SOS Golf: Stableford, Tuart Course, 5 October 2013

Tuart Course, Wembley Golf Complex, 5 October 2013.

(also known as "the day of the unbeaten track")

Stableford

Prize sponsor: Paul G. And if you did not know it was Paul G, you could have figured it out by looking at the brand of the prizes.

Finally we are back to our usual stableford play.
Raining still a little bit, but just very lightly and only for few minutes. I did spot some of us that kept the umbrella open in bright sunshine. One of these was Shelley :) (I have photos and witnesses!)

Why "the day of the unbeaten track"? If you don't know the answer, then you must have been in group 1 or 2. I was in group 3 and my first stoke of the day was a memorable slice, one that ended in a place that I never visited before. Actually I have been there before, just did not realize where I was when I found the ball: by the green of the 18th hole. I had never figured out before that hole 1 and 18 of the Tuart were running beside each other. Once satisfied with the learning of this new piece of geography, I had to work out what to do: I was in open territory, but surrounded by very tall trees. Playing the ball in the attempt of re-joining my group was very hard, would have meant going through thick bush, high chance of not making it. I then considered playing the fairway #18 backwards, but then getting back on the green of #1 would have still been very hard. Plus I would have definitely pissed off the rightful players of the #18. Ok, it's stableford, in the worst case you only lose 2 points. So I went for a hard shot, but at least it would have put me back in track on that hole: a 4 hybrid over the trees, hoping to land on the fairway #1. I had a very good impact, the ball went slightly more right than I planned, as the trees were even taller there, but the ball also flew higher than expected, so apparently I managed to clear the trees. But where did the ball actually land? I followed exactly the line of flight, every step getting more and more worried, through thick and dark bush. Walks like these bring back to your mind your worst and most hidden worries. after 80 meters of bush tracking I have not spotted the ball yet, I feel lost. I am out of the bush now, by the fairway. I take a look back at the trees: no sign of my ball. I then look around me: here is the ball, just on the semi-rough, actually not a bad spot at all to land on your second shot, 30 meters away from the pin! I mean, the right pin, the one of hole #1!
W h a t a s i g h o f r e l i e f .
Most incredibly I managed to recover from that awful drive and close the hole with a par.
That was certainly a route that I had never walked before, very scary, but fortunately it all ended up very well, I'll never forget that second shot.

Ok ok, not everything went to perfection in the rest of the day: on the par 5 #13 I had another awful drive, ... but this time I lost the ball. A ball that was perfect to me. A ball that gave me plenty of satisfaction in the last 6 months. We had so much fun together. It's a Bridgestone e7. Should you ever find, please give it back to me, I'll pay a reward. Her name is "Bridgie".

Scores!

Stableford, 5 October 2013.

Disqualifications:

The greenkeeper: the balls on the flag pin, those that are supposed to indicate whether the pin is at the front or at the back of the green, were all at the wrong height!

Lollies of the day go to:

According to my records, this should be Phil, with 23 points. It is not such a bad score though

Then:

Paul C 23
Gary 24
Kerry 25
Glen 27
Earle 27
Brett 28
Ian 30
Vickie 30
Peter 30
Mal 31
Richard 33, birdie on #10
David 33, birdie on #9
Colin 34, birdie on #13
Gim 35
Ross 35
Shelley 36
Paul G 36, birdie on #12

3^rd place on count back:

Don 36

2nd place on count back:

Lorenzo 36

and the winner is:
Greg 39, birdie on #7

Well done Greg!!!

Novelties:

NTP #2: Don
NTP#9: David
NTP #15: Lorenzo
NTP in 2 #17: Lorenzo

But more importantly:
KERRY CASHED IN THE JACKPOT!

AOB:

Birthdays time: Earle on Friday, Bernie on Saturday!

And finally, our weekly photo gallery.