Araluen - Stableford
This week was a trip up the hill to Araluen Country Club.
The course was in great condition as expected and the greens were true but near impossible to read. There were many 3 and 4 putts that’s for sure. The club subsidised a fair portion of the round after strong numbers in recent rounds enable us to generate some extra funding.
Two people, well 4 really, decided to play their Matchplays which were both close and went down to the final few holes.
Story wise, it was typical Araluen, 240m 4 irons on the downhill portion of the 8th. Duff shots over the water on the 9th, great views down the 16th and plenty of wipes on the 17th and 18th holes. Or if you are Dave Thomas, plenty more than just those two holes after he had a bit of shocker.
There were great long drives and fair bit of luck off trees. I had the pleasure of watching Dave and Marc in Matchplay and it was good one. No one really pulled away and it was close, it all really came down to putting. Mitch and Hoops also had a close one which I would say at a guess was a mirror image of the other match. Who ever adapted to the greens got the wins.
Now there was a mix up with handicaps and the winner Matt, was one of those. He won the day on 35 but a recount after adjusting for incorrect tee handicap, had him at 33. It was just a tee colour choice that affected a few people, allowing for blacks when we were off whites.
Well done to Rob Mathias who was the eventual winner and was sporting a very lovely set of red toe nails. It was for research purposes..... "It's O.K. Rob this is a safe place, a safe circle, you can tell us. It's O.K. Whisper it if you have to" … but no it was for research purposes, testing products can do what they say before he gets some in bulk for his side business. (MP: who knew the cross dresser golfer market was so big?)
(MP: Hat tip to Rob Mizen for the following)
Last hole Basil is so keen to beat our group, he lands in the river bank mud on the right side of the fairway. Risking it all and not wanting to drop a stroke he bravely, so some would say, treks through the mud to make a seemingly impossible shot. With perfect execution, the shot makes it to the green and he happily takes victory in our group by one stroke for the day. So if anyone has any spare clean shoes, I'm sure Baz would be very grateful. (lol) But then I couldn't expect any less dedication to the sport from him. He has been known in the past to remove his shoes, dress in complete wet weather gear and take a shot out of the lake at Collier Park.
Winners:
1st: Rob Mathias (34)
2nd: Basil Musca (33)
3rd: Matt Gibson (33)
NAGA: Dave Thomas (10)
Nearest to Pins:
4th: Tony Calder
7th: Norm Mews
12th: Dave Ovel
16th: Nigel Smith
Nearest in 2: Dave Ovel
Nearest in 3: Matt Gibson
Longest Drives:
A Grade: Norm Mews
B Grade: Nigel Smith
Match Play:
Dave Ovel 3 and 2 Marc Ellis
Steve Hooper 2 and 1 Mitch Fitzpatrick