Although there was no Club event and most people probably wanted to do something else on Grand Final day (like go to the footy even) three of our members signed up for the two man Ambrose run from the Clubhouse.  Although there was notionally a fourth person in our group, he hadn’t turned up by tee time so we had to form two teams from the three of us.  The Good Guys consisted of Tony and Dennis and the Hardly Normals were Tony and Harry.  Being all similarly handicapped mid-range players, we had to give away nine or ten strokes for the Ambrose handicap.  Birdies were needed to have any chance but despite being in with chances on occasion the putts just wouldn’t drop when we wanted them to.  The really sad thing was leaving putts short by the second putter for the team – no names no pack drill but most of us were guilty at one stage or another.

In the end we were well behind the competition winners but of the two teams, the Good Guys took the honours by half a stroke from the Hardly Normals.

Starting the round on the 14th created a certain amount of confusion with writing up the cards and remembering which hole was which.  The requirement to play at least six drives each for the round left Tony with a choice between the 12th and the 13th.  Tony made the call for the 12th despite a less than stellar result.  As it turned out, Dennis managed to hit the back of the ball with a following wind on the 13th leaving Tony and Harry with two shots to catch him.  The handicapper is a bit concerned about the handicap that has come to Dennis from his three cards.

While you are here on the site, would you all mind checking the member directory for your details and if there are any changes to phone numbers or e-mail addresses could you let me know, prefereably by e-mail or, failing that, next time you are at the Club.

Oliver certainly had reason to smile today.  What a way to start a round, ten pars on the trot.  Obviously, the pressure started to tell and he fell right in a hole (relatively speaking).  Four over for the round and plus 6 was enough to win him the day and a brand new handicap.  However, Eddie was not too far behind on the points side and will also have fewer strokes to play with next time.  After last week’s victory, Jan put in another fine effort to pull in third place.  Jan’s grin was so wide his ears were behind his head.

Another reason for Oliver to be smiling was a fine shot on the 18th to pick up the ProPin so he should be able to scrape enough together for the green fees in two weeks time.  And what can we say about the ball hole…

Trevor was charged with dropping the NTP marker on the 12th.  But guess what, he conveniently forgot about it until he put one on the green at the 15th to about 4m and decided that this should be the ball hole.  It all came to nought when Tony the Maltese Falcon put his about 40cm from the hole and he strode home already feeling the bulge of the ball in his pocket.  However, it was not to be.  Ken Grist, not to be out-done, put his to 4cm to collect the ball but was a veritable Michael Hair from the elusive Ace (and Eagle).

Needless to say, Ken dropped the birdie but our feathered friends were a little thinner on the ground with only six being recorded.  The Eagles Nest has jackpotted again so get out those big beaters guys and see if you can lighten up Chris’s bag for him.

Speaking of the big beaters, have a look at the result of over-clubbing and running out of fairway.  Even a Lindrum shot couldn’t get Richard out of this little difficulty.  beautiful drive though

Just another reminder, chaps.   Please check your handicap before you go out.  I know it can be difficult with different handicaps inside and outside but there were two cards with the incorrect handicap today.  Also, take care with your points calculation and arithmetic.  There were also two cards with scoring/arithmetic mistakes.  Once again, I know it is not easy with different events in the same round with different handicaps to deal with but once again I am sure we would all like to see the correct results being claimed and awarded.

As discussed at the after gathering, there is no Club event next week but members can play in the Clubhouse Ambrose Event if they wish.  At this stage, three players have registered that I am aware of so if another puts their hand up we will at least fill one group.

Results for Saturday, 22 September 2012
1st Oliver Gross(6) 2nd Ed Kloprogge(4) 3rd Jan Siemon(3) 4th Trevor Jackson(1) 5th Bill Eastoe(0) 5th Damien Lee(0) 5th Targe Mifsud(0)

This was the day that promised much and in true style of a Melbourne Spring day, it delivered.  Cool and overcast but no rain and a week or so without much of the wet stuff has seen the condition of the course improve.  A bit like our winner really, a great round by Jan for 42 points with two gashes looked like streeting the field until Brendon lobbed in just one behind.  No gashes for him but a solitary single pointer blotted a pretty fine copy-book.  Brendon’s marker, Pepsi, came in third.  Suspicions of collusion are believed to be completely unfounded.

Oliver, Andrew B and Allan were the point scorers in the Seniors Competition.

The other big event of the day was the Matchplay Finals and the competition was, as expected, pretty fierce.  Damien and SOS faced off for the major trophy and Damo was the ultimate winner 4 and 3.  It seems that Damo put the mockers on SOS by slamming monster drives using only his three wood causing SOS to ask for a ruling to limit his usage to six times in the round.  Unfortunately for SOS there were no members of the Rules Committee to consider his appeal.  There was also a story that Damo was incentivised (if that is a word) by offers from Noodles if he kept SOS out of the big championship points.

The play off for third and fourth in the Matchplay between Gordon and Bill was a much closer run affair with Gordon pipping Bill at the post 2 and 1.  By all accounts, this match was contested in a much more gentlemanly manner.

In other event news, the Ball Hole at the 12th was picked up by Dennis Tiernan who should be with us more often now that the footie season is over.  After next week, Dennis will have his Club handicap and though it is late in the year he says he has ambitions to rack up some points before the year is out.  The ProPin on the 15th went to Oliver with a shot close enough to snag him the birdie.  Not that that particular form of wildlife was particularly rare with eleven being plodded all told with Brendon and Pepsi scoring three each.  The big bird did not settle today so the number of balls in the nest is growing.

Craig and Noodles were involved in some serious sledging during the round and maybe Craig got the better of it, as Nood’s round was not one of his best – or maybe the handicap cuts and the pressure of front running are beginning to take its toll.  It was also suggested that the golf gods were looking after Chris after some fine examples of his power fade and favourable ricochets but Chris reckons that can’t be right because he is a Scientologist??

Rodger, unfortunately, had to take another break with a sore shoulder.  Look after it Rodger and you’ll soon be back into your usual form.  On the topic of Rodger, he reports that there are still a couple of places left for the Annual Trip so speak up quick if you fancy a weekend away for some serious (or not so serious perhaps) golf.

The other thing that has come to my attention is that there are occasional errors in calculating points (stableford and par).  The rules of golf say that you are responsible only for the record of strokes taken and that the committee is responsible for checking competition scores and declaring the result.  So just try to be a bit more careful so that the committee isn’t faced with the possibility of having to change results particularly if point scorers are involved.

Results for Saturday, 15 September 2012
1st Jan Siemon(42) 2nd Brendon Mitchell(41) 3rd Andrew Petricola(37) 4th Oliver Gross(36) 5th Chris Priems(35)

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the image says it all.  What do we have to do to stop this guy short of knee-capping him or pleading with his cricket club to take him back.  Seriously though, congratulations Noodles on a excellent score of 39 points under conditions that were not perfect.  The wind was biting and the overcast threatened but there was no precipitation of any consequence.  The course has dried out a lot and the greens are pretty fast if not as smooth as they might be.

The new tee area on the 13th has changed the aspect of that hole and could bring the lateral water hazards into play for some people.  It should suit Chris Priems with his ‘power fade’.  At least he knows what causes it after being overheard to say “I cut right across that one” after a particularly fine example of the art.  Despite all this and a lot of ‘bad’ luck, including threading the ball through a gap in a pine tree not much larger than the ball itself, Chris came in second with an impressive enough score of 38 points.

And, just as you can go to the fish shop and order minimum chips, today there was an order of minimum points with only three other players in the points, Andrew Blight, Gordon and Trevor.  Well done fellows.  As to some of the other scores, the less said the better.

On the topic of Andrew Blight, he fronted up to the 18th and nominated that he needed a birdie to have a reasonable round and promptly plonked it on the green to within 1.8m.  He rattled in the birdie but the shot wasn’t enough to get his name on the comp marker.  The birdie count this week was ten including two to Chris.  I’m guessing that it wasn’t on one of these holes that his watch alarm went off just as he was putting causing him to miss the putt (so he says).  Imagine what he would have said if it had been somebody else’s alarm.  Another birdie of note was down to Craig on the 13th.  His second shot ended above the road behind the green and almost out of bounds.  Craig called it in the hole as soon as it left the club and it surely did.  Great skills Craig.

The ball hole was knocked down to Ken Grist and Mike Mann picked up the cash for the ProPin.

Welcome back to Rod Grant, who has emerged from his winter hibernation.  Although the various media are telling us spring has sprung and the footy finals have started, it wasn’t the best of days to make a comeback.

Next week will see the battle royal for the Matchplay Championship between SOS and Damo.  Bill and Gordon will fight it out for the minor placings.

Also, do try to get there in plenty of time for the starter to organise the groups.  I gather there was some confusion again this week.

Results for Saturday, 08 September 2012
1st S Butterfield(39) 2nd Chris Priems(38) 3rd Andrew Blight(35) 4th Gordon Hill(34) 5th Trevor Jackson(32)