Golf - Tuesday 12th August 2008 - Championships Day 1

Today was the first day of our Ladies 2008 Championships. We were lucky enough to get a lovely sunny day and the course is drying out well which some of our scores have indicated.

My playing partners today were Margaret Pratt and Lyn Bates. They were great company and we had a lovely day in spite of the few little technical problems we had on some of the holes. These days are always good and we have had some really great stories about some of the things that have happened out on the course that would only happen on a stroke/championship day and I have to say I thought I had had a very ordinary day until I heard about some of them. Well we have to laugh or else we would cry. Those girls that played well, played very well & full credit to them for holding it all together under the pressure.


The Event of the day was a Stroke Event and the first day of our 4-Day 72 Hole 2008 Championships. We had 76 Starters,



RESULTS:
DIVISION 1:

GROSS WINNER: Kay Adams - 87 strokes
NETT WINNER: Kay Adams - 69 nett on a countback
RUNNER UP: Norma Cubis - 69 nett
3RD: Michele Martin - 73 points on a countback


DIVISION 2

GROSS WINNER: Di Beechey - 95 strokes
NETT WINNER: Di Beechey - 69 nett
RUNNER UP: Kathy Small - 71 nett
3RD: Pam Witt - 73 nett



DIVISION 3

GROSS WINNER: Margaret Mackie - 102 strokes
NETT WINNER: Margaret Nichols - 70 Nett
RUNNER UP: Margaret Mackie - 71 Nett
3RD: June Bowen - 72 Nett on a countback


NEAREST THE PINS:
DIVISION 1 : 5th hole - Margaret MacLachlan; 12th hole - Kay Adams
DIVISION 2: 8th Hole - Joyce Bosley; 14th Hole - Allison Guthrie
DIVISION 3: 8th Hole - not won; 14th Hole - Carol Farrell



SCORE BOARD
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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY as reported to me: Jan Fitzgerald had four strokes on the 13th; Bev Adams hit a huge shot on the 18th destined to be out of bounds, the ball hit a tree and it bounced beautifully back out onto the fairway (I call these shots "A" grade shots - us also-rans would have gone out of bounds); Shirley Daly had a gobbler on the 7th; Michele Martin had 40 strokes on the first nine holes, had a birdie on the 15th and a gobbler on the 13th; Kay Adams had birdies on the 14th & the 15th; Lorraine Linnert had a birdie on the 8th; Sheena Asken had a birdie on the 8th; Di Thomlinson had birdies on the 2nd and the 8th; Lyn Cruickshanks had a birdie/gobbler on the 6th; Di Beechey had 4 strokes on the 3rd; Yvonne Wilson parred the 14th; Norma Cubis parred the 8th and the 9th and generally played a nice steady game; Ronda Jordon had 16 shots on the 10th & staunchly held on to finish the match; Judy Verlander on the 8th hole was in the left hand bunker, shot out of that to behind the right hand bunker, 4 shots later she was back in the original bunker and took two shots to get out of that and then two putted - finally made it into the hole for 11 and very courageously finished the match; my highlight of the day was scoring a par with a gobbler shot on the 4th and scoring a birdie with a gobbler shot on the 8th. I am sure there many other stories of this nature as Championships can bring out the best an worst in our games. A good sense of humour is a good aid on these days.




Images attached: With my playing partners today - Margaret Pratt and Lyn Bates; The score board - at week 1; Kay Adams - Winner nett and Gross of Division 1; Di Beechey - Winner nett and gross of Division 2; Margaret Mackie - Gross Winner of Division 3; Garden at the water bubbler - getting prepared for new plants (watch this space for the results); Clyde Cruickshanks, Des Wilson & John Coddington - F-Troopers hard at work on Monday last repainting the practice putting green wall - how good is that!

Golf - Thursday 7th August 2008

How lucky we were today with the weather. Our golf was all finished and we were tucked up at the 19th hole by the time the storm hit. My playing partners today were Yvonne Wilson & Maryanne Lanham. We had a great day out on the village green. The golf was not fantastic but definately some highlights out there.
By the time we got to the 17th and the 3 pointers were eluding us, I decided that we should play as a team with three score to count for the next hole. Yvonne & Maryanne immediately produced a 3 pointer each. That worked! At the 13th hole we came accross a card with "Look Here" written on it - together with three jelly snakes - left for us by Judy Verlander - Thanks Judy! We needed a sugar hit by then.



The event of the day was a Single Stableford. We had 31 starters. At the end of the field was the semi final of the knockout event which I have detailed the results below.


RESULTS: SINGLE STABLEFORD:

WINNER: Allison Guthrie - 37 points on a countback
RUNNER UP: Cheryl Davison - 37 points
3RD: Helen Stuart - 36 points
4th: Ann Burgess - 35 points


Nearest the pins: 8th Hole: Margaret McLachlan; 14th Hole: Margaret Mackie

CCR: 73 (36 points)

Balls went to 34 points



RESULTS OF THE KNOCKOUT EVENT:

Lesley Gregory & Sue Hutton defeated Norma Cubis & Lyn Cruickshank on the 15th.
Robyn Johnston & Yvonne Bean defeated Michelle Martin & Lorraine Linnert on the 17th

The final is to be held on a date to be agreed by the finalists.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY as reported to me: Ann Burgess had an eagle on the 6th (Ann reckons that there was some divine intervention by Colleen so she could achieve that); Allison Guthrie had 37 points with steady play to her credit; Jenny/Susan Bourne had a 4/4 on the 6th; Sue Hutton hit a tractor on the 10th fairway and got an extra 30 foot; Cheryl Davison got 37 points with some good steady play;Yvonne Wilson & Maryanne Lanham scored three pointers each on the 17th under instruction from their captain.



Images attached: With my playing partners today Maryanne Lanham & Yvonne Wilson; Yvonne & Maryanne with our jelly snakes from Judy; Close up of the note & jelly snakes; Robyn Johnston, Norma Cubis, Lyn Cruickshanks & Yvonne Bean - participants in todays knockout semi final; The club flag at half mast in respect to Colleen Power.

Golf - Tuesday 5th August 2008

Another perfect day for golf. The predicted showers stayed away & we had sunshine all the way.

My playing partners today were Jan Fitzgerald & Yvonne Bean. Our scores were not great however we had a very pleasant day with some highlights along the way to brighten it up.

The event of the day was a Single Stableford. We had 82 starters with two visitors - Robyn Winter & Ann McClintock from Darwin & Kogarah.



RESULTS:


DIVISION 1:
WINNER: Dianne Thomlinson - 42 points
RUNNER UP: Sue Hutton - 40 points
3RD: Robyn Johnston - 39 points


DIVISION 2:
WINNER: Margaret Pratt - 35 points on a countback
RUNNER UP: Kath Payn - 35 points
3RD: Shirley Daly - 34 points


DIVISION 3:
WINNER: Helen Stuart - 40 points on a countback
RUNNER UP: Nerida Hancock - 40 points
3RD: Leanne Moore - 37 points



NEAREST THE PINS:
DIVISION 1: 8th hole: Sandra Coyle; 14th hole : Rhonda Robertson
DIVISION 2: 8th hole: Maryanne Lanham; 14th hole: Maryanne Lanham
DIVISION 3: 8th hole: Helen Stuart; 14th hole: Pricilla Webster


CCR: 73 (36 points)


Balls went to 33 points on a countback.



HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY as reported to me: Di Thomlinson had a birdie on the 5th & scored 42 points; Rosemary Cohen sank a 20 foot putt on the 10th; Clare Hastings hit her drive off the 9th, the ball struck a piece of stone at the end of the pathway & rebounded backwards past the ladies tee & stopped at the mens tee; Doris Morris had a 4 pointer on the 12th; Bev Adams had a birdie on the 5th; Margaret Pratt had a gobbler on the 17th; Di Beechey scored 19 points on the back nine; Jan Fitzgerald put a great putt in on the 10th for 5/3 and had a gobbler on the 18th; Dawn Cook parred the 14th; Nerida Hancock had 40 points and parred the 5th for 3/4; Margaret Mackie had 4/4 on the 15th; Leonie Casey had a birdie on the 6th; Helen Stuart was generally an allround star; Sharon Anderson hit her tee shot off the 15th straight into a plastic bag that was wafting accross the fairway - she found the ball neatly wrapped in the plastic; Dawn Cook had a one putt on the 7th; Elly Van Den Berg had a par on the 18th for 5/4; Robyn Johnston had a birdie on the 15th; Carol Farrell had a 4 pointer on the 8th; Linda Rankin had one 4 pointer and three 3 pointers; Cheryl Davison birdied the 15th and parred the 2nd; Pricilla Webster had a 4 pointer on the 14th.



I am still to get the official results from the Pandora Charity Day - however some of the snippets are - Winner of the Men's - Ian Dicks; on the 14th hole our defacto driver hit a hole-in-one for the lucky player that he represented. More information to come on that very successful day.



Images attached: With my playing partners today - Yvonne Bean & Jan Fitzgerald at the 8th tee; Di thomlinson - winner of Division 1; Margaret Pratt - winner of Division 2; Helen Stuart - winner of Division 3; the new protective fence at the ladies tee on the 9th; the newly planted oleanders on the 5th tee - these oleanders are miniature version & will be apricot in colour flowering for a good part of the year and are drought tolerant - Des & Yvonne Wilson have taken over this garden as part of the Adopt-A-Garden scheme & have done a wonderful job; our new fairway watering system currently being installed throughout the course.

F-Troop help - Thursday 31st July 2008

F-Troop on Monday was a washout so some of us had decided to front again on Thursday to make up for lost time. Unfortunately for Martin quite a few of his team had short term memory loss and did not turn up as scheduled - so Martin had to put his day plan on hold through lack of manpower.

It turned out to be a stroke of luck for me as I was able to secure Martin & Peter to my team for the day to tidy up and mulch the Wedding Garden. Warren Gray made the mistake of wandering over to see what we were doing and was soon handed a shovel. Bert Brink made a brief appearance before scurrying away (photo attached). Thanks for kicking in with some help Warren even though it was not scheduled into your day. I was very appreciative of the help from the F-Troop as it was quite a job to rake off all the sticks and leaves in and around the wedding garden. We took two full trailer loads to the 6th tee to act as mulch there.

We put on about half of the woodchip mulch today before calling it a day with the intention of returning tomorrow to finish the job.

I think Martin was out of his comfort zone not having a tree to deal with but did a superb job on the shovel & rake as did Pete and Warren. The area was looking so much better that I have captured the moment on film for tomorrow and the weekend is forcast for more rain & high winds - so it could be a case of 'play it again Sam' on Monday.

Images attched: Looking from the clubhouse balcony towards the Wedding Garden; Warren & Martin in raking mode; Warren & Martin with the rakes, Peter on the mower; various photos of the garden; Warren, Martin & myself on the shovels; Bert Brink making his escape; around the wedding garden.

Golf - Tuesday 22nd July 2008

I did not play today as I was in recovery mode from a week of golf including Wauchope, Bonville & Royal Pines on the Gold Coast. Well, what can I say - apart from one day of torrential rain it was beautiful one day and perfect the next in magnificent Queensland at this time of the year. I will have a brief report on this blog as soon as I find time and a full report on my travel blog when time permits.

In the meantime golf goes on at beautiful Gosford and getting better every moment as the course dries out and improvements are made. Today was a stroke Monthly Medal Event - a catch up from previous monthly medal washouts. We had some great scores in with players needing to score 75 on a countback or better to get a ball. We had 80 starters and no visitors.

RESULTS:

DIVISION 1:

WINNER: Michelle Martin - 68 nett

RUNNER UP: Margaret McLachlan - 69 nett

GROSS WINNER: Margaret MacLachlan - 85

PUTTING: Margaret McLachlan -30 putts on a countback

DIVISION 2:

WINNER: Leonie Casey - 66 nett

RUNNER UP: Lyn Cruickshanks - 70 nett

3rd: Clare Hastings - 72 nett

GROSS WINNER: Leonie Casey - 90

PUTTING: Leonie Casey - 29 putts

DIVISION 3:

WINNER: Elizabeth MacNamara - 71 nett

RUNNER UP: Val Scott - 72 nett

GROSS WINNER: Elizabeth MacNamara - 102

PUTTING: Iris Talbot - 29 putts

NEAREST THE PINS:

DIVISION 1 : 5th Hole: Lorraine Linnert; 12th Hole: Sheena Asken

DIVISION 2: 8th Hole : Not won; 14th Hole : Lyn Cruickshanks

DIVISION 3: 8th Hole: Margaret Mackie; 14th Hole: Margaret Nash

CCR: 73

Balls went to 75 nett on a countback.

Highlights of the day as reported to me: Fay Bailey had a birdie on the 4th; Elizabeth MacNamara had a birdie on the 15th; Yvonne Cumming had 11 putts on the back nine; Leanne Moore had 6 shots of the 18th; Helen McIntyre (a new member to our club - welcome Helen!) 6 shots on the 18th; Debbie Grinham started the day with a gobbler, a birdie and no putts and also won the fruit raffle(how good can it get) ; Michelle Martin was a star all day; Lorraine Linnert got nearest the pin on the 5th; Sue Hutton lost a ball on the new work on the 13th and was delighted when the workmen dug her ball out of the dirt & placed it for her to play(cannot loose a ball in GUR); Norma Cubis hit a super powerful drive off the 13th narrowly missed the head of a tractor driver & the ball rebounded off the tractor almost back to the water ( a close encounter one could say - for both Norma & the tractor driver); Yvonne Wilson ate half of her banana today at the 12th green & put the rest away for later, while she was putting Debbie Grinham helped herself to a bite when Yvonne was not looking - however owned up & paid her back after winning the fruit raffle later in the day.

Images attached: Michelle Martin - winner of Division 1; Leonie Casey Winner of Division 2; Elizabeth MacNamara - winner of Division 3; Debbie Grinham, Michelle Martin & Lorraine Martin - all winners today ( with Debbie's raffle win - note Debbie repaid the banana to Yvonne after she won the raffle prize).

F-Troop work on the 14th tee

The F-Troopers have been hard at work while I have been away checking out sunny Queensland. The path at the 14th is really taking shape now. I believe another layer of crushed brick will finish it off & it should be "A" okay for the future. "Do it once and do it well" should be our new motto. It is a lot of work and some expense - but work it out in the long run when we do not have to be concerned about washouts. I believe that Des Wilson contributed his civil engineering skills to this job and is now referred to as "General" Wilson. Congratulations to all the hard working F-Troopers and to Des for his contribution.

Images attached: F-troopers at work on the path at the 14th tee.

Golf - Tuesday 8th July 2008

A little touch of winter today - although it started out alright with some nice sunshine for the first nine holes. Then it clouded over & it was vests back on & eventually led to light showers. Luckily the most of us got in without getting too wet. We had some funny moments today & some good highlights with my playing partners Julie Hazzard & Christine Drakeford.

The event of the day was the Stroke Monthly Medal, played in three divisions. We had 88 starters today including two players from Terrigal.

RESULTS:

DIVISION 1:

WINNER: Annette Dunk - 73 nett

RUNNER UP: Linda Rogers - 74 nett

GROSS WINNER: Linda Rogers - 89

PUTTING: Annette Dunk - 29 putts

DIVISION 2:

WINNER: Sandra Laybutt - 72 nett

RUNNER UP: Bev Adams - 73 nett

3RD: Di Bechey - 75 nett

4TH: Helen Broadbent - 76 nett on a count back

5TH: Elizabeth McNamara - 76 nett on a count back

GROSS WINNER: Bev Adams - 94

PUTTING: Alison Guthrie - 28 putts

DIVISION 3:

WINNER: Lynn Puiatti - 72 nett

RUNNER UP: Helen Stuart - 73 nett

GROSS WINNER: Lynn Puiatti - 107 on a count back

PUTTING: Margaret Nicholls - 29 putts

NEAREST THE PINS:

DIVISION 1: 5th Hole - Kay Adams; 12th Hole - Sheena Asken

DIVISION 2: 8th Hole - Fay Levenspiel; 14th Hole - Sandra Laybutt

DIVISION 3: 8th Hole - Lynn Puiatti; 14th Hole - Helen Stuart

CCR: 73

BALLS went to 78 nett.

Highlights of the day as reported to me: Julie Hazzard parred the 11th - 5 with one putt; Chris Drakeford had a birdie on the 15th by scoring 3 with one putt; Lynn Puiatti had three pars - 5th, 8th and the 18th; Annette Dunk played a nice steady game for a nett 73 and won the putting with 29 putts; Sheena Asken had a gobbler on the 4th; Alison Guthrie had her best score for 18 months; My highlight was parring the 3rd with a gobbler; Norma Cubis hit a sizzling shot right at the garbage tin that I was standing next to on the 7th tee. I was marking my card & did not see it coming until I heard a huge bang - the garbage tin is a little the worse for wear; not to be outdone Lyn Cruickshanks fired up her shot in the same direction but missed the garabage tin; Julie Hazzard proudly announced the birth of her 12th granchild - a boy (Samuel); Bev Adams is also bragging about her new grandchild, a baby girl - born last week. Congratulations Julie & Bev!

Images attached: With my playing partners Julie Hazzard & Christine Drakeford; Annette Dunk - winner of Division one with Bev Adams & Di Beechey; Sandy Laybutt - winner of Division two ( showing off her monthly medal) with Bev Adams & Di Beechey; Lynn Puiatti - winner of Division Three with Bev adams & Di Beechey.