The weather forecast looked a bit dodgy, leading to speculation that there might be some drop-outs. However, we are a hardy bunch, and everybody that registered, plus some, turned out to wrestle with our ‘favourite’ format, Par, for the first round of the David Ford Autumn Cup. We had eighteen members out and about plus Raj’s guest Waseem, and CJ’s son Jake, who is no stranger to the Club. Some rain gear was donned, and some umbrellas were unfurled, but it was hardly more than a mizzle, and hardly worth the effort. The moisture on the greens did seem to hold the line a bit more, but there were still plenty of missed putts to prevent better scoring than what was carded.
As is often the case, young fellows with a newly formed handicap leap into the fray and trample on all in their path not too far into their career with the Club. And, it didn’t take long for Kody to prove that the well-worn adage was true. The front nine went well enough, but the young colt was just warming up. On the back nine, he cooks up a veritable storm scoring five pluses in the first seven holes, including consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th. A couple of lapses in the home run brought him back to plus three on the back, and plus four overall to lead the field on the day. Could he repeat the performance next week? Unfortunately, we will never know, as Kody has a ‘date’ in Sydney next weekend, and will not be able to play. Unless he changes his mind!
Another bloke who ‘changed’ his mind about playing next week is Pepsi. He was planning to go to the races, but when he dropped in with a plus three on his card, and, with Kody out of the running, he suddenly changed his mind. He still might turn up in a suit with the hope of getting an early mark, but he would have to bribe the Tee Marshal big time to get out of Leaderboard order. It seems he could do little wrong on the front nine, and matched the card, thanks to a pair of birdies on the last two. The back nine was not quite so speccy with only one bird and a square result to give him the field lead for next week on plus three. The three birdies helped us to a total of eleven for the day. He doesn’t have a lot of breathing space though, as Nalin had one of his better rounds to slot into the next spot with plus two.
It should be an interesting contest next week, with Matt on the prowl just another point back, and JQ and Dan also being in with a good chance for an attack from their spot on square for the day. And, maybe, we should not write off the little pack of hounds lurking just one point on the wrong side of the ledger.
The ProPin was set for the 12th, and nobody was able to stop within the circle, so there will be a jackpot next week. Bob was perhaps a little unlucky, as he was just a bit too far outside the ring to have been a real chance, and, wish as he might, Harry was unable to persuade his companions that his 15m was close enough. The first BallPin was on the 15th, and Kody was close enough to get his birdie, but, Brendon was able to get closer to win the ball, but not to get the birdie. The 18th was hotly contested, but Jake was the man of the moment and took the prize on offer.
There were two matches contested today. Brendon was pitted against Pepsi, and, it could be said that he picked a bad day to take him on. With Pepsi matching the card on the front nine, and Brendon struggling a bit, it was pretty much a one-way street, and Pepsi was five up at the turn. For the first few holes on the back, it looked as if Brendon was going to do a Lazarus, but the miracle did not eventuate, and the match ended going to Pepsi in a ‘pantsing’, 6 and 4. Nalin took on Bob with an eleven stroke margin to give away. Nalin, obviously had a pretty good round, but Bob was not going to let him get too far away, and, at the turn, it was still anybody’s match. Whether it was the heavy slip down the slope from the 10th tee or not, but Bob faded away a bit on the back, and the match eventually went to Nalin 4 and 2.
The contender for the shot of the day would have to be from Craig, even outdoing Pepsi hitting the pin (not the flag) with his second on the 9th. Twenty metres out on the 14th, Craig chipped. Well judged, said Harry as the ball looked to be heading for a stop close to the hole. Couldn’t get much closer, as it dropped in as easy as you like for the birdie. Harry was a few metres closer, and told his ball to emulate what Craig’s had just done. It listened, but not closely enough and rolled just past, missing by a Michael hair. Ken was smashing his driver straight down the centre, pretty much all day. When asked what his secret was, he reckoned it was down to the medication that he is on for arthritis. Should he be swabbed? Or where can we get this stuff? Dan put his drive on the 13th out into the longish grass on the left of the fairway. He managed to get a shot away from there, but it went even further left and landed on the roof of one of the adjacent houses. He went on to score three pluses over the remaining six holes, so that little excursion did not seem to faze him. There is no indication of what reaction there was from the householder.
Results for Saturday, 09 May 2026
Leaderboard Round 1: 1st Kody Warrington (+4) 2nd Andrew Petricola (+3) 3rd Nalin Samaranayake (+2) 4th Matt Hunt (+1) 5th Dan Marie (□) 5th John Quinlan (□)
Seniors Leaderboard: 1st Matt Hunt (+1) 2nd Harry Boughen (-1) 2nd Robert Priems (-1) 3rd Steven Gervasoni (-2)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 15th Brendon Mitchell BallPin No 2 – 18th Jake Priems