PSC Golf from the Tropical Golf Group
Tuesday, March 9, Royal Lakeside – Stableford
We have played some really tough courses over the last few weeks and thinking outside the box we thought why not play at a course that we have not played for a long time, that is in most respects forgiving. So on this morning we went off to play Royal Lakeside.
It only took us a about an hour to get there and the booking in was fine. Soon all were outside practicing on the putting green however the starters said we could go early so off we went with a strong breeze behind us.
George King (centre) with 2 of BJ Lodge’s helpers.
This is not a difficult course and is well defined, and on this day it was in very good condition. Maybe the fairways were a bit sparse in areas, but the course seemed to have been lightly used and it was very playable. Many of the golfers said how pleasant it was to hit balls off grass on the fairway.
The greens were also quite good and were in fact quite tricky. The biggest problem on the day was the strong wind which seemed to play havoc with the ball.
We were soon around stopped at the rest stop on the last green and partook of a cool drink or too on the basis that it would be cheaper than the restaurant in the clubhouse – and how right we were!
With this being a relatively ‘easy’ course we expected the scores to be good, but they were even better than we had thought and if you did not get 38 points you were nowhere, and one player had his best round for 20 years, happy days. We also found we had two birthday boys playing today, Mashi and Paul Weatherly and that must be against the odds.
Richard Kubicki (left) with third placed Carole Kubicki and runner-up Tom Herrington.
In the A Flight, 0 to 19, the winner was Walter Baechli with 41 points ahead of Paul Weatherly with 40 in second and a count back on 38 points saw Tom Herrington take third and Andre Van Dyk fourth.
In the B Flight the winner with a superb round, and his best for years, was George King with a startling 48 points. We then had a three-way count back on 39 points that saw Gordon Clegg in second, Dave Cooper in third and Daryl Evans fourth.
Near Pins: Andre Van Dyk, Tom Herrington, Derek Brook, Dave Cooper
Long Putts: Tom Herrington, John Anderson
Friday, March 11, Eastern Star – Stableford
This Friday the Tropical golfers made a rare trip to Eastern Star where some players had gone years between visits, but eighteen golfers met at BJ’s Holiday Lodge for nourishment and transport and tee time assignments for the day. The weather was warm but not intolerable, and once at the course we found a steady breeze blowing.
Eastern Star is in fair to good condition. The greens were very good and many fairways also. It was nice to see many of the bare patches marked as free drop areas, some seemingly the same areas marked that way for many years, but the markings are still visible.
Eastern Star is a decent value now, and when we arrived there was a special for those who wanted to use carts. Most of all, Eastern Star is a deceptively difficult layout that quickly snares golf balls for any shots that do not fly as intended. Bring your A-game here or a good supply of balls. Only one golfer made handicap.
With only one flight, Richard Kubicki (H/’cap 12) shot an excellent round on a hard course to reach 36 stableford points. Good going Richard! Tom Herrington (14) edged in with 35 points, and then the better half of the Kubrick’s, Carole (20), came in third with 34 points on count-back over steady Mashi Kaneta (16). Colorful Walter Baechli (16) took the next place over Mike O’Brien (22) with 31points, with poor Buckers missing out on count-back.
Near Pins: Doug Maiko, Mike O’Brien, Richard Kubicki.
