It All Kicked Off At The Weekend
The ever popular Friday afternoon skins continues to draw a good crowd and it's a great way to end the working week and lead into the weekend. 11 people rocked up last Friday.
An interesting phenomenon is starting to emerge. When we get into the bar, as you sit down with your drink everyone fossicks around and assembles $9 which is then put into the pot at the centre of the table. So with the field re-assembled and $99 in the middle of the table all glistening and waiting to be claimed, the process of awarding the spoils begins.
Someone claimed the first hole with a 3 pointer, hole 2 jackpotted and somebody birdied the third to claim 2 skins, and with hole 4 playing into the wind, a single 3 pointer was good enough to claim that one. Then holes 5 through 9 were all shared and despite there being a big jackpot for somebody to do something special on the ninth hole, nobody did.
So at that point everyone reached into the table and claimed $5 for the skins which weren't won. Now I don't know about everyone else but at that point it feels like you've just won 5 bucks and is a nice warm feeling. I know I know you put $9 in, took $5 out so you still lost $4 but it just doesn't feel like it.
We were joined on Friday by a group of Syrupers from Wanaka. No idea what they are but Jamie can fill you in on the detail apparently.
Then We Got To Saturday
Smeaton Cup matches particularly those with whom the Wagglers have a Calcutta interest were the order of the day. Congratulations to Neil and Murray Cooper for their continued progression to the pointy end of this prestigious tournament. For those not playing Smeaton Cup it was the usual story .....
Nice hat Nick by the way, lovely choice of colour. But we wonder why the sad look on his face ? What had happened to cause this reflection of ambition only to be thwarted by capability..... A wider view of the picture panning out shows the following on hole 2.
Councillor Whiley is clearly anticipating the shout of whisky at the conclusion of the round. Little did he know at this point they would be double shots because this wouldn't be the only misdemeanour of the day. On McGlashans, a popular spot and more of this hole later, Nick did record another misdemeanour. Only this one was a bit special and a bit different as he put his ball on Cannington Road. Now that is a first.
Also on Saturday some people got hit by friendly fire. Derek Todd was minding his own business standing on the 13th tee as Brent teed off on hole 12. Spraying one out to the right, Brent's ball initially ricocheted off Derek's playing companion Keith also standing on the 13th tee, and then went on to hit Derek on the ankle. 2 birds with one stone.
Let's get to Wednesday shall we.....
The Loneliness Of The Single Golfer
Our playing group was initially drawn as a 4 but then TK advised he had some work to do so he couldn't make it meaning we were down to a 3. Bolty and son-in law Mark decided to share a cart leaving me all on my little own lonesome. We had fun though.
This picture does capture the day quite nicely though. Future LIV golfer pro shop Mike often describes his job as teaching little old ladies to knock the ball out of their shadow. Well as you can see, at this time of the year those shadows can stretch a bit ! For the record notice that although I'm all alone, I am in the middle of the fairway :}
Gorgeous day for golf with respectable scores.
Our team of Bolty, myself, and hard hitting Mark ( who looks a lot like "Beef" Johnston ) won the first set of 6 with 32 points. Marks birdy for 4 points on hole 18 did the cause no harm whatsoever. Team Browny, BC, Murray Edgar and John Marsh cleaned out the middle set with 49 points. We wish Browny well as he travels to Sith Ifrica this week to begin his work with the Springboks. We know in the Springboks when they pick 23 for their test teams there are 16 forwards and 7 backs. So at least Browny as the backs coach only ever has a small group to work with unlike the forwards coach. Finally Warren, Mahmoud, Brent and Phil Ellis wandered off into the sunset having scored 47 points at the end.
A very generous shout from Brent helped us all sing the birthday song to wish Brent well on his recent 59th birthday. Thanks from us all Brent.
Pro shop Mike was the first name out in the raffle but given he was away at St Clair, Neil cleaned up at the second attempt.
Our Weekly Champions
As is our tradition, here we see the winner from last week handing out line honours, the Blue Jacket, to our weekly winner, the ever popular Alastair. 40 points was 2 clear of next best. If we had a podium Bruce Carvell would have been second and Councillor Whiley 3rd.
3 things going on in this photo if you look closely.....
The obvious first one is Derek enjoying his second Swingers win for the year on the back of 4 birdies.
Secondly Alastair is loving the warmth and comfort of a job well done wearing the Blue Jacket
Third Browny in the background has that look of "that's my trophy you've got Derek, how dare you ..." :}
And Finally - Back To McGlashans
This one didn't miss by much but enough for Vaughn to cop a fine. Look at the flex in the shift on his down swing, clearly some anger showing in this shot. Nick was in this playing group so nice for Nick to be on the receiving end of a shout.
There's a debate brewing about whether gorse is a shrub or a noxious weed and if it is a shrub, do you get relief if you're in a spot where the gorse is less than 2 club lengths tall. Also in the rules section, confirmation of a little known rule that if you're in a spot where there are abnormal ground conditions, such as a rabbit scraping under a tree, the fact that the tree is there and denies you the opportunity of a fair swing, that takes priority and you don't get relief.
Enjoy the PGA - hope your favourite player or TAB option performs well.
And that was another Waggler Wednesday.