CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 5

 

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP, ROUND 5

The Golfing Gods owed us one, and today they delivered.

An absolutely beautiful day, with clear blue skies and barely a breath of wind.

A prelude to Spring, which doesn’t officially start until Monday, and since Autumn doesn’t officially begin until September 21^st in Europe, that means it will be Spring in the southern hemisphere while it’s still summer in the northern.

(Yes, that’s another useless piece of knowledge with which to bore your friends.)

Stroke play on the Old Course - and it’s that time of year when the grass off the fairways is getting longer, making it that much harder to find the stray balls.

Straight drives down the middle are definitely the preferred option for now. 

The novelties were hotly contested as always:

Glen took out the Golden Hole on the 2^nd

No need to measure that one out

The Ladies’ Longest Drive on the 4^th went to Maureen

She also put down a contender for nearest in two on the 9^th, but Paul B kept it in the family when he went closer.

Nearest in two on the 14^th went to Keith

The other Golden Hole on the 16^th went unclaimed, while the Men’s Longest Drive on the 18^th saw Dave put his name on the marker, but Earle went past.

Very true!

Birthdays will be celebrated this week - Paul Gardner has apparently already started his celebrations in Bali, while Andrea’s Michael is also looking forward to his day on the 5^th.

And Gerry turns 65 this week.

We share this thought with him,

And as a special treat just for him:

So, of this week, Gerry has printed a new business card:

Birdies seemed few and far between, unless I missed a few:                  

Popey on the 2^nd and 6^th, and Lynne on the 16^th. Those par 3’s always popular for the birds.

Today’s scores saw more of a battle to the bottom for some players.

Congratulations to Greg, Keith and Kerry, and comiserations to Gim, who just missed out on a podium finish. 

A day for the diary, the Annual Dinner will be on November 29^th , with Glen and Lindsay very kindly providing the venue at Lot Six Zero.

Rake brake!

And now, there are changes afoot with Golf Australia.

Over the coming months Golf Australia is undertaking a major digital transformation that includes a move away from the current Golf link platform to Golf Australia Connect. 

From 2^nd  October, the new Golf Australia Official app will be available to download and all golfers will be allocated a Golf ID which will remain with the golfer for life, regardless of changing to another home club.

We’re in touch with Golf Australia, and your committee is progressively handling the transition on your behalf and will keep you informed as to what you need to do, if anything. There will be a period where competitions will not be handicapped while the cut over to the new platform is in progress - we’ll freeze handicaps for that period.

Undoubtedly there will be hiccups along the way. We’ll do our best to muddle through in our inimitable SOS way.

Below is some background information about why Golf Australia is changing the handicapping platform to Golf Connect, although there are those who believe the motivation may ultimately be less about benefits for golfers and more about extracting additional money from clubs. We will see.

Next week, it’s an 8am start for Club Championship Round 6, (yes, 8am) and remember for the Championship prizes you must have played at least 11 rounds in the Winter Season, and 5 rounds of the Championship games. The following week, we’ll be playing Round 7 and the first round of the Spring Cup on the Tuart simultaneously, to catch up with the weeks that were lost for poor weather.

And now, a thought to leave you with:

  

MATCH PLAY FINALS AND STABLEFORD

 

Finally, the finals.

Peter versus Roland for the big one, and

Keith versus Barry for the bronze.

Who would prevail?

The two pairs set off on a beautiful Saturday morning,

accompanied by their relevant umpires.

A beautiful day, after the golfing gods had abandoned us on a few recent Saturdays.

The also-rans played Stableford.

We were a few regulars short.

Remember this character?

Shelley is golfing her way around the Iberian peninsula

Looks nice and warm

Having finished at the bottom of the leaderboard on her first attempt, she has now managed two wins in succession, trouncing the field yesterday at Finca Cortesin.

Bien hecho - Shelley!

For her impecunious fellow members, we had a sprinkling of birdies:

Wayne on the 6^th - a tap in after a remarkable drive.

Puggy on the 13^th, with an amazing second shot to nestle right next to the pin.

What about that for an approach?

Goochy on the 11^th, and Gary on the 15^th.

The novelties had a good spread of winners yesterday, which is how it should be.

No golden hole winners, but

Peter had a fine effort, a couple of metres past the 100m mark on the 7^th, but Derek snuck closer.

The ladies’ longest drive on the 8^th had Frances lay down an impressive effort playing in the first group, and no-one got further than that.

The men’s longest drive saw a few more challengers on the 11^th. Gary was on first, Puggy did better than that, Keith was impressive, but no-one could match Mark Wilson.

You'd want a nice long drive on a par 7!

Nearest in three on the 17^th (a nasty pin position right near the edge), had Gary on the marker, but Keith got closer.

The 18^th presented a challenge, with the pin perched up on the top level at the left. Gary in the first group was right up there, and that’s where it stayed.

Karl celebrated his birthday, but somewhere else. Hope you and Cyrena had a great day, and you got to blow out the candles.

Keith and Carol celebrated their 54^th wedding anniversary. Phew! Well done, you two, and

Roland and Sari marked their 28^th anniversary. Congratulations all round.

On a more sombre note, our condolences go out to Gerry on the passing of his younger brother this week. Difficult times for the family - our thoughts are with you.

Does this explain poor scores this week?

The Stableford competition brought out the best in some, and the less good in others.

I do hope Luciano Dos Santos enjoyed his game,
Sounds like he should have been playing with Shelley.

Andrea stands in for Gary

So, how did the finals go?

In the battle for third place, Keith prevailed against Barry 5 and 4.

And Roland won against Peter, 4 up with 2 to go.

Peter with A plate

Congratulations Roland.

Should have been THE plate like this.

And he won a prize in the raffle!

 Next week,its the 5^th round of the Club Championship - that’s right, it’s stroke play again! And remember:

 

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND 4 & MATCH PLAY SEMI-FINALS

 Following the unprecedented sub-Antarctic conditions endured over the past two weeks the radar was finally clear for the playing of the postponed Club Championship Round 4 and the Match Play semi-Final. 

The various cancellations of fixtures had created a nightmare for our starter and fixture manager, Shelly. However she remained undaunted and up to the task as usual managing to get everything back on an even keel. Given that Shelly will be swanning it around Spain for the next few weeks, a well deserved break I should add, spare a thought for her apprentice, Popey who will be dealing with her duties. To help Popey out  please try and confirm bookings no later than Wednesday morning and make sure you mention any special requests at the same time.

A further complication for Saturday's round was the combination of stoke and match play rules that were so complex even Einstein would struggle to get his head around them - "why is golf so complicated" !!!! Barry decided to just play match play and in doing so gave to referees some relief.

MATCH PLAY - SEMI FINALS

Match 1 comprised Barry Treak and Peter Baird, two seasoned competitors

Match 2 comprised Keith Barrow, who many thought might be an odds on favorite, in particular Dave Millar who had purchased Keith at our recent Auction Night and Roland Petrie, the Dark Horse.

SPOTS OF BOVVER

There were only two but they were nasty

Barry on the 17th. This was a sad reflection of a man "Down on his Luck" originally and famously captured in Frederick McCubbin's painting. Here we have the 21st century version, captured by Andrea on her mobile, where Barry has somehow managed a smile, despite his circumstances!!

Gim on the 4th

THE RESULTS - MATCH PLAY SEMI-FINAL 

Match 1 Barry v Peter - The winner Peter 3 & 2

Match 2 Keith v Roland - The winner Roland 4 & 3

Very convincing wins by Peter and Roland.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND 4

Not exactly spectacular scoring.

THE WINNERS

Third place on count back from Popey and Andrea, Karl on 72

Second place Frances on 71

&

In first place with a return to form and the only player to to play to handicap Coops on 70

 

THE LOLLIES

Bit of a sad return to competitive golf for Alex who took home the lollies but seemed very happy to have got something

THE NOVELTIES

Hole #3 - The Golden Hole - Club

Hole #4 - Men's Longest Drive - Greg followed by Mark W

Hole #8 - Nearest in 3 - Popey followed by Frances

Hole #10 - Nearest in 2 - Popey

Hole #11 - Longest Putt - Popey

Hole #17 - Ladies Longest Drive - Andrea

BIRDIES

Despite the low scoring there was an abundance of Birdies.

Keith on the 7th

Popey on the 10th

Lynley & Roland on the 15th

Stephanie on the 17th

Earle & Dave on the 18th

SWANNING AROUND

Karl in Melbourne (Roland acting as vice captain), Shelly in Spain (Popey acting as starter and bookie)

& 

Stephanie in Ireland (with Bernie, not Gardie)

 

NEXT WEEKS EVENT 

Next week is is the Match Play Final and tee off commences at 9.08 on the Tuart

BOM's forecast for 23 August is a replica of yesterdays 8 - 19 degrees and no rain which translates to no excuses.

REMINDER FOR THE COUNTRY CUP - SUNDAY 28 SEPTEMBER

Given we have a wait list of players keen to play the Country Cup please advise me ASAP if you won't be able to play so that someone can take your place. Also no payments for this booking until Shelly gets back on 9 September.

Even tough the driving range is closed for maintenance there are still many activities that can be undertaken either from the comfort of your own home or your nearby community park to improve your game. I highly recommend the following that will not only relieve your frustration but also significantly add to the clubs coffers at the after match presentations.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4

 

Club Championship Round 4 and Match Play semis.

Much to the disappointment of members, Club Championship Round 4 didn’t happen today.

No great surprise, look at the BOM.

A bedraggled crew fronted up at Wembley, but to no avail.

Wembley had already decreed that there would be no carts today.

The forecast was less than promising - even worse than last week.

And the prospect of a very soggy round was enough to call it all off.

Those who paid for this week will earn a credit.

If you’re going to play next week, let Shelley know (preferably by message) that you will be using your credit. Otherwise pay in the normal way.

From the following week, Glen will be drawing up the field, as Shelley is heading off to Europe for some summer golf.

If you’ve forgotten what the summer looks like, here are a couple of reminders from years past.

The outstanding quarter final of the Match Play resulted in a 3/2 win for Peter against Gerry, which leaves the semi-finals as:

Keith v Roland, and

Peter v Barry.

These semis, as well as the CC Round 4, will be rescheduled soon, more to come.

In the meantime, if you’re suffering from withdrawal, you can always binge on encouraging YouTube golf videos like this one: