Rain, rain, go away. Don’t come back ’til Christmas Day. For a while, at the registration desk, there were concerns that we might not reach a necessary quorum for a competition. In the end, only one of those who registered didn’t show his face, and there were a nice round two groups of four who braved a delightful spring, Melbourne day to try their chances against the vagaries of good old Ivanhoe. Raj did venture out in shorts, but the rest of the field tried to rug up as best they could for the conditions. That didn’t do Harry a lot of good, as, despite wearing full rain wear, every single layer of clothes, including socks, managed to get wet. Getting home to strip off and don something dry and warm was a blessed relief. He almost had to ask for help in the men’s, because his hands refused to cooperate to operate his zip. The gentleman at the next spot did not offer assistance, for some reason. Despite the vicissitudes, the whole field ‘waddled’ in, and settled down at a table in the cafe to thaw out. Porks had to rush off to collect his Mum from Flinders Street Station, where she had been patiently waiting since at least the 14th hole.
As a result, Ryan was not there to bask in the adulation afforded him for his exploits for the day. He started off steadily enough with a couple of two pointers. Then, on the third, he chipped in for a birdie (one of only three for the day), scoring a cool three points. Then, on the fourth, to use his words –
“4th hole, 8 iron, tried to hit a cut which is not my normal shot, it was right in line and landed on the green but couldn’t see it due to the mound in front of the hole.
When it landed, I said, ‘Oh, that’s in the hole’, as a joke.
Got down to green and thought my ball was long at the back, went to hit this ball but turns out it was Steve’s.
No other balls around so I checked the hole and low (sic) and behold, it was in the hole.
So I only had 3 putts after 4 holes to that point.”
As he said, “Unfortunately, it didn’t go that well after that.” and he only managed to finish with 30 points. More than enough to be a joint winner for the day, to top off an Ace, a Jackpot ProPin and the Eagles Nest, which pretty much makes him the King of the Championship etc, etc. The Club round of drinks for the dedicated eight will have to wait until next week.
Steve, last week, had threatened Ryan with a knee-capping until it was pointed out that, even then, he could not catch him, but, he still objected mildly when Ryan was bumped into his group in the re-grouping. Still, he managed to play to the standard of the field and shared the top spot. Wazza managed to scramble a fair collection of three pointers and a four pointer, which he did need to offset the almost matching number of gashes that he took, to join the top group. Brendon was tootling along quite nicely for eleven holes, when something must have gotten into his britches, and the scoring rate collapsed to only five points in the last seven holes. But, play often, and come second is a recognised Championship strategy, unless, of course, you are up against Ryan. Blighty was urging everybody to try his licorice rings (or whatever they were) after the game, and speculating whether he qualified for the NARGA. In actual fact, he easily picked up third place. Harry and Raj straggled into a tie for fourth place, while Nalin, the other half of the sub-continental cabal, picked up the final point on offer.
Speaking of the cabal, both Nalin and Raj managed to make draughties on the day. Nalin made several attempts before finally succeeding. Raj had his on one of the par threes, but, on the ones that counted, the 12th and the 18th, his shot finished on the green, and he collected both BallPins on offer. Toward the end of the round, there were a few serious wind gusts, one of which was strong enough to whip Nalin’s umbrella out of its holder to send it on its way from the front of the 18th towards the group putting out on the 9th. No worries. Brendon was on the job, and made a valiant effort to bring it to a halt. Which he did, sort of, but in the process the umbrella came off second best, and Brendon narrowly avoided doing a hammie or an ankle. The field agreed, there should be bonus points for playing on a day like today.
Results for Saturday, 08 Nov 2025
1st Warren Capes (30) 1st Steven Gervasoni (30) 1st Ryan Porker (30) 2nd Brendon Mitchell (28) 3rd Andrew Blight (27) 4th Harry Boughen (25) 4th Rajesh Mahto (25) 5th Nalin Samaranayake (20)
Seniors Results: 1st Steven Gervasoni (30) 2nd Andrew Blight (27) 3rd Harry Boughen (25)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Ryan Porker BallPin No 1 – 12th Rajesh Mahto BallPin No 2 – 18th Rajesh Mahto
Hole in One Results: Hole in One – 4th *** Ryan Porker ***