First Time at Arundel for Sparks

Ten people arrived at Arundel Hills for the first time this club has played here. Most of the attendees had played the course before (some with the Solomons), but not all. Special Guest Star Troy van der Haar sponsored a stroke event with counting of putts. Glorious spring weather greeted the field as we teed off the back nine first.

The first group rapidly disappeared into the distance as the second group had some searches for wayward balls, with the last group, a pair, stuck watching them most of the day. That proximity allowed them to hear the loud exaltation of joy emanating from Scott Porter as he holed his Eagle putt on the difficult sixth hole. It’s possible the first group heard the cheer too, despite being back in the clubhouse by then. Scott avoided the narrow landing area of that hole’s fairway, bypassing it totally by stopping on the back of the green. Fortunately for Scott, the treasurer’s ball was in the same area (for many shots more), so he showed him what the putt was going to do.

Winning the day was George Young, with a score of 74. The slow pace of the last group, plus the calming influence of his father seems to have worked for him, as he was the only player to beat their handicap.

Runner up was our sponsor Troy van der Haar, with a 79. Suddenly all the scores in the 80s don’t look so bad! The putting winner was Allan Gillam with 32.

Only two pin shots were gained, those being the 12th going to our sponsor, and the 5th going to our winner. It’s understandable the 16th not being won, since it’s a difficult down-hill water carry. No such difficulty can explain why no-one got on the 7th.

The general reaction from the players to the course was positive, so we’ll probably play here again.

Next game is Sunday September 26 at Gailes. Set your alarm as this is a 6am tee-off, the first since February. That’s the Matchplay semi-final, so check out the seedings here. Other people may be needed as reserves, and will be needed as match referees.

Nudgee Gateway Opens the Year for Phil

Ten people arrived at Nudgee for the first game of the year. We set off from the 10th hole to play from there to the 27th, thus playing the Gateway Course. The sponsor decided to start the year with a bang, by putting the longest drive on the opening hole, and selecting Stableford for the day.

The lead group lost a player at the turn, possibly because that’s where his (and indeed everyone’s) GPS got lost. We all forgot he had the pin shot markers with him, but we didn’t need those on the par three 19th, anyway.

Smoke haze clouding the horizon kept the power of the sun subdued, and the short layout allowed everyone to finish the game before it’s heat began to bite.

The win went to Phil Dacey with 41 points, and his cart-buddy secretary Mick van Bemmel gained runner-up with a 39. The winner also got two pin shots plus the longest drive, while the runner-up got a pin shot too.

The remaining pin shots went to president Dennis Hogan, Ricky Ong (who went home without his prize) and sponsor George Young. An unscheduled prize went to treasurer Steve Friedrichs, who nailed an eagle two on the par-four 16th, when he drained his six-iron from about 130m out.

Next game is in two week’s time at Mt. Warren Park on January 19, teeing off at 7:20. This club last played that course 17 February 2013, so nearly seven years ago. The Solomons have played there recently, so it’s in good enough condition to host the president’s trophy and the opening putting round for the year.

Three Prizes for Ian at Oxley

A good-sized field of eighteen greeted the start of summer conditions at Oxley for the match-play semi-final. The sponsor of the day selected a stroke competition so the rest of us had something to do.

As usual, only the winner broke his handicap, that being Ian Davidson with his 71. Runner up Chris Young continued his form from Carbrook, to be only one stroke further back.

Pin shots were well spread, with them going to Ian Davidson, Blair George, Steve Gifkins and Allan Gillam. Longest drive went to sponsor Ian van der Hoeven. Wanting more prizes, Ian Davidson got a three on the par-5 seventh hole, to register a rare eagle.

The A-grade match-play had Ian Davidson (him again) winning strongly against Ian van der Hoeven 5 & 4, with Troy van der Haar getting over Dennis Hogan 3 & 2. Both the B-grade matches ended 4 & 3, with Allan Gillam getting up over Scott Porter, and George Young outlasting Eric Brunovs.

The Next game is Redland Bay at 6am in two weeks time, for the match-play finals.

Eric Leads the Handicap Damage

Fourteen people arrived at Nudgee for a quick trip around the South course, including the return of visitors Carl Sirianni and David Porter. Sponsor Blair George opted for the Stableford format, if only to increase the inevitable handicap damage that course inflicts.

With a short par of 69, the course was shrunk even more with a temporary tee on the 17th shortening it to a mere hundred metres, prompting a sixth pin shot prize to be offered there. That would subtract at least one from the normal course rating, putting it down to 65. There was pressure to drop the par on 17 to three befitting it’s distance, but the captain decided to leave it as the par-4 designated on the scorecard.

The most damage was incurred by Eric Brunovs and his 48 points, which was built by improving on a 21-point front-nine. While readying the red ink, the handicapper will also catch the runner-up George Young with his 43, plus whomever he beat on the countback.

Of the six pin shots on offer, the first one failed to go off, with the other five going to Tony Armbruster, Eric Brunovs, Allan Gillam, Ian van der Hoeven and Carl Sirianni. With Carl’s pin shot on 17 he drained the putt, which because it retained it’s par of four, was awarded an eagle! Longest drive was Tony Armbruster.

In two weeks time, we’re at Redland Bay for the Captain’s trophy, so if you’re in the putting contest, it’s also the seventh round of that.

George Engineers a Three-peat

Fifteen members arrived at Gailes for the second round of the championships to find golf conditions near-perfect. The later than usual 7am start meant that our squad was behind other groups, so had some delays getting around the course, which we’re not accustomed to.

Three in the field had plenty of time to engineer their scores to a handicap-equalling 73, which was good enough for one of them to make runner-up on the day with Troy van der Haar nudging ahead in the count-back.

But no-one else could reach the winning score of 69 posted by George Young, who won for the third game in a row. I don’t recall that ever happening before, and having two of those being championship rounds gives the rest of B-grade a lot of ground to make up for the overall prize. The captain will chip another couple off this handicap, but that won’t help his fellow B-graders in the championship.

I was in George’s lead-group this day, and like often happens, good scores don’t come so much from spectacular shots, so much as staying out of, or recovering well from trouble. Indeed, no-one in that lead-group could get on a pin-shot until the last chance on the 2nd-shot 17th, where George finally broke the duck for the group.

He didn’t get to keep it very long, since in the second group Peter McSherry holed out his second shot to steal a rare pin-shot and eagle double. He’d been working his way up to that, since he took two earlier pin shots on the way, leaving only the one left for Dave Brain. Ian Davidson took the longest drive to add to the prize tally from the second group.

A fast turn-around sees the third championship round next week back at Gailes. This is Mother’s day, so if you arrange to have your family activities in the afternoon, our 6:30am start-time will get you there on time. If that can’t be done, you only need three championship rounds to participate, but make them good ones!

Divide and Conquer

Nine people arrived at Keperra for the Mal Curnow Memorial 4-ball, commemorating our long-serving foundation secretary. Last year’s successful defenders Mike Brennan and Ian van der Hoeven hoped to replicate that feat and chose Stableford as the scoring system for the day.

The field-size of nine caused complications in arranging the field for this pairs competition. The odd number required at least one man in the middle. The usual nine-player arrangement of three groups of three may have required an extra golf cart, and three men in the middle, so it was decided to put a group of five at the end. The man in the middle was selected as our secretary, Mick van Bemmel, he being teamed with both Tony Armbruster and Troy van der Haar. Due to the arrangement of the carts, Tony ended up not in the same group as his partner, so played the day not knowing what his partner was doing hole-by-hole.

Undistracted by his partner’s performances, Tony Armbruster posted a great personal score, which when combined with Mick van Bemmel’s in the clubhouse got that team the win with 45 points. Mick’s other team-mate got him to 42 points, so Tony’s contribution was the difference. Runners-up went to Ian Davidson and Allan Gillam, who were just shaded with their 44 points.

Mick’s two partners grabbed all the other prizes, with Troy van der Haar getting two pin shots and the longest drive. Not to be outdone, Tony Armbruster also bagged a pin shot, plus grabbed a rare eagle by holing the blind approach shot on the uphill 14th hole.

Next game is a 6:30 tee-off at McLeod – you’re all looking forward to that extra half-hour sleep, after a string of 6am starts. Due to the event swap at Keperra, this will change to a Single Stableford for the Mike Brennan Trophy.

Don’t forget that the presentation BBQ has been moved up a week to one week after McLeod, so is now on November 15. Amend your printed copies of the draw so you don’t miss it!

 

Road-kill at Oxley

Our first game of the winter promised a change of climate at Oxley for the second round of the championships, as a field of twelve competed for the Steve Gifkins trophy. As we assembled in the darkness, the trophy donor arrived wearing something furry on his head that while it looked warm, also prompted calls for it to be shot to protect the native wildlife. Some suggested that Steve may have already done his bit for conservation by killing it during his pre-dawn drive over, and souvenired the pelt as a trophy. (not THAT kind of trophy – it wasn’t awarded to today’s winner!)

Setting off only marginally before it was light enough to see, we attacked the layout, finding the greens difficult to read, as far too many of them took three putts to navigate. Dennis Hogan avoided this on the par-5 second hole, by holing out his long third shot for an eagle.

At the front of the field, Tony Armbruster stayed out of trouble to card a respectable 70 for the win. It seems he was the only one that escaped unscathed as the rest of the field returned scores like we’d been careless crossing Boundary Road (see title), with Ian van der Hoeven carding a less-respectable 76 for the runner-up, and the rest of the field further back. Pin shots went to Tony and Blair George, with our visitor Allan Gillam picking up another pin shot and the longest drive.

The next game is at Carbrook, which is the Mike & Mick four-ball, so the handicapper won’t have to do much after that one, either.