Enthusiasm was the order of the day as record numbers crowded onto the first tee. Twenty members eventually got their names onto the registration sheet, and SOS chipped in with the names of Zimmer and his mate to make a field of twenty-two. With a late start due to groups ahead, there were quite a few traffic-jams on various parts of the course, leading to a late finish. A few drops of rain had one or two anxiously monitoring the progress of some dark looking clouds in the west, but nothing came of it, and the day warmed up more than somewhat, generating a need to top up the water bottles as supplies were depleted as the round progressed. Remember the policy, stay hydrated and stay shaded. The course is in good condition, and the firm ground can give a fair bit of run if you can stay out of the ‘fuzzy’ bits. There was no real excuse for not scoring well, and we scored twelve birdies for the day, which is about average for the size of the field.
To win a Major, what you really need is consistency. Something like playing exactly to your handicap on both days. And that is exactly what Ryan did on his way to winning the first event of the year, and getting the defence of his Club Championship off to a good start. The reports were trickling in as the round progressed that he had managed a three over on the front, and, if it hadn’t been for his only double on the 18th, equalling, or even breaking par on the back was a possibility. Michael was speculating that Ryan would take over as the lowest handicap member as a result of this win. What Michael was forgetting was that he had completed the round just one over par after being two under across the front, and that he had taken a cut as well. Thus, Michael is still the lowest handicap member on 2.6, with Ryan breathing down his neck on 2.7. Needless to say, Michael carded the best result for the day.
Matt thought he had a bit of a buffer over the rest of the group of chasers that he was playing with. That is, until the 14th hole where the ball proved to be extremely reluctant to drop into the hole, despite several attempts, some from quite short distance. A birdie chance on the 17th also rimmed out, missing a chance for a count-back at least, while avoiding a bogie on the 18th offered a similar chance. Unfortunately, a count-back would have also been a bridge too far. CJ got halfway down the first and realised he hadn’t collected a scorecard, so there was a frantic rush to fill out his card after the round completed. Whether it was because he just copied his marker’s card, or they both made the same arithmetic error, but he finished tied up with Matt in second place. Speaking of second place, the second-best score of the day was put in by Bob, who, it was reported, fairly played out of his skin. His driving from the tee (we won’t mention the driving of his cart) was of such a standard that he out-drove his group from the 9th. After a bit of a hash of his second, he put it all the way up the hill to about a metre from the pin and sank the putt for a par on his way to a net 67.
Harry’s slip in form from last week was entirely down to putting, for sure, with the number of three putts embarrassingly high. Still, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he still managed to slot into third place for the event. Michael’s stellar round today brought him out of the leaderboard wilderness and into fourth place for the event, and he was joined by Brendon, who matched it with Bob on the day to also jump into the placings. Then we had a pair of ‘Bobs’ in fifth place. The ‘real’ Bob and the ‘real’ Priems (aka Prez). Actually, Prez was doing much better until he reached the 16th, where he put his drive out into the tree-line. After big bro’, CJ had caught a tree with his second, Prez felt sorry for him and caught one with his too. But, it was the third shot that really rained on the parade. He caught it absolutely flush, it hit the 125m distance marker so hard that it was probably loosened in its foundations, and the ball finished a good fifty metres further back than where it started. CJ tried to console him with the fact that, at least, he eventually avoided reaching double figures.
Not forgetting that there was another event finalised today, and that was the Stroke Championship with two divisions, Scratch for the best score off the stick over the three weeks, and Handicap for the best net score over the three weeks. Matt started out with high hopes of being able to overtake Michael in the Scratch event, and also holding on to his narrow lead in the Handicap event. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and the ‘debacle’ on the 14th certainly did not help the cause, and definitely robbed him of the chance to take out the handicap event. Long story, short, Michael collected both gongs, taking out both the Scratch and the Handicap Stroke Championships for 2025. Matt and Dan finished equal runners-up in the Handicap, just one stroke back, while daylight was pretty much second in the Scratch event, despite a valiant effort by Ryan to bridge the gap to finish in second place.
It was with some reluctance that SOS was tasked with dealing out the NTP markers, however, he did write the numbers on the back of his thumb as a reminder. When he put his drive on the 4th, which was the ProPin hole, to 1.545m he had absolutely no problem not forgetting that one. And, the distance stood all day. The first BallPin was on the 12th, and quite a few made valiant attempts, but Michael was on the tab first, and nobody could get closer. The 18th was much more fiercely contested, with JQ and Brendon taking their chances, but AndrewV was the man of the day, and recorded his effort at 4.24m, presumably after he added his name to the inside ProPin. Will it be good enough to win the voucher?
Gordo’s tee shot on the 12th just happened to find its way into the penalty area on the left of the tee, although it did get past the red markers. His third left him with an uphill lie from the fringe at the front of the green. His fourth ran as calmly as you like up the green and into the hole. It seems that his group had been playing pinball quite a bit during the round with a number of chips, particularly by Ryan, hitting the pin and popping out of the hole. One of the traffic jams today was on the 15th hole. Raj put, not one, but two balls into the rough on the left before making a shot that could be called respectable. After a search that was reportedly seconds inside the limit, the first ball was found with a shot that threatened to break clubs on tree stumps, but he did manage to winkle it out. He then pitched it onto the green, and sank the putt for a face-saving four. Other than that, according to Raj, less said, better!
Another big week next week with the David Primrose Champion of Champions in conjunction with the Chump of Chumps. The CoC field will be competing for the trophy on the basis of their net stroke scores. The rest will be competing for their trophy on the basis of their Stableford scores. The points and handicapping for the daily event will be based on the Stableford scores. Thus, everybody keep your Stableford scores, but the CoC field have to play out as Stroke. The field will be divided according to the two event fields. After the round, there will be a lunch provided in the Clubhouse Function Room, and each member will be entitled to two beverages (ticketed) of their choice. The lunch will be followed by the Trophy Presentations. And, after that, is anybody’s guess! And own responsibility.
Results for Saturday, 13 Dec 2025
1st Ryan Porker (68, 68, 136) 2nd Matt Hunt (64, 73, 137) 2nd Chris Priems (67, 70, 137) 3rd Harry Boughen (66, 72, 138) 4th Michael Gourlay (73, 66, 139) 4th Brendon Mitchell (72, 67, 139) 5th Bob McDonald (73, 67, 140) 5th Robert Priems (66, 74, 140)
Seniors Results: 1st Matt Hunt (64,73,137) 1st Chris Priems (67,70,137) 2nd Harry Boughen (66,72,138) 3rd Michael Gourlay (73,66,139)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 4th Stephen O’Sullivan BallPin No 1 – 12th Michael Gourlay BallPin No 2 – 18th Andrew Vogan