PSC golf from The Golf Club
Monday, Oct. 31, Green Valley – Monthly Medal
A Flight
1st Bob Newell (9) net 65
2nd Jeff Cordiero (11) net 69
3rd Chuck Anderson (10) net 70
B Flight
1st Henry O’Brien (18) net 68
2nd John Dearden (19) net 73
3rd Robert Still (12) net 73
Near Pins: Grant Cadell
It’s not often that a Monthly Medal net 65 score would have to share headline space but then its not often someone has the pleasure of shooting an ace! That honour belongs to JTB who homed in on Green Valley’s par-3 12th with unerring accuracy. At any time it would be a cause for celebration but even more so on this occasion as John has landed a new job and was playing his last round for a while before whizzing off on his new career. Good luck John, see you on your return.
Wednesday winner Paul Smith (left) with The Golf Club’s Director of Golf, Bob Newell.
So to the Medal and our winner arrived with a steely determination. A recent spate of decidedly average scores had pushed his handicap ever upwards and closer to the dreaded double digits, something not seen for a number of years. Without a turn-around in form that single figure status was in serious jeopardy.
His big-hitting playing partners were likely to pile on even more pressure; recently arrived back Steve ‘Rigsby’ Mulberry, Ernie ‘Big’ McInerny and the recently appointed Thailand National cricket captain Simon ‘Philpot’ Philbrook. Simon decided in true cricketing fashion to get his ‘sledging’ in early (for none cricketers it’s akin to barracking). Perhaps he should have waited before mocking Bob’s rather feeble 220 yard drive down the middle as he proceeded to then dump his first drive in the drink! Som nom na, I think that’s the phrase.
With a score like that you would think it was easy out there but that was far from the case. Many struggled on the heavily sanded and unevenly rolling greens and, just to make it more difficult, we went from sanded to not sanded and then back again. Another baffling example of ‘Green-keeping for Beginners’.
It was a reward, then, for solid tee to green play, good scrambling when needed and only 1 three-putt. Bob, rightly, takes the prestigious, embroidered Golf Club Monthly Medal shirt and, more importantly joins the very small list of double winners.
With another excellent turn-out we had 2 flights today. With a host of single figure guys our cut was made at 11. Jeff Cordiero, who is currently easing himself back into golf, continues his progress and took second spot with his 69 just ahead of his playing partner, and featuring in consecutive weeks, Chuck Anderson.
Grant Cadell took the near pin prize on number 4.
In the junior flight it was a battle royal for the minor placings. Three guys were locked on 73 and after the count back formula, which included all the fingers and the toes, Martin Zimmerman was the one who missed out. A fine effort though as Martin, quite literally, played straight off the plane.
Two more boys who featured last week were the ones who came through, Robert Still got 3rd and our ‘Acer’ JTB nicked 2nd spot. They were no match for our ‘B’ flight winner though. Henry ‘burglar’ O’Brien streaked home by 5 shots and with a 68 was the second best score of the day. Back at the Golf Club we were ‘treated’ to banter, Scottish ditties and the Highland Fling, thank God he didn’t Toss the Caber!
Wednesday, Nov. 2, Greenwood – Stableford
A Flight
1st Paul Smith (2) 40pts
2nd Andrew Byrne (12) 37pts
3rd Thierry Petremont (12) 36pts
4th Steve Snelgrove (5) 35pts
B Flight
1st Mike Jeffries (19) 36pts
2nd Joe Charles (13) 35pts
3rd Peter Henshaw (16) 35pts
4th Colin Davis (15) 35pts
C Flight
1st Stu Carr (24) 35pts
2nd Peter Wallace (22) 34pts
3rd Jim Elphick (26) 34pts
4th Sean Soden (23) 34pts
2’s: Barry Copestake, Paul Smith, Martin Zimmerman, Jeff Clohessy, Kevin McEntee
A fantastic 58 players tee’d it up for the first day of the inaugural Golf Club/Lewinski 2-day Stableford Challenge, making it a resounding success and reward for the mutual co-operation of these two well-respected societies. Too often in town petty squabbles, egos and jealousies detract from what we are all here for… to enjoy ourselves, make friends and play some golf in our beautiful surroundings.
Hats off to all concerned, owners, management and, more importantly, the players for putting all of the negatives aside and joining together in a competition that, hopefully, will grow and grow.
By way of a toss of the coin it was the Golf Club who hosted the first event and presentation and it was an excellent turn-out for prize-giving and Bob thanked all for coming and participating amid all the usual bluff and banter. Tales and stories abounded of who did what, who didn’t and what they’d do on Friday.
To the Golf Club’s utter dismay the winners table showed the Lewinski boys occupying many of the places and, in consequence, those early bragging rights. Even further embarrassment was heaped on when it was revealed that all 3 Lewinski owners were in the prizes but not one from the Golf Club. It was our duty then to at least win the drinking contest, which I think we achieved with honours.
As befits many of these events the players made sure the calculations weren’t easy. In ‘C’ flight 4 players were locked on 34 points and it took numerous efforts to find Peter Wallace in 2nd, Jim Elphick 3rd and Sean Soden in 4th. The unlucky guy missing out was Al Norris. Stu Carr stood alone on 35 and proudly took the division.
Wouldn’t you know it, up in ‘B’ flight 3 guys were tied on 35 and also 16 on the back so it needed the back 6 score. Colin Davis fared worst to take 4th, ahead of his business partner Peter Henshaw. Thankfully for us Joe Charles managed to get amongst the Lewinski boys to take 2nd and prevent a clean sweep, with Mike Jeffries wrapping up the division with his 36 pointer.
So to the big boys up in the senior flight and, fittingly, the best scores of the day were produced here. Big, jovial Stevie Snelgrove flew the Golf Club flag and notched the final placing with 35 points (well done mate). Just shading him and battling hard was Thierry Petremont, 3rd with 36 and Andrew Byrne one better and making 2nd safe.
But no one could come close to the man of the moment who is playing some phenomenal golf right now. Any score around handicap on this track is great golf but to shoot 40 points is exceptional. Take a bow Paul Smith, but, wait a second, there is one more amazing statistic. Paul, incredibly, had only twenty putts. That is simply awesome!
You can catch up with day 2’s happenings at Mountain Shadow on Friday in this week’s report from Lewiinski’s found elsewhere in the sports section of this paper.
