The Magic Of Friday Skins
21 People turned up for Friday Skins, that's right TWENTY ONE !!. So here we see $189 all lined up on the table ready to be claimed.
If you look closely, the white linen bag on the left contains 9 golf balls numbered hole 1 to hole 9. Ready to be drawn out. As luck would have it the first ball out of the bag was " HOLE 1" and lo and behold we had a winner. Scoring a birdie 4 for 4 points, Alastair Adam walked off with the first skin. Then, long story short the rest jackpotted. If Hole 1 would have be drawn later, let's say 9th ball out of the bag, Alastair would have won the pot !!
We heard the odd sob story from Jamie where he missed his 8 foot birdie putt for what would have been a very tidy haul. So close.
So we all got 8 bucks back apart from Alastair then we all went home happy to get ready for US food night.
Friday Skins will kick off at the usual time this week and once again will feature the increasingly popular DRAWN SKINS. Be there or be prepared to miss out.
Then there was Saturday
It's A Long Way To Tipperary
... at least for some
Saturday was a medal round meaning everything had to be holed out. So no outers or pick-ups.
One group had a bit of fun but let's focus initially on our own Vaughn Keenan, man of many talents. Starting his medal round on 10 his card read 4, 4, 3, before he stood on the tee on Tipperary. Off to a cracking start with 3 pars in the bank.
But then his tee shot on the par 5 strayed right. A long way right into the manukas to the right of the 17th tee. Vaughn made the fatal error of going to look for his ball. Fatal because he actually found it. His options were to go back to the tee, keep his found line in line with hole going back as far as he wanted, or taking 2 club lengths relief, he didn't have a lot going for himself. He eventually made it back on to the upper fairway before the hole drops down the bank for no fewer than 6 shots. 5 shots later he holed out and carded an 11. A MOOSE + 1. "It was a good 11" agreed the playing group given where Vaughn was off the tee.
But Vaughn wasn't the only problem child on the hole. In a group which featured Phil Ellis, Warren Egen and Jamie, collectively they scored 34 - THIRTY FOUR - shots for the hole. An 11, a 9 and two 7s. That's got to be some kind of record we believe.
It sure was a long way to Tipperary for those 4.
For the record Vaughn recovered from his extra moose to par MacGlasghans.
Spring Time
Our first order of the day was to recognise the passing of Pat White who passed away on Sunday.
Pat was a frequent Waggler and had been on tour to Australia in the early days winning the Archie. He was also President of the Otago Golf Club from 2009 to 2013. Pat had been unwell for a while and had been recently cared for in a local hospice in his final days. We recognise the passing of Pat and say farewell.
On a happier note we celebrated the 67th birthday of one Phil Ellis and with a generous shout we all sang the usual song to wish Phil Happy Birthday. Many happy returns Phil.
With Eddie taking control of governance duties, with $140 up for grabs there was keen interest in the sixes. With no more than 29 points in the bank, the team of Duncan, Alastair, Murray Edgar on Warren Alcock were as surprised as anyone to be on the receiving end of the receipt of the $140. Good work boys.
The middle set went to Bruce Grant, Keith, 11 man Vaughn, and the good doctor Sandy with a very nice 43 points. That was always going to be hard to beat.
K C and the Sunshine Band took out the last set with 47 points. Kallum, Stu Heaton, David B and birthday boy Phil Ellis eased to first place with an 11 pointer up 18 doing no harm to the cause whatsoever. Good scoring team.
It Could Have Been So Much More
Bruce had 39 points today which as you can see won him the Blue Jacket. But it could have been so much more if his putter had been a tiny bit hotter. Well played Bruce and congratulations on your second Blue Jacket of the year.
With Duncan Croudis in the field playing off no less than PLUS 5 handicap, it was no surprise that Duncan won another night in Balclutha. 5 birdies did the trick.
And after everyone who was on holiday was drawn out of the hat, at the umpteenth attempt Stu Heaton won the raffle.
Finally, an update to our request to the Board to spend up to $10,000 of accumulated Waggler's funds for an upgrade to install an artificial teeing ground on the practice area. Our written request has been received by the Board at the September Board meeting and we are waiting to hear the Board's response as to how collectively we can proceed. We will update our group when we hear any feedback from the Board.