PAR

Yes, Par - the game that can really punish you when you're not at your best. It's very easy to let those minuses mount up.



So, on a hot day like today it was good to see most managing to control the damage.

Most managed to wrangle the electronic cards successfully - although Richard Osborne did have an extended argument with the computer over whether his 7 on the par 4 merited a square or a minus. We gather the computer eventually prevailed.

You'll now be aware of how the system works - you pay your green fee to Glen, which is the same as members of the public pay for their round. From the competition fee that you pay to Wembley, the club gets back the prizes, plus the balls for the novelties - in the past these have come from the surplus that you paid over and above the public's green fee, which is no longer levied.

You're paying an extra $2 a week over and above the previous surplus, from this we get the extra prizes for second and third, the prizes to replace those which were given as sponsorship, plus a surplus which will go to rewarding those who play most often.

In return, we get the competitions and the handicaps administered by Wembley on our behalf, with the added benefit of instant correlation and correction of mistakes on the card. The extra payment doesn't go to Wembley, it comes back to the club.

Paul made the point that he didn't want to see prizes growing too large - that's also the committee's view, we'll restrict the first prize to being no more than the value of a free game. It's a social club, and we play for fun, not for the money.

So, thank you to everyone for your efforts in helping to make the new system work - there'll inevitably be teething problems but we'll work through them.



Good to see Stephanie back from NZ, and Tom back from up north.



The bar apologised that the aircon wasn't working too well, but after surviving the 38 degrees outside it felt like the inside of the fridge. 

Seems today that once you got your name on the novelties it stayed there - not too many challengers.

	NOVELTY	HOLE	CONTENDERS	WINNER
	NTP in 2	10		Colin
	NTP in 3	14	Vickie, Max, Ian	Glen
	LD	7		Kerry
	NTP	2		Greg

But the big news of the day was that the Old Course Golden Hole finally went off - this time to Lynne, who no doubt wishes that the figure of $153 is kept secret, so we won't advertise it.

And the competition results -

	PLAYER	SCORE
	Vickie	-9
	Kerry	-7
	David	-3
	Gim	-3
	Paul	-3
	Lynne	-2
	Gerry	-2
	Richard O	-2
	Jack	-1
	Gary	-1
	Ian	0
	Max	0
	Peter	0
	Don	1
	Stephanie	1
	Glen	3
	Derek	3
	John	4
	Thomas	5

A great result by Thomas, +5 is a very decent score when playing Par. 

This is the photo I couldn't take of Thomas because he'd left before the results were announced. 

Remember to keep January 31st free. It's a Thursday, and we'll be playing nine holes at the Claremont par 3, teeing off at 5.30 pm. There'll be a meal afterwards and beer, wine and soft drinks from the club.

I'm hoping to get the golf and meal packaged for $30, but the guy who runs it has been on holiday all this week and isn't returning my calls - I'll keep you updated by email .

Next week, it's the Australia Day Cup - played on the Tuart.

STABLEFORD

Sheltering from the sun before the game

First outing for the electronic scorecard system, and quite remarkably it all went very smoothly. Thank you to everyone for working hard to make it a success.

How not to start your round - Max's drive on the first.

The benefit is that it automates administration of the competition both before and after the game, making it much much easier and error free. Whilst for some time, the criterion for election of the captain has been their computer skills, this would no longer be the case - we'll be asking the captain to concentrate on golfing issues, which is infinitely preferable. The system will also handle the maintenance of handicaps.

Seems fair enough

Your committee has decided to move forward with implementing the scheme, so next week we'll continue with it for real. The implications for us are these:

We will reduce the green fees payable to Glen by $3 - we will be paying Glen $42 a round, the same as public players.

We will then give the pro shop $5 when we print our card. This $5 will be returned to the club, minus the GST, as vouchers to pay for prizes, golf balls and other sundry items.

The net effect, is an increase in weekly fees of $2, offset by the fact that there will be no need for anyone to sponsor a game in future. We should also be able, on a day when enough people play, to offer a second prize.

Show me the money!

So, the future beckons for all of us.

Lynne stands in for Brenda. Can you win both the raffle and the competition on the same day?

In the meantime, put Thursday January 31 in your diaries for an evening of sunset golf at the Claremont Par 3. Tee off at 5:30, we'll have details and costs available next week - and by all means bring a guest.

Meanwhile, back at the game, a bit warm which managed to inspire some players to new heights while others slunk back to the pack.

Not yet, but soon...

An even spread of the novelties

	NOVELTY	HOLE	CONTENDERS	WINNER
	NTP	2	Richard	Dave
	LD	5	Keith, Gim	Gary
	NTP in 2	9	Gerry, Gary	Jan
	NTP in 3	12	Peter	Ross

And a worthy winner who's going to see that handicap come tumbling down with a few more scores like these.

	PLAYER	SCORE	BIRDIES
	Jack	25
	Vickie	26
	Paul	28
	Glen	29
	Kerry	30	10
	Ian	31
	Ross	31
	Jeanie	31
	Derek	31
	Richard Y	32
	Greg	32
	Lynne	33
	Earle	33
	Peter	33
	Gim	34
	John	34	9
	Rob	35
	Gary	36	9
	Max	36
	Keith	36
	Colin	36
	Jan	37
	Don	39
	Gerry	40
	Dave	41

Have you got used to the New Year yet?

A very special thank you to Brenda Jones, who sponsored the competition today even though she is no longer able to play with us. A lovely gesture, Brenda.

Next week - it's Par on the Old.