Australia Day Cup

A good field today








Australia Day Cup, and some very presentable efforts at celebratory costumes. 

There was talk of a prize for the best effort. Maybe awarded posthumously, Madam President?

Seven groups, with Max's dad, Patches, probably the first to play off scratch at SOS.







Perfect weather, and the sausage sizzle afterwards to tempt everyone out of their summer aestivation. 







And funny how the prospect of a trophy seems to draw people out of the woodwork. 

The provisional ball rule cropped up again today. Remember:

If, after playing a shot, you think your ball may be lost (outside a water hazard) or out of bounds you should play a provisional ball. The purpose of the Rule is to save time, hence the player must inform his opponent, marker or fellow-competitor that he intends to play a provisional ball, and he must play it before he goes forward to search for the original ball.

If the player fails to do so and he plays another ball, that ball is not a provisional ball; instead it becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 27-1) and the original ball is lost.

It’s not good enough to say something like “I’ll play another” or “I’m going to reload.” You need to be more specific than that, i.e. you need to say it’s a provisional ball or you’re proceeding under Rule 27-2.

That's right. On the tee you must use the words "Provisional Ball" (or more obscurely "Rule 27-1"). Otherwise it becomes the ball in play, you have now hit three, and your first ball cannot be played even if you find it. And once you've gone forward from the teeing ground, you can no longer play a provisional at all. If you search, don't find it, go back, hit another, you're now hitting three, not a provisional. If your partners subsequently find your first ball, bad luck. 



Of course, the same applies if it's your second or third shot that you believe may be lost. You must still use the words "Provisional Ball" . 

Patches pays up

Vickie's 3 Wood appeared to have shuffled off this mortal coil. Rumour has it she somewhat uncharacteristically smashed it against her buggy. 

I'm sure it used to have a shaft

She claims that's the first time in forty years she's subjected her club to abuse. (I wasn't there then, so I can't confirm). 

No birthdays today


And apparently some changes to the schedule around about the opening day, due to it falling on Easter Saturday. We'll be hearing more. 



And the AGM probably on the week before Easter. 




Nomination forms for all those hard fought committee positions will be available soon. (Irony wasted on this group, Ed)

How to make sure no-one steals your ball

Fees are now due, and should be paid by next Saturday. 



Else you won't be able to win any competitions, and will basically be shunned and shamed. 




The novelties brought out some old names and some new ones. The Golden Hole is still up for grabs. 

	Novelty	Hole	Contenders	Winner
	NTP	9	Stephanie, Dave	John
	NTP in 2	3	Shelley	Earle
	NTP in 2	15	Vickie	Earle
	LD	17	Shelley, Bernie, Gim	Max
	GOLDEN HOLE			No winner

And today's results. 

	PLAYER	SCORE	BIRDIES
	Frances	25
	Gary	26
	Max	26
	Mark	27
	Kerry	27
	Shelley	28	9
	Ross	28
	Stephanie	29	9
	Dave	29	17
	Richard Y	30
	Rob	31
	Don	31
	Gim	31
	Vickie	32
	Derek	33	9
	John	33	1
	Malcolm	33
	Bernie	33
	Peter	34	9
	Lynne	34	1
	Jan	34
	Keith	34
	Richard O	34
	Greg	34
	Paul	35
	Ron	35	Eagle 6
	Glen	35
	Earle	36	15

Hole 9 kindly giving up multiple birdies today. And a great Eagle from Ron on the sixth. 

But Earle's hot. He picks up the prize for the second week running. 

Hot, hot, hot!

And thanks to Rob for his generous sponsorship. The cup is apparently at the menders. No, I don't know what happened to it. 

A great sausage sizzle, good to see Charmaine and Ulrich back again, and thanks to all those who worked hard to get everything organised. 



Especially Steph, who went to her butcher's shop and asked for some specially big ones this time. 


Next week we're back on the old course for the first round of the Summer Cup. That's a stroke competition, so bear in mind the Provisional Ball rules. 

Don't DQ yourself because you can't find your ball and can't be shagged to walk all the way back to the tee or where you hit it from - do yourself a favour and if in any doubt, hit a provisional - and call it a "provisional". 




Thanks to Steph in advance for her sponsorship, see you all there for the summer cup.