Fourteen players to face the starters pistol on an overcast morning with the occasional spit. The greens were a curious mix – recently sanded and slowish with often a bumpy ride on Island; smoother with more pace, some dotted with weeds, on Lake. With a Golden Putter round on offer, the challenges were aplenty.
The Flying Falcon has being doing some homework and he’s obviously studied hard . . . on his golf swing that is. It’s being undergoing a revamp (a la Nick Faldo) and there were signs it’s working after a third place last week at Sun City. It was obviously working even better today. After warming up over Island with 44 off-the-stick, his irons (particularly) glowed red hot on the homeward Lake journey firing approaches into the greens with consistent accuracy for a terrific 39 which included 6 pars. And, according to the Smiling Falcon, it’s still a work-in-progress!
The Heron was fairly flying today with solid ball striking. Though some faded into the rough, he recovered well except for two holes on Island where the thunk of ball against trees contributed to an 8 stroke excess. He rued the lapse, going just 13 strokes over for the remaining 16 holes in a “what coodabeen” round. Gary “Lazarus” Hammond was back with a vengeance after last week’s ‘hiccup’, his form reversal due partly to an adjustment in his stance as well as his happy knack with the short stick – just 29 putts, including 4 consecutive 1 putts on Lake (he didn’t win 4 consecutive Golden Putters just by being an accountant!).
Our group met with two ‘visitors’ today – Garth on Island 9th fairway as he meant to be negotiating the 8th; and Heiney on Lake 1st in his attempts to play the 2nd. Their recoveries were something special, Garth firing a magnificent iron that soared over the very high pines (see pic) and Heiney thumping a prodigious 5 wood back onto target.
The Captain laid down the law after the round, concerned about slow play over Lake (around 3 hours). We should all be mindful of the need to maintain the pace of play, particularly in stroke rounds where every shot must be played. If you’re in any doubt about finding an errant shot, please play a provisional ball.
Winners:
1st: BASIL MUSCA (net 65)
2nd: STEVE HERON (net 67)
3rd: GARY HAMMOND (net 68)
NAGA: ROBIN DALBY (unknown net - off to buy Nick Faldo's book)
Nearest to Pins:
Island 2nd: NORM MEWS
Island 4th: MARC ELLIS
Lake 3rd: LUI DINARDO
Lake 5th: STEVE HERON
Lake 8th: BASIL MUSCA
Nearest in 2: N/A
Nearest in 3: GARTH ZIEGLER
Longest Drives:
A Grade: GARTH ZIEGLER
B Grade: IAN HAVENSTEIN