PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s
Tuesday, Feb. 11, Crystal Bay – Stableford
Arriving at the first tee we found out we were to play the B & C Nines, and we actually got away on time. For many years this was my favourite course, it used to be in pristine condition, however the years have not been kind to it, it would be interesting to see how it was on this day.
As we walked down the opening hole the first thing I noticed was that the ball had mud on it and looking around you could see they had been watering the fairway, and so it proved all the way around, but we did play the ball as it lay. The second thing was that the greens were very poor. They now have growths of various coloured grass on them and seem to bounce a lot. Some of the grass is quite fast to putt over and the darker greens were really slow. It was a bit of a nightmare on them and the players were not happy bunnies.
Tuesday winners with one of Bert’s finest.
The rest of the round was much as one could expect at Crystal Bay, with a strong wind. You always get to play a reasonable game on this course as in most respects it is fairly forgiving, so players always feel they are having a good day, of course except for the greens.
In the A Flight, 0 to 18, the winner was Peter Platt with 38 points ahead of Tom Herrington in second with 36 points on count back over Mashi Kaneta in third. It may be noted that Tom Herrington at long last actually won a count back, has the world stopped turning? In fourth was Mark West with 35 points.
In the B Flight the winner was Henry Wong with a great 40 points, I see him moving into the A Flight soon. In second was Carole Kubicki with 38 and we then had a count back on 34 points that saw Graham Buckingham in third, George King in fourth and Don Carmody just losing out.
One interesting result was in the long putt competition on the last hole, when Richard Kubicki was holding pole position and seemingly could not be beaten, until that is Gus Dickie arrived and sank a monster!
Near Pins: Brian Gabe, Peter Platt, John Hackett, Tom Cotton
Long Putts: Peter Platt, Gus Dickie
Thursday, Feb. 13, Treasure Hill – Stableford
This is one of the courses that continues to get better and conversely also seems to get harder every time we play there. On this day as we went down the first we noticed that the area in front of the green was under repair and wondered if this was a warning of things to come, but from then on the round was a pleasure. The fairways were really good, the rough really tough and the greens were running at a good speed; it would be interesting to see from the scores how the players had handled a day out on this tough but fair course.
Dick Warberg (right) and Mark West.
The restaurant and facilities here have always been a bit basic but plenty good enough when you just need a shower and a bite to eat for the trip back.
Back at Bert’s it was soon time for the results and the winner on the day with a great round and 40 points was that old ‘Warhorse’ Dick Warberg. Nice to see him back on form! In second was Mark West with 37 points, one ahead of Don Carmody in third. Taking fourth spot was Graham Buckingham with 34 points ahead of a count back on 32 points that saw Andre Van Dyk in fifth and Joseph Buckhagen in sixth. T.T.F.N.
Near Pins: Mark West, Bob Britton, Dave Cooper
