Secretary Takes the Treasurer’s

Twelve folks arrived at Gailes for the Treasurer’s Trophy to be told there was a delay of the tee-off time to 7:30. Some negotiation got that dropped to 7:15 with us going off the 10th first. The weather was a perfect winter’s day, with spring only 2 days away. It had been 11 weeks since we’d see Euan Purves, but that was only missing 3 games.

This was the 277th recorded game for the club at Gailes, but since the first one of those was our second-ever game 5 March 1978, some extra games will have occurred during the 9-years of missing records. Well, they’re not ALL missing, as I’ve got 19 more Gailes dates in that gap, but don’t know who was there. Three people in the day’s field had played the course over 200 times, with 251 from the Treasurer the largest of those. In contrast, Euan, Scott and Joe were playing it for the first time with us, though Joe had played it twice with the Klovers.

It was unusual that we hadn’t played the course since March, and some re-working of the 1st green meant that one of the front bunkers there had been removed. Since we were commencing from the 10th, we moved the longest drive to the usual substitute hole, the 16th. The sponsor flubbed his drive off the 10th so that looked like a good call, but he wasn’t much better off the 16th so no impact, there.

As commonly happens, only our winner was able to beat his handicap with Secretary Mick van Bemmel getting 72. This was his 394th game since June 2009 with this 38th win joining his 31 seconds. At Gailes he’s now had 85 games with this 8th win joining his 7 seconds, but this was his first result here since December 2023. Adding to what went right today, he also grabbed the longest drive on the 16th.

The other side of the handicap wall was Darryl Dunsford with 74 getting second place. This was his 14th game with the club since November, with this 2nd second joining his 3 wins. He’s slipping, because his only other game at Gailes was a win.

Demonstrating that he had played the course before, Joe Lee got the pin shots on the 3rd and the 17th, leaving only the 12th for another course debutant, Euan Purves, with the 6th remaining unclaimed.

The website has had a re-organisation, with the major trophies having their previous winners documented on individual pages now. Today’s Treasurer’s trophy is grouped with the other committee trophies on this page. Check out the rest of them under the “About the Rocklea Sparks” menu.

We give you next Sunday off for Father’s Day. The next game is two weeks away on 13 September, at Surfers Paradise. That’s a 6:30 tee off and the sponsor usually puts on a team event where you can choose your partner. Someone will be allocated to you, if you don’t have a preference. The Treasurer will be collecting $60 per player, but that does include a burger and chips after the game. Carts should cost $44 each, but the course is very flat so not a hard walk.

Scotty too Hotty

Wolston Park greeted eleven players with perfect weather conditions and greens rolling quick and true. Numbers were bolstered by the return of visitor Roger Perry, after his first game with us 21 weeks ago. The usual preferred lie rule was in play. Starting off the tenth tee great scoring was expected. More on that later.

This was the club’s 44th game at Wolston Park since the foundation game here 19 February 1978. Of today’s field Noel Gilby had played it the most with 24, while Scott M Turner and Roger Perry were playing it for the first time with us. The course record was set 14 June this year, when Michael Skouros went 10-under. That’s the risk of playing this course off the white markers. The 3rd hole here is the location of the club’s first hole-in-one which was from Eddie Fisher in 1987.

Also of significance was the matchplay finals. The A grade final between Chris Young and Mick Van Bemmel was an even well-balanced match going all the way to the 17th, Chris prevailing 2 and 1. The B grade final between Darryl Dunsford and Peter Martin was far from well-balanced. Darryl went 3 up very quickly and Peter being down 4 with 5 holes to play. Remarkably Peter managed to tie and take the match to a 19th hole play-off. The tenth hole was chosen, and Darryl got the win in the end.

Only four of the seven par 3 nearest the pins went off. Tenth was taken by Mick Van Bemmel, the 13th by Darryl Dunsford, 3rd by Scott M Turner and 8th went to Haleem Salameh. Longest drive on the 18th was Peter Martin who was the only one keeping his ball on the fairway.

Peter got used to being a runner-up with a 61 on the par 66. This was his 56th game since June 2024, with this 4th second joining his 5 wins. This was his 6th game at Wolston Park, for his 2nd second.

Winning again was Scott M Turner equalling the course record with a 56. In his 6th game since March, he’s only had 3 games after gaining his handicap, and they were a second, then the two wins.

It’s another 3-week gap to the next game at Gailes. That’s a 7am tee-off on August 30 and is the Treasurer’s trophy so will be stroke with a putting round. Expect the treasurer to collect $55 for the game.

Scott M goes one better at Oxley

A perfect winter morning greeted the field of 15 at Oxley as we conducted the matchplay semi-finals. The sponsor was absent but left enough instructions that we were to play a stroke competition. We teed off the 10th tee first which required the matchplay index on the card to be flipped, otherwise index 1 would be on the 17th hole played, and in danger of getting missed.

This was the 119th game at Oxley for the club, with the first being in January 1988. Of today’s field, treasurer Steve Friedrichs had played it the most with his 115. The course record of 10-under was set December 2011 when par for the course was 72. Now that it’s 71, the record set under that configuration would be merely 4-under set by captain George Young in October 2023. The course has hosted two eagles, and a single hole-in-one.

No one beat their handicaps. For the daily stroke competition, the closest was Scott M Turner, getting 2-over with his 73. This was his 5th game with us since March with this first win joining his first second last game. This is his 2nd game at Oxley with us, for his first result.

One back on 74 and winning a countback there was runner up Chris Young. This was game 238 since April 2014 for Chris with this 26th second joining his 19 wins and 2 third places. This was his 37th game at Oxley, with his 8th second joining his 2 wins here.

All the pin shots were won, with Phil Dacey getting the difficult 13th, Dave Haley winning the 3rd, Michael Skouros getting the 5th leaving the 7th for Dae Kim. The longest drive was left on the 12th and won by Secretary Mick van Bemmel.

In the matchplay A grade, the 1 v. 4 match saw Phil Dacey defeated by Chris Young 3&1. The 2 v. 3 match also went against the seedings with captain George Young surpassed by Secretary Mick van Bemmel 2&1.

In B grade, the 1 v. 4 match saw Peter Martin defeat Dae Kim 3&2. The 2 v. 3 match had Darryl Dunsford get past Ricky Ong, also 3&2.

There’s minimal wait for the finals with those held next week July 26 at Wolston Park. That’s a 7am tee off, with the substitute Treasurer to collect $45 and expect carts to cost $44. But turns out, that was the game that got cancelled.

The game after that is 2 weeks away, and actually at Wolston Park. So that remains a 6:30 tee off August 9. The treasurer will collect $45 and expect the carts to cost $44. This will become the Matchplay Final, that will see Chris Young take on Secretary Mick van Bemmel in the A grade, and Peter Martin take on Darryl Dunsford in the B grade.

Captain in Command at Windaroo

A solid 18 people arrived at Windaroo Lakes to be greeted by a cloudy morning threatening rain. Adding to the numbers was visitor Bob Mihajloski playing his second game with us. This is the last round of the championships, so will determine the winners of that plus the qualifying for the matchplay. We teed off two tees, with three groups going off the 10th and 2 groups off the 1st. The sponsor added to the longest drive prize but only decided that after the game.

This is the 44th time the club has played at Windaroo Lakes, since our first visit there in July 1997. We didn’t play the course from 2003 to 2016 but played it regularly outside of that. Of today’s attendees, treasurer Steve Friedrichs has played it the most with 41 games, but that would apply to most of our courses. The course record was set in October 2018 by David Sullivan at 6-under, so it’s very gettable.

There was a preferred lie rule in place, to manage any residual dampness from recent rains.

Rain did arrive after everyone was safely in the clubhouse, so we got away with that.

Must have been tough going, as only one player beat their handicap. That was captain George Young, scoring 71 for the win. This is George’s 217th game with the club since January 2017 with this 36th win joining his 25 seconds. This is his 35th game at Windaroo with this 4th win joining 3 seconds here. His previously most recent win anywhere was also here in March, but that score wouldn’t even have made second today. He also won the pin shots on the 11th and 15th.

Quite far off his handicap was our runner up with 76, Scott M Turner. Both Scott Turners were playing today, so we had to be sure we got the right one, also including his longest drive on the 8th said to be won by the big one. This was only his 4th game since March with this his first result at the only course he’s played twice.

In addition to the prizes mentioned above, Ricky Ong got the pin shot on the 7th, which was the hard front pin, and secretary Mick van Bemmel got on the 5th to help celebrate his 72nd birthday.

The captain sent me along the results of the championships. A grade was won by Phil Dacey with 260 over captain George Young with 263 then Secretary Mick van Bemmel with 279 getting third.

B grade had Dae Kim winning with 296 over Ricky Ong on 297 then Peter Martin with 298 so very close!

Those rounds also determine the matchplay seeding, but a slightly different algorithm is used for those, so the places may be different from above.

A grade

1. Phil Dacey
2. George Young
3. Mick van Bemmel
4. Chris Young
5. Scott B Turner
6. Dennis Hogan

B grade

1. Peter Martin
2. Darryl Dunsford
3. Ricky Ong
4. Dae Kim
5. Ben Tynan
6. Haleem Salameh
7. Steve Friedrichs
8. Noel Gilby

Typically, 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3, but reserves will be used if any of the top four don’t make it on the semi-finals day.

That semi-final is three weeks away at Oxley on July 19. That’s a 6:30 tee off, and there’ll be a normal competition on the day for those not in the 8 playing matchplay. Expect hire-carts to cost $50 with the treasurer to collect $60.

Course Record at Wet, Foggy Wolston

Fourteen people drove through a thick fog to arrive at Wolston Park. The sponsor also got lost in the mist, so Michael Skouros swapped with him for today.

The day before had featured quite a lot of rain, and this course doesn’t dry out very fast. So, it was very wet underfoot, with a lot of casual water to take free relief from. The sponsor chose a stroke event, and we teed off the white markers, despite me warning against that. We began on the 1st hole and missed the opportunity to sneak the 10th in straight after that.

The fog lingered, but when it did clear it was gone in a flash. The 3rd group was teeing off the 6th tee into the dense fog when Scott’s ball grazed the power lines. In the time it took him to tee up again, the fog was gone.

This was the 43rd time the club had played at Wolston Park, including the club’s first ever game 19 February 1978. Dennis’ 39th game here was the highest of today’s attendees. With only one par 5 and seven par 3s, this is a short course that plays even shorter than its par of 66. It has a history of causing handicap damage. To alleviate that, for many years it hosted a 3-club event or like last time, we played off the blue markers which added an extra par 5 upping the par to 67. The course record of 9-under was set 9 May 2021 by Chris Young in the middle of a 3-game winning streak at venue.

The treasurer returned a net 63 from the 3rd group and while satisfied with that, knew this course well enough to know that wasn’t good enough. Indeed, to win required a 56 which was a whole 10-under the par off the white tee blocks.

That was scored by Michael Skouros. It was only later that was found to be the course record for Wolston Park. This is only his first time playing here with us, though he also played here this April with the Klovers. This is his 13th game with us since September, and this 3rd win, which is two in a row together with his last appearance at Carbrook. Adding to his win, he also picked up the pin shots on the 10th and 14th. It was after the game that he decided to swap sponsorships.

Only two back was Darryl Dunsford getting 58 for the runner up. This was his 11th game since November, and his first second place joining his 3 wins. This is also the first time he’s played Wolston Park, and he stamped his authority on here by also getting the longest drive on the 18th.

Of the seven pin shots available no one could get on the 5th. Ben Tynan got on the 3rd, the 8th went to President Dennis Hogan, the 13th went to captain George Young leaving the 16th for Euan Purvis. The other two and longest drive were mentioned above.

Next game is in two weeks’ time at Windaroo Lakes on June 28. That’s a 7:42 tee-off and has become the 4th round of the championships after what happened at Mt. Warren Park. Expect the treasurer to collect $55.

Local Knowledge Wins the Day

Several people arrived at Mt. Warren Park for what was supposed to be the last round of the championships. However, the course wasn’t letting non-hire carts on the layout, ostensibly because they wanted their own carts’ GPS to enforce the damp no-drive zones and didn’t trust outside carts to do that. But then, after springing that on us, they didn’t have enough hire carts to meet our requirements, which sent three of our number back home.

That left our field with 13 people, with Scott M Turner joining membership today. The course was still a little damp from recent rain, so a preferred lie rule was in place like always, there was free relief from bare patches caused by water damage, and bunkers were an optional GUR, whatever that means. The 10th tee was under renovation, so was pushed forwards to 120m, which made that hole a lot easier than its normal index 1.

We still played stroke and putts, put the longest drive on the 14th as usual, but split the field up across both the 1st and 10th tees. This last detail was missed by the first group off the 10th, so they didn’t know which pin markers to collect. We determined that we had to delay the last round of the championships to a venue everyone could attend, so bumped it to Windaroo Lakes four weeks away.

This is the 58th game the club has played at Mt. Warren Park with the Treasurer’s 53 the most played by anyone in today’s field. Local members playing with us today included Dave Haley and Dae Kim.

Dave Haley was playing on his home course and returned a 67 which was enough for the win. This was his 30th game since joining the club October 2024, and his 2nd win both at Mt. Warren Park. He’s played here 5 times, with his other win a rain-shortened, cart-restricted game.

Recently-joined Member Jae Choi was one back on 68 and that was good enough for the runner up. This was his 4th game since May and his first result. He’s played four different courses with us.

The pin shot on the 5th was too hard for everyone, but the 3rd was won by our runner up Jae Choi, 9th by local Dae Kim, 10th by Secretary Mick van Bemmel and the 16th by captain George Young. Longest drive on the 14th was won by Darryl Dunsford. The putting prize also went to our winner Dave Haley with 28.

Next game is in two weeks’ time on June 14 at Wolston Park. That’s a 7:40 tee off and expect the treasurer to collect $45 for green fees, while hire carts should be $44. The game after that, another two weeks away is at Windaroo Lakes on June 28. That 7:42 tee off is now the 4th round of the championships.

Darryl Masters Another Course

Fourteen folks arrived at Windaroo Lakes for the third round of the championships. Missing the sponsor, the captain stepped up and provided the prize. The format remained stroke with a putting round, as we teed off the 10th tee first. The first tee was occupied by the Carina Leagues Social Golf Club, featuring several familiar faces from the Klover Club. Longest drive was kept on the usual 8th that became the second-last hole. This was the 48th time Rocklea has played this course, with the Treasurer’s 40 being the most played of those attending today.

The weather was mostly overcast, with gloomy-looking clouds lurking around the ridges, but nothing impacted us during the game. The sun popped out a few times during the day, but the temperature remained comfortable. Rain had fallen during the preceding week, prompting the course to apply a preferred lie, and an optional GUR for the bunkers. The dampness wasn’t too bad, with the main impact being that the rough was less mowed than we’d like, and they hadn’t mowed the greens that morning, so they were less than their usual lightning fast.

No-one beat their handicap – not that unusual. Our winner did equal his, so gained the moral high ground. 72 was enough for Darryl Dunsford to win, a 3rd win in only 9 games since joining in November. The other wins were in his first game at Gailes, but he needed a second at Oxley like here at Windaroo to break through.

One back on 73 was our runner up, Ben Tynan. This is his 10th game with us since October, for his first result. Windaroo is the course he’s played the most, with 3rd time the charm.

All the pin shots were won. Our winner helped himself to the last one we played on the 7th, Chris Young got the second-last one on the 5th with captain George Young grabbing everything else on 11th, 15th and the longest drive on the 8th. George was in the last group, and was only the second player on the 8th fairway, getting 20m past the treasurer who only held it for 30 seconds.

After the game, we presented Peter Martin with a golf ball to celebrate his milestone from two games ago, since he was there.

With this 3rd round of the championships complete, 10 of us have the minimum 3 rounds we need to contest it. Some of those have some really bad ones that could use replacing by a decent score in the upcoming 4th round. A further 6 have played two rounds, so need that 4th round to participate. It’s also the 5th putting round of the year-long contest.

So, there’s plenty of incentive to play the 4th round which is the next game. Held in two weeks at Mount Warren Park on May 31, it’s an 8am tee off, and last time we played there, the treasurer collected $60 per player.

Michael Leaves Slim Pickings for the Rest

Rain had been lurking around the coast for most of the week. Indeed, a Klover game at Redland Bay had to be cancelled because that course was too wet to allow carts. Even the day before this game, there was still quite a bit around.

But Carbrook was open and allowing carts. Sixteen players arrived to see how it was, including new members Jay Choi and first-timer Euan Purves. Local Phil Dacey warned us about the rain yesterday, and that the course was very wet. We put a preferred lie rule in place and expected the casual water rule to get a workout.

Seeing as it was the second round of the championships, it was a stroke game and a putting round, plus our sponsor put on a daily prize for the putting for extra incentive. Conspicuously absent was Peter Martin, the 50-game milestone recipient from last week. Only significant because it broke his career 50-game attendance streak. He was contacted and did have a reason.

The course was wet. The 12th hole was completely dry, but few others rated that mention. Soft wet surfaces didn’t encourage ground rolling, and the rough-cut was pulling everything up. Flight and carry were the order of the day.

Unperturbed by all of that was our winner, Michael Skouros getting 68 net for the win. This was his 12th game with us since September, and surprisingly his first lone win, with his only other one being his Lew Llewellyn shield team win with Haleem. He’d picked up 4 seconds along the way, with one of those being in a team, also. This was his first game with us at Carbrook, but he had played it 3 times with Klover.

No-one else beat their handicaps, but our sponsor Phil Dacey equalled his on this his home course. That 71 was enough to take the runner up. This was Phil’s 14th game at Carbrook, but he has bigger numbers at other courses we play more often. This is his 13th second place since January 2019, while at Carbrook he now has 3 seconds and 3 wins. He won last week, so this is a solid follow-up.

No one got the pin shot on 11th hole. Scott B Turner got on the 2nd early in the round, while our winner Michael Skouros won the 7th, 14th and the longest drive on the 13th. The only prize left was the putting, with 29 enough for Chris Young to win it in a countback.

For the second week in a row, we awarded a milestone, with the recipient this time being the daily sponsor and host Phil Dacey playing his 100th game.

Milestone Phil DaceyDownload

His entire history is in the attached document, so I won’t repeat that here. In the two games there since he set his Virginia course record, the winner both times has equalled his score, but not beaten it. At 3-under it’s the most accessible course record for the courses we still play, but we’re not playing Virginia again this year, so you’ll have to wait.

We give you next Sunday off for Mother’s Day. The Sunday after that is May 17 when we’ll be at Windaroo Lakes for a 7:02 tee off. That will be round 3 of the championships, so will be played as stroke with a putting round. Expect the treasurer to collect $55 per player, and the carts will probably cost the same as they did in March.

Phil Dodges the Rain at Oxley

Driving through scattered rain to arrive at Oxley were seventeen folks, including visitor Bob Mihajloski that we were seeing for the first time, invited along by Haleem. Clouds were ever-present, and more rain was sure to arrive, just hopefully not all the time. For this first round of the championships, Oxley presented the course in good condition, so no preferred lie needed. The longest drive was placed on the usual 12th, but without a published sponsor, the Secretary Mick van Bemmel chipped in, and swapped out one of his from November. Being the first round of the championships, the format was stroke with putting, granting no gimmies nor max-10.

No surprise, rain did sweep through the field a few of times. Each time it was carried on a stiff breeze, so thankfully departed as soon as it arrived. Ultimately didn’t disrupt the conditions much, though may have changed the putting speeds since I did hear some grumbling about the putting. This was game 119 at Oxley for the club, with Treasurer Steve Friedrichs playing it for his 114th time today.

Fairing best was Phil Dacey, returning a net 68 for the win. He had a later than usual booking at his home course of Carbrook, so realised he could squeeze in our game at Oxley if he rapidly departed from the first group. Helping that speed was minimising shots required. He only discovered it was a championship round upon arriving so it remains to be seen if his strong opening round will lure him out to any of the others. We’re at least expecting him to play round two since that’s next week at his Carbrook.

First joining us in January 2019 this was his 18th win joining his 12 seconds with the club. This is his 18th game at Oxley, for his 3rd win joining his 3 seconds here, and today’s score becomes his best result at Oxley.

Only one back at 69 was our trophy sponsor Secretary Mick van Bemmel. After winning the last game, he followed up well today. In his 387th game since June 2009, this was his 31st second joining his 37 wins. This is his 60th game at Oxley returning a 4th second equalling his 4 wins.

No-one got on the difficult 13th, nor the 5th which isn’t that difficult but has been missed a bit recently. The treasurer Steve Friedrichs got within 20cm of the front edge of the 13th despite two groups’-worth of gallery but was blaming the slight dampness from the showers for leaving it short. Consolation prize has his getting on the 7th, leaving just the 3rd for our sponsor and runner up. Longest drive went to our first-time visitor Bob Mihajloski.

After the game, a milestone presentation was held for Peter Martin, celebrating his 50th game.

Milestone Peter MartinDownload

He wasn’t at the presentation, since he had to rush off to a Lion’s game, but we held the presentation in his absence with all the respect and dignity the situation demanded. Including stating the significance of the bridge in the image – detailed here. His course records are documented at Riverlakes and Minnippi, though course records weren’t tracked when the Riverlakes one was set, so it wasn’t known at the time.

Next game is next week, so that you can have the following Sunday off for Mother’s Day. May 3 sees a 6:30 tee off at Carbrook for the second round of the championships. This is our first game back at Carrbrook since September, so expect carts to cost $55 and the treasurer will collect $70. They used to offer a discount for higher numbers – here’s hoping!

Secretary Sneaks ahead of Haleem

Sixteen folks avoided the Tour-de-Brisbane Cycle event and arrived at Wolston Park including new visitors Jae Choi and Mark Lee plus the third visit by Scott B Turner. The weather was a perfect Autumn morning, with the course in good condition. We teed off the 10th, removing the usual shortcut so leaving distance after playing the 18th and 9th. We teed off the blue markers which upgraded the 7th to a second par 5, but the other par 5 4th was still off the white tees due to a local rule. I wonder if everyone noticed that sign? This course setup had a par of 67 with the seven par 3s, but we used Stableford scoring that hid that nuance.

This is the club’s 42nd game at Wolston Park, with President Dennis Hogan’s 38 the most played of today’s field, but half of them playing here for the first time. Unsurprising, since it’s been 43 weeks since we played here last June. Significantly, this venue was the site of the club’s first ever game, played 19 February 1978 with 15 players. Dennis is the only one from then also playing today, a span of 2512 weeks.

Returning 40 stableford points was our winner, secretary Mick van Bemmel. In game 386 since June 2009, this is his 37th win joining his 30 seconds. In teams he has 13 wins and 7 seconds. This is his 13th game at Wolston Park for his 3rd win.

Just one back on 39 was Haleem Salameh getting the runner up. In his 14th game since September, his first appearance at Wolston Park gets his 3rd second joining his lone win that was in a team. This is his 13th game in a row, so persistence pays off.

Unusually, all the pin shots were won. President Dennis Hogan won the 10th, 13th by Dave Haley, 14th by Scott Turner, 16th by Dae Kim, 3rd and 8th by Chris Young leaving the 5th for Mark Ventham. Longest drive was on the usual 18th, and Dae Kim won that.

Next game is in two weeks’ time at Oxley on April 26. The day after ANZAC day sees a 7am tee off for the first round of the championships. That will be a stroke event with a putting round, and the treasurer will be collecting $60. Expect carts to cost $50.