The weather gods keep dropping enough of the di-hydrogen oxide on the course to keep life interesting. They even made a desultory effort today with half a dozen drops falling about half-way through the back nine. Brendon and his group fell a little behind the pace, not because they were a four, but because they kept having to search for balls that embedded or just otherwise disappeared. At least there were no reports of balls being picked up by random others, like there were last week. With various members out on recuperation or for family reasons, the field was limited to ten members today. But, despite the softness on the fairways, the greens seem to have been favourable, with six birdies in the cage for today. The prime contender for the shot (and birdie) of the day would have to go to AndrewV. After expressing disappointment in his second shot on the 3rd, when it finished just over the brow of the slope down to the penalty area, he slotted it up onto the green, and it rattled into the hole, as if he meant it to do so. Which he said he did!
Harry and Dan led out the field in the first group, and, as a result, they topped the leaderboard for pretty much the whole day. And, when it counted, after all the cards were in, they still topped the leaderboard. Harry put in the best card for the front nine from the field, and he was holding his own on the back when Dan struck a rich vein of form to string together four consecutive pars for three pointers on his way to the best back nine from the field. Harry thought he had tipped the balance with a two point swing on the 17th, but he gave them straight back on the 18th to share the top spot for the day. He also topped the Seniors again, but at least he had some competition today. Dan was itching to get away after the call of the cards, and people thought maybe he had some important surgery to attend to. An equally likely explanation was that he had a birthday party to attend – to whit, his own. Happy Birthday, Dan.
It was Andrew V Andrew today. Not so much in the main event, but in the Nearest the Pin. There was a Jackpot BallPin on the 4th, and AndrewV was early off the mark to get his name on the card. Not for long though, as AndrewP managed to finish just a little closer, though the was some suggestion that there might have been some side-spin involved. The ProPin on the 15th, was another one that got AndrewV excited when he finished just 3.43m from the hole. He wasn’t super confident that it would last, with the quality of the following field, but, in that regard, he was wrong, and not even AndrewP could outdo him. Then we come to the 18th. It was a no-show for AndrewV who seriously bombed out on the hole, which left it to AndrewP to take the cake (read ball) once again. Anyway, Pepsi was pretty pleased with the 37 points that he managed to put together, and even more so with the fact that he did not have a single double bogey.
Brendon took one stroke fewer per hole from the first, but couldn’t keep up the trend by failing to eagle the 5th. But, he did manage one birdie on his way to his third place score. Both he and Prez managed to drive the 14th, and finished mere centimetres apart on the edge of the green. No eagle for either, but Prez could only manage the par. Brendon also did his little bit to push Matt further down the points table. Adding able assistance in this matter, CJ sneaked in with thirty-two points to capture the fourth spot. This left the final spot to be filled by a swag of triers, who happily accepted the last point on offer, namely, Matt, Prez and AndrewV. We won’t mention the couple of members who missed out on a placing. not here, anyway!
Matt was blaming a cortisone injection that he had during the week for his slump in form, though how his foot caused him to three putt so many times (his admission) is not immediately clear. Bob will have some explaining to do when he gets home about the skid marks on his back. A too vigourous swing and slippery conditions contributed to an unceremonious tumble. Only pride was harmed. AndrewV pushed his drive on the 14th well towards to boundary of the course, and he was in the throes of giving it up as lost when there was a resounding ‘clunk’ when the ball landed on the plastic duck-boards, and it bounced back into play. Not quite a Priems, but it produced a similar result. It seems that there is a macropod residing on or around the course, as there were prints spotted on the green of the 6th, and, during the week some were present in the squelchy area on the 14th fairway. Gordon lobbed up after the round with a couple of clubs in his hand. He had thought of making a come-back today, but a wiser head suggested that a little more R&R might be in order. So it will be back from Chile, before we see his smiling face out on the course, somewhere around the start of October. The bionic hip is reported to be working like a dream.
In case you are wondering about the mentions of ‘leaderboard’, we have been trialling the concept of using MiScore for our Club competitions. This would have some implications for the operation of the handicapping system (among other things), and Harry is working hard to understand what is possible, and what is not. It will be a little while yet before a decision is reached on the best path forward.
Results for Saturday, 22 Aug 2026
1st Harry Boughen (38) 1st Dan Marie (38) 2nd Andrew Petricola (37) 3rd Brendon Mitchell (33) 4th Chris Priems (32) 5th Matt Hunt (31) 5th Robert Priems (31) 5th Andrew Vogan (31)
Seniors Results: 1st Harry Boughen (38) 2nd Chris Priems (32) 3rd Matt Hunt (31) 3rd Robert Priems (31) 3rd Andrew Vogan (31)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin – 15th Andrew Vogan BallPin No 1 – 4th Andrew Petricola BallPin No 2 – 18th Andrew Petricola