Spring Cup - Round 1

There was definitely a feeling that 'Spring was in the Air' as twenty SOS members rolled up for the first of two stroke events to decide the 2020 winner of the Spring Cup!

Round 1 was on the Tuart Course and, next week, the Old Course will host Round 2 to decide the winner.

The weather was magnificent as the initial cool early morning gave way to warm, near cloudless, skies with little wind, making it easier for the big hitters to hit more fairways!

Barry, Dave,  Frances, Glen & Paul lining up ready to take the 1st tee!

Gary, Mal & Derek gloved up and ready to go.

Madam Treasurer Shelley checks the Golden Hole and Eagle's Nest funds at the start.

Some players come armed with all types of gadgets to smooth the passage of play!

Gim, James, Barry & Glen Pope cautiously approach the 15th green, framed by blue skies with a wisp of cloud.

As spring brings in the warm weather it awaken the cold blooded reptiles, so some caution must be exercised when chasing lost balls in the bush!

The wildlife was plentiful, particularly the ducks, which often courted death and dismemberment by preening themselves directly in front of the tee areas.

Fortunately there were no reports of maimed or dead ducks on the day!

Always important to keep the liquids up and to consume energy snacks after completing the first nine. Without adequate sustenance the mind can get weary, concentration lapses, short putts are inexplicably missed and crucial points lost! 

If all else fails, try a bit of spiritual enlightenment.

The sausage sizzle at Perry Lakes was in full swing by the time the last groups arrived for the late lunch and prize giving.

Gim wins a ball while eating the remains of a sausage! Regrettably, the BlogMaster did not record what the prize was for and has now forgotten! Perhaps from last week?

The Results

Congratulations to Glen Kelly for taking 1st place in Round 1 with a net score of 65 which was 5 points clear of James Weaver who came 2nd with a net score of 70. Each also scored a birdie ✌ !

Derek Longhurst picked up 3rd position with a net score of 76.

Spring Cup Round 1 - 22 August 2020
		H/C	Score	Birdies
1	Glen Kelly	20	65	18th
2	James Weaver	19	70	15th
3	Derek Longhurst	21	76
4	Colin Kerr	13	77
5	Brett Fordham	9	77
6	Tony Gooch	5	78	4th
7	Peter Baird	19	79
8	Paul Gardner	9	79	13th
9	Don Beasley	11	79
10	Earle Scarff	12	79
11	Gim Ong	21	80
12	Kerry Gardner	20	80
13	Barry Treak	20	81
14	Gary Burgess	8	81	6th
15	David Williamson	23	82
16	Greg Bennett	19	82
17	Glen Pope	6	84	8th
18	Frances Longhurst	19	88
19	Vickie Scarff	27	98
20	Timothy Dutton	13	-

Glen Kelly launched into an acceptance speech as Captain Gary Burgess hands over the 1st prize Gift Card.

James Weaver checks out the authenticity of his Gift Card for coming in 2nd place.

Derek Longhurst exultant in coming 3rd with a steady round  . . . beating out another 7 players who were less than 3 points or less behind!

The Ash Tray

Vickie was awarded the lollies after succumbing to last place.

Somewhat prophetically, Vickie was also reported to have suffered a bizarre mechanical problem with her motor vehicle during the week. Vickie's vehicle would not accelerate leading to a number of expensive theories of fuel starvation, carburetor malfunction, or worse! The problem was remedied when a golf ball was found to be stuck under the accelerator pedal and removed! 💫 💨 !

Lots of fine worthy events were apparent as members coughed up their loose change to pay for their wayward strokes, uncouth words and equipment damage.

Vickie scores the bag of lollies as Frances, who came 2nd last looks on in support!

The Raffle

The raffle wheel was spun by a total stranger, a young boy who was at the park with his family and was asked to spin the wheel after approaching to see the gadget in action.  All went well, and after a large number of 'not out's', the first ball in play to fall was held by Barry Treak! 

Barry wins the $10 first prize in the Raffle!

Golden Hole

The jackpot continues to accumulate as no-one came within the length of the flag-stick on hole 3.

The Novelties

Balls were handed out to the following winners of the Novelty holes.

Congratulations to Gim for taking out the Longest Drive against stiff competition!

Novelty	Hole	Contenders	Winner
NTP in 3	2	Brett, Tony	Gary
LD	8	Earle, Gary	Gim
NTP in 3	14		Paul
NTP	18	Paul	Glen Kelly

Eagles

No eagles scored today, despite the benign conditions!

Birdies

Only 6 birdies scored in Round 1 of the Spring Cup.

Congratulations to the following players : 

Player		Holes (s)	Placing *
Tony Gooch		4th	6
Gary Burgess		6th	14
Glen pope		8th	17
Paul Gardner		13th	8
James Weaver		15th	2
Glen Kelly		18th	1

Birthdays

No birthdays this past week!

However, James Weaver celebrated his birthday the previous week, when he did not play, so  . . .  Happy Birthday James!

Next Week

 The 2nd Round of the Spring Cup will be played on 29 August on the Old Course.

The field is wide open with many possible winners should they put in a low net score!

Note: The Blogmaster apologises for the quality of the tables, most of which are missing lines. The lines vanish during the process of converting the draft blog to a Preview version, before the blog is published! The reason for this is not yet understood. The Blog software was recently updated!

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Match Play Semi Final

The start time for the semi final of the Match Play Competition was scheduled for 8.20am, one of the earliest in recent memory, and the sun had barely risen over the coastal scarp.  Nevertheless, all the players arrived in time and after a short delay the competition got underway.

The official BOM weather forecast said "Cloudy. Very high (near 100%) chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening - 20 to 30 mm. The chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening. Winds north to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h tending north to northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the late morning and early afternoon."

Other, less scientific, sources forecast "Thunder, lightning and rain; flooding, wind damage likely!" 

In any event, the game was played in brilliant sunshine and moderate wind with not even a distant rainbow to suggest rain!  BOM nearly got it right as a substantial rain system descended from the north west around noon and passed to the west of Rottnest Island and hit Mandurah with a good soaking! 

Later that evening the Perth coastal strip received a number of heavy showers confirming, once again, the rain gods appear to favor the SOS Golf Group!

Shelley, Bernie, Frances & Brett on the 1st tee

Barry, Bernie & Paul waiting for the start.

Barry, Earle, Steffanie & Greg casting long shadows at the early start!

Bernie, Earle, Steffanie & Frances framed by blue skies !

The match referee was Earle Scarff, who was standing in for Club Captain Gary. However, the competition was played without incident and without the need to tap Earle's prodigious knowledge of the Rules.

The Play

The semi finalists all wanted that trophy!

The 4 match players set forth as the first group and all managed to produce commendable strokes off the 1st tee.  So far, so good!

No equipment issues to speak of, although Stephanie's buggy got flattened by a sudden wind gust while she was trying to putt out on the index 1, Hole 11.

No distracting behavior was reported! 

Derek and Frances reflect on their scores.

Match Play Semi Final

For the first time in SOS Golf Club history two women have secured a place in the Match Play Final to be held on the Tuart Course on 12 September 2020.

Congratulations go to Stephanie who beat Peter 2 up, and to Bernie who beat Greg on the 14th hole, scoring 5 and 4.  Many of Bernie's drives were awesome, particularly the one that scored the longest drive of the day! Stephanie just had to wait until Peter hacked his tee shot on the 18th tee into the water, something Peter had developed into an art form over recent months! 

Match Play Competition
Quarter Finals Matches			Semi Finals Matches		Finals Match
Player	Ranking	Winner	Player	Winner	Player	Winner
Shelley	1
v		Peter
Peter	8		Peter
					Steff
Steff	5		Steff
v		Steff
Brett	4
Kerry
v	7	Bernie
Bernie			Bernie
					Bernie
Greg	6		Greg
v		Greg
Tony J	3

Stableford Competition

While the match players set off as the first group, the rest of the SOS players enjoyed a Stableford competition which was won in emphatic fashion by Colin Kerr with 41 points and a 4 stroke margin!

Frances Longhurst secured 2nd place with 37 points, with Barry Treak in 3rd place with 33 points.

Stableford on the Tuart - 15 August 2020
		H/C	Score	Birdies
1	Colin Kerr	14	41
2	Frances Longhurst	19	37
3	Barry Treak	21	33
4	Don Beasley	11	32	Eagle/HIO
5	Phil Wear	20	29
6	Tony James	22	29
7	Brett Fordham	9	28
8	Tony Gooch	5	27
9	Derek Longhurst	20	26
10	Glen Pope	6	26
11	Glen Kelly	19	25
12	Paul Gardner	9	25
13	Earle Scarff	12	20

Birdies data not available. Will be included later! 

    Colin wins by 4 strokes scoring 41 points with a handicap of 14 !

Frances takes 2nd place with 37 points, 4 strokes ahead of 3rd place.

    Barry in outright 3rd place on 33 points.

Eagles

Don scored an Eagle on the Tuart's hole 6 by making a hole in one!

Those that witnessed it said it was a classic double bounce and 'in the hole'.

Congratulations Don!

Golden Hole

No winner today, so the carry forward jackpot should be around $120.

Novelties

Novelty	Hole	Contenders	Winner
NTP in 3	2	Steff, Paul	Tony Gooch
NTP	6	Bernie,	Don (HIO)
LD	15	Steff	Bernie
NTP in 3	16	Greg, Derek, Don	Colin

The Raffle

Congratulations to Phil Wear who won the Raffle's first prize with number 66 and collected the Scratchie.
A welcome change from the run of 1st prizes won by the Vickie and Earle in recent weeks! 

However, co-incidences were still in play as Tony Gooch then proceeded to win the next 3 golf ball prizes in a row! 

Phil Wear collects the 1st prize Scratchie !

Tony Gooch wins 3 balls in a row!

Birthdays

Congratulations to James Weaver who celebrated his birthday on 14 August.

We trust that, like the cat below, he celebrated his birthday in style!

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

The SOS annual 'Christmas in July' event was again held in August for the benefit of those that wish to celebrate the event at a cooler time of the year.

Hosts Kerry and Paul - with hats

Kerry and Paul, both English tragics and about to return to the 'Old Dart', again provided their home for the venue and put in a great amount of work to make it a warm, entertaining event with a sumptuous table of traditional fare. Many others contributed to providing dishes and helping to make the event a great success.

The Secret Santa present picking and swapping was also a source of much fun with a number of presents being swapped multiple times, much to the distress of some.

The following photos provide a glimpse of the merriment!

The turkey, ham and all the trimmings was delicious and the deserts, including traditional brandy cake, sauces, pavlova and whipped cream topped off a culinary sensation !

A competition was held for the best Christmas hat with many fancy creations vying for the award!

Bernie and Matt have recently announced their engagement and several toasts were made to wish them a long and happy future together !  💍  💎  💐

Barry's Tyrolean hat with Christmas embellishments !

The back of the Hat !

Paul had several changes of hat during the evening !

And many thanks to Kerry and Paul for their hospitality in hosting the Christmas in July (or August) !🎇  🎉  🎄

NEXT TWO WEEKS

The SOS Spring Cup will be held over the next 2 weeks, being played firstly on the Tuart Course on 22 August and on the Old Course on 29 August.   This is a stroke competition and Richard Yeo is the current holder of the Spring Cup.

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