Despite being told that there was nothing to be afraid of, the field looked like being a bit depleted today, but JQ, Whitey, and Jake turned up on the day to bring the field to twelve members, and one guest. One of these days, Jake might just make his mind up about joining us again. The day was a bit gloomy with a heavy overcast, but there was no rain. The thermal situation wasn’t too bad as we hit off, but, by the time we got to about the eighth hole, the temperature had dropped significantly. This didn’t seem to affect Wazza, who was out there sporting a tee shirt, while most others hunched into their jumpers, and gripped for dear life to their hand-warmers. Even around the after-table, said hand-warmers were still being put to use. The board was out for preferred lies, for the first time this year, but, for the most part, they weren’t really necessary, as the ball stayed pretty clean, and the lies were as good as could be expected given the dry season we had and the lack of growing weather these days.
JQ didn’t take long to iron out the kinks after his family matter related break from the clubs, and, on his second outing, he made the game look pretty easy. The front nine was spot-on, with the only blemish a double on the 7th. The back nine was better, though, just three strokes over the card, but featuring only the single square, which limited his total to just plus three. This was just enough to guarantee a place at the top of the podium. He did opine that a couple of birdies had saved him, which is just as well, as the pickings would have been very slim today, as there was only one other reported by the lot of us. Whitey hasn’t played a great deal either, partly due to a shoulder injury that put him out of commission for quite a while. However, his touch doesn’t seem to abandoned him, and he slotted easily into second place, just a point behind JQ. There were no reports of how far he had hit his putter, though it must be said, that he usually reserves that for three club events.
What are we going to do about Raj? There were a swag of frantic phone calls on the way home when Raj realised that the incorrect cards had been delivered to us and the ProShop. Possibly not surprising, as the one that went to the ProShop had his GA membership number written on it, while the one to us just had GA, in pencil, at the top, just enough to suggest that it was a genuine mistake. So, instead of being in a six way tie for third, he ended in a one way tie for third, and he teed Harry off, by pushing him out of the last Championship point. Wazza, SteveG, Gordo, Adam and Marc will have to be satisfied with fourth, and SOS will, hopefully, still be cheering that he was in the points. Hopefully Gordo and SOS were not too put off by the audience on the 7th tee.
The last of the quarter-finals of the Matchplay was fought out today, between JQ and Raj, who looked evenly matched with just two points in favour of Raj. They traded holes for most of the front nine, but, by the turn, thanks to wins on eight and nine, Raj had gathered a couple of holes ahead. JQ won the 10th, and thought he was in with a good chance on the 11th, with him on the green for two and Raj a good 60m out. Raj then lofted one in, in his usual high pitching style, and just about slam-dunked it, hitting the back edge of the hole, and popping the ball out about 10mm from the hole, putting the pressure right back on JQ to get the par for a square. Holes were traded again, until the match went dormie one in Raj’s favour at the 17th, taking the match right down to the wire. JQ won the 18th easily to finish the round all square, and the match proceeded to a chip-off. Despite Raj’s chipping and pitching giving JQ the irrits all day, neither protagonist really inspired with their efforts to get onto the green. JQ’s putt wasn’t too bad an effort, and Raj needed to, at least, match it. Unfortunately, some sort of yip got him and he left it well short. His second putt just slipped by, and JQ just needed to tap his in to take the match.
The ProPin was on the 4th, and the first group grumbled that they would put it out on a hole that one of them got onto. As it turned out, Adam smacked it in to 1.65m, so there was no ground for argument about choosing a different hole. The first BallPin was on the 15th, and it looked like being a Jackpot until JQ came along and got one onto the dance-floor. There was some dispute about exactly how far away it was, with the estimates ranging from 90cm (JQ) to 2m (others). Whatever, it won him a ball. Marc was nearly dudded out of the ball on the 18th after his new good mate, Wazza, wrote his name on the back of the ticket booklet, rather than on the front. The fact that the ball was hardly more than 250mm onto the green should not detract from the prize that he won for his efforts.
SteveG started his 100th round with the Club, muttering to himself, just swing easy. And, he did. For a few shots, at least. It came a bit unstuck at the 3rd, where the ball moved less than 100mm from the tee, and the tee was driven full depth into the ground. The front nine did not set the world on fire after that, but, finishing the round with wins on the last three holes, added some respectability (and points) to the day. SOS was cock-a-hoop on the 15th, when Adam’s drive was somewhat short of spectacular. However, it did require an alignment check to confirm that the ball had not reached the red markers, and, indeed, it did count as a draughtie, as well. Not something we are used to seeing, from Adam, at least. Wazza managed to par the 11th hole, but in a sort of round about way. His drive finished on the far side of the 6th fairway. His second finished in the shrubbery beside the green. The third made it onto the green, with a longish putt for the par. Stan had a couple of putting moments today. On the 8th, he was quite convinced that his squaring putt was going to miss and was striding after it, looking for all the world that he was about to pick it up. The ball just kept rolling and turning, and fell into the hole. Later in the round, on the 16th, similar scenario, and he was striding purposefully to pluck it out of the hole when the ball stopped dead just millimetres short. Must have been one of those ‘volcanoes’ that Bobbie is always on about! There were three ‘rockets’ in the Order of Merit rankings today, so check it out to see how you stand in the order of things.
Results for Saturday, 28 Jun 2025
1st John Quinlan (+3) 2nd Rodney White (+2) 3rd Rajesh Mahto (□) 4th Warren Capes (-1) 4th Steven Gervasoni (-1) 4th Gordon Hill (-1) 4th Adam King (-1) 4th Marc Phillips (-1) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan (-2)
Seniors Results: 1st Rodney White (+2) 2nd Gordon Hill (-1) 2nd Steven Gervasoni (-1) 3rd Harry Boughen (-3)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Adam King BallPin No 1 – 15th John Quinlan BallPin No 2 – 18th Marc Phillips