Well, whatever the weather, some people made a fist of it while some seem to have made the other four letter word of it.  Quite a wide range of scores were handed in but the front runners pretty much kept their heads down  and there weren’t any major movements either up or down the table from last week.

In the end Richard had a comfortable win but had to gather his wits to make something of a comeback after a less than stellar front nine.  Ben might have been distracted by having to deal with Targe in their Matchplay round and slipped from his leading position last week to share the second place honours with Targe and Pepsi.  Pepsi might also be ruing a few holes that did not meet his usual high standards.

Oliver, Noodles and Damo filled the minor placings to gather the rest of the points on offer.  We now have two Juniors at the head of the table after it having been dominated by Seniors so far this year.  The peloton in the Seniors Championship is fairly tightly packed with nobody obviously making a breakout move.  However there are still plenty of points to go so they are still anybody’s to win.

No report at this stage on the Nearest the Pin and ProPin but will report when the info comes to hand.  In the handicap rounds, there were a total of ten birdies.  However, in the Matchplay round between Stefan and Zimmer, Stef managed to rack up five in the first seven holes and six all up to defeat Zimmer 2 & 1.  In another match completed this week, AndrewB defeated Bob 3 & 1 in a match that saw a close contest that eventually went dormie at the 16th.  The other match between Targe and Ben resulted in victory for Targe 3 & 1 as well.

Still a few first round matches to go.  Allan has withdrawn and RodW will take his place in the draw to play Jan.

Joe Demir joined us again and entered his second card in his move to reclaim his handicap and we look forward to seeing Joe in our regular comps very shortly.

Results for Saturday, 13 – 20 April 2013
1st Richard Hall(+2) 2nd Ben Akdag(-1) 2nd Targe Mifsud(-1) 2nd Andrew Petricola(-1) 3rd Oliver Gross(-2) 4th Stephen Butterfield(-3) 5th Damien Lee(-4)

Although the event is the Autumn Cup, the weather didn’t feel particularly autumnal.  There were a couple of drops of rain but there was quite a warm northerly(?) blowing that made the inveterate shorts wearers feel quite comfortable and the vest wearers were seen to be stripping them off quite early in the round.

The fact that one(?) green had been scarified and some others partially cored might have had an effect on the scores but nobody really took the course apart although there were a couple of cards that showed a significant contrast between the scores returned for each nine.  The coring of some of the tees has reduced the need for a hammer in the tool-kit more than somewhat.

As for the Stuart Clarke Memorial, there are a number of people not playing the second round for reasons that range from the poor scheduling of the AFL draw to inconsiderate children deciding to get married and any number of things in between.

The scores and tentative groupings for next week are as follows:

Group 1 (Chef Patrol) Rod W (-6), Brendon (-7), Blighty (-7)

Group 2 Bill (-1), Rod G (-2), Mehm (-4), Mike (-6)

Group 3 Noodles (sq), Mo (sq), Damo (-1), Oliver (-1)

Group 4 Ben (+2), Targe (+2), Richard (+1), Pepsi (sq)

Anybody who didn’t play this week will fit in with Group 1 and/or fill another group depending on numbers.

There was one Matchplay match contested today and Dennis managed to hold out SOS for a 3 and 2 victory.  Less than a month now to complete Round 1 so those who haven’t played had better get their running shoes on or withdraw if they can’t/aren’t playing.  There are some reserves who would like their chance.

Good to see Trevor back from his injury though it is still giving him some trouble.  Also a speedy recovery to Craig who has strained his brain (er Achilles) and will be out of circulation for a couple of weeks.

Noodles managed to get one close enough on the 4th to win a ball for the NTP though he didn’t manage the birdie.  He did plod two of the eleven that turned up for the day.  The ProPin was held down by Damo on the 15th with a tad under three metres.

One of the excuses offered for not playing next Saturday came from SOS who will be graduating from the Academy next Friday and it seems that the after party is shaping up to be a bottler (with the emphasis on the bottle).  SOS did invite everybody to come along (for the ceremony, not the afters) except for any hecklers, loud-mouths, yahoos etc – which eliminated just about everybody.  Seriously though, congratulations SOS and we look forward to not seeing you in your uniform any time soon.

Mo managed to leave his ball up a tree and although he played it as it lay he did not emulate the tree-iron shot played on the Pro-circuit recently.  Ben went close to having his ball stay up in the same tree and what is more he had two goes at putting it there.

Bill was spotted on the right side of the 6th fairway and when questioned as to how come, he admitted that it was as a result of a recovery shot from his favoured left side.  Mehm and Bill were playing a Claytons Matchplay and Mehm had gone from a strong position to looking shaky after the 16th.  His attempt to psyche Bill out by offering double or nothing over the last two holes all came to naught with Bill clinching the result with a birdie on the 18th.

There was a case of a club being used for other than its intended purpose when Noodles applied a drop kick and the club came off second best.  There was no report on Noodles condition as a result.  The projection of an iron in the skywards direction after a badly duffed chip had Harry ducking for cover when he realised he had neglected to carry out a JSA before executing the manoeuvre.

Don’t forget that there will be a bar-b-que after next weeks event so bring along your best appetite.

You can definitely tell it is autumn.  There is just that bit of a chill in the air in the morning and the elm trees are starting to drop their leaves on the 9th and 18th greens.  The cricket season is over and the part time golfers are back.  Not least of those today was young Rodney who kept his head down and played more than a few cover drives to score a very creditable 65 net.  His mate Richard was so confident that he was going to take out the medal that he was suggesting that the photo be taken after about four holes.

As it was, it wasn’t a run-away win with Bill falling in just behind with nett 66.  Damo tried to claim that his card had been added up incorrectly and that he shouldn’t lose any handicap but unfortunately correct weight was declared and Damo and Gordon shared third place with 67.  The Mifsud brothers filled the last two point scoring places with Tony being just able to lord it over Targe but not by a very tall margin.

Not sure whether we managed to find the Nearest the Pin marker but Oliver was reported to be the man on the mark to collect two balls.  There was also some confusion over the ProPin after an old result was not crossed off.  The upshot was that Bill was declared the winner and walked away with the cash.  In future, can the tee marshalls or the front group check that the slate is clean before the markers go out.  The birdie count was pretty much normal with 13 between the lot of us with a couple of people scoring consecutive birdies.  Damo has extended his lead on the Championship Table with today’s points so watch out if he can keep up the standard over the next two weeks.

One matchplay result today with Oliver downing Rod G 3 and 2.  Only half of the first round matches have been played so far and only four weeks left to complete.  Better start lining them up fellows.

A big welcome back today to Joe Demir who has finished the job that kept him away for so long.  Joe will be requalifying for his handicap.  Also along, and planning to join us, was T J Demir.  We look forward to seeing both of them over the coming weeks.

Rod W and Richard seem to have had a hard time deciding who was playing with who if the multiple crossings out on the top of Rod’s card was any guide.  Ben and his group were playing skins for $5 per hole and at the end of the round only two people owed $4 each so it must have been a pretty close run thing.  Apparently, Mehm kept using the trees to put his ball back onto the fairway and that gave him an unfair advantage.  Targe also had some concerns with the trees on the 2nd when the ball came straight back and threatened the placement of the ladies tee markers.

Ben also announced that there is a $50 /person deposit required for Murray Downs and it has to be paid by June so as from next week Ben will be walking around with his hand out expecting his palm to be crossed with silver.  He’s not really a gypsy – just looks like one.  In case those going have forgotten, the all up cost is $260 for players, $30 less for non-players.

Also don’t forget that Daylight Saving finishes tonight and you have to put your clock back 1 hour – plus change your smoke alarm batteries.  Although the time seems earlier next week, it is really a bit later than this week.

Results for Saturday, 06 April 2013
1st Rodney White(65) 2nd Bill Eastoe(66) 3rd Gordon Hill(67) 3rd Damien Lee(67) 4th Tony Mifsud(68) 5th Targe Mifsud(69)

What a way to finish out Stuart’s Memorial.  The front runners from Week 1 kept their heads down (well most of them) and finished still out in front.  Damo absolutely blitzed the front nine to finish three under the card and 26 points.  He then suffered a relapse (or did he take his foot off?) on the back with a string of one pointers but managed to do enough to head off Mehm and Pepsi to score the major trophy.  Mehm had his chances to challenge with a couple of holes to go when a putt hit a ball marker and deflected from a certain sinker.  He was offered the option to have the marker moved but declined.

Mike also tore the front nine apart to finish with a very creditable 40 points to catapult himself into third place.  No silverware this time Mike, but a new angle on the handicap front with the downward trend continuing.  The rest of the field protected their handicap with Noodles, Mo, Dennis and Bill receiving the rest of the points.

There was obviously a big move on the table with the sixteen points falling into Damo’s lap and this catapulted him into the lead of the Club Championship.  The big question is, can he do it again in a couple of weeks time for the Autumn Cup?  Mike has the lead in the Seniors but there are a few contenders snapping at his heels so there is no place for complacency.

The Nearest the Pin on the 4th went begging this week and for the first time in a long time the ball hole has jackpotted.  The money for the ProPin was not so lucky and fell into the grasping hands of Mo who managed to get within about a metre and a half of the pin on the 15th.  Despite the inaccuracy of everybody on the 4th, the team managed to put together 13 birdies which seems to be pretty close to normal.  Despite a number of people commenting on the speed of the greens and the number of missed putts, they must have been falling in for some.  Noodles put his hand out for the contents of the Eagle’s Nest from last week’s ‘flukey’ (to use Noodle’s terminology) shot and collected five of the best.

Rodger suffered an attack of first tee nerves and barely managed to get past the Ladies markers.  He continued to struggle on the front nine but managed to pull himself together on the back to show some of his old form.  Perhaps it was the emotion of the day and the sprinkling of Hawaiian shirts that clouded his vision.  There was certainly some emotion in the responses at the announcement of the results.

Apologies too, to Mal F for the typo in last weeks post that showed him with only 17 points – it was actually 27 –  and the error has been fixed.

Next week will be the April Monthly Medal.  The two weeks following that will be the David Ford Autumn Cup event which will be Par competition and more double points and silverware up for grabs.  After that there will be only three more weeks (and that includes another Monthly Medal) before the second round of the Matchplay and there aren’t all that many matches in the first round completed yet.

Results for Saturday, 30 March 2013
1st Damien Lee(37/39/76) 2nd Mehmet Akdag(36/37/73) 2nd Andrew Petricola(37/36/73) 3rd Mike Mann(28/40/68) 4th Stephen Butterfield(33/34/67) 4th Mo Sabih(32/35/67) 4th Dennis Tiernan(31/36/67) 5th Bill Eastoe(31/34/65)