Farewell Corran Munro
Corran didn't play with us on a Wednesday but it's only right we should honour his passing on our pages.
Friday skins was cancelled last week due to the wake for Corran Munro, who passed away last week at age 88 years. This was held at the golf club at 3.00pm, which was well attended and conducted largely by his wife Anna and 3 sons Alastair, Andrew and Geoff.
The wake was a celebration for a man who is a legend of the Otago Golf Club, being a member for some 70 years. During this time he won numerous club trophies, Club Championships and represented Otago for many years.
However, he was mainly remembered as a man who was very loyal to his family and friends and had a great sense of humour. Not only was he an exceptional golfer, but he was renowned also as a top-quality dentist who stayed loyal to his clients until retirement at aged 74 years.
There was also another side to Corran, where he built his own ultralight airplane some years ago and had both a private and commercial licence.
Corran retained a single figure handicap all of his time playing golf, and from age 72 years, shot his age or under some 367 times.
Farewell Corran, you will be missed but your legacy will live on. If I can shoot my age once I shall be delighted. 367 times is a dream.
Tales From Afar
Not much to report this week and certainly no golf. My clubs are stored away somewhere close to Glasgow Airport ( I hope ) and I'll pick them up in a fortnight.
Early start on Monday morning with a 6:50 am flight out of Glasgow. The airport was full of happy Scots people heading off for some summer sun. We were through to the airside by 5:00 am giving ourselves plenty of time as were most of the other travellers. I can report the bar was open and doing a roaring trade. Not sure if it was people finishing Sunday late or starting Monday early. They're staunch these Scots !
We're now down in Porto in Portugal enjoying some sunshine. The weather in Scotland is best described as variable.
The bridge is by Gustav Eiffel, he of the fame from the tower in Paris which carries his name. Porto has plenty of port to drink, vinho verde, and mateus rose if that takes your fancy.
There is some decent local wine from the Douro region and they make a nice red. So I've had some. It's a very dark red which got me wondering about the grape variety used. There are a few but the main one is the bastardo. Not a bad name that for a grape.
I'd love to go up to the bar on a Saturday and order some drinks. I'll have a Hazy and a Guinness and a glass of red please. "Would that be the pinot or the shiraz?" Bec would enquire. "No I'll have the bastardo thanks."
Let's Talk About Wednesday ...
So, to golf this Wednesday where the strong southwest winds over the previous two days subsided to present us with a calm and sunny day, ideal for golf. However, the scoring for the day did not really reflect the benign conditions, where the top scores of 39, 38, 38 by Fairway Phil, Special K and Kiwi Keith respectively did not get close to the Eric Olsen trophy.
Note from afar ... I had been watching with interest the weather warnings for New Zealand this last week with evacuations in Wellington. My family there said it didn't come to much. Back to the golf ...
We had a full field of 32 players with late comers Paul Hubbard, Ricky Stewart and Robin Bates added to the list, prior to tee off time, to bring a full muster.
After golf, Fairway Phil took charge and got the first 6 hole money count sorted out to total some $160.
The winners for this section were Keith Newton, Duncan Harvie, Phil Broughton and Derek Todd who scored an impressive 34 points to be well ahead of the best of the losers.
The second 6 holes saw another turn of fortune, where guest Robin Bates helped Special K, ATM and Grant Woodham to bring home a record score of 47 points, which may be classified as a record, subject to confirmation by David.
Another note from afar... I don't know about this and to be honest I don't keep those records. I know that for the first set of 6 I think the record is 37 ( Senaka can confirm ), and for the last set I think we've had either a 59 or a 60. Perhaps someone can confirm. I'm happy to record 47 as a record for the middle 6. I think another record is the best score for an individual hole is 14 points.
The final 6 hole tranche saw a continuation of the solid teamwork by Newton, Harvie, Broughton and Todd, where they were easy winners with 48 points.
Let's Talk About Bolty
A photo attached of Bolty who is in the left- hand bunker on the 7th hole. It almost looks like his knees are on a prayer mat and he is seeking forgiveness, that is if you couldn't see the sand iron in his hand. Apparently he had a Hitler, then got his third shot out of the bunker and onto the green and sunk a long putt for 4.
Another note from afar - I see a dog had been in the bunker before Bolty - wasn't one of these was it ?
Bolty isn't the one with a medal round his chest
Let's Talk About The Captain's Trophy
Have to admit at this point I'm confused. I thought the Captain's Trophy had been cancelled. But then there's this story from Eddie....
The photo above is Fairway Phil doing a cultural blessing of the Captain's Trophy, which would normally be played for this Saturday. This is the trophy also known as Pania on the Reef and has a close relationship to Phil. With this blessing in place we think there will need to be a reconsideration of the trophy as an ongoing club treasure.
Let's Talk About Derek Todd ..
Sad story is this one. In no way is there any humour attached to this and woe betide anyone who laughs or even smiles at the misfortune .....
Derek Todd was playing in the group that won 2 sixes today, so already has a bit of coin in his pocket. While teeing off on The Glen he found his tee shot under the trees on right hand side of the fairway. He took out his 5 iron and played a great shot out of the trees which stopped on the green. However, in the process of playing the shot he broke the shaft of his club on a tree root. Being a calm character he took it in his stride and walked to the green to mark his ball and attempted to make a birdie. However he found that he had played a wrong ball and had to take an outer; bugger.....
So there's the rub of the green, broke a shaft playing the wrong ball. Who would have thought.
Let's Talk About Winners Shall We
The Blue Jacket was a close fought contest with Fairway Phil the winner in 39 points from Croudis the eldest and Newton both on 38 points. According to his team mates, Phil started off in a Ferrari on the 1st 9 holes, but finished in a Lada on the 2nd 9 holes to claim the jacket.
Then to the Swingers trophy, where this was won by Lloyd who had 3 birdies, to give him his first trip to Balclutha for some time.
The birthday boy this week was Grant Woodham, who is one of our younger members, at the age of 47 years. This era is known as Generation X, or the latchkey kids, where they did what suited them and are very independent. Anyway congratulations Grant and thanks for the whisky.
The raffle this week was won on the first draw, and the $25 went to Keith Newton, who already had a pocket full of cash from his team winnings on the 1st and 3rd tranches.
Did anyone score a boxful of feijoas ?
And Not Quite Finally....
There was also discussion regarding the use of our winnings in the Smeaton Cup Calcutta, which amounts to $45 for each of the 28 syndicate members. The proposition was brought to members that this money be put toward the capital fund and used to assist in the development of the practice fairway.
Eddie summarized the position to date, where we had committed $8k to the project and this was used to purchase the tee-line turf at $15k to be delivered in 2 months' time. The Club and Lou's raffle money used to fund the other $7k.
The plan is to complete 5 tee-lines of different sizes to suit the terrain, which will cost around $20k and will provide a very good low maintenance practice facility for the club.
There was unanimous support for this to occur, with the rider that non-syndicate members pay $10 per head to ensure an equal contribution among all the Wagglers.
Let's Talk About Browny
In the most awesome news this week the media outlets were delighted to announce that following the rugby world cup next year, our man Tony Brown would be joining the coaching staff of the All Blacks. Hurray !!
Here's hoping that in 2031 after the world cup that year, the All Blacks have won and on a victory lap, the William Webb Ellis Trophy will make an appearance at Wednesday Waggler Golf.
Then we can fill it full of beer and have a drink from the famous trophy.
But did you know - we wouldn't be the first of the Wagglers to drink from the Rugby World Cup trophy. That feat has already been achieved by none other than ...........