It took Gordo a moment to catch on when Harry mentioned that there was a bit of Japanese in the air this morning, and Josh might have been accused of anti-semitism when he opined that it was a bit ‘dewish’ out there. And it did take going on nine holes for the dew to depart from the greens. However, the sun won out eventually and a beautiful sunny day made conditions just about ideal for a round or two with the Ivanhoe course. Some of the greens could have done with a bit of a tidy up, but maybe ground staff are a bit too expensive on a Saturday. There was a view that there wasn’t quite as much run to be had, and the mozzies weren’t quite as ferocious as they were reported to be during the week. Ryan did have a bit of a start when he spotted something on his leg that looked like a mozzie, except that it was about 25mm long. The fourteen members who made it to the tee were down due to a bad case of ‘Bundy’ (Prez) and a slept through alarm (Peps). There was an unfounded rumour that Peps was delayed because his hair-dryer had gone on the fritz, which some members might have a chance of understanding.
Josh has been tipped to be a potential mover and shaker as he gets more rounds under his belt, and the trend in recent times has been to lower scores. Today was no exception, and he started out with a par on the first. For some, this might be seen as a bad omen, but, had it not been for some stray shots on the second, and a vanished ball on the 9th, there might have been more than six pluses on the front nine from a 44 off the stick, obviously much better than the 26 handicap that he ‘was’ on would indicate. The back nine was not quite so free scoring, but he did manage to square the nine to finish +4 for the day from 89 strokes, a personal best for the lad. Peter put in some practice at the chipping green before the round, and was quite happy with his performance. He was less than happy with his chipping on the front nine, but some good putting brought him to the turn, just shy of square on -1. It was a completely different story on the back nine, and the plus scores flowed to finish the nine +4 with a net result of +4 and a tie for first place with Josh.
Ryan used up a fair bit of his handicap on the front nine, and could manage only a single plus, to come to the turn at -2. It is not clear what performance enhancer he consumed between the ninth green and the tenth tee, but whatever it was, he should bottle it. Five squares and four pluses, using one fewer than par strokes for the nine, turned the overall result into a +2, so that he filled second place on his own. The nine included consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th, which was 25% of the total that the field was able to report for the day. The birdie on the 15th was actually pretty easy after his shot in from the tee danced around the hole, and spun off to finish 1.08m away. Given that this was the Triple Jackpot (no correspondence will be entered into, Michael) ProPin, this was a very lucrative result, and it just about broke Matt’s heart when he watched his shot to 4.32m well and truly beaten from the 16th tee.
Harry was pretty happy with his result for the front nine when he reached the turn, despite having left a few putts short of the mark, which he put down to the effects of the aforementioned dew. When the ball trickled into the water on the 10th, and the resulting loss brought the tally back to square, he still had hopes, although an over-generous long putt on the 12th and a missed come-back started to put the pressure on. A run of squares did little to help the situation until a pair of pluses on the last two finished the nine square, the round +1 and gave him 3rd place, just ahead of Michael, who finished square. Michael laid claim to a whole string of missed putts, including one on the 18th, that would have brought him the tie for 3rd, rather than having 4th place by himself. Playing right to handicap after taking cuts over the last two weeks is a good effort, and makes for quite a purple patch. Raj managed to finish the front nine in positive territory, but things did go a little astray on the back, including one ball on the 13th, that couldn’t be found after bouncing on the path. Whether it is any consolation or not, Raj has now leapt to the lead in the Eclectic, so Prez better stay away from the Bundy if he wants to claim top spot back. Whitey also presented with -2 for the round, despite the fact that he reckons that he can’t putt. If he hadn’t missed so many, he should have been well into positive territory was the claim.
Now, today was Whitey’s 200th game with the club, and, not only did he celebrate by getting a placing, he also laid claim to the first BallPin on the 12th hole. He had nudged out Peter, who had made first dibs on the pill. Targe was in the last group with Raj and Sarge (Gordo), and had finished about 10m from the hole. Unbeknownst to Targe, Sarge had picked up the marker, which led Targe to believe that he had a claim, and he wrote his name on the card. Unperturbed by having to cross out his name, Targe rattled the putt in for a birdie. The BallPin on the 18th saw Matt and Josh in a tussle from the tee, but Josh was a bit off the back while Matt was in with a good chance for our, and the inside, ProPin at 2.67m. Unfortunately, Michael knocked him off for both chances when he made it to 2.46m. Matt made his putt, but Michael didn’t!
Happy birthday to Prez Rob for just over a week ago. Next year, he will be able to join big brother in the hotly contested Seniors field. At the other end of the scale, Josh is lining up for his 21st next Saturday, so an extra big wish for that one. Matt was busy debating whether he could afford a sausage roll, or whether he should save the money to help pay for the drinks at the big party that is planned.
Speaking of Matt, he went very close to becoming a ‘tosser’ today when shots did not go quite to plan. The two OOBs on the 8th definitely required some gritting of the teeth. There was no damage to the shin or the flag-stick following an attempt to kick the ball away after losing a hole by mere centimetres. Brendon, apparently, took some on-line coaching during the week. It wasn’t clear whether this was actual coaching or a YouTube tutorial, but, if the scoreline was any guide, and he paid money for the privilege, Michael reckons he should at least demand a refund, or even sue! Ken reckons he had a great day, watching and looking. Watching other people play golf, and looking for his ball, of which he lost several. Gordo has dipped into his retirement nest-egg and acquired a new set of wheels. Nothing electric or anything, it just looks like the old Jimny on steroids. Goes by the name of Tank300, apparently.
Results for Saturday, 27 Jan 2024
1st Josh Hunt (+4) 1st Peter Sein (+4) 2nd Ryan Porker (+2) 3rd Harry Boughen (+1) 4th Michael Gourlay (□) 5th Rajesh Mahto (-2) 5th Rodney White (-2)
Seniors Results: 1st Peter Sein (+4) 2nd Harry Boughen (+1) 3rd Michael Gourlay (□)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Ryan Porker BallPin No 1 – 12th Rodney White BallPin No 2 – 18th Michael Gourlay