There was Infamy on the course on 12 Jan 2019
A few members are obviously trying to shake off the lassitude brought on by a surfeit of Christmas and other cheer over the last month. As a result there were only sixteen souls fronting to take on our beauteous home turf that has obviously been getting a fair old watering in recent times if the length of grass in some of the off fairway areas is any guide. There was more than a little muttering and tromping around in ever decreasing circles as people tried to spend their three minutes to best advantage. The weather was kind enough to stay fine and in the mid twenties and maybe this went a little way to helping the tally of birdies for the day to reach twelve. Rumour has it that one of Simon’s was something to write about but as that rumour came from Simon perhaps it wasn’t worth writing about.
As the early cards started to roll in and members looked askance when told they were leading the field the question being asked went ‘Was it really that difficult out there?’ Then, in walked Dennis and calmly plonked his card down on the table as if to say, Cop that! And cop that they did with the big four nothing emblazoned in the top right hand corner. And that included a couple of scratches and a couple of singletons. Just imagine what it could have been.
Ryan also scored one gash and three singletons so he could been right up there with Dennis but unfortunately the ‘if onlys’ don’t score you any extra points and so he had to be second with a very creditable second place. He wasn’t there on his patma as he was joined by a shankless SOS who also outdid him with a gash and four singletons. If Only!
Stef was playing with a mate and a mate of a mate and it seems he had a modicum of competition in the long driving department with his mate, Adam, who plays off plus 3 taking a driver and a wedge to the second (the tee was way back) and driving the green on the 11th with a 3 iron. There were also reports of clubs being mis-handled, but Stef still managed to make it to 33 points for the day. Targe was unfazed by the cut to his handicap last week and came in under the ton again to join up with Stef in third place. The bell at the 17th was rung before Targe had cleared the back of the green making him a possible Target but all he really needs is another tee.
Noodles seemed a bit happier with his game today. At least he didn’t complain about how many he left out there. Perhaps his mood was mellowed by the fact that his tee shot on the 12th finished 2.85m from the pin to take out the Jackpot ProPin. When asked if he was going to share, he reluctantly agreed but not if anybody else in the group got closer. JQ is back from his peregrinations and he showed that he hasn’t entirely lost his touch from last year by lining up beside Noodles. He also had a swag of trophies to collect after missing the break-up in December. Damo still couldn’t believe that he was in the points, even if only just, with his total of 30 points that wasn’t helped by balls lost in the long.
The ProPin on the 18th went begging and so there will be a Jackpot carried over to next week. The BallPin was on the 7th and, although Allan tried hard he was beaten out by Stef. At the Committee Meeting, on the basis that the surplus funds that were allocated to the extra ProPin have now run down, the system will be changed so that there will now be just one ProPin that will change location from week to week unless there is a Jackpot and there will be two BallPins, one of which will reside on the 18th while the other will move around. The accumulation in the Eagle’s Nest will revert to the old standard of half a ball per week.
Members seem to be adapting to the new Rules of Golf and our new Rules Official, Damo, will be directing an on-going education campaign as well as being available for determinations and research on questions of rules that arise from time to time. Leaving the pin in for putting seems to have found favour giving rise to the oft heard refrain around the greens, ‘infamy’.
It was very generally agreed that the 12th was a real stinker today and it wasn’t that any of our members had been eating really bad curry or cabbage.
Allan decided to try his fairway wood on the 17th tee and he also decided that he should tee the ball up. Despite a problem with the tee breaking, he still managed to go right under the ball and it headed skyward and landed about a metre in front of the red markers. A close call. Chrispy wasn’t so lucky. He teed off from the 11th and his ball ended pin high on the 1st. It hit a tree so hard that it nearly took out his mates standing behind him on the tee. Chrispy reckoned that it had to have been a rubber tree, the ball came so far back. The crew were trying to claim double, or even triple, draughties as a result on the basis of the number of tee markers traversed.
On the 6th, Simon put one into the trees and, according to reports, it hit at least three before popping back out onto the fairway. Gordo reckons that caused him to four putt the green because he was still shaking his head in disbelief. Dennis sprayed his drive from the 18th a bit and finished nearly on the 9th green. As if to prove that the rest of his round was not a fluke, he chipped onto the 18th and sank the putt for par.
Now, don’t forget that we are hosting the Jarrod Lyle Charity Day at the course on 9th April. Brendon and Simon are doing a great job organising sponsors and there will be lots of fun and prizes to be had. But, you do need to register and pay the registration fee ($55) to secure your place. Just go the the next week details at the top of the web-page and click on the link and you can register and pay in one feel swoop. A great cause and you can help to make it the success that it deserves to be. Sure, you won’t get any Championship Points but, then again, nobody will. If you don’t want to take part but are happy to help out on the day, just contact Brendon or Simon. Many hands make light work, as the electrician said.
Results for Saturday, 12 January 2019
1st Dennis Ward(40) 2nd Ryan Porker(37) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan(37) 3rd Stefan Belevski(33) 3rd Targe Mifsud(33) 4th Stephen Butterfield(32) 4th John Quinlan(32) 5th Damien Lee(30)
Seniors Results: 1st Dennis Ward (40) 2nd Targe Mifsud (33) 3rd Allan Davies (29) 3rd Gordon Hill (29)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 12th Stephen Butterfield ProPin No 2 18th Jackpot BallPin 7th Stefan Belevski
Contenders were a bit short for the January Monthly Medal 05 Jan 2019.
Thankfully, the front arrived late yesterday and the temperature promised to be 20C cooler, and it was. A few spots of rain made it to the ground but a band with some reasonable showers held off until after the finish and SOS got only slightly damp as he finished off the bookwork after the presentations. He’d have finished much sooner if Brendon hadn’t been banging on about being owed two balls from the break-up day. If there are any witnesses who can remember the break-up and the after party and can corroborate one side of the story or the other could they contact the nearest Police Station and get the message to SOS.
Anyway, there were fifteen members present to set up a hearty cheer for the clear winner on the day, our esteemed Club Captain, Targe who finally cracked the ton (on the down side) for the first time since his return and came in with a 64 nett. Still a way to go to get back to his old handicap but a good start on getting it back down today.
And, would you get a look at who came in next, with a not-quite-handicap-matching score of 69, none other than Bob and his mate SOS. Bob seemed to like the idea of being able to putt with the pin in the hole while SOS was very happy to report that he didn’t have a single shank for the whole day. The shanks, it seems have migrated, and today they settled in with Brendon, Ben and Pepsi.
Ryan had no problems with the shanks and played a fairly steady round to come into third place on 70. Craig consistently bisected the fairway with his drives but a couple of times inappropriately growing trees created a need to take the safe extra shot. Harry struggled a bit on the front nine by not being able to follow up good work with the driver. However, something of a revival of form on the back brought him home alongside Craig with a card of 71.
Despite his usual claim of having played crap golf, Noodles squeezed into fifth place with his 72.
The BallPin was on the 15th, and, when somebody finally got onto the green it was hotly contested. In the end, the ball went to Mehm who went via the Cape and bounded it down the hill to finish inside Brendon who watched in disbelief from the 16th tee. The first ProPin on the 12th managed to elude being captured and so there will be a Jackpot to next week which sounds as if it might be enough to attract Pepsi back. The ProPin on the 18th was taken out by Porks. Unfortunately, the chit went missing and so we don’t have the distance to report. Also, unfortunately, Ryan didn’t make the putt and so he did not contribute to the rather measly total of 4 that we tallied for the day.
Peter was lining up the drinks today after managing a draughtie on the 14th. Everybody was quite concerned for Keith, with large flocks of ibis on the 6th and 8th fairways. The ones on the 8th obviously knew of his reputation as they took off en masse as he lined up to take his second shot with them between him and the green. Ben’s shot into the 13th took a bit of beating. It hit the bottom part of the path so hard that it bounced over the green, landed on the embankment at the back and ran back down across the green to finish at the bottom edge.
Ben also had a clean up in his garage during the week and decided to donate all of his un-used golf balls to the Club for use in the ball-runs. SOS was one of the recipients of a ball in the run and, when he pulled a ball from the sleeve, he noticed that it was embossed with the name of a Las Vegas Casino and a Million Dollar gaming chip. Turns out, it was a ball that Mehm had brought back from Vegas as a gift for Uncle Ben. Some hard bargaining was required to claim it back from SOS’s clutches.
Daniel had some problems today, particularly from the tee. On the second his tee shot took off vertically and landed in the garden bed, barely in front of the red markers, despite the red and the white being coincident. His nearest relief was out on the first which raised some eyebrows in the following groups. On the 13th, his drive made the most massive ‘lefties’ hook and whistled across the 10th green and missed SOS’s head by millimetres to finish well down the middle of the 10th fairway.
Trevor, started out with us this morning, but, during the front nine he was not feeling all that famous and so he had to withdraw after finishing the ninth. He was able to make his own way home so let’s hope that it isn’t anything serious and we look forward to seeing him back on the cart soon.
Results for Saturday, 05 January 2019
1st Targe Mifsud(64) 2nd Bob McDonald(69) 2nd Stephen O’Sullivan(69) 3rd Ryan Porker(70) 4th Harry Boughen(71) 4th Craig Cameron(71) 5th Stephen Butterfield(72)
Seniors Results: 1st Targe Mifsud (64) 2nd Bob McDonald (69) 3rd Craig Cameron (71) 3rd Harry Boughen (71)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 12th Jackpot ProPin No 2 18th Ryan Porker BallPin 15th Mehmet Akdag
Raindrops keep falling on my head on 29 December 2018
Just in time, the high moved on and allowed a front to move across and drop the temperature down to a reasonable level from the scorching heights of the last couple of days. There was a little rain associated with the front and that prompted the unfurling of umbrellas and unrolling of rain jackets. But, they soon became an impediment and they were relegated to storage, at least until the next little shower came through. All up, eleven and a half members turned up to try their hand at gathering some cheap points in the last of the ‘holiday’ rounds. The half wasn’t a reference to Targe, it was a reference to SOS who ‘slept in’ and only made it to join in at the 10th. Fortunately, there was a three that was willing to accommodate him.
Jason claimed to have played in a ‘boring’ group with nothing newsworthy to report. However there was something newsworthy from the group in that he was able to score plus three on the back nine to come home and lead the field with a total of plus three. Daniel, on the other hand, did even better on the back with a plus five, to also finish tied for first on plus three. He was obviously playing some explosive golf as the wedge that he left behind by the green on the 10th was labelled TNT. No wonder he was so keen to get it back as he played up the 12th and the group behind, who had picked it up, approached the 11th green.
Keith was another of the un-newsworthy ones who just happened to break his handicap by the one stroke with his card of plus one. Peter, on the other hand, played a round of contrasting halves. His minus five on the front did not augur at all well for a podium finish and included a fresh air swing as well. But, undaunted, Peter put his head down and fairly blitzed the back nine, turning in another plus five tally to finish the day all square and third place.
Targe is still in recovery mode and is starting to get used to his new handicap. He even suggested that he was starting to enjoy having all the extra strokes. But, he is equally determined to break it in the not too distant future. He wasn’t too far off today with his minus one score line and a few aberrations in the short game department made all the difference. Harry’s driver abandoned him for a while today and resulted in a pair of draughties on the 2nd and 3rd. Despite this and a swag of ‘just missed’ putts, a bottom line of minus 2 was enough to grab the last point for fifth place.
The BallPin was on the 4th and nobody was able to stay on the green to collect a pill. ChrisV went close when he finished about 300mm off the green. Chris looked like needing every ball he could get after a series of errant draw shots cost him big-time with lost balls and OOB (at least four). When he put his shot on the 18th to 3.29m to take out the second ProPin, his main concern was whether it would be enough to buy new balls. He had hopes of making the birdie for the eclectic but, in the end, it was one that did not add to the total of 5 for the day. The first ProPin was a Jackpot on the 12th and Dale was able to take that one with a shot to 4.156m. The group agreed a three way split of the dividend leaving out SOS the free-loader.
While on the subject of SOS, he was playing at a disadvantage today as he had no putter. It seems he left his golf gear in an insecure location after a late night and ‘somebody’ must have stolen his putter. Better get the coppers onto the job, SOS.
Noodles seemed to be almost proud of the fact that he had missed a putt from about 1cm but when you consider the rest of his card….. Dennis might have to consider putting a distinctive mark on his ball after he hit the wrong ball on the 14th. Pretty inconsiderate of somebody else to use the same brand and number as he did though. This wasn’t reported as a draughtie but it seems that Dale teed off on the 2nd, hit a tree and finished close to being on the 6th green.
The new calendar year kicks off next week with the January Monthly Medal. Could be a better than average chance if members are still away or getting over New Year. Joe might be getting over a birthday bash as he has one coming up in the next week.
The Annual General Meeting is coming up in March. All positions will be spilled, so, here is your chance to put your hand up for the role of your choice and you can have a go at running the Club better than the current lot are doing.
Results for Saturday, 29 December 2018
1st Jason Hopkins(+3) 1st Daniel O’Rourke(+3) 2nd Keith Delzoppo(+1) 3rd Peter Damou(□) 4th Targe Mifsud(-1) 5th Harry Boughen(-2)
Seniors Results: 1st Keith Delzoppo (+1) 2nd Targe Mifsud (-1) 3rd Harry Boughen (-2)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 12th Dale Webb ProPin No 2 18th Chris Vinecombe BallPin 4th Jackpot
22nd December 2018 – Stableford Competition
Would there be 6 players in attendance so that the day’s play qualified for an official round? Questions were asked pre round, although there ended up being 4 groups and 13 players in total to play in some beautiful conditions as the course was freshly cut and looking magnificent.
Craig was relishing in the conditions and was putting together a scintillating round, which could have been a lot better if he had dialed in the range on his putter. He left quite a few short and a few others long, but steadied home to end up on 39 points for 1st place.
Ryan was hot on Craig heals, and had the slightly better start, but faded on the back 9 to put in a solid round and end up in 2nd place on 38 points. Both Craig and Ryan played some beautiful shots on the 19th with the hole on the back tier, with Craig getting close enough for the pro pin @ 3.74m away. Ryan sunk the birdie put, although Craig’s attempt hit Targe’s marker on the way to the hole and jumped enough to leave it short. Craig did end up with 3 birdies for the day out of a total of 7 for the club so he can’t complain too much!
Peter and Daniel have been in the points pretty consistently of late, and today was no exception, with Daniel playing to his handicap for 3rd place and Peter to be one point behind in 4th place. Daniel also managed to strike a nice shot on the 15th to earn himself a shiny new Callaway for his efforts.
Only 5 players were in the points in the end, Noodles scraped home in 5th on 34 points. Pretty decent odds to get a point with a smaller number of players, however it goes to show that you still need to play around your handicap to score points when the course is in good condition.
There were 5 players who scored points in the seniors, Craig 1st, Dennis and Keth tied for second, and Rod and Targe tied for 3rd. Well done guys.
The second pro-pin was on the 12th and with the pin at the front, no one was within the required 5m to claim the prize, so another jackpot for next week.
There were rumors that a few (3) guys had cracked the ton today. Not going to name names, but none other than Harry had to leave early for a Christmas party. Or was it another reason perhaps, he may have been seen throwing multiple clubs in frustration throughout the round. One such occasion was on the 12th where his tee shot shanked off into the water. Not to be outdone, Matt soon followed with the same effect, same result on the same hole.
Targe had an up and down day, but whilst looking for his ball on the 3rd in the OOB area, he came across a ball with the writing “Richmond AFL Premiers 2015”! Unless this was from some alternate reality, someone must have been preempting last years efforts, JQ perhaps?
There will be an event next week so come down if you are around. Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable festive season. P.S, only one more week until the new rules of golf take effect so brush up on the new regs!
Results for Saturday, 22 December 2018
1st Craig Cameron(39) 2nd Ryan Porker(38) 3rd Daniel O’Rourke(36) 4th Peter Damou(35) 5th Stephen Butterfield(34)
Seniors Results: 1st Craig Cameron (39) 2nd Dennis Ward (32) 2nd Keith Delzoppo (32) 3rd Rod Grant (27) 3rd Targe Mifsud (27)
Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin No 1 12th Jackpot ProPin No 2 18th Craig Cameron BallPin 15th Daniel O