SOS Golf: STABLEFORD

It’s the lull. That period after Christmas and the New Year when not much happens. The chaos of the holiday period has largely settled down, but the professional world still isn’t answering the phone. Those resolutions haven’t quite been abandoned yet (they soon will be), but those decorations should have been taken down and packed away by now (Epiphany, Jan 6^th, when supposedly the three wise men arrived in Bethlehem to leave their gifts for the infant Jesus. BTW, anyone know what you’re supposed to actually do with it if you find the odd bit of frankincense in the shed?)

So, yes. The lull. The perfect time to get out on the golf course and give the old ProV1 a good whack with the driver. It was an early start (really early), and Paul and Maureen hadn’t set the alarm clock, but fortunately just made their tee time.

Having a good round

Back on the Tuart, after a while. Stableford, so a nice relaxing game with friends, warm handshakes afterwards and a genuinely felt “thanks for the game” afterwards.

Should she go left, or should she go right?

A small field, which was a shame as the weather was near-perfect. The greens were slow, and we were generally over-reading the breaks. There were some unusual tee positions, changing the nature of the hole and necessitating some chin-stroking as to which was the right club in the circumstances.

That white fluffy cloud looks just like a birdie!

We were pleased to see that Brett’s calf is continuing to improve.

Carol sustained a nasty gash during the week, although she, like Frances, was involved with children and grandchildren this week.

Boris has a sore ankle. (Are we playing AFL here or what - a serious injury list!)

There were a number of birdies.

Paul Boquest managed a triple - the 11^th, the 15^th and the 18^th. Well done, sir.

Brett the 7^th - yes, he drove the green, with a beautiful fade on the end to just put the icing on the cake. He confessed that, like his father, his lifelong ambition has been to get a hole in one on a par 4. Came pretty close today.

Gary birdied the 8^th and the 12^th.

Hilly on the 4^th

And Keith on the 15^th.

(And I’m sure Mark Wilson had one in there somewhere).

The novelties

No Golden Hole today.

NTP in 2 on the 16^th, Mark Wilson

Men’s longest drive on the 2^nd, Hilly, beaten by Popey

Ladies longest drive on the 7^th, Shelley, but Andrea sailed past that one.

NTP in 3 on the 11^th, a long list of contenders, Shelley again, beaten by Hilly, then Andrea, but Paul Boquest put it in the hole!

NTP on the 18^th, we had Popey in contention, Mark Wilson ran down the hill to get close, but Paul Boquest got to within a few inches.

Pretty close

You’re never quite sure how close it is when the drive pops out of sight over that bank behind the left-hand bunker on the 18th - some pleasant surprises.

Mark Wilson unearthed a rule this week that may surprise some.

It does not count as a stroke on your scorecard if you’re making a practice swing and accidentally hit the ball. You are subject to a one-stroke penalty, however, depending on where you are when you make the mistake (Rule 9.4). If you do this in the teeing area, there is no penalty (Rule 6.2b). And if you do it on the green, you’re also OK (Rule 13.1d). Just make sure to move the ball back to where it was.

So, somewhat surprisingly, a one-stroke penalty unless you’re in the teeing area or on the green.

If it 'accidentally' ends up in the hole do you just shrug your shoulders and make out it was intended after all?

Dreaming of glory

No Goochie, no Gerry after the game, so Andrea stepped in as MC and did a cracking job, even though the venue was being shared with another (somewhat raucous) group at the time.

Maureen benefitted from a crash course in raffle management, and displayed excellent technique in maintaining three anti-clockwise turns to fully jumble the numbers, before the final clockwise turn to pick up the selected number. We have rarely seen it done better.

Now do you harbour an unexpressed desire to be a blogger? Blogging is more fun when we have a variety of bloggers, so put your own mark on it from time to time, and it's really not hard to do. Talk to Derek about becoming a guest blogger.

There were apparently no birthdays to be celebrated this week. Vickie and Michael combined to extract copious fines from all concerned. Mark Wilson headed home to join Trish in celebrating his little girl's first birthday.

And the results? A clear winner this week, no counterback required!