Club Championship Round 5

Was it the early start or the approaching cold front due tomorrow, that blew a chill wind through the SOS Golf Group members as they assembled at the Old Course at 8.20am to do battle for the 5th round of the Club Championship?

The forecast was for high winds of 25-35 kph and BOM got it right.  The wind chill factor made it bloody freezing!!

 But not too cold for Alana and Frances to limber up with a spot of Yoga before they tee off!

While Brett, Derek and Paul consider the possibilities of a pulled hamstring, or worse!

In fact, apart from the high wind and a scattering of cloud, it was a perfect day for golf.

Unfortunately, high winds tend to play havoc with players who hit high and long balls which, mercifully, excludes a large number of SOS's membership. For those that did, the wind caused mayhem as the ball drifted into the bush and 'out of bounds' on a regular basis! 

One member, who may remain anonymous, had just returned to playing golf after sustaining an ankle injury and was using a cart to ensure she did not need to walk more than a few meters to take her next stroke. However, her two low handicap partners consistently caused their balls to wander off the fairway requiring our injured member to clock up 4 kilometres on her pedometer during the course of the game.  If you assume she clocked up 100 meters on each hole playing her own shots, and her partners balls got lost every second hole, then 2,200 metres, or an average of 244 meters per hole, was required looking for her partners lost balls! Surely worthy of a special award for selfless conduct above and beyond the rules of golf etiquette?

Many of the long drives, whether by divine intervention or skill, managed to travel a long way. The picture below shows Paul 32 metres from the pin on the 10th hole and about to play his second stroke! That makes his drive around 291 metres!  Another 'Smoker'. Nice work Paul, it was a delight to watch the ball hug the dogs leg and continue on out of sight  💨  💪In fact, Paul had already played his stroke as the camera man was still raking the sand after playing his 2nd bunker shot and had to request Paul to hit an imaginary ball!

Everyone was glad to get out of the wind and settle down for some post game chatter !

The Results

And so to the results . . . . The winner of the 5th round of the Club Championship, by 4 clear points and an even par round of 72, is Glen Pope!Then, in a tie on 76 strokes, came Gary Burgess and Lynne Malone with Lynne being relegated to 3rd place on a count-back.Glen, modest in victory !Gary claims 2nd place on a count-back!Lynne returns to SOS Golf from injury and conjures up a 3rd place!

The NoveltiesSome noteworthy play earned the winners a ball!James was in the first group and managed to drive the ball some 285 metres on the 17th hole to win the Longest Drive. What! No-one else up to the task?

James celebrates his LD victory with Alana !

Golden Hole

Congratulations to Brett for taking out the Golden Hole with a classy tee shot that came to within a metre of the hole! Unfortunately, the bucket had been recently drained and the pot was only about $50.

Eagles

There were many long drives, pitches and fairway shots! However, the high winds played havoc with the long ball and Eagles remained elusive.

 

Birdies

A total of 9 Birdies today, including two doubles! Excellent play from the following members:

Ash Tray

Gim, having secured the honor of coming last, accepted the lollies and proceeded to conduct the fines ceremony. A lot of small change and even the odd bank note was tossed into the bag by members as they sought to atone for their misdeeds!

Derek, Steph and Gim waiting for the raffle to commence.

Birthdays

 There were no birthdays for members during the last week!

The Raffle

Max spins the raffle balls to potentially make the 1st prize winner of a Scratchie wealthy!

And the winner is . . . . . . . Kerry !

Next Week

The semi finals of the Match Play competition will take place on the Tuart Course next Saturday, 15 August. The contenders are - Peter v Stephanie and Bernie v Greg.

The winners of this round will fight it out for Club Champion on 12 September, also played on the Tuart Course.

Greg's consistent game and 6th placing today would seem to make him the short odds favorite for the Club Championship. However, Bernie did not play today giving credence to the rumor she was attending a crash course in advanced match play tactics!

Members not involved in the match play competition will compete in a game of 'par', or similar, yet to be announced by the committee.