The on again, off again and finally on again provisions to play golf under the current circumstances, may have been a little confusing for some. However it did not concern at least 83 players who contested last Saturdays Wayne & Bev Robinson (Poolworks) Monthly Mug with some fairly impressive scoring as a result. Those players did not disappoint, all complying with the rules associated with the social distance requirements and the rather special and unique playing conditions that currently apply to all golf.
Two players completed their rounds with a outstanding score of 67 nett, requiring a countback to determine the overall and mug winner. That honour went to Terry Bowe (14) with John Dahl (9) having to settle for the winning position in A Grade. The runner-up spot in A Grade went to Tim Bartlett (4) with a healthy score of 68 nett. Also with a score of 68 was Bill Newman (17) who was subsequently awarded the win in C Grade from Gerry McMullan (19) on 73. Jason Casserly (10) was the best of the B Grade players, finishing with a 69 two shots clear of his nearest rival, the always impressive Dennis Pye (13) on 71. Four shots separated the winners in D Grade with Brett Paxton (21) the leader of that group with 72 from Aiden Langford (31), who regularly keeps featuring in the results on 76.
Obviously there were no nearest the pin results and no Pro pin winner as those trophies are not available at this time. Same with the hole-in-one jackpot, which is in recess until some normality returns to our game. A pro-ball rundown was on offer, with balls going down to those players with a score of 77 nett, on a countback with five players out of the eleven with 77 being successful in gaining a ball.
A reasonable field of 45 players teed it up in last Thursday’s competition. Playing off a handicap of 21, Mark Robson was the leading player with a good honest score of 38 points, just the single point from both John Dahl (9) and Shane Essex (13) on 37 points, who were awarded with the 1st and 2nd runner-up positions respectively. Just behind those two players on 36 came Trevor Townsend (15) and Gerry McMullan (20) all they were awarded was a Pro ball as was everyone else on 34 points or better.
Both our mid-week competitions and our Saturday competition will proceed as normal unless State authorities or Golf NSW have a change of heart. All players must however comply with the current playing conditions, which include just two players per group, and only the single player in any one motorised cart. There can be no exceptions to this rule any non compliance could result in some penalty being applied.
As everyone should be aware the licenced section of our Club is closed with the exception of the men’s and ladies locker rooms, which enables access to toilets. Mark Harvison’s Pro-shop is operating normal trading hours, at which time Mark can attend to sales and any repairs to your golf equipment. However be aware only two people can access the Pro shop at any one time.
During the last week or so, our course was subjected to a couple of really heavy storms, which resulted in significant damage with many trees ripped out of the ground and together with many large branches creating even more damage. Most of that damage has now been cleaned up, not only due to the efforts of our ground staff, but also to the many volunteers who came out to help clear that damage. Our club has been fortunate to have such a strong volunteer base who put in a great deal of time and effort to assist to our ground staff. Without that effort we would not have such a good a course, that we all can enjoy at all times.
With golfing conditions as they are, we will continue to try and keep all our members informed as to any changes to those conditions as they occur. Should you not be sure what the current conditions are, it is best that you contact our club professional, Mark Harvison on 6642 5413.
Hopefully next week we will have some more positive news to report on and as time goes on some form of relaxation to the current playing conditions.
Ray Hopwood