Back on the Ivanhoe track after the wash-out of last week.  The deluge on Friday night and Saturday morning flooded the course and managed to dampen the spirits of none other than 13 hardy club members ready to face the wet but went home disappointed.  It was quite disconcerting to be home so early on a Saturday morning but I’m sure it gave us all a chance to really make the wives, girlfriends, partners, mates, mistresses, boyfriends, concubines, loved ones all feel very special on Valentines Day.  Right?  You know I am….

Well, if you haven’t seen the result in the Sunday paper – it’s official … the Ivanhoe Golf Club Medal of Medallists is our own Eddie Kloprogge.  He beat a star-studded field (??!!) of 5 to win the title with a 58 (nett) but with a score like that he would have beaten a field of 100 by miles.  A fantastic round of 73 off the stick and daylight to the rest.  Well done Eddie.

Eddie may have won our competition too except he wasn’t able to participate – thank goodness say Stefan and Targe who won the day with very fine scores +4.  Stef hitting a 68 and Targe a very respectable 80.  Mehmet and SOS both coming good with a well put-together +3 for second, Peps third with a +1, Michael G fourth with a square round (he may take over Oliver’s crown as ‘Mr Consistency’) and Blighty fifth spot with -1 (Sorry Noods and Chrispy – points addition error on Blighty’s card – H).

After the round, Chris was heard to say that he has never in 20 years of playing golf with Pepsi that he has seen 2 outright shanks in the same round from him.  It was indeed an unusual sight but Andrew went on to score at the right times in PAR to get a +1.  Welcome back the Beastie after a short break and obviously not a good first up runner with today’s score but the knee roll was noticeably absent – maybe the cobalt injections are working!

Great to see Blighty back after a short spell in the paddock with a sore back (apparently) and resplendent in hi-viz orange.  And a big welcome to a new member – Taner Kemal – a keen golf associate of Mehmet (but we won’t hold that against him).  Good to see the new blood joining to raise the standard of the present membership (some exceptions there but I am not sure which ones count).

Bon Voyage to Bob – enjoy your cruising.  Welcome back to Melbourne town Harry.  Hope your ‘holiday’ went well and you kept your head down – good for your safety AND for golf.  We look forward to your website updates again and a quicker turnaround on the handicapping.

Results for Saturday, 21 February 2015
1st Stefan Belevski(+4) 1st Targe Mifsud(+4) 2nd Mehmet Akdag(+3) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan(+3) 3rd Andrew Petricola(+1) 4th Michael Gourlay(□) 5th Andrew Blight(-1)

Well, well, well.  That blistering score posted by Mark late last year only to not be qualified for the December medal has been matched by an equally blistering round.  Mark posted a 59 nett to win the February medal with daylight behind.  The stunning round of golf has produced an equally big decrease in his handicap – nearly 4 shots.  The grin was obvious from ear to ear as he strode up to the victory dais for the winning pronouncement by none other than Oliver who grabbed the cards and duly proceeded to shower mark with praise – well he announced it anyway.  It was part of Oliver’s farewell speech as it turned out, the lanky yank with the moniker of Mr Consistent said goodbye to us all.  After 8 years of loyalty to our club, trips away, dashes from the airport on early Saturday mornings just to get to the course and play with his mates at Ivanhoe.  We presented Oliver with his HOLE_IN_ONE trophy for hole #7 shot he played last week and cheered him off into the sunset.  What a good bloke and great member of the club.  Thanks for the memories.  We’ll miss you Oliver.  Keep the calendar clear for our visit in the future to play in Colorado.  We’d love to catch up in the Rockies for a game.  PS Oliver has donated some of his golf clubs for any member who wishes to see if that class can rub off in their game – unfortunately NOT the famous 3-wood.

Ever the bridesmaid at the moment, Stefan came in a distant second but with a super round of 63 (posting a 70 off the stick).  It won’t be long before Stef cracks the number 1 spot.  Equal third to Targe, Gordo and Ken (the dark Horse) Grist – welcome back for the day – with 66, Chrispy 4th on 67 and Bob and Keith rounding off the point-takers with 68’s.  Great to see Rod back after a short break from the game with an injury and a sojourn overseas.

As we can see some very good scoring today.  Money to Michael on the 18th and ball NTP to Keith on the 15th with a super shot that came to rest a mere metre from the hole.

Keep in mind the Matchplay qualification comes up soon March 7 as well as nomination to play is still available.  Our AGM is coming up on March 14 also.

NOTE: the allocation of bonus points from the teams competitions may be allocated to a separate competition scoreboard rather than adding them to the Individual Club Champion competition as is currently the case.

Results for Saturday, 07 February 2015
1st Mark Berthelsen(59) 2nd Stefan Belevski(63) 3rd Ken Grist(66) 3rd Gordon Hill(66) 3rd Targe Mifsud(66) 4th Chris Priems(67) 5th Keith Delzoppo(68) 5th Bob McDonald(68)

Not too many stories as somebody had to dash off somewhere and Gordo had too many hassles with the handicapping to be bothered.  Hah, just making that last bit up.  The results did change a bit due to an addition error and a swag of people moved up to join 5th place so some unexpected points there.  There might be a 0.1 difference in a few handicaps due to an old version of the handicap calculator having survived on the web site.

The Best 2 Ball Aggregate Team event created some interest and there were some remarkably good scores turned in with a tied result at +18 and bonus points for Laurie, Harry, Stefan, Michael and Oliver, Cameron, Keith, Mehm.  For the time being, the Bonus points will continue to be added to the Championship Table but, if it looks as if they will bias the result too much as the season progresses, they will be separated out into a separate event or something.

Results for Saturday, 31 January 2015
1st Craig Cameron(+4) 2nd Laurie Mannix(+3) 3rd Harry Boughen(+2) 3rd Bob McDonald(+2) 3rd Stephen O’Sullivan(+2) 4th Mehmet Akdag(+1) 4th Michael Gourlay(+1) 4th Chris Vinecombe(+1) 5th Stefan Belevski(-1) 5th Mark Berthelsen(-1) 5th Gordon Hill(-1) 5th Ryan Porker(-1) 5th Paul Rowland(-1)