Oxley Not a Handicap for Allan

An unprecedented seventeen people arrived at Oxley for the first round of the championships. The numbers were bolstered by the usual van Dyk suspects, but out of the blue turns up Ian Davidson, who last played with us December 1, 2019 at Wolston Park and before that March 4, 2018 at Gailes.

Being the first championship round it was Stroke with Putting as the format, and the weather was a pleasant autumn morning which was a nice change from recent washouts here. Par on this course is 71.

No one beat their handicap, but the winner got within one, with 72 enough for Allan Gillam to win the day. Only one back from him on 73 was Omar Hewedy getting the runner up for his second podium with us.

No one got the pin shot on 13, but all the front nine ones were won, with the third going to visitor Josh van Dyk, the fifth going to Phil Dacey and Ian Davidson getting on seven, to show that while he doesn’t play with us often, he always wins something when he does.

Next game is in two weeks’ time at Carbrook on May 5 for the second championship round. That has an amended starting time of 7:24. That’s only 21 minutes later than previously advised, so even if you arrive for the old time, you won’t be late.

Too Wet at Oxley

Continuous rain on the Thursday night and Friday morning added a lot of water to the ground at Oxley that was still struggling to dry out from the wet January.

So, on the Saturday morning, the President had to send around the notification that the game had been cancelled.

Well, that was supposed to be the first round of the Rocklea Shield, so the committee will have to get their heads together to find a replacement.

The next game is in two weeks’ time at Riverlakes on 3 March with a 6:36 tee off. That was supposed to be the second round of the Rocklea Shield, so I suppose it will now become the first. The second round will occur at some time later to be advised. I’ll let you know here when I find out.

The Young Ones

Fourteen folks arrived at Oxley for the President’s Trophy, to be greeted with a pleasant spring morning. Attention was drawn to Chris Young’s new transport option, as this was the first time we’d seen his four-wheeled golf scooter. The Oxley course was playing as normal with a par of 71. As we teed off the tenth hole first, the longest drive was moved from the usual 12th to the 16th. This is the last putting round of the year, so after this, the captain should be able to calculate the winners.

Before that, the captain had to calculate that he himself had won the president’s trophy with Goerge Young getting a net 67. That was the only score better than handicap, with his father Chris Young taking advantage of his wheels to score 73 for second place. There’s been several occasions when this pair have taken the places, to the extent that the scribe is having difficulty coming up with a unique headline for each new occurrence.

Troy van der Haar got the pin shot on the third, and the longest drive on the 16th. All the other pin shots on 13, 5 and 7 were won by Micky Reid, making him the alphabetically earliest player to get anything.

Not long to wait, as the next game is only a week away on next Sunday. That’s a 6:22 tee-off at Windaroo Lakes on November 5. That’s the Mal Curnow Memorial event which is a team event defended by treasurer Steve Friedrichs and Noel Gilby, so arrive in plenty of time for the teams to be determined.

Slow but Steady for the Treasurer

Nine people arrived at Oxley – we had a few regulars missing. The weather was fine – despite it being the middle of winter, the start wasn’t as cold as feared. It was the captain’s trophy, so the format was stroke and putts, and we began the day off the 10th tee, meaning that the longest drive hole on 12 would be only the third hole of the day.

It seems everyone got off to a slow start, with no-one being able to beat their handicaps. Closest to doing that was treasurer Steve Friedrichs with his 74. Difficult to isolate what was going right for Steve, who’s been lacking his three and four irons for a few weeks now. He did play this same course the previous Tuesday with the Klover Club and used up a lot of bad shots then. Two shots further back was the captain George Young getting the runner up with his 76.

A slow start may explain why our winner also kept his longest drive attempt on 12. Another symptom was no-one getting on a par three until the last chance on 7, that being Tony Armbruster. He did end up three-putting that, but he was doing quite a lot of that towards the end of the round.

Perhaps everyone needs a three-week gap to recharge their batteries. Next game is August 6 at Redland Bay with a 7:30 tee-off.

Mraz Makes Good

Eleven people arrived at Oxley for the first round of the championships. The field was greeted by colder weather, like autumn had already left us. We’d been given the heads-up that the approach tree of the 12th hole had been removed. Heard it was struck by lightning and shattered, so debris did need to be harvested, leaving just a stump.

The field found it hard going, such that no-one managed to beat their handicap. Closest was our winner Tony Mraz with his net 73. Two further back was our runner-up Wayne Zammit with 75.

Our winner also picked up the pin shot on five, while the only other one was Eric Brunovs getting on seven. It’s not unusual for no-one to get on the thirteenth, but the third usually gets someone featuring. Longest drive went to Tony Armbruster, as part of his post-cardiac rehabilitation.

Next game is in two weeks’ time on Mother’s Day, May 14. That’s at Pacific, with the tee-time amended to 6:15. That’s 15 minutes later than previously notified, so no biggie if this advice is missed.

Oxley Nostalgia for Troy

Lingering summer heat justified the early tee-off time as fourteen folks arrived at Oxley for the first round of the Rocklea Shield. Ricky Ong offered to sponsor the day, with it being a stroke competition. We teed off the tenth hole first, so changed the longest drive hole from the usual 12th to the later 17th.

Showing how it’s done on his former home course was infrequent attendee Troy van der Haar, who took the win with a 70, one under his handicap on the recently modified layout. He pointed out his name on the B grade honour board at the stairwell, though that was from over a decade ago. He was the only one that had to beat his handicap, with the runner up Phil Dacey quite far back on 75.

Not content to just win, Troy also picked up the pin shots on five and thirteen, leaving only the 3rd for Secretary Mick van Bennel and the 7th for captain George Young. Longest drive on 17 went to Cohen Blanchette.

There is a three-week gap until the next game on March 19. That’s a 6am tee-off at Pacific for the second round of the Rocklea Shield with a reminder that private carts are not allowed there. That game is the first of three Sundays in a row, so get used to it, as the next Sunday off will be Easter.

All Forgiven at Oxley

Good weather greeted the field for the annual Mal Curnow memorial trophy. Twelve folks were in attendance, including visitor Gary Skeen, playing with us for the second time. The previous winner was without his partner from last year, so got assigned a new one, and chose the stableford scoring format for this team event. The group set off from the 10th tee, with the course in good condition and minimal local rules in play.

A team score of 44 was needed to win today, and two teams got that. The team of Allan Gillam and Eric Brunovs lost the countback and were awarded runner up, leaving the victory to the team of treasurer Steve Friedrichs and Noel Gilby. Upon seeing the draw, Noel apologised to his partner in advance, and he indeed had a slow start on the 10-18 stretch, which Steve fortunately was able to cover. During the 1-9 finish, the roles were reversed, with Noel scoring 20 of the 22 points earned there, making any apology unnecessary.

No-one got on the 13th hole, but the remaining pin shots went with the third to captain George Young, the 5th to Allan Gillam which was really close, and the 7th to visitor Gary Skeen. Longest drive on 12 was only the third hole of the day, with Phil Dacey warmed up for that one.

Next game is only a week later, on November 13. That will be held at Mount Warren Park, with a tee-off of 7:04. That’ s the last game of the year before the presentation BBQ.

Captain Loots his Dad

Thirteen people arrived at Oxley for a chilly dawn that gave way to a pleasant winter morning. The Sponsor selected single stableford for the scoring, as we teed off the tenth first. Longest drive was placed on the usual 12th hole, but was only the third hole of the day, so not much warm-up.

Must have been a tough day, since no-one beat their handicaps. Winning his father’s trophy with just 33 points was captain George Young. That was only one point ahead of special guest star Blair George, returning for the first time since December to immediate success.

All the pin shots were won, which is rare, particularly the long 13th which was picked up by our winner. Others went with the 3rd to Ricky Ong, the 5th to Mick van Bemmel, and the 7th to Noel Gilby. Longest drive was taken by Scott Porter.

Next game is in three week’s time, on August 28. That’s a 6am tee-off at Gailes, to set your alarm for that one.

Captain First, Daylight Second

Back to the published schedule had ten of us arrive at Gailes to a fine winter morning. The quite civilised 7am tee-off provided ample daylight and good seeing conditions for all. Unable to find a Dave, Mick sponsored a single stroke/stableford hybrid where the longer stroke front nine made the par result a 19.

Consistent with recent form, our captain George Young did considerably better than that, scoring a 14 for the win. A long way back from him – indeed the other side of 19 – was our runner up on 21, being the secretary and sponsor Mick van Bemmel. The remaining field ended up being closer to a placing than they’d have thought.

Minor prizes were pin shots on 3 going to Gavin Muir, 6 going to our winner, 12 going to the runner-up with the second-shot approach on 17 going unclaimed. Wrapping up the prizes, was our winner again, claiming the longest drive on 10. With all the prizes going to just three people, the other seven got nothing.

Next game is in two week’s time on July 3. That’s a 6:54 tee-off at Carbrook so hopefully the rain forecast for that weekend won’t be too much.

The game two weeks after that was scheduled to be at Nudgee, but the secretary has moved that to Windaroo Lakes. He’s booked a 8:00 tee-time, so plenty of time to get there from Nudgee, if need be.

Committee take All the Spoils

Ten people arrived at Oxley in the dark for this second extra game added to make up for flood cancellations. The rain had gone, to be replaced by cold conditions, with westerly winds picking up later on. The treasurer was showing off his war wounds, with some bleeding knuckles from a fall prior to the drive. He was put him in the first group, teeing off before it was properly light. This was the last round of the championships, so also a putting round.

As the sun rose, high-level cloud blocked its warmth, enabling the chill westerly wind to keep the temperature down. This seemed to hamper the scoring with no-one beating their handicap. Closest to doing so was captain George Young, who claimed the high moral ground winning with his net of 76. That’s a good five shots away from par, yet still a gap of three away from the 79 scored by treasurer Steve Friedrichs that took runner up. Keeping it in the committee, the secretary was only one further stroke back, but avoided placing with a net of 80.

To complete the committee contribution, only one pin shot was won, that being the 7th by President Dennis Hogan. The only other prize was the longest drive, which was kept by our winner, keeping all the prizes with the office-holders.

Next game is next week, returning to normal scheduling published at the start of the year. That’s a 7am tee-off at Gailes on June 19. It’s a team event sponsored by secretary Mick van Bemmel, and someone called Dave. Arrive early enough for the teams to be determined.