The Billabong Bar Golf Society
Monday, Nov. 14, Phoenix Gold – Stableford
Phoenix on a very hot day and the course was in great condition with the Ocean loop just slightly ahead of the Lakes in terms of the quality of the greens. With seven groups playing, one more than expected, it was thank you to the management for facilitating the extra players by getting us away a little earlier than scheduled.
There are some funny things happen on golf courses and one today who was playing with the scribe had some trouble getting out of bunkers on no less than 5 holes, possibly more, he just instructed his caddy to pick it up after about 4 slashes at the ball. It was truly a sight to behold.
The scores were good and included three birdie ‘2’s, coming from Lloyd Shuttleworth, Neil Herd and Gerard Lambert. There was a count back for the minor places with Lou Sziligeti taking fourth with 34 points off his 17 handicap. Third place went to Capt Bob, with 34 also, and another count back was needed to decided the winner, with Lloyd Shuttleworth just getting the edge over Dipty, both with 35 points each.
Wednesday, Nov. 16, Green Valley – Stableford
34 players out today and once again the pins and tees were in the same areas as previous weeks. There are still many very wet areas around the course but the greens are recovering nicely, which was reflected in the scores with most of the participants having 30 points or more.
For the ladies, Orawan thought that this was her lucky day with 21 points on the front nine but something went wrong on the back half resulting in a final score of 32 points for third. The ever-consistent Miss Sa was in the frame again with 36 points but the better half of the Cotterells, Miss Eng won the day with 38 points.
The new, slim Bob Finlay made a welcome return to the fray after spending 8 months in the States but was denied a mention in dispatches by Neil Herd, in his last game before returning to Perth in Oz. Neil in turn lost out to Lloyd Shuttleworth on the back nine with 18 points against 22 points for Lloyd, despite the latter having seven 1-pointers in his score of 37 points.
George ‘the ballerina’ Barrie came second with 38 points but the best of the day came from Keith Allen with 23 points on the front side and 40 points overall.
Only two ‘2’s recorded today, by Jeff North and John Deardon.
Friday, Nov. 18,
The Emerald – Stableford
Emerald was the venue for Friday and it had been a long time since we last visited this course. It was in great condition with greens that were as fast as you could get. The only thing that needs some maintenance is the golf carts, they are downright dangerous – the ones we had looked good but had no brakes at all.
The scoring was not very good but that was possibly down to the hot weather conditions. Taking fourth place was Auke Engekles with 31 points while third went to Gary Ritchie with 33. The top places on the podium were decided on a count back with Freddy just edging Jeff North after they both came in with 35 points each.
There was only one ‘2’, going to Gary Ritchie.
Note: The Billabong Absent Friends tournament will be held at Plutaluang on the 16th of December.
