That Was Better .....
Finally some summer sunshine, a drop in the readings on the Beaufort Scale, and just a great day for golf. It was reflected in the scores too but more of that later.
Bolty told us of his net albatross when he holed a 5 iron for his second on The Glen. A 5 pointer no less. Then there was Mahmoud who birdied the par 3 15th, drove the green on the 16th for another 2 putt birdie, then finished Outer Outer for a 36 point haul. Coulda shoulda didn't .....
In the 6s there was a tidy $145 up for grabs. In what is a record score, the first set went to Bolty ( remember his 5 pointer ) Fairway Phil, Bob down from Alex and The Nugget. A massive 37 points !! Then a very tidy 47 points saw Duncan, Tony, Nick and John Marsh steal the show in the middle set. Finally a popular win saw Jamie, David B, Bruce Grant and future LIV golfer Pro Shop Mike wander off into the sunset with a handy 51 points. Included in that was a 3 point grab for the team on hole 16 when we thought it was all over. Pro shop Mike drove the green but then 4 putted from some distance for 1 point. Mike walked off with the full mumbles going on ....But a strong finish on holes 17 and 18 did the trick. Happy days.
Our Weekly Winners
On Friday we had the St Johns Charity tournament and what a great day that was. The club put its best foot forward with the pro shop staff doing a great job, Michelle and Bec in the bar were fantastic, and the course was in decent shape. Congratulations for a wonderful event and occasion. Well done also to Stu Heaton and Bruce Carvell for putting a huge amount of energy in to make the day a success.
Our group of David B, Keith and Fairway Phil had the honour of playing with the Highlanders team of Ben Smith, head coach Clark Dermody and defense coach David Kidwell. Boy can those folks hit the ball a country mile. But a putting clinic did the trick and we managed to sneak home in the race for the beer. Our team came fourth losing out by 0.8 from the eventual winners. They're tight margins in these ambrose tournaments. "What did you win ?" I hear you asking. Well, we each won about 60 hogget sausages from an animal which had grown up on 3 mile hill on Lloyd's lifestyle block. When I got home there was a puzzled look on my wife's face. " What are going to do with those?" she politely asked. "Eat them" I replied. They're now in the freezer in bags of 6.
Once again, a great day out.
Then on Saturday it was the final of the McConnell McGregor Cup and we had Bruce Grant and Alastair in the final.
Getting a shot a hole, Alastair single handedly destroyed the opposition by notching up no less than 3 birdies on the first 9 holes. " I was along as a passenger" admitted Bruce in his winner's address to the clubhouse crowd. So another well deserved trophy in the cabinet for Alastair. You have to hand it to him, when the time comes for him to show what he can do, he rarely if ever under performs. Well done boys. Their opposition were last seen leaving the clubhouse shaking their heads wondering what hit them.
Then as we fast forward to Wednesday, Phil's son Jeffrey happened to be in the clubhouse enjoying a summer evening ale. When Fairway Phil had blown the field away with 40 points to claim his second Blue Jacket of the year, it only seemed right that his son should do the decent thing and present proud father Phil with his winner's jacket. Given Christmas is on the horizon we've given the Blue Jacket a rest and have brought out the Christmas Jacket.
The walking ATM shot a very tidy 76 off the stick but apparently it could have been so much better with a few missed short putts. Included in his 76 was an outer on the second. Ouch. "It should have been a 72" said our man. There's always next week. Anyway, despite a multitude of hands in the air on 3 birdies, on the highest stableford rule, Senaka won the night out in Balclutha.
Very generously, on the back of a well earned retirement, Geoff shouted the group a celebratory nip of whisky and we all sang For He's A Jolly Good Fellow led by choir master Nick. Enjoy your days away from the operating theatre Geoff and congratulations from all of us on a wonderful career.
Finally, Nick cheered when his name was drawn in the raffle.
And that was another glorious Wednesday at the office. Remember to practice those dance moves.