Some feigned tennis injuries, some claimed other commitments and some claimed to have to go to work. And as for the rest, the chances are that they just chickened out when the weather looked like being a bit inclement. And it was – sort of. First it showered out of a clear blue sky, then it showered out of a little white cloud, then it showered out of a darkish cloud and, finally it rained and it hailed out of a really black cloud. The bulk of the field had made it back to the clubhouse before then and suffered little more than the inconvenience of upping and downing of umbrellas. The last groups, consisting mostly of the better players from last week, probably had the worst of it and came in doing a good impression of half-drowned rats. Still, four out of sixteen getting a wetting isn’t too bad.
Now, the big question on everybody’s lips was – can Mehm break his winless streak? It must be said that even Mehm wasn’t too confident at the start of the day. As it turned out Mehm’s fears were well grounded and he relinquished the top spot to Michael who put in one of the two top cards for the day to add another point to last weeks tally making him an easy winner by four points. Well done and well deserved, as are the double lot of winner’s penalty. But that’s just par for the course!
When Dennis was spotted playing the 11th on the 13th, he opined that he was doing OK but that he had probably made a mess of this one. Having made 3 up on the front nine he was certainly putting himself into a good position to strike. Unfortunately it was not to be and the gearbox leaked more oil as the round progressed so that he finished -1 on the day and square for the event. Stefan also had a bit of a blinder on the front nine and carded 4 birdies in a row which was a fair percentage of the ten that were carded by the group as a whole. One of his playing partners described the passage of play as just like watching the PGA. Given that Michael also carded four birdies (not consecutive though), it doesn’t say much for the contribution of the rest of the field. Somebody said that SOS was having a ‘mare’ or was that ‘mayor’ – whatever that might mean, but presumably it was to convey that he wasn’t going so well. Regardless, to end up equal second over the two weeks is not a bad effort in anybody’s terms.
As was mentioned earlier, Mehmet maintained his winless record and he is now looking forward to celebrating the second anniversary of his last top spot by maintaining that state. The Beast continues his steady performance of points gathering and has clawed his way back in front of Brendon in the Championship table. Chrispy’s fears about being overtaken for third spot in the Championship have been well founded and Michael’s win today has moved him a bit ahead of Chris. The Beast’s lead in the Seniors has also been extended. Jason put in a much better performance today and managed to propel himself into 4th place with the other best card of the day. It might have been even better if it had not been for the draughtie that he managed to execute on the 5th. He wasn’t alone though as Brent managed one on the 2nd after trying to knock the cover off the ball (again).
So, although Brent had a bit of a shocker today, a fair bit of it down to the said tendency to try to knock the cover off the ball, he still managed to finish up with an aggregate score good enough to settle for 5th place. He was joined by Ryan who managed the conditions today better than most with his square card.
Now, it was thought that Noodles had managed to take out the Bradman trophy on his own even though he didn’t play today. However, it seems that Gordon (and his marker – though to be fair his marker didn’t have a card to mark on the front nine) forgot about the stroke difference between his two cards and claimed a point that wasn’t due and so the Glory (or shame) has to be shared.
The BallPin was on the 12th today and the eventual winner was John who managed to get it closer than Harry, who was in the first group and wasn’t all that close anyway. The ProPin was on the 18th and it was won by a man who claims that he hasn’t won one for at least a hundred years. Now, come on SOS, you’re not even in the Seniors yet.
Speaking of Seniors, it’s about time that we started moving the boundary for qualification (a bit like the Feds are doing with the Pension age) as there are a couple who are moving inexorably closer. The Birthday Birdie reckons that David is on the brink and Chrispy isn’t all that far away. And neither has been asked to prove his age. Yet! Don’t celebrate too hard chaps.
Chrispy reckons he usually finds form just in time for Mansfield but he was not so sure about that this year. That is until the last four holes when he reckoned that the ‘old Chrispy’ was back. Brent and Jason were off to a wedding – possibly a ‘garden’ ceremony – hope they had a plan B. The groom is none other than Dale which might have something to do with why he didn’t play today. Brent was leaving his clubs with Chrispy and asked should he just chuck them in the car – to which Chrispy replied – Nah, just chuck them in the bin.
The tail end Charlies managed to record four pars on the 9th and all of them were down to up and downs (if you can sort out your ups from your downs). Some were long putts and some were awkward downhill chips but it’s the result that counts, not the picture that you have to draw.
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Results for Saturday, 22 October 2016
1st Michael Gourlay(+3, +1, +4) 2nd Dennis Ward(+1, -1, □) 2nd Stefan Belevski(□, □, □) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan(+3, -3, □)
3rd Mehmet Akdag(+4, -5, -1) 3rd Bill Eastoe(□, -1, -1) 4th Jason Hopkins(-3, +1, -2) 5th Ryan Porker(-4, □, -4) 5th Brent Rowley(+3, -7, -4)
Seniors Results: 1st Dennis Ward (-1,1,□) 2nd Bill Eastoe (-1,□,-1) 3rd Harry Boughen (-5, □, -5)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 18th Stephen O’Sullivan BallPin 12th John Quinlan