Weekend Review
We have had a typical Dunedin day for our golf on 18th March with cloudy conditions and a mild south-west wind blowing.
With 35 players in the draw this is the largest group so far for the summer period and a healthy figure of $175 for each of the sixes pot.
There were a number of guests and returning Wagglers including Ray Grubb, John Alexander, Tony Brown, Chris Timms, Keith Newton and Duncan Croudis. Great to see a full muster for the day.
Thought we should mention that there have been a number of results from the Club Championships with Lloyd Morgan taking out a win on the 18th hole from Senaka in the intermediate division. After being down 2 holes on the 15th hole, Lloyd fought back and won with a chip in on the final hole. Good luck Lloyd for the rest of the competition and hard luck Senaka. There is ALWAYS next year.
In the Junior A division Brent Pownall has had some convincing wins to get through to the semi finals, well done and good luck Brent.
On the other hand we have another Waggler, Kallum Croudis, who is advancing through the plate section of the Junior A division, having beaten Alastair Adam last week in a tight match. This would be a hot tip on the TAB if he hasn't already bet on the odds himself.
Talking of Club Championships, what would you do if your opponent asked for free relief from this situation ? Our scorecard clearly states you get free relief from trees and shrubs under two clubs in height. We have this situation here where we have intrusive gorse growing around the base of a healthy established native tree.
I know the pro-shop view is that in the spirit of the game, this gorse shouldn't qualify as a shrub, it's a noxious weed. I also know there's plenty of opposite views which say yes you should get relief. There's also a view which says the gorse shouldn't be there in the first place. No argument with that either.
The emerging view is that we should remove the 2 clubs in height rule and only give relief from staked trees. Any thoughts on that ?
No Doubt About This One Though
This photo is of a golf ball belonging to Ray Grubb, which lodged in a tree on right side of the 6th hole. Apparently a lot of time was spent searching for balls in their group hence Bruce's concern to keep up the pace of play. Also noted is that Fairway Phil had a double misdemeanour on one hole but I don't know what that means. Presumably he hit his first shot and it didn't reach the green pegs then neither did the second.
Anyway to today's scoring. We had some solid team results with the first of the sixes going to team Bruce Grant, Ray Grubb, Tony Attenborough and Sandy Ross with 31 points. Apparently there was a bit of pressure on the 10th hole when they were getting behind the clock and Bruce Grant was quoted as saying to Ray Grubb: "if you don't hurry, you'll slow the game down". Nice.
The second six was won with a steady 41 points by team Jamie MacKay, John Marsh, Tony Brown and Grant Woodham. The final six hole tranche was won with a close 44 points by Nick Nicolson, Senaka, a returning Nugget and TK.
The Blue Jacket had some close contenders with Warren Egen and Nick Nicolson both scoring 38 points for the day. However the jacket went to Warren with a birdie on the 18th hole to give him 4 points and the win.
The Swingers trophy was also closely contested between Derek Todd and Tony Brown, each with 4 birdies. However Browny took the trophy with 34 points against Derek's 33 points.
We enjoyed a birthday shout from Andrew Whiley who has turned 60 years of age. Congratulations Andrew and thank you for the generous measure of food and whisky.
We should also note we have a new leader in the Eric Olsen Trophy. Both Hamish and Tony Attenborough are carrying 41 points but Hamish leaps over Tony on account of his second best score now being 34 against Tony's 32.
