What a day! The group sheet had more changes than a stripper at a nightclub. However, we ended up with our original field size of sixteen, but in only four groups after Harry just about chucked it in. Gordo and SOS gave instructions to the chefs on where to look for the supplies and the new Club gas cylinder, so everything was deemed to be in dinky-di order. The air was a bit chill, but the sun was shining, and a warming trend was in the offing. The forecasts hinted at rain later in the day, and this proved to be perfectly correct, though there were half a dozen drops as the post game barbecue wound up. The big question was, would anybody be able to catch Nalin, who started out with at least four points start on the rest of the field. Would there be a brilliant performance by somebody or would there be a tragic collapse, by the first round leader?
There was a brilliant performance. But, it wasn’t by one of the back runners. It was by none other than Nalin himself, who absolutely played out of his skin to make last week’s score look ordinary, and carded a PB eighty-one off the stick, for plus six to add to the first round plus three. And that included three ‘bad’ holes. The reports were that the short game was absolutely brilliant, with the approach shots finishing close. Or, if they didn’t, the putts rattled in from anywhere on the green. Targe had it in his mind that Nalin’s ‘arrow’ ball marker might have had something to do with his uncanny accuracy. Maybe not! Regardless, a total of plus nine for the two rounds left the rest of the field the length of the straight and a couple of home turns behind.
SOS had a lesson during the week, and the coach ‘changed everything’. There was one instance of a reversion to form on the third, when a power shank from the tee could have taken a passer’s head off if it had made it through the bush. There were just enough missed putts etc for SOS to opine that the score didn’t really reflect how he played. Still, his minus one for the day was well up in the ball run listings, and the overall of minus three was adequate to score him second place for the event. Something that he entirely did not expect.
Gordo was heard doing a fair impression of a randy elephant seal, as he expressed his frustration with the ‘luck’ of the game. However, he came home with a wet sail by making birdie, par, par on the last three holes to finish the day just minus two to finish just behind SOS for the event on minus four. He wasn’t alone on that podium step. Bob shrugged off the effects of an air swing on the 6th, and the usual putts that were in the hole except for the last minute turn, to match Gordon on both daily scores. Targe took a slightly different path to his minus four, but he also needed a bit of a wet sail, as it took pluses on the last two holes to get him there. Brendon produced the second best score of the day with his square card, and also finished plus four overall.
Harry misjudged the effect of the dew on the speed of the greens early on, but made some very nice ones later in the round. One that should have been in hung on the lip of the cup, but the ten seconds elapsed, for no result. Reports suggest that Craig suffered a similar fate on one hole. Harry’s driver abandoned him on the last two holes, buying all sorts of trouble, and he could only manage minus two for the day. This let him hold his fourth place in the main field. Stan produced a very even distribution of all markings on the card, and, if it had not been for a ‘bald’ patch in the middle of the back nine, the result could have been somewhat different. So he had to settle for the last point on offer for the event. He was joined by AndrewV, who didn’t do quite as badly as he thought due to a point allocation error on his card.
As a second consolation prize for Andrew, he managed to knock off JQ for the BallPin on the 12th hole. The Kiwi (who else?) took out the Jackpot ProPin on the 15th with a shot to 3.49m, although a few estimated that it was longer than that. And, it was just not JQ’s day, because his claim to the BallPin on the 18th was overturned by Nalin.
We managed to score six birdies today, perhaps a bit on the light side considering the field and the conditions. Gordo did a bit of muttering about the fact that his second on the 16th finished to the left of the green and just off. Unperturbed, he just chipped it in. He went close to another on the 12th when the ball just about slam-dunked, almost disappearing from sight before jumping back out. JQ put in a reasonable round, even though he did own up to a draughtie on the 15th tee. Whitey, on the other hand, did not make much of a fist of the game on the day. At one stage, he lost four balls over the course of three holes. Matt also did a certain amount of huffing and puffing as the round progressed, and apparently pulled a real tantrum on the 8th tee, about the quality of his drive. He then proceeded to par the hole. Go figure!
So, having received adequate instruction from Gordo and SOS about the barbecue supplies, Matt fronted up to the cafe, looking for the meat and trimmings. Of course, they knew nothing about it, and offered to sell him some of theirs. Luckily, he didn’t take the offer and decided to phone a friend. The instructions were patiently repeated over the phone, and the barbecue could get under way. Except, that they reckon the brand-new gas bottle would not give out with any gas. They found another one lurking which, apparently, would give out some gas, and a very fine feed of burgers and snags (some <hot>) with frazzled onions, coleslaw and a range of sauces and breads was ready to be consumed by the ravenous hordes. To prove a point, SOS, afterwards, connected up the Club gas bottle, and it gave out gas no trouble at all. Matt and JQ claimed that they must have ‘loosened it up’. Regardless, a good time was had by all.
Results for Saturday, 25 Oct 2025
1st Nalin Samaranayake (+3, + 6, + 9) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan (-2, -1, -3) 3rd Gordon Hill (-2, -2, -4) 3rd Bob McDonald (-2, -2, -4) 3rd Targe Mifsud (-1, -3, -4) 3rd Brendon Mitchell (-4, â–¡, -4) 4th Harry Boughen (-3, -2, -5) 5th Stan Blackshaw (-5, -1, -6) 5th Andrew Vogan (-5, -1, -6)
Seniors Results: 1st Gordon Hill (-2, -2, -4) 1st Bob McDonald (-2, -2, -4) 1st Targe Mifsud (-1, -3, -4) 2nd Harry Boughen (-3, -2, -5) 3rd Stan Blackshaw (-5, -1, -6) 3rd Andrew Vogan (-5, -1, -6)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Brendon Mitchell BallPin No 1 – 12th Andrew Vogan BallPin No 2 – 18th Nalin Samaranayake