The 14th of May proved to be an example of mice, and men. The weather was harsh, the fairways were flooded… But the greens were still quick! Heavy rain was endured for half the morning with little discomfort, as most had a very enjoyable round. Well done to the Thirteen brave, commitable, tragic’s that turned up, and then played. Easy points… Except for the six wet golfers who, well just ended up wet.

The bravest of them all leading the way was kazIm Akdag with a very handy 37 Stableford points(81 gross), demonstrating good golf can be played in any conditions. Richard Hall spent most of the round trying to chase down our winner, only to fall short on the 18th. But a solid round in the wet enabled Richard to card a 35(84), taking second. Andrew Blight continues his merry hunt in both tournaments this year, collecting third place points, the first  in the seniors comp. Well done Blighty.

Names submitted to the clubhouse for this weekend are the same as for last Saturday. So if you had your name down for last Saturday, and are not intending to play this weekend please call Ivanhoe. Similarly, if your name was not down for last week, and you wish to play.

Even with the torrentual weather, members still took some time out for a go at the new internet sensation “planking”. I hear the craze even made it into the pro-shop. I don’t really know, make up your own minds…

For all members who enjoyed last years “VHJ” cab-sav, and for those wanting to grab a good deal. This years pallet has been ordered, and sold at the same price of $125 per dozen. See Jan for further details.

Ball hole again went off, as no one wrote their name down! Money jackpotted!

Results for Saturday, 14 May 2011
1st kazIm Akdag(37) 2nd Richard Hall(35) 3rd Andrew Blight(34) 4th Tony Mifsud(33) 4th Mo Sabih(33) 5th Mehmet Akdag(32) 5th Oliver Gross(32)

 A very cold start to a monthly medal greeted members in droves. Albeit chilly, the sun still shone upon the twenty-nine competitors. A speedy round was enjoyed, and I believe all noticed how well the greens played.

Celebrations came early for David Rees(63), taking the Medal six days before signing his nuptials. David shot one of the best rounds carded this season, with a 69 off the stick! consisting of 2 bogies front, 1 bogie 2 birdies back. Par the remaining. Dave, and Dawn are to be married this Friday. We wish you both all the best for the wedding, and future. I believe the golf clubs are accompanying them for the honeymoon.

Only three members, outside our winner managed better than par. Well done to Andrew Blight(66), kaZim Akdag(67), and Mehmet Akdag(67). The weekend results have made the hunt for the Club Champion extremely tight, with five players within 10 points of the current leader Emillio bassi.

Second round of matchplay commence this week, with all games to be completed before/ or on the 11th June. The last first round match was played, and won:

Memhet Akdag def Bob McDonald 6 & 5

He may not have received points, but Emillio still came home successful with the cash. A superb shot into the 18th to 79cm! The ball hole went unclaimed! So to all of us who hit the green, and thought “that won’t win”. Worth marking it…

Results for Saturday, 07 May 2011
1st David Rees(63) 2nd Andrew Blight(66) 3rd kaZim Akdag(67) 3rd Mehmet Akdag(67) 4th Gordon Hill(68) 5th Targe Mifsud(69)

         Another perfect day at Ivanhoe Lakes. Sublime conditions, gorgeous fairways, and generous, attackable greens. looking through the cards, one could easily assume we were all back in Tasmania amongst the long wind-swept ocean grass. Scoring again proved difficult on a some call an easy/forgiving course. It may be short, but by crikey you need to hit the cut stuff to shoot low.

Stephen O’Sullivan again showed the field how to score championship points. 38 stableford was enough to record back to back victories, propelling him to equal second on the leaderboard, chasing the ever reliable Emillio Bassi. The only members to play better than par were our winner, Rodger Clarke, and Ken Grist.

We had two matchplay games completed, and a reminder to anyone left to play their first round games that May Monthly Medal is the last chance. Results are as follows:

Rodger Clarke def  Stephan Belevski 3 & 2

Chris Priems def David Howard 5 & 3

Ball hole this week went to Mal Fleming, and a little cash found Targe Mifsud.

Results for Saturday, 30 April 2011
1st Stephen O’Sullivan(38) 2nd Rodger Clarke(37) 2nd Ken Grist(37) 3rd Malcolm Fleming(36) 4th Gordon Hill(35) 5th Kazim Akdag(34) 5th Chris Priems(34)

  “The world’s NO.1 tennis player spends 90%of his time winning, while the world’s No.1 golfer spends 90& of his time losing. Golfers are great losers.”      David Feherty

This proved so true over the previous two weeks of the Autumn cup. Our winner Stephen O’Sullivan(-1) managed better than par once, and was still able to defeat a wide-spread of members in the negative. In fact, only three members submitted positive cards over the competition! Emillio Bassi, and Kazim Akdag in the first round, then SOS in the second.

At least the championship points up for grabs provided better scoring than the results! With double points going to all placings, the championship table is looking decidedly different. It’s not all about winning, but more the right one’s to win. congratulations to Stephen O’Sullivan(-1), Emillio Bassi(-2), David Rees(-2), and Craig Sharp who took out the majority of points.

Reminder to members that all first round Matchplay games must be completed by 7th May. Don’t be shy, the second round’s not that scary.

Ball hole won this week by oliver Gross, and the cash to a pearler by Mal Whelan.

Results for David Ford Autumn Cup 2011

1st Stephen O’Sullivan(-1) 2nd Emilio Bassi(-2) 2nd David Rees(-2) 3rd Craig Sharp(-3) 4th Kazim Akdag(-5) 5th Malcolm Adey(-6) 5th Targe Mifsud(-6) 5th Andrew Petricola(-6) 5th Jan Siemon(-6)