In among a week of activity on the golf course we have also had five days straight of nor'easters. The only aberration was the classic almost no wind day that was Thursday. However, leading up to that event we had a fruitful finance meeting in the beautiful 1st Hole conference room on Tuesday afternoon just after the course committee had their monthly equivalent.
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I always try to be seated so I can look occasionally out at the great views to be enjoyed looking north, all the way to Burrawarra and occasionally a glimpse of Pigeon House mountain, west of Mollymook / Ulladulla. That would be 70 – 80kms as the crow flies. The waters turned dark blue because the wind picked up and white horses were common by 5pm when we finished our business. These colours contrasted with the multitude of gorgeous greens on display on the golf course. An absolutely brilliant setting for golf and meetings of any kind.
By midday Wednesday, and with early mention of cyclones up north in central Queensland and the Northern Territory, we had our own storm clouds with cirrus and cirrocumulus promising rain over the next day or two. Nothing happened around my neck of the woods, just heavy dew and then the classic calm conditions of Thursday. The nor'easter won with Mother Nature in control.
Thursday's Stableford competition results show just how good the weather was for golf and with relatively mild summer temperatures, 24 at 10.30am and nudging 27 at 3.30pm. It was just a trifle hot and humid walking the back nine. In fact heading on to the back nine we were greeted by the arrival of our general manager, Dominic Connaughton and a couple of engineers. Bodgie Lee in his inimitable style asked "when are you going to fix our bloody bridge?". Hurry up! Or words to that effect.
Paul Stokes won a grade with 40 points and it just goes to show he is not just a fine chef and businessman, but a good golfer as well. He played off a handicap of 9 and so he shot a 77 off the stick, only five over par. Ray Gale won B grade by a nostril from Chris Hewitt, on a count back with 43 points. In C grade Perry "Pipi" Pericleous won by a street with a mere 46 points. Well played everyone. I personally had a shocker!
Friday was another day of northerlies and big tides, with a high of nearly two metres and a low of 0.1. Nothing like cyclone country though where tropical cyclone Marcia was threatening Yeppoon and region. What got up my nose was the incessant use of the American version of Marcia, "Marsha". Hells bells ABC radio and television, they all called it cyclone Marsha. Wrong, it is Marcia boys and girls. That is Mar-ci-a! My mother and sister are both named Marcia. Bloody hopeless if you ask me and I was not an English teacher, just a trained geography and history teacher. Lift your standards ABC or I will switch channels. I heard it pronounced correctly late Saturday, thank the gods. My son and his partner, by the way, were stocking up on extra essentials on Gold Coast, and schools were closed from Nambucca to Tweed Heads.
Saturday was fine and 20 degrees at 8am, but it was foggy in Bodalla. What were we in for I wondered? Well, as you may recall, it got quite hot in the afternoon and even with a bit of cloud cover and a light sea breeze it was in the high twenties and I reckon in the sun a lot hotter and probably in the low thirties. Les Campbell and I were joined by a golfer from Queenscliff in Victoria, one John Rimmer. He had a lot of fun in scoring a mere 18 points but showed great temperament and a sense of humour. He just had an off day. We all have them don't we? John did mention a lot of golf courses are considering amalgamation as there are so many of them in a market that is probably over supplied with courses, especially in Victoria, Sydney and the Sunshine Coast, to name a few. One case he cited was the amalgamation of Lonsdale with Queenscliff. I wish them well.
The winners on Saturday were the likeable and talented Barry Podmore with 41 points closely followed by the consistent Ted Poczyhajlo. Ted is going through a purple patch of good form and has featured among the winners over many weeks now. This is reinforced by the fact that my computer now recognises his name and I don't have to try and spell same. How would our TV and Radio crew pronounce your surname Ted? I digress, excuse me. In B grade Hugh Crawford had just enough with 37 points and so too Peter Bashford in C grade with a creditable 40 points. In the ladies, Deidre Landells was the winner a couple of points ahead of Kath Roberts.
This week we have an important board meeting and in closing I will foreshadow a new golf competition being conducted in association with the US Masters in April. It is a novel idea and thanks to the inspiration of Bill Durnan and others, one we should look out for. I will have more details for you all next week.
Finally, have you noticed how cold the water gets after days and days of northerly winds. Well what happens is that the cold waters from the continental shelf are dragged up and in to shore by same. So even though southerlies bring cool winds and associated changes they give us the warmer water currents. Isn't the weather an interesting subject and it influences all we do from stepping out for a walk to fishing, golfing, driving, surfing et cetera.
Oops, I nearly forgot to mention the big win by our A grade Pennant team last week at Mollymook. They won 3.5 to 1.5 and that is with three guys winning, one squaring and one losing. A good effort away against Catalina. The winners were Matt Corbett, Jason Andrew and Marty Brooker, Bill Durnan squared his match and Allan Butterworth missed out. Such is pennant golf!
Cheers and good health to all and make the most of the last week of the summer of 2015.
Regards, Bill Baker
Men’s golf
Tuesday, February - 12 Hole Par
Winner, Ken O’Mahoney plus 1 c/b. Runner-up, Peter Jones plus 1.
Nearest to pin: 9th M Thorn (Vis), 14th Peter Jones, 17th Col Pratt.
Golf balls down to B Thorn (Vis) on minus 1.
Thursday, February 19 - Men’s Stableford
A Grade: Winner, Paul Stokes 40 points. Runner-up, Robert Sayers 38 points c/b. Third, Phil Haynes 38 points.
B Grade: Winner, Ray Gale 43 points c/b. Runner-up, Chris Hewitt 43 points. Third, Allan Maddison 39 points.
C Grade: Winner, Perry Pericleous 46 points. Runner-up, Ross Giblett 40 points c/b. Third, Alan Cheale 40 points.
Nearest to pin: 3rd Bob Knipler, 9th Ron Manly, 14th Terry O’Callaghan,
17th Michael Commins.
Golf balls down to all on 34 points.
Friday, February 20 - 9 Hole Stableford
Winner, John Mairs 16 points c/b. Runner-up, Rose Sztama 16 points.
Nearest to pin: 3rd Jim Jones, 17th W McMillan.
DPP 17th M Smith.
Golf balls down to lucky J Johnston on 15 points.
Saturday, February 21 - Men’s Stableford
A Grade: Winner, Barry Podmore 41 points. Runner-up, Ted Poczyhajlo 40 points. Third, Mitch Jeffery 38 points c/b.
B Grade: Winner, Hugh Crawford 37 points. Runner-up, Michael Harris 36 points c/b. Third, Brett Devenish 36 points c/b.
C Grade: Winner, Peter Bashford 40 points. Runner-up, Bob Steel 39 points. Third, Simon Bragg 38 points.
Ladies Grade: Winner, Dierdre Landells 36 points. Runner-up, Kath Roberts 34 points.
Nearest to pin: 3rd Lyle Healey, 9th Tony Cobcroft, 14th Steve Marsden, 17th Brett Devenish.
Golf balls down to lucky Bill Baker on 33 points with 17 points home.
Ladies golf
THIS week we had the usual Monday competition and on Wednesday we held a Charity Golf Day which was open to all golfers, non-golfers, ladies and men. This event was in aid of Narooma and Dalmeny Rural Fire Brigades. It was a huge success, the weather was perfect and the field very well supported. The golf was followed by an auction and raffle draw both of these were generously supported by many of our generous local businesses and members. The Narooma lady golfers wish to thank everyone who participated in any way to the success of the day.
Monday, February 16 - Stableford
Division 1: Winner - T Wilson 38 points.
Division 2: Winner - M Spong 37 ocb.
NTP: 3rd hole Div 2, T James. 14th hole Div 1, S Donohoe.
Balls to 35.
Charity Day Golf - 4 Person Ambrose – February 18
First: S Carr/Jake/Ken/Lockie 531/4.
Second: S Crammond/Shane/Cruden/Breadon 545/8.
Third: T James/J Hasler/J Shevlin/A Buterworth 547/8.
Fourth: G Roberts/K Roberts/D Marchini/ Jenkins 577/8.
Golden Hole Winner: J Hasler 1750mm.