The mystery of the ‘two Denzils’ was finally solved. Stan was blaming autofill for changing Diesel to Denzil, but everyone else was sure it was the bottle of red on the table next to him that did it. Anyhow, welcome back Diesel, get that membership application in, and you can start playing in the ‘prestigious’ Priems Cup when it comes around next year. And, prestigious the event must be as we had eighteen members rock up to take part, and, with Diesel and Neil (from the afternoon players) we ended up with five groups of four, which is still no excuse for a fairly lengthy round. Try to keep in mind the need for prompt play with, maybe, a few fewer practice swings, not quite so long hanging over the ball, and finish putting rather than marking the short ones, to name a few. It was a nice warm sunny day, but those extra minutes in the sun can add to the skin damage, that some of us can ill afford. Generally, the course is in great condition, although there are still a few barish patches that seem to have some sort of fatal attraction to golf balls.
The main attraction of the day was, of course, the second round of the Priems Cup for the year. TeamRob was a bit behind the eight-ball with a seven point deficit from the first round earlier in the year. However, Rob was quietly confident that his selection was right on the money, and the team would have no trouble pegging that back with points to spare. In true Captain spirit, Rob went out today and showed the team how it should be done, and romped home with the top score for the day of 36 points. He was ably supported by his teammate, Wazza, who matched him with a 36 point scoreline, setting the team up with a good foundation to build on. Nalin, apparently, plays both Saturday and Sunday, so it is not surprising that he shows little difficulty in playing to his ever reducing handicap, and he too came home with 36 points on the card. The points today put him a fraction of a point behind Porks for the Vardon Trophy, and, with just two more rounds for the year, there is a distinct chance that he could snatch victory in the event before the year is out.
Craig is no longer Old Reliable, he reckons he has become Mr Invisible after he was ‘overlooked’ in the team draw. It’s hard to get good Team Captains these days! When he was finally recognised (among a flurry of emails overnight), he landed with TeamRob, so his tally of 34 points was a welcome addition in Rob’s fight for supremacy. Pepsi balanced him out on the other team, but the double in first place still weighed heavily on TeamChris. Dan was accused of having raided the medicine chest after some pregnant pauses over tee shots, but his 33 points injected another smidgen of hope into CJ. Matt and Porks were batting for Prez, so they exactly offset both Gordo and Dan. Denzil clawed back another point for CJ, but would it be enough. At the end of the place-getters, the tally was 170 points to TeamRob, and 164 to TeamChris. Just a smidgen short of overturning the deficit from round one. Would the also-rans make a difference?
Now, there were a couple of adjustments to the scores reported after the round, but, in the end, the overall result was unchanged, as TeamRob presented with 275 points, while TeamChris could only manage to gather together 266 points. Adding in the round one scores, TeamRob finished the year with 537 points, to wrest the trophy from TeamChris, who produced 535 points in total. A close-run thing indeed!
Somebody set the first BallPin on the 7th, and the tee was set well back, and nobody could make it onto the green, so there will be a Jackpot there next week. The ProPin was on the 15th, and the 5m circle proved to be elusive once more, so there is a nice little pot on the go for the Jackpot next week. On the 18th, the BallPin went to Mike (I mean Matt!), who had to rush off to work and could not collect his loot. Despite the pair of Jackpots on the NTPs, we still managed to plod seven birdies for the day.
It proved to be an expensive day for Marc, if he was using new balls, after several had to be ‘abandoned’ at various stages of the round. There was one highlight, though, when he missed the green short-sided on the10th. The very tricky chip from the ‘fuzz’ to a short down-hill pin placement proved to be no problem, as the ball rolled down the slope and into the hole. Pepsi probably would have been happier if the ball had made its way into the ‘mousehole’ rather than the ‘impossible’ lie that he was faced with on the 13th. The players in the first group reckoned that they got right into the swing of the ‘Priems’ brothers when pretty much every one in the group made use of the trees to stay on the fairway over the first four or so holes. Speaking of Priems brothers, CJ was heard bragging about how well he was hitting his driver, and the fact that it was the same model as Dave Mullenger’s! SteveG was quite over the moon as he walked from the first green with a par already under his belt. Maybe that par under his belt interfered with his swing on the second tee, because the shot did not quite reach the red markers. SOS doesn’t remember much about the round, but he does remember that!
Results for Saturday, 15 Nov 2025
1st Warren Capes (36) 1st Robert Priems (36) 1st Nalin Samaranayake (36) 2nd Craig Cameron (34) 2nd Andrew Petricola (34) 3rd Dan Marie (33) 4th Gordon Hill (32) 4th Matt Hunt (32) 4th Ryan Porker (32) 5th Denzil Flood (29)
Priems Cup Results: TeamRob {Robert Priems (36), Matt Hunt (32), Warren Capes (36), Rajesh Mahto (26), Harry Boughen (28), Ryan Porker (32), Marc Phillips (23), Stephen O’Sullivan (28), Craig Cameron (34)} 275 def TeamChris {Chris Priems (27), Nalin Samaranayake (36), Andrew Petricola (34), Gordon Hill (32), Targe Mifsud (24), Dan Marie (33), Stan Blackshaw (28), Steven Gervasoni (23), Denzil Flood (29)} 266
Seniors Results: 1st Robert Priems (36) 2nd Craig Cameron (34) 3rd Gordon Hill (32) 3rd Matt Hunt (32)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 7th Jackpot BallPin No 2 – 18th Matt Hunt