Cock-a-hoop is how you would describe the mood as we milled around, ready to celebrate the Solstice with the prospect of earlier sunrises from now on. Until, that is, Adam pointed out that the daylight extends at the other end of the day rather than the morning for a while yet. And, because of the thermal inertia of the atmosphere, it will be rather longer before the weather gets significantly warmer. Sales of hand warmers will continue to boom as a result to try to keep aging fingers from seizing up entirely. Initially, we were supposed to have nineteen players, including Jake, who tagged along with Dad again today. However, one member seems to have decided that the doona, or what was under it, was more attractive than the 0 C temperatures that prevailed out and about, so it was seventeen (plus one) who teed off eventually, once Brendon had decided that it was light enough to pull the trigger. He did set a cracking pace that the rest of the field struggled to match, as he needed to get away to an important game, and to jump start a car that also didn’t like the low temperatures.
AndrewV did not get away to a good start when his drive from the first crashed into the side of the adjacent sandbox. However, he was much relieved after the round to find out that he had out-driven Nalin, who actually had to remove his tee from the ground to take his second shot. This minor setback did not faze him, and he went on to score a total of eight three pointers on his way to a winning total of 38 points. Ken got away to a good start, but he did score a modicum of good luck on the third. After spraying his tee shot out of bounds, his next attempt finished with the corner tree offering a degree of difficulty. The shot headed for the 90% air, found the 10%, and, fortuitously, deflected left rather than right to finish on the green to deliver two points rather than the possible zip from another OOB. Despite a couple of zips further down the card, he still made it to thirty-eight, to share the first place with Nalin.
Harry took four or five holes to find a way to grip his club firmly enough to play a reasonable shot, and, by the back nine, he seems to have mastered it, and finished making 21 points to bring the total to thirty-six overall in second place. Adam started out with a bang, cracking a birdie on the first for a four pointer, and in the process contributed to the six that we managed as a group. He cracked another feathery on the 11th, which seems to have presaged a bit of a slump over the next few holes, which limited his total to thirty-four points. Targe had his driver working pretty well today, according to reports, but a couple of zips and a few singletons got in the way of a better score than the thirty-three that garnered him fourth place. He wasn’t alone in the spot, with Marc needing a couple of four-pointers to drag his total up to thirty-three as well. Craig and Porks, brought up the rear on the points distribution with no real disasters in evidence, just not enough good ones.
Three of the Matchplay quarter-finals matches were contested today, which might, or might not, have influenced people’s competition play. Porks took on SOS, and had to give seven strokes through the match. SOS got his nose in front from the get-go, and held his one hole advantage for a couple of holes. After a win on the fourth, Porks kept winning enough to reach the turn with three holes in hand. SOS fought a determined rear guard action, and, after Ryan put one out of bounds on the 17th, the match was square with one to play. Ryan managed to win that one and the match, one up. Marc was up against Andrew, who had to concede 15 strokes. After Andrew’s inauspicious start, Marc kept up the pressure (despite some problems of his own), and built up a very handy lead. Andrew found his MoJo, and pegged the lead back to three holes by the turn, with some hope of turning the match around. Mark had other ideas, and hammered the final nail into the coffin on the 14th to take the match 5 and 4. Harry took on Rob, and, with equal handicaps, there was no quarter to be given. Rob took advantage of Harry’s grip on his clubs (if not on reality), and was up by two holes after three. As Harry’s grip improved, he managed to sneak into the lead at the eighth, and had hopes of making it two up on the ninth as Rob’s putt from down in the hollow whistled up the hill at a great rate of knots. He just about cried when it rattled the pin, stopped dead, and fell into the hole rather than the rough at the back of the green. The match remained square for the next four holes, when the pressure of H’s improving form took its toll, and the match finished after the 16th, 3 and 2.
Two balls were enough for Ryan today. He could have collected four for taking out the BallPin on the 7th, and the Double jackpot BallPin on the 18th, but he opted for two and ten (dollars) instead. The ProPin today was nothing, if not controversial. It was supposed to be on the 15th, as marked on the registration sheet and on the chit in the box. The outside markers were in the hands of the group that included the Club Captain, no less. But, what do we find, but the box is put out on the 12th hole. Fortunately, nobody from that group had put their name on it otherwise suspicions would have been raised. Nalin had put one close, and Rob had done a heel and toe that was inconclusive, so out came the tape, which put his ball a mere 20mm further away. It was all to no avail, as SteveC beat them both by half a metre to collect the $18 (not $54 as the treasurer was starting to dole out). And, he blamed the new-fangled results sheet for the confusion when the error was pointed out. Despite SOS’s claims of laying up in the expectation that the ProPin was on the 15th, it was decided that the result should stand.
Both Marc and Andrew managed to find the trees from the front tee-box on the second hole, which, it would have to be said, is quite a feat. Needless to say, neither scored well on the hole. Steve also had a mishap on the first, and drove right into one of the bushes to the side. The ball was not found, and there was some discussion as to whether it had actually reached the distance of the red markers. Rob also managed to score a draughtie on the 15th, which helped to cancel Nalin’s on the first. The ball finished on a 45 degree slope, held up in a tuft of weeds, but Rob opted to play it, and went close to putting it on the green. For a moment there was concern that he would overbalance, and impale himself on an adjacent tree stump, but his undoubted athleticism allowed to save himself and stay upright. Jake is nothing, if not a Priems. A shot on the 8th disappeared into the depths of the penalty area on the left, rattled around among the trees, before flipping out onto the fairway some several seconds later. Or so it seemed.
Results for Saturday, 21 Jun 2025
1st Nalin Samaranayake (38) 1st Ken Watson (38) 2nd Harry Boughen (36) 3rd Adam King (34) 4th Targe Mifsud (33) 4th Marc Phillips (33) 5th Craig Cameron (32) 5th Ryan Porker (32)
Seniors Results: 1st Ken Watson (38) 2nd Harry Boughen (36) 3rd Targe Mifsud (33)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Steven Gervasoni BallPin No 1 – 7th Ryan Porker BallPin No 2 – 18th Ryan Porker