Things got a bit shirty today. No, there weren’t fisticuffs, or anything like that. It was just that Prez turned up with the first order of the new club polos. There was a certain amount of bragging about being the only one to order a 3XL or something, though whether that is something to brag about is very much open to debate. A few members repaired to the facilities to do a try on, and several even ventured out to see if it would make a difference to their game with some new clobber. Speaking of new clobber, JQ was resplendent in some shiny new white shoes. Something about needing extra grip. Grip of Tarzan’s tube, perhaps? The sudden turn of chill in the morning air produced a certain amount of shivering, and induced the wearing of ‘winter’ gloves, but, as usual, there were the hardy types out in their summer gear. Fortunately, it warmed up reasonably quickly, and the dew on the greens burnt off. No racial or religious slur intended.
It was hinted during the week that Wazza had played out of his skin down at the Punter’s Club weekend, and he fronted today faced with his new handicap which took a beating thanks to his 43 point round on Saturday. Apparently, he cursed the handicapper for the entire round. CJ didn’t venture out in his new 3XL clobber, so it must have been something else that lit the fire in his afterburner. He started out with a par, followed up with a bogey, and then stumbled a bit to get singletons on the next two holes. Bt the turn there were five pars on the card and 21 points safely stashed away. He only managed four pars on the back, but avoided the singletons altogether for a one over the card total and another 22 points. More than enough to take out the honours for the day, and matching Wazza’s efforts a fortnight ago.
Raj did venture out in his new clobber, but the first few holes proved to be a bit of a struggle. Things improved, but they really took a turn for the better at the 8th. The drive headed for the trees on the left clipped the top of the first, and, somehow, missed the rest to finish reasonably placed on the left of the fairway. He then smacked one to around a metre from the hole and rolled it in for a birdie. Four points. Just about ditto on the 9th, and another four pointer. Six pars in a row had him heading for some sort of record score. The 16th went terribly wrong, and there were mutterings about ‘Eddy’, but another birdie on the 17th put paid to that thought. But, it did rob him of a potential winning score, and second place was his lot. His three birdies did a fair bit to help us to a total of eight for the day.
JQ was in one of the early groups, and was feeling pretty smug about his score with visions of peak points dancing in his head. His start wasn’t too flash, as he had racked up thirteen strokes after two holes. But, apparently, his putter was unbeatable today, and his playing companions agreed with his self-assessment that he was the best putter in the Club. However, his thirty-eight points was not even good enough to win a ball, and only worth three points at that. Brent struggled a bit on the front nine, and was a bit disappointed to turn with only 14 points on the card. The back nine was a completely different story, and his twenty-three points was due to a bottom line of one under the card, that was helped by a brilliant 54 wedge that never looked like missing the hole according to a witness. Nalin didn’t see the shot, as he was busy looking for his own ball, which was playing hard to get. The Eagle’s Nest had been cleaned out last week, and, luckily, the half ball a week increase is rounded up. Porks and SOS were happy to score a point as joint fifth place holders. SOS did get pretty cranky with himself, and was heard to blaspheme rather strongly after two shanks and a duff coming up the 6th. His fifth shot, was none of those as it flighted perfectly and finished in the hole for par.
Brendon thought that he had a good chance of winning something today, as he managed to get his name on each and every NTP card. Unfortunately, he was disappointed on all counts. On the 4th, where the prize was a ball, he was taken out, first, by JQ, and later, by Wazza. A bit of a highlight for the young fellah. On the 15th, for the money, Porks shot to 1.97m proved to be the winning shot, but not close enough for a birdie. On the 18th, our triumphant CJ was the man of the moment and collected the prize there. There were moves aplenty on the Order of Merit, some of larger ones representing the combined effect of the interposing of the Punter’s Club results and today’s outcome.
CJ reckons his victory today was even more impressive because he was playing with an ‘injury’. Actually, it was the aftermath of a skin cancer surgery, done yesterday, and against the surgeon’s advice not to play for a week or so. Prez claims that Chris owes him a lot for his high scoring because of the number of times that he had to putt first and gave CJ a line for the putt. Harry’s driver let him down a bit today, particularly on the 15th where he was lucky that the rough on the left spat his ball back into play. He was unlucky in that it was well short of the red markers. The first time in yonks that he has had a draughtie. Shot of the Round probably should go to Brent for his eagle on the 17th. Raj’s efforts on the 8th and 9th would be right up there, but he probably gets the runner-up for his second on the 11th. Standing behind and up against a tree with little follow through, he put it onto the green having skirted the penalty area, and barely missed the putt for yet another potential birdie.
Next week is the first round of a Major event, the Stuart Clarke Memorial. There is usually a very good roll-up for this prestigious event, so get yourselves down to the website and register. We usually have a barbecue lunch after the final round of Major events. However, circumstances have necessitated rescheduling the AGM to the 11th April, and the Committee decided that the Club lunch would also be postponed to that date. This just happens to be the first round of the Priems Cup for this year.
Results for Saturday, 14 Mar 2026
1st Chris Priems (43) 2nd Rajesh Mahto (41) 3rd John Quinlan (38) 4th Brent Rowley (37) 5th Ryan Porker (35) 5th Stephen O’Sullivan (35)
Seniors Results: 1st Chris Priems (43) 2nd Gordon Hill (30) 2nd Robert Priems (30) 3rd Harry Boughen (27)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Ryan Porker BallPin No 1 – 4th Warren Capes BallPin No 2 – 18th Chris Priems
Eagle’s Nest Results: Eagle – 17th Brent Rowley