Friday the thirteenth fell on a Saturday this month! There was a lot of discussion through the week whether we would need galoshes or something more substantial to weather the forecast downpour. AndrewV calmed the waters with his forecast probability chart, and we ended up with thirteen members taking their chances with the vagaries of weather forecasting. It should have been fourteen, but Porks was kept away with ‘spams’ in his back, which did not seem to elicit much sympathy when the predicament was advised. Some did question early on whether preferred lies were warranted, but Harry was in danger of running out of spit before too many holes had been negotiated.
JQ was a little gob-smacked this morning as he riffled through his handful of coupons and showed off his shiny new ProShop Medal. Plus the fact that his GA Daily was into single figures and his Club was knocking on the door thereof. Well, he needn’t wait any longer, because his Club handicap is now also in single figures thanks to his win today with thirty-seven points. With his recent run of form, he now sits comfortably at the top of the Order of Merit. He did express the view that he could have missed the putt on the last, saved a bit of handicap, and still been in first place. However, he would have rued that circumstance had it happened. Our venerable Club Captain, and his marker, both missed the fact that he received a stroke on the 9th hole, and misrepresented his points score thereupon. So, instead of scoring a paltry fourteen points on the front, he actually turned with fifteen. Then he proceeded to shoot the flamin’ lights out. With one birdie on the front, he could easily have added another five or so on the back were it not for putts missing by millimetres. As it was, he finished with a total of four, which was a fair chunk of the six that the whole field could muster. The total strokes for the nine ended up one under the card for twenty-two points, and a share of first place. He might have to negotiate with JQ about the spoils.
Bob must have given himself a good talking to during the week, as, today, he barely strayed from the straight and narrow once. Despite some early confusion about what his handicap is or was before the game, what he had was almost sufficient. In the wash-up, his thirty-three points was good enough for second place, and good enough for top place in the Seniors, as well. SOS was feeling pretty pleased with one of his chips, and was taking a bow and accepting bouquets from the gallery, when a ball zipped by pretty close. It wasn’t a stray from two fairways away, it was from SteveG, who was in the same group. The incident does not seem to have affected either adversely, as they both managed thirty-two points to get onto the third place podium. They weren’t alone, because, with surgical precision, Dan was able to squeeze in between them to fit onto the dais as well.
Peg-leg Pete the Pirate (aka Gordo) limped his way around today, and managed to keep himself sufficiently upright to rack up thirty-one points to fill the fourth place. Gordon will be taking a bit of a sabbatical, to get himself fitted out with a new hip. And, after that, he is planning to chill out in Chile for a while. Watch out when he makes his come-back! In the meantime, all the best with the op, and safe travels, from all of us. While we are on the recuperation front, Stan reports that he has just discovered a freshly cracked rib, and it might be a little longer before he can get back to showing us how to play the game. Maybe it was that bucket of balls on the practice fairway! Marc rounded out the points for the day, after making good use of the trees around the course, particularly on the 15th where his tee-shot was gone for all money, but found a tree and came back into play.
This was much to the chagrin of Pepsi, who was deeply involved with Marc in their Matchplay match. Marc wouldn’t let rest the fact that the margin should have been more than the twenty-two strokes that he had, if he hadn’t played so well last week. Pepsi started off well enough, and early in the piece had a handy advantage, and a couple of holes to the good. However, eventually, Marc’s rapport with the surrounding greenery began to pay dividends, and the match became nip-and-tuck as they negotiated the back nine. Some unlucky misses on the putting green ended up being the difference, and Marc ran out the winner, taking the match 2 and 1. Craig and Harry were also battling it out in their match, to get it out of the way before H heads off to foreign climes. Probably the best that can be said, is that they traded losses, rather than anybody winning. As a result, by the half-way mark, Craig had his nose in front by one hole. The same pattern of play persisted for much of the back nine, but, by dint of some received strokes, and a rare par, Harry had edged ahead to be two up after sixteen, making the match dormie 2. Could Craig win the next two and force a chip-off? Unfortunately, Craig’s drive found the rough stuff on the course boundary, and, despite valiant searches, the ball could not be found, making it easy for H to win the hole and finish the match 3 and 1.
The Nearest the Pin competition today almost was a bridge too far! The Jackpot ProPin on the 12th advanced to a Double Jackpot pool for next week, despite Raj being sure that Harry’s shot to 6m was inside the circle (from the viewpoint of the tee!). The pin on the 18th was on the top deck, but the tee was well forward. However, nobody was able to add their name to the card, so there is a Jackpot to be had there next week as well. The 4th has proved difficult to get onto the green from time to time, but, today, it was no problem for Dan, who gladly accepted the ball that was on offer.
Results for Saturday, 13 Jun 2026
1st Brendon Mitchell (37) 1st John Quinlan (37) 2nd Bob McDonald (33) 3rd Steven Gervasoni (32) 3rd Dan Marie (32) 3rd Stephen O’Sullivan (32) 4th Gordon Hill (31) 5th Marc Phillips (30)
Seniors Results: 1st Bob McDonald (33) 2nd Steven Gervasoni (32) 3rd Gordon Hill (31)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 12th Jackpot BallPin No 1 – 4th Dan Marie BallPin No 2 – 18th Jackpot