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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....
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And the WABGA (Blind Golfers Association) hadn’t managed to get their act together to join us for the annual Austin Cup extavaganza.
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| No problem - just watch me get out of this |
Not to be deterred, we nevertheless encamped to Perry Lakes after the game for the scheduled barbecue, where we shared the space with a Little Athletics meet, but managed to keep both the little tackers and the kookaburras away from our sausages.
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More of that later, first we had to play the game.
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| Earle gets in touch with his feminine side - and goes off the girls' tee. |
Birgit entertained us with the story of how she had woken up at 3am Saturday morning to have a discussion with Gerry about their electricity bill,
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| Karl's in Finland - the land of the midnight sun |
and Peter showed us the result of his visit to the barbers. Apparently he’d said “I found an old putter in the woodshed”, and the hairdresser, also somewhat hard of hearing, had heard “Make me look like a skinhead”.
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Anyway, it will grow back. The hair, that is.
Earle was chalked in for a later fine, as apparently he’d repeatedly asked Vickie to find the house key, when he had it all the time in his pocket.
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Vickie also instigated another fine, after Derek reminded her to send him the password to enter the club’s details into the Dept of Trade website, when she’d already sent it to him ten days ago. His claim that he’d been peeling leeches off his body while rescuing a friend from the swamp around Cooktown at the time he received the mail did not earn him a reprieve.
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Keith announced the novelties, which were shared around as follows:
Men’s longest drive on the 14th, Keith, before Mark Wilson unleashed a monster over the trees to land in the middle of the fairway, within a putter’s length of the green.
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| yes, let's open another bottle |
Ladies’ longest drive on the 10th, Vickie, outpointed by Lynne. Good to have you back.
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Nearest the pin on the 2nd. Earle got on the card early, and wasn’t displaced.
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Nearest in two on the 9th, Keith gets his name on it again, but this time Gerry got closer.
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And finally, the longest putt on the 4th saw a number of candidates, with Earle on first, then Dave M. Lynne snuck in closer, (needed a flagstick measurement to confirm), but Derek cannily pitched to just past the marker, so that he could claim the chocolates. (Not the only chocolates he earned on the day, BTW)
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The Golden Hole had no takers, so jackpots to $84. If you’ve been holding back, it’ll soon be worth playing for.
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Birdies were few and far between. We noted one from Andrea on the 11th, and Keith on the (extremely difficult) 12th.
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And interestingly, there wasn’t a single lost ball all day. Are we just not hitting them into the trees anymore, or have we all been to Specsavers?
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Dave shanked his second shot on one of the earlier holes, causing Gerry to take evasive action. It was suggested Dave was trying to create a vacancy to enable his elevation from associate to full membership. There are other ways, Dave, other ways.
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| Steph's in trouble - but she still parred the hole! |
We were pleased to welcome Kelly, Glen Pope’s daughter, to the barbecue, where she told us how she had formed the group Charlie’s Angels, after she lost her young son at four months. The group aims to ensure that no family grieves alone after such an event, and Gerry presented a cheque to the group from the members of SOS, to help support those aims.
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Given the absence of the WAGBA, we have offered them the alternative of rescheduling on May 31st, or later in January. We wait to hear.
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| Earle and Boris discuss the merits or otherwise of Trump's tariffs |
Captain Andrea announced the results.
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A couple of club events still to be finalised - not sure if the International Night will happen this year, and a date and location for the Match Play finalists auction. All will be revealed in due course.
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| Shelley demonstrates how to play the increasingly popular game of bottle golf |
Nest week, a big day for the club - not only is it the first round of the Match Play championship, but the new shirts will be distributed, so you can start using the current ones now to clean the car.
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