Blair Blitzes the Back-nine

Most of the field of eleven drove through rain on the way to Carbrook, uncertain if we were going to get wet. Some of us are still in therapy after a recent swim around Carbrook with the Solomon’s club, so viewed the overcast sky with concern.

We needn’t have worried! The day turned out great for the Dave Brain trophy in the Plus-or-Minus format, and while he sent along the prizes, he himself missed a good morning’s contest.

I was marking Blair George’s card, and noticed as he turned at +1, that his card didn’t feature any squares (halves) yet. I pointed this out to him, so he opened the back-nine with some of them. At the end of the game, I noticed that his back-nine was completely free of minuses, carding a total of +6 to blitz the field.

Also in the lead-group was runner-up Eric Brunovs with his +3, but we didn’t get any pin-shots, with two going to Ian van der Hoeven, and one each to Ray Bugg and Tony Armbruster. All four of the lead-group had excellent drives on the 12th hole, contrasted by the disappointment of our efforts on the longest-drive 13th. Yet Eric’s feeble hit was enough to take home the prize, much to the astonishment of the following groups.

Next game at Gailes is back to 6am – we have three 6am-starts in a row coming up!

Teamwork on show at Keperra

This Keperra game was the annual Llew’s 4BBB trophy in the stableford format, so random teams were selected to prevent the usual familiar pair-ups. Twelve people made for six teams, so chances of placing were right up there.

We set off on the 10-27 layout, being only the second time this club has played the 19-27 stretch. Taking the edge off the difficulty of the back-nine, was the par-5 23rd and par-4 24th holes having their fairways out of play, reverting to extra par-3’s, while retaining their original indexes. Teeing off the 24th hole required timing to hit-off between sprinkler passes!

Despite the random draw, usual group-mates Blair George and Chris Young ended up in a winning team, carding 43 – they’ll get to share the perpetual shield for the whole of next year after they get it at the BBQ. Last-group pairing of Eric Brunovs and Will Williams got runner-up with 41. Although there were six pin-shots available, only four went off, going to Tony Armbruster, Blair George, Ian van der Hoeven and Will Williams. Longest drive went to Tony Armbruster on the 21st hole, being the last hole on the course long enough to accommodate it.

Our next event is the day after Valentine’s day at Carbrook. Maybe that will affect attendance? We’ll see.