What a weekend. NASA and SpaceX rolled out their second-hand gear and got Crew-2 up there. Now, all they have to do is get them back again in due course. The footy is going to be big with 85 000 packing into the ‘G, but only 5 000 will be allowed to march for the Anzacs tomorrow. I suppose somebody makes more money from the footy.
Enough of the pontificating. The cloud cover prevented the temperature dropping too low overnight, and it probably put a dampener on it rising too much during the morning. The possibility of showers remained just that, a possibility, and we remained dry even if not all jumpers were removed during the round. We ended up with twenty players on the ground with a couple of late withdrawals, not all of which were down to sleeping through the alarm. The greens had been sanded through the week, but, according to reports, that did not stop certain people being able to chip them close and putt them in with relative ease. The rain earlier in the week has not done much to soften the course, so conditions should have been pretty well right for some good scoring.
Mehmet has apparently seen the light after a heavy night at the casino a while back and has sworn off alcoholic beverages entirely. This probably explains why he was heard ordering a double-shot latte with two sugars as payment from a draughtie by SOS on the 15th. It might also go some way to explaining his return to form with a winning score of 38 points. There were no misses, but the six one pointers were partly offset by the four point birdie on the 6th. SOS, on the other hand, had two misses on his card, one of which was caused by the aforementioned draughtie on the 15th and twice as many shots as Mehm on the 6th for the other. Not to be out-done SOS also scored a four pointer on the 16th to come in with 36 points and the points for second place.
Harry was in charge of putting out the NTP markers today, and he wondered momentarily about ‘forgetting’ to put the ProPin kit out on the 4th where it belonged after a clean miss by the whole group. This thought bubbled to the surface again on the next eligible hole (12th) when his drive looked to be perilously close to the pin, but looks from the tee can be deceiving. A couple of tree ‘problems’ might have helped to limit the final total to 35 and third place. Brendon helped to keep up the four point scoring average with his birdie on the 2nd, and he turned with 22 points under his belt. Oil began to leak on the 13th and, by the 17th and 18th, there was a very distinct ‘big-end knock’ – or was he just protecting his handicap? Regardless, he got to share the third step with Harry.
Damo would have been sort of happy with his front nine although he had used up a fair proportion of his handicap by that stage. He certainly gave the impression of being less than impressed with his second shot on the 14th, and who knows what the thoughts might have been after no points on the 15th. The final three holes probably improved his mood more than somewhat, and he finished with 33points for fourth place. A couple of points further back were a group of four musketeers with 31 points apiece in the persons of Jim, Beast, Gordo and MattH.
Despite his wishful thinking, Harry did not feature in today’s Nearest the Pin competition. The ProPin on the 4th went to Old Reliable with a shot that just made it inside the circle at 4.77m. Actually, Old Reliable was not quite as reliable as usual today, but we won’t go there. The first BallPin was on the 15th and MattH was half reluctant to put his name on it because it was ‘sure to be knocked off’. But it wasn’t. The BallPin on the 18th was taken out by Damo after Targe had staked out a claim early in the piece.
Perhaps this was a bit of a consolation for Damo as he also played out his second round match against Mehmet. It seems that Mehm had made some dire predictions to the WhatsApp group and Damien was determined that they weren’t going to come true. However, every time Damo thought himself sitting pretty with his ball on the green and an easy putt, Mehmet would chip it in or put it so close that it didn’t matter. The score line did run close from time to time, but before the match could be squared Mehm would put on a bit of a burst, and at the 16th, the match went dormie 2 and Mehm sealed the deal by winning the 17th and taking the match 3 and 1.
Bob didn’t have much of a day today and managed to add two draughties to the tally for the day. JQ was rather pleased that he had no sharp implements to hand when he had managed only three points in five holes. He did manage to regain some self-respect by scoring 27 points in the remaining thirteen holes. Noodles was showing his unbridled optimism when he was spotted wading through knee-high kikuyu on the embankment below the 14th tee, though it is not clear whether he was searching for his ball or his club. Jim still reckons the handicapper has ‘dudded’ him, but, if a guy can birdie the 12th and contribute to our tally of twelve, and follow up with a par on the 13th, then he doesn’t have too many legs to stand on. SOS seemed to be showing a propensity for something with some tongue gymnastics as he delicately rimmed the lip of his coffee cup and managed to lick the tip of his nose. Gordon was relieved to be in the points today, albeit at the lower end of the scale. His game was, he opined, ‘up and down like a fiddlers elbow’. At least it was ‘like a bride’s nightie’. The Birthday Birdie will be flapping off to visit Porks and Whitey later in the week. And a big shout out to Ken, who has graduated from mango Man to Mandarin (and Lemon) Man. Isn’t there a nursery rhyme that goes ‘Mandarins and lemons, Say the bells of St Kenneth’.
Results for Saturday, 24 April 2021
1st Mehmet Akdag(38) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan(36) 3rd Harry Boughen(35) 3rd Brendon Mitchell(35) 4th Damien Lee(33) 5th Jim Belevski(31) 5th Bill Eastoe(31) 5th Gordon Hill(31) 5th Matt Hunt(31)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (35) 2nd Bill Eastoe (31) 2nd Gordon Hill (31) 2nd Jim Belevski (31) 3rd Targe Mifsud (30)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Craig Cameron BallPin No 1 – 15th Matt Hunt BallPin No 2 – 18th Damien Lee