The Weather Dominates
Well it's been a wet old week. 3 turned up to skins on Friday but with the first fairway looking more like a river and the greens all flooded the only game played was cards in the clubhouse. It was amazing we got to play on Saturday but the course dried out somewhat though it was cold.
Wednesday arrived and it too was wet wet wet. Most people played in full wet weather gear though we should recognise the efforts of one who played a full 18 holes.
With the temperature registering no more than 7 or 8 degrees tops, and rain falling just about all day, Kallum played a full 18 holes in shorts, polo shirt and a sun hat. He did shelter under an umbrella which is fair enough. You can see the others in the group in how they dressed for the day. Great effort Kallum but no doubt you'll be looking forward to sunshine in 2 weeks time.
With wet weather dominating, it was a challenge keeping the grips and all equipment dry. I played a couple of shots where all didn't go quite to plan with hole 15 being the worst example.
Actually the thought of whisky was no bad thing at this point. I wasn't the only one buying a shot for the team was I Bruce Carvell and Keith Newton - no photos though.
One Man Masters The Conditions
The Wagglers Wednesday started with weather problems, being a cold Easterly wind, with low cloud and drizzle which was forecast to get worse.
There was an enthusiasm from the early arrivals to get started and this overran the views of the players who were undecided about the prospects for the day and were focused on their time slot in the published draw. As a result some confusion occurred with the altered draw and from the original field of 28 contenders we had 19 players who embarked on a challenging day for golf. A big thanks to all those who fronted up for golf today, even though you decided not to play, it is a testament that you arrived and stood for the Wagglers philosophy.
Anyway it was a challenging day for the 19 players who did embark on the wet and wild journey. So let's fast forward to 3.30pm when the first group arrived back into the club rooms after 9 holes, then followed by the next group who played 12 holes before the weather got too unpleasant for their needs. While there was some discussion on the rearranged draw they did acknowledge the need to front up to the $15 Threepeat team competition. The next arrivals were those who had started earlier and had completed 18 holes of golf in pretty miserable conditions. There was a mixed reaction in the club rooms and some discussion on the protocols of teeing off before the allocated tee time. The general consensus was that we should stick to the published draw and tee times that have been allocated, despite bad weather conditions.
In the normal Waggler protocol a banker was appointed to collect the money and the following teams received prize money as follows. The first 6 holes won in 28 points by team Kallum Croudis, Keith Newton, Derek Todd and John Marsh. The second 6 holes was shared in 36 points by teams Eddie Walter, Trevor Bolt, David Bloor and David Post, as well as team Neil Cameron, Phil Broughton, Bruce Grant and Hamish Caithness. The third 6 holes was won in 37 points team Mahmoud Nikou, Vaughn Keenan and Mike Henderson.
We also celebrated the 71st birthday for Bruce Grant; congratulations Bruce and thanks for the whisky.
Stand Tall Derek Todd
In all the years of Waggler golf, Derek's round this week must go down as one of the best if not the best ever. For those who played yesterday we all know how tough it was. The fairways were saturated, the golfing equipment was wet, it was cold and damp, and the ball seemed to fly about half the distance it normally would. Then the greens. In some cases it was impossible to find a dry line to the hole. Even if you took casual water relief on the green, there was invariably standing water on your intended putting line. It was all a bit of a lottery. Sometimes you hit the putt hard and the ball sailed 6 feet past, other times you hit a normal putt and the ball finished 6 feet short. When chipping sometimes the water worked in your favour if you wanted to use the puddles to your advantage. Other time it didn't.
So in shooting a remarkable 72 off the stick, Derek Todd won his first Blue Jacket. No surprise either to learn that in doing so he won the Swinger's Trophy on the back of 3 birdies. Seriously good golf Derek and congratulations from everyone on a stunningly good round of golf.
Keith Newton won the raffle after a few redraws.