Just A Beautiful Day For Golf
Having been in Wellington for a week ( where the weather was also on the ordinary side ) I have avoided the torrential rain which would appear to have hit the Otago region in recent times. It was a shame the Otago Stroke Play Championship had to be cancelled. However with the temperatures on the rise, the rain looks to have done no harm whatsoever, and the course is in fine fettle.
The first order of the day was to tidy up 2025 business. Tony Attenborough came close to going back to back in The Race to Waitahuna coming in with a creditable second place. Tony was absent for the Boomers Disco experience and for some reason the Cayman Islands was his preferred location. Tony's prize for his second place was a nice bottle of Central Otago port. Enjoy it Tony, I'm sure you will.
Then as we know the winner of the yearly race to that small South Otago town receives a golden Wagglers winners polo. Being champion in 2023 Mahmoud already has one of these hanging in his wardrobe. But becoming champion in 2025 Mahmoud is the first amongst us to get 2 years on his winner's jersey. Congratulations Mahmoud, looks like there is room for a few more yet !
And So To This Week .....
2 lots of whisky on show this week. The Nugget had another episode of hitting the big green ball a little too hard and not advancing the little white ball. Generously young Duncan had his 34th or 35th birthday recently - his father couldn't quite do the maths to remember which it was. Unfortunately Duncan was away north on some important financial business and couldn't be there for the shout. But we sang loud anyway and many many thanks from the assembled masses for the celebratory drink.
Speaking of the Croudis family. We know that Duncan has an addition to the family due in the not too distant future. The Wagglers have a tradition of celebrating significant life events with a toast. Rightly so. Given the group is on the mature side, it will be no surprise that we are more used to celebrating the arrival of grandchildren rather than children. Therefore this will be a first for us to celebrate the arrival of a child.
But then there was speculation. Surely this is a double shout with not only the father shouting but also the grandfather. Most are of the view that it would be wrong not to :}
To the sixes, the spoils were shared this week. Bruce Carvell, Deano, Lloyd and Murray Edgar snared the first set with 30 points. In a popularity contest Bolty, Hubby, Fairway Phil and Shacks won the middle set on the back of 46 points. Finally our group of David B, Alastair, Bookend Marsh and Murray Cooper edged out the very confident Bolty group with 47 points. We nearly didn't .... Our scores for the last set of six holes with all 4 counting went 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 7 showing a trend of continuous deterioration.
Speaking of popular winners, for the second time in his Waggler and after career shooting a very nice 81 off the stick, young Kallum took out line honours this week.
Somewhat more controversially, the Swingers Trophy went to Bolty this week. There is no denying Bolty had 3 birdies as did someone else - can't quite remember who. But after a spate of earlier corruptions where the trophy had been awarded erroneously we have strict rules in fact very strict rules about where the trophy goes each week. Bolty must have been in a hurry to head south and despite numerous vocal protests, Trevor picked up the trophy and claimed the prize as his. There you go.
Finally we need to report that Alastair won the raffle.
Be sure to check out the new page for the update on the Eric Olsen Trophy before you close out.
Last Week
Today:
John Alexander, TK, Westy and Richard Ellis took out 1st and 2nd sixes with 33 & 45 respectively. A very honourable 44 took out the last 6 , yes 44. Myself, Hamish C. Vaughn K and a recently landed Tony A,
We celebrated the Nuggets 69+1 birthday and he took out the Blue Jacket with a credible 36. The weather was very average and deteriorated drastically over the last 6 or so holes with strong winds and drizzly rain adding to the challenge.
Birdie Gate 2026 - Uh oh .....
2 birdies were the max and 2 hands were up, Jamie and Westy both with 2.
So on to best stableford. Westy 34 after 18 holes and Jamie claiming 35 on a15 hole card with adjusted score, argument being he claims 2 points on the 3 holes not played and his card is entered for handicap purposes on that score which is in line with the rules of golf. Arguments in favour of Westy are Jamie may have had 1 or no points on the holes he didn't play but counter argument is he may have had 3 points on those holes. For the sake of a West Bank Greenland stand off they agreed to share the spoils but a firm rule needs to be agreed on to avoid future conflict.
LIV golfer Mike argues the higher handicapper should prevail as it is more of an achievement for a chopper to score birdies than a flusher. All food for thought.
Kallum Croudis won the raffle.
Cheers BC