Norman stands tall at Navy

Bunker Boys Golf Society

Monday, Feb. 13, Plutaluang (white tees) – Stableford

A Flight (0-16.7)

1^st Keith Norman (14) 42pts

2^nd Colin Greig (10) 35pts

3^rd Mike Brett (16) 34pts

B Flight (16.8+)

1^st Gerry Cooney (17) 39pts

2^nd Richard Baldotto (23) 34pts

3^rd Mike Corner (20) 34pts

Near Pins: Phil Moore, Richard Baldotto, Mike Brett, Keith Norman.

When is a booking, not a booking?  Apparently at Crystal Bay Golf Course it can be anytime.  Despite our booking being on their system for over six weeks, it was cancelled at short notice due to overbooking on their part.

A hasty phone call found us an alternate venue at the Navy Course and when this was announced one of our members, Raleigh Gosney, declared “this is my de facto home course and I will win today”.  Raleigh would later regret this declaration after returning the lowest score of the day with six consecutive wipes, and in the process leave his sixes partner to fend for himself.

On arrival at the course, we found we found it to be very busy, and at check-in we were confronted with an assortment of school kids, maintenance staff etc, all masquerading as caddies.  Tee off was delayed for a short time and the first three holes were a bit of a grind, however after the lighthouse hole play sped up to a normal pace and no further delays were encountered.  Greens were particularly slow, but the rest of the course was fine.

One golfer stood head and shoulders above the rest.  Keith Norman returned to sparkling form with the remarkable tally of forty-two points, a full seven clear of second place.  In B flight Gerry took the honors, with Richard (13) beating Mike on the count back (11).

Keith again wrote his name on most near pin flags, nailing the last with six inch putt for birdie.

Wednesday, Feb. 15, Treasure Hill (yellow tees) – 2B Scramble

1^st Alan Freeman & Peter Habgood (5) 47pts

2^nd Jimmy Carr & Neil Carter (8) 43pts

3^rd Colin Greig & Geoff Parker (6) 42pts

Near Pins: John Hughes, Keith Norman, Tony Robbins, Geoff Parker.

A new era dawned at the Bunker Boys today with the introduction of a 2-ball scramble.  This venue is itself a big draw card, but the combination with the format was enough to lure out twenty-eight players to participate.

Overall scoring was of a high standard, with each pair playing off 25% of their combined handicaps, with the pairing of Alan and Peter returning a score of forty-seven stableford points, which included six birdies.  Peter rediscovered his putting touch, sinking everything after Alan had given him the line with the first putt.

Despite some initial worries that the format would result in slow play this was not the case and after the par three second hole play continued at a good pace, no doubt helped by the ability to use the buggies to recover the ball not selected for the second shot.

Friday, Feb. 17, Bangpra (white tees) – Stableford

A Flight (0-17)

1^st Neil Carter (14) 38pts

2^nd Alan Freeman (5) 35pts

3^rd Keith Norman (13) 34pts

B Flight (17+)

1^st John Hughes (20) 35pts

2^nd Ken Davidson (23) 33pts

3^rd Trevor Preistly (22) 33pts

Near Pins: Alan Freeman, Neil Carter, John Hughes, Les Cobban.

We had a very good turnout of 34 players for a course that is in dire need of some soaking rain or at least a good watering.  Bare patches abound on the fairways and the greens, normally very tricky, are now extremely fast and putts from above the hole usually result in three putts.  Despite the difficulty, Neil Carter brought his A game and returned a very good score after bagging 23 points on the back nine.  John Hughes, the winner in the B flight, was rumored to have lost a family heirloom as he was seen gazing into the water on the eleventh fairway for an extended period.  It appeared that John held the forlorn hope that his ball would magically defy the laws of physics and float accommodatingly to the surface.  Despite this tragedy, John extended his lead in the “Golfer of the Month” competition.

Members are reminded that the cut off time for registration is 9.30am as it has been for some time.  Adherence to this rule would be appreciated, particularly by Neil Carter who has the difficult job of allocating playing groups and transport in order to leave for the venue at 10am.