Well it wasn’t quite the day that the sun stood still (that comes later in the week) but there were some other dire forecasts about impending rain and there were a few anxious eyes cast to the skies when a hand-full of drops fell on about the 14th. A few spots was all it was and the wind was a mere zephyr compared to what you can get on King Island although some did complain about the effect it was having on the flight of the ball. Or was that just crappy ball striking? So, everybody finished dry if a little chilled around the extremities though there was one set of shorts out of the cupboard with a cheery observation that the temperature was as much as seven degrees. Obviously never heard of wind-chill!
The surgeon obviously did more than just fix Ryan’s knee. He has obviously fixed his golf game as well. Or, maybe, he was stung by his second placing last week to try a little harder today. He tried so much harder that he absolutely blitzed the field and coasted home to take the points and a clear lead in the Championship with a +5 result. The win and the bust caused a bit of harm on the handicap front and the margin in the Eclectic is back down to a more achievable level. Ryan went close to adding to his laurels on the 17th. With the tee well to the front, the pin was actually visible and Ryan went for it and finished only a metre or so away from the mark. The putt slipped by and so the Eagle could breathe easy and add another egg to the nest for next week. The birdie was easily done and brought the total for the day to six which is probably a bit low for a field of 17 players.
Blighty started off a bit shaky, particularly off the tee. But, later in the round, after analysing his swing and deciding to stop trying to ‘steer’ the ball, he really started to ‘cream’ it and with a bit of sharp play around the greens the scoring rate improved and he ended the day in positive territory to take the second place points in the main event and the top points in the Seniors.
Mattie started out with a burst and racked up five plusses in seven holes. This pretty much broke the Beast’s heart as the pair of them were slugging it out in the Matchplay semi-final as well. This burst left Matt with an impressive lead of four up and, try as he might, Bill was struggling to reel him back in although he had made up a couple by the 14th. Matt got a bit of a second wind however and the match went dormie three. Another win on the 16th clinched the deal and Matt took the match with a convincing 4 and 2. Matt now meets JQ in the Final and Bill will play off for third against Stefan. All will get points.
Trevor was in a group with Bob and between the pair of them they seem to have had more than a little trouble with knowing how many and which holes Trev had two strokes on. The upshot was that Trev moved up into 4th place and joined Whitey on the podium with a score line of -1 And just a point behind to collect the last points for the day were Whitey and Dale.
Dale had another little victory today when he put his drive on the 12th to about a metre from the hole to collect the BallPin trophy for the day. The two ProPins were on the 15th and the 18th and both of them went begging so there will be a reasonable stash of cash up for grabs next week.
Jason pulled one of his trick shots out of the bag today when the ball finished behind him. He didn’t hit a tree or a post or a buggy. He almost didn’t hit the ball and topped it so much that it took back=spin when it hit the ground and ran back the way it came to finish where it did. Harry reckons that he has been making so many ‘scones’ lately that he is thinking of joining the CWA.
Chrispy’s drive on the 13th headed so far left that it was deemed to be OOB for sure. On proceeding to the area, the ball was found lying on the roadway. Chris reckons that it must have hit a house to have come that far back out. Chris also found a ball inscribed with ‘chinese’ characters by the 18th green. He reckons it was as hard as the floor tiles in the club-house and when he despatched it towards the river, he worried that he might have damaged his club.
A member of the public was spotted wandering aimlessly across the 14th and 16th fairways staring intently at some sort of device. It seems that Pokemon Go has made some sort of a come-back and perhaps this was a symptom of that particular craze. Either that or stupidity (or both).
JQ used his son’s swimming lesson as an excuse to drop into the Clubhouse. However, we all know that he was really there to suss out who he was going to have to play in the final for the Matchplay Championship. He obviously means business since he seems to have picked up a brand new set of clubs that have been made especially to fit.
Brent also has a little trick that could be classified as a bit on the gruesome side. It seems that his little finger on his left hand dislocates rather easily and, a couple of times today, it popped out in the course of a swing at the ball. Just as easily popped back in, it seems. Whether this contributed to the lack of a placing today is still undetermined.
Brendon was checking on the guidelines for setting up a course for play and, in particular to positioning of the pin on the green. The guide indicates that it should be not less than ‘four paces’ (say three metres) from the edge. There are a few other criteria as well. The feeling is that these guidelines have not been followed on this course for some considerable time. And these are not the only ones but let’s not go there.
Results for Saturday, 16 June 2018
1st Ryan Porker(+5) 2nd Andrew Blight(+1) 3rd Matt Hunt(□) 4th Trevor Jackson(-1) 4th Rodney White(-1) 5th Stephen Butterfield(-2) 5th Dale Webb(-2)
Seniors Results: 1st Andrew Blight (+1) 2nd Trevor Jackson (-1) 3rd Bill Eastoe (-3) 3rd Dennis Ward (-3) 3rd Simon Powell (-3)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 15th Jackpot ProPin No 2 18th Jackpot BallPin 12th Dale Webb