Strange Stories From The Weekend
Nick is off chasing the winter sun and jumped on an aeroplane to head north. Cruising on a ship across the mighty Pacific Ocean features somewhere in the itinerary as does a trip to Honolulu.
"Have you ever been to Honolulu ?" enquired Jamie
"No, never been" replied Nick
"Well in that case I'd strongly recommend a visit to Pearl Harbour, you won't be disappointed" Jamie offered
" Oh I've been to Pearl Harbour already" ..........
Go figure
Twas a cold cold day on Saturday as the winter winds blew across the Balmacewen golf course. The 19th hole was a welcome shelter after a day on the golf course. There were a few different ways to warm up but we know of this conversation.
Eric says to Councillor Whiley " Hey Andrew, give me 20 bucks and I'll get us a jug of whisky, I'll pay the rest". Now we know that those wee jugs of whisky offer generous servings of the much-loved amber liquid and are very competitively priced at just 22 bucks !! Great deal Eric !!
It was Shelley's farewell tournament on Saturday given her departure from the General Manager's role at the golf club. A friendly stableford was the order of the day with a few special prizes thrown in.
This picture shows our man Bruce picking up one such prize for a nearest the pin on one of the par 3s. His reward was an image of a more youthful looking Shelley which Shelley later personally autographed for Bruce. The plan for Monday was to get the photo framed and no doubt it will take pride of place in Bruce's living room - maybe. Bruce was very pleased as we can see as he accepted his reward from Callum.
Now then, to Wednesday
30 Points Anyone ?
It's a cold wind The Westerly. It blows in with razor blades attached and tests the resolve of even the keenest golfers. Nevertheless, we had 29 in the field yesterday which was a staunch effort. But here's the anatomy of a winter Wednesday for many
HOLES 1 to 6 - The enthusiastic phase. Dressed in a few layers the expectation is that as the day warms up and you get going, you can peel off the odd layer to make for an easier swing. There's the agreed view that " we've played in worse and it doesn't look that bad" and there's general hope that the golf swing will behave and you might win a bit of money.
HOLES 7 to 12 - The realisation phase. With a picket fence appearing on the scorecard and those elusive 3 pointers appearing more distant than ever, you realise the day might not turn out as you have hoped. Further, the day isn't getting warmer if anything it's getting colder and there are only so many jerseys you can wear.
HOLES 13 to 18 - The " are we there yet " phase. OK let's get this over and done with. With 30 points looking more and more challenging, with the realisation it's going to be a $15 donation, you start to count down the holes left to play. The clubhouse is like a magnet pulling your round to a close. Your toes have gone numb, it's cold as you stand and watch people helplessly 3 putt, and all the cheer for the day has dissipated.
So we finally get to the clubhouse where .........
The first order of the day was to farewell Roel in style. Very generously Roel's wife Antionette has provided a very nice bottle of 12 year old Glenfiddich, and she's turned up to see what all this Waggler fuss is all about. Phil and Eddie had attended Roel's celebration on Saturday evening where Eddie had been asked to speak on behalf of our group. So we all stood and sang For He's A Jolly Good Fellow in rousing style and I think Antoinette was very impressed. Rest In Peace Roel.
In the 6s our group of myself, Vaughn, Duncan and Murray Cooper shared the $ with team TK, Jarod and BC for the first set of 6 with only 29 points required. Then Sandy, Neil, Eric and Councillor Whiley waltzed off with the rest on the back of 39 points and 47 points respectively.
Future LIV golfer pro shop Mike has been renamed our own David Hasselhof after spending an inordinate amount of time in or around sand yesterday. In fact a rules question arose. If when trying to get out of a bunker and you don't make it with the first attempt, and then slam the sand in anger and disgust at your miserable effort, is that sand slamming act a penalty or golf shot to be recorded ? The rules say that it isn't but nevertheless, it's a not a good look when our pro shop leader behaves somewhat inappropriately. Maybe it was the realisation that the extra point would have earned Mike's group some money.
Then we had the Yam auction - yes for those not in the house actually we did.
Now these may or may not be the tastiest yams in Dunedin but they are up there with the most expensive. Not sure what New World or Pak N Save sell their yams for but probably a bit cheaper than those auctioned yesterday. I think some people might have got a bit carried away in their efforts to secure a bag.
And Our Winner Is
Only one golfer exceeded the 36 point barrier such was the challenge of the day. Here we see our winner from last week handing over the Blue Jacket to Sandy who on the back of 37 points claimed line honours for the day. Then we awarded the Swinger's Trophy. "Who had 1 birdie today ? asked Eric. A fair few hands shot in the air. "Ok, who had 2 birdies today ?" at which point every raised hand dropped. So on the best stableford rule, Sandy took out the gold trophy as well. "First time I've ever won this" beamed Sandy.
Derek Todd won the raffle
