Tales From Our Travels
It was Day 2 of our trip and we were heading up to Nelson. We'd come up over the Hope Saddle and then had the long run into Nelson through the countryside. We were in no rush, it was a glorious day and thinking of the rest of the day ahead.
Suddenly on the other side of the road about 200 metres ahead what should I see but some red and blue lights starting to flash. " I wonder who they are for" was my first thought. But then realising there were no other cars in the vicinity I had the sinking feeling they were for me. Sure enough I was right.
I stopped when I could, the unmarked police car swung in behind me, and a very polite nice young lady got out to go through the usual process. " Can I see your licence sir?", "Any reason why you're going so fast?", "Yeah, you see that pedal it was flat to the floor". No I didn't say that. "No it's a fair cop" I thought honesty might be the best policy.
The young officer asked for my address but I said no point sending a ticket there as we're away on holiday. " No trouble, I'll e-mail it to you, I'll do it right now." So with the paperwork finished I asked what my indiscretion would result in. At which point she said, "10 demerit points and 30 dollars."
I'll be honest at that point I felt a little cheated. 10 points and 30 bucks, surely there has to be a stronger deterrent than that. Now if Kallum or Bolty are reading this please don't intervene and ask that a higher fine be applied. It just seemed that for all that trouble I'd cop for a bit more of a punishment.
The e-mail did arrive and it was as polite as the conversation. I was given a link to pay the fine and the appropriate violation number. The last line of the e-mail said " Hope you have a nice holiday" which was a nice touch.
I was left reflecting on the difference between that interaction and one in America. " Get Out Of The Car !!" "Hands Behind Your Back !!" And at worst, someone who kneels on your throat for 8 minutes.
For the record I will try and slow down and smell the roses along the way. And despite what you might think of Kallum and Bolty, our police force are not that bad after all :}
Not All Smooth Sailing At The Weekend
For Some ....
It was a medal round at the weekend which meant everything had to be holed out.
On MacGlashans - no not Nick Nicolson where he has frequent flyer points - this time Eddie had trouble reaching those distant green pegs. Apparently Eddie's tee shot hit the trees and ended up in the penalty area. With more poor shots to follow it took the sinking of a 4 foot putt to avoid the dreaded moose.
On the other hand Bruce G had an airshot while rooted up against a tree on the right side of the second hole. He took a penalty shot after his misdemeanor and also finished with a 9. In the haggle Vaughn and Eddie got beaten on the last hole when The Nugget sunk a bullet like putt from 20 feet. This would have been about his fourth similar putt, so carried his partner Bruce to victory
It wasn't all sadness and whisky buying at the weekend and there was some really good news to report.
To update on the club championship matches Lloyd beat Chris Pearse Smith on the 18th hole, while Phil Broughton won his plate match by default. The other contender in the dirt tracker section is Kallum Croudis, who is the booky favorite for his match at the weekend. Good luck boys.
Otago Anniversary Day Skins
The week started with a Monday skins match, as this was Otago Anniversary Day, and apparently 7 people turned up to celebrate our Scottish heritage. While there was some intense competition and bad language from Jamie MacKay, it was Fairway Phil who took home the bacon with a par 4 on hole 4 to give him 4 points, then another win on a later hole to give him 6 skins for the day. He did shout the chips at Luna to placate his team-mates and get an invite to the next skins match. Apparently some 3 pints at least were sunk at the bar by others after Phil had left to watch the TV 1 news.
As a quick FYI, in the room at the top of the stairs where the Blue Jacket is kept, there's a green bag with 18 golf balls in numbered 1 to 18 for those who like to play random skins rather than skins in the order played. The white bag inside the green bag has balls numbered 1 to 9 especially for Fridays.
And So To Wednesday
A great week in Dunedin with plenty of sun and good conditions for late summer golf.
Wednesday golf got off to a good start with a field of 25 players, where after some last- minute withdrawals, this left us with three phantom groups. The course was in good nick and the scoring was widely spread with John Marsh taking the honours with 40 points. Being the true gentleman he showered and dressed up to receive the blue jacket as can be seen in the photo. (He was already running late in getting to a farewell function)
The first of the sixes was shared with 31 points between two teams of Attenborough, Broughton, Ellis and Nikou, as well as Croudis snr, Marsh, Adam, Henderson. A very close contest here from several other teams.
The second six was won in a convincing margin of 44 points by Bolty, MacKay, Alcock and Derek Todd; some thought the yawning by Bolty at the count from 38 to 44 got rather tedious.
Finally the third six saw team Croudis, Marsh, Adam and Henderson after sharing the first tranche, cruise to a win with 52 points. A very solid performance.
As mentioned earlier the blue jacket was won by John Marsh with 40 points from a close finisher Warren Alcock with 39 points.
The Swingers trophy was closely contested with 2 birdies each by Todd, Laney and Henderson, however due to the highest stableford points and a count back, this was won by Derek Todd who shot a tidy 74.
The raffle was won again by Sandy Ross with number 38. This is the third time in a row that number 38 has come up, a very very slim chance this will happen again.
A birthday shout was enjoyed from Warren Alcock who turns 62 years in a few day's time; congratulations and thank you for the dram. While also a recent member of the Wagglers, he also mentioned that he is new to golf having started playing only from age 60 years. Only a left hander could do that.
And that's the gossip for the week.
