some fluctuating fortune he came home victorious by the margin of 3 and 1. SOS was noticed to be less than happy with his shot-making at the 8th and whether it was this or the prospect of having to dash off immediately after the round that played on his mind remains to be seen. So, Laurie goes into the final four and gets himself some points. Exactly how many will depend, firstly, on the outcome of his match against JohnQ in the next round. Two matches still to be played in this round and a couple of weeks left to get them out of the way.
The Leaderboard is up on the website. The tee groups will be in reverse order. Assuming that everybody who played today turns up, two groups of three from that list will lead out with any extras filling those empty spots or other casual vacancies higher up the list that might occur. If you played today and won’t be here or if you didn’t play today and will be here could you please let us know so that we have some chance of getting the catering for the BBQ right.
Simon was spotted around the club house during the week as he was in for the 500 shot check-up on his new set of clubs. He reckons the Pro told him he was dreamin’ about his desire to hit shots well all the time. It seems the Pro’s only do it 65% of the time. Of course, the other 35% of the time is still a bloody good shot. He wasn’t here last week because he was away in Canberra but he reckons it had nothing to do with the double disillusion or checking out the cast of Disney on Ice.
Blighty, hit at least one good shot today and he will be pretty pleased to collect the dosh from the ProPin on the 18th. There was no measurement on the slip, but estimates put it in the vicinity of 3m from the hole. Well done for that Blighty but you should bone up on your BBQ’ing skills during the week. Andrew was obviously so distracted that, not only did his golf suffer, but he forgot to put the BallPin marker out on the 7th and so it had to carry forward to the 12th for Stef to clean up.
There were reports of some draughties today though exact details are unclear. Noodles wasn’t included in the list but something did move him to kick one of his clubs. He argues that this is not the same as throwing a club. Not sure that the judiciary would agree. In another incident, it is reported that one of our members fell over, so hard did they swing at the ball. Bob, on the other hand, reckons that the grass was very slippery.
RULE OF THE WEEK: The Local Rules printed on the back of the card define Out of Bounds for this course as – Those areas beyond any perimeter fence, white stakes with black tops, carpark area and top edge of the billabong on the 4th and 8th holes. Trespassing in private property bordering the course is prohibited. So, in the case of the 4th hole, where there is a fence extant, a ball outside that fence is OOB. Where there is no fence any ball not beyond the edge of the billabong (even if beyond where the fence used to be) will still be in bounds. The edge of the billabong is defined as where the ‘level’ ground starts to slope/fall away from that level. We will be asking for further clarification for the case at the 8th.
Simon will be contacting members to get their sizings for the new shirt orders. Available fitting range from S to XXXXXL. As an indication, S will fit Harry, M will fit Targe and JohnQ. XXXXXL probably comes with poles and pegs. The cost to members will be $20.
Results for Saturday, 14 May 2016
Leaderboard Round 1 1st John Quinlan(+3) 2nd Stefan Belevski(□) 2nd Stephen Butterfield(□) 3rd Gordon Hill(-1) 3rd Matt Hunt(-1) 4th Damien Lee(-2) 4th Targe Mifsud(-2) 4th Brendon Mitchell(-2) 5th Mehmet Akdag(-3) 5th Craig Cameron(-3) 5th Michael Gourlay(-3) 5th Stephen Kelly(-3) 5th Laurie Mannix(-3) 5th Chris Priems(-3)
Seniors Leaderboard: 1st Gordon Hill (-1) 2nd Targe Mifsud (-2) 3rd Craig Cameron (-3) 3rd Laurie Mannix (-3)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 18th Andrew Blight BallPin 12th Stefan Belevski