Saturday, March 9, 2024

STABLEFORD

 Stableford

That’s right.

Bugger. I've lost five strokes since last week!

Plain vanilla Stableford.

After the excitement of American Foursomes and Divorced Pairs.

We've all played with this guy

It looked like we’d have 26 players out there, but there were a couple of late changes.

Vickie took a tumble down the stairs. Apparently it was Earle’s fault, but a dodgy ankle meant a late withdrawal.

And Steph sent a message to Shelley explaining that she’d had a call bite, and was in hospital.

Somewhat perplexed, Shelley quite reasonably asked for more explanation. Apparently, Steph hadn’t been bitten by a call at all. She had messaged without her glasses on, and had meant “cat”, not “call”.

I didn't see it. Did you?
Nope.

So, to summarise, Steph had been bitten by one of her cats, and consequently spent 48 hours in Glendalough hospital with antibiotic drips or something similar going on.

He's back!

We feel this is probably worth a fine, perhaps under a sub-clause of “assault on the wildlife”, in this case “assault by the wildlife”.

And the last group sensed that their foursome had shrunk to being a threesome, until they were finally joined by Pug Dog while they were actually on the first green. Isn’t there an old golfing joke that explains why this happens? Not printable, unfortunately.

As to the golf, what a lovely day for a round.

A pleasant morning in the high twenties, with those sanded greens meaning a straight putt stood a very good chance of dropping in the hole, which goes a long way to explaining why birdies were two-a-penny for those brave enough to give the ball a decent shove on the slow greens.

Goochy drives the green on the seventh, then three putts!

Good to see Dave Williamson back again, although there was the classic on the fifth, when he putted out and turned around, only to find his buggy had disappeared.

That's what I call friendly golf. In the bunker together.

It was a case of “Doing a Popey” his motorised buggy had taken itself off for a walk, and were it not for the fence by the sixth tee, it would have been halfway to the beach along Empire Avenue.

In your dreams! Pinehurst Resort, North Carolina.

Lynley was fined for turning up in the wrong shirt. Her claim that it was dark when she got dressed didn’t cut it.

Whoops!

We celebrated Andrea’s birthday (again) and Keith’s on Friday.

A prickly situation?

Noted that Shelley and Lynne are going cruising to Japan,

It's my yellow ball strategy on the first tee again

and Earle and Vickie are heading to Margaret River.

What a glorious morning!

while Frances and Derek are heading to Sydney where they have been hired as au pairs for a fortnight.

Play the ball as it lies?

Goochy will be looking after the bookings remember it’s still $45 for the moment.

Profuse thanks were proffered to Peter for his peerless prowess in producing the papers for the AGM.

The raffle was won by Greg Dunkeld. Good to see you back, Greg, but seriously? Winning the raffle? Some of us have been putting the housekeeping money on it for years and are still waiting for the big one.

I think I've got a shot

So the novelties. Today, hosted by Shelley:

My point, and I do have one...

Ladies longest drive on the 2nd: Just one name, Lynley.

Men’s longest drive on the 5th: Paul B, followed by Fordy. There was some mention of Greg Bennet just passing this with his second shot, but no cigar for Greg.

Nearest the pin in 2 on the 12th was put out of its misery early on when Popey in the first group birdied the hole.

Nearest the water on the 14th bamboozled a few groups, Frances had her name on the marker, but Lynne got even tantalisingly closer. Not one for nervous golfers.

And that old favourite, nearest the pin on the 18th: Roland had a good effort, but James (back from a buggered boot) got closer still.

Next - the Golden Hole. Yes, it went off today, on the 3rd, as Boris carried off the $63 jackpot. Well done, that man.


There were (was?) a positive flock of birdies:


Popey on the 12th. 

Paul B on the 7th

Boris on the 18th

Goochy on the 6th and 9th

4D on the 3rd, 5th and 17th!

Greg D on the 6th

Maureen on the 12th

Keith on the 10th

Paul G on the 7th

and Paul C on the 4th and 6th.

Now, getting down to the pointy end of the afternoon the final results.




Three very good rounds, Frances edged out on counterback, and James making the most of his couple of weeks off. 






Next week, it’s Irish Stableford. There’s a noble tradition of dressing up for this one, and we’d be surprised if there wasn’t a special prize for the most Irish costume. There have been some crackers in the past.


The following week, it’s what we’ve all been waiting for. That’s right, the AGM. It’ll be down to Perry Lakes after the game, and there’ll be luncheon for all. (No, not next week. The week after.)


A walk down memory lane for previous St Patrick's Day turn outs

 

















 And of course, coming soon - St Andrew's Day. In case you've forgotten the dress code...... 



Birgit will be wrangling the blog for the next couple of weeks - do send her your pictures.  Until then....


Saturday, March 2, 2024

CAPTAIN'S CHOICE

 

Captain’s Choice

Our Captain having returned from Chile for the event.

Great to be back

This one's just for him:



His choice - American Foursomes

Both tee-off, play each others ball, then for the third shot, decide which one to proceed with.

Five groups of four, twenty players took on the challenge.

A game full of intrigue, strategy and frustration.

The novelties were, at times, novel.

The scoring too.

Steph and partner submitted a card that bore no relationship to any scoring system known to golf.

They consequently accepted the ruling that they were indeed the most honest players, and managed the fines.

Roland has booked a physiotherapy session for his sore shoulders...

...having carried Derek for the whole 18 holes!

And those playing with the big hitters found themselves hitting the second shot from some unfamiliar parts of the course.

Birgit and Shelley both find the bunker

We welcomed Dave Williamson back after a long lay-off.

Paul shows Dave how to pose for the blog

And our thoughts go out to Colin Kerr and his family, negotiating difficult times at the moment. Looking forward to seeing you back again, Colin.

One day. Maybe one day.

It was windy, a good two-club breeze at times, and the odd spot of rain, but nothing worth putting the umbrella up for.

L & L having success at Harvey



The greens were cored and sanded, making it difficult to judge the length of the putt, but the ball tended to go pretty straight most of the time.

Practice makes perfect

Boris was fined for leaving the markers in the back of his buggy.

No need to worry if the ball gets stuck up in the blackboys today

We celebrated Andrea’s birthday, even though she wasn’t there.

Peter was excoriated for hitting a yellow ball off the first tee of the Tuart. His entirely reasonable defence was that it gives you a series of better choices for your second shot.

Determined to have fun together

The golden hole remained unclaimed.

 

NOVELTY

HOLE

CONTENDERS

WINNER

 

 

 

 

 

 

LD MEN

4

Earle

Roland

 

LD WOMEN

5

Vickie, Frances, Shelley

Stephanie

 

NTP in 2

 

Vickie

Hilly

 

Nearest the water

14

Earle

Frances

 

NTP

6

 

Gerry

 

 

 

 

 

Didn't play too well today

 

A bit of recalculation necessary, a couple of counterbacks and a general consensus that the results fell something like this:

 

TEAM

SCORE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave

Stephanie

??

 

 

Roland

Derek

75.6

 

 

Birgit

Shelley

75

 

 

Paul G

Frances

74.6

 

 

Greg

Paul C

73.2

 

 

Carol

Gerry

70.5

 

 

Barry

Pug Dog

70

 

 

Keith

Peter

70

 

 

4D

Earle

69

 

 

Vickie

Hilly

69

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


We won!!

The counterback calculation saw Brett and Earle with 35.5 and Vickie and Hilly with 34.5, so Vickie and Hilly in fact winners, contrary to the initial calculation after the game. Apologies to all concerned.

Winners circle, minus Hilly

Next week, TBC, but the talk around town is possibly Stableford. We’re scheduled on the Tuart again. The following week, it’s the AGM at Perry Lakes after the game.

And if you’re having a bit of trouble with the water on the 18th, take a look here for a hint on ow to manage it better in the future:

https://pin.it/EFD65b7YT