2017 4BBB MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONS: PHIL WHITE & SHANE THORN
At last, a later start to a winter morning game, when the Sun is above the horizon busily melting the dew and frost on the ground as well as igniting the semi-frozen blood cells in each player’s hands.
The 25 players arrived to a packed car park for the 8:13am start time at Campbelltown, an ominous sign that the day was going to be a long one with so many players out on the course. Fortunately, players were pleasantly surprised how much warmer it got whilst waiting to hit-off.
The course appeared much the same as a month ago, the fairways and bunkers in good condition, whilst the practice putting green was still quick and with the expected westerlies arriving later in the morning to dry out the greens further, expect some putters to end up in the middle of the lake 🙁
In addition to the single stableford event today, the 4BBB matchplay final between Shane Thorn/Phil White and Terry Coleman/Frank Saify will be concluded today.
Play commenced from the 1st tee and 10th tees (white markers) and prefer on fairways only was the local rule.
The pace around the track was slow, with many groups reporting how they had to wait on each tee. The wind kicked in on the second nine holes, and the gusty conditions played havoc with the drying eyes, making club selection and aim that much harder to guess.
The greens were difficult, and whilst they had a much better grass covering than in summer, they were very fast and prone to little bumps and hops from all the sprig marks and pitch marks left on the soft surface.
With eight out of 25 players scoring 38 points or higher, it was rather surprising to find CCR set to 35 points (4th best score on the day).
The Outright Winner was Cliff Bourquin with 41 points.
Hit it straight all day with driver and irons and managed to putt safely with only one 3-putt.
His one wipe was more than compensated for by his tremendous birdie on the long par3 17th hole when he hit his tee shot two metres from the hole. His score was easily the best on the day.
The A Grade winner was George Lattouf with 38 points (count-back).
Another straight shooter with the driver, couldn’t miss a fairway. Iron play and putting was average, but he still managed to grab 3 birdies with only one wipe. Mind you, his tap in putt from 30cm on the short par3 12th hole was worthy of an eagles nest reward, only trouble was it wasn’t one of the eagles nest holes!
The B Grade winner was Adam Shields with 39 points (count-back).
Started out shakily but came back on the second nine to amass 23 points and two birdies.
His so-so driving was rescued by solid iron play and good putting. A single 3-putt and two wipes was the only damage to his good game today.
The C Grade winner was Alan Tricker with 38 points.
Wow, his second win in two successive games, is this be-kind-to-Alan month or is he on a mission!
Only just missed out on grabbing the NTP on the short par3 4th hole, but still sank the putt for birdie.
He described his game as pretty much up-and-down, and with 6 wipes, I can believe it! That’s 38 points in 12 holes – blimey Charlie, when can I sign him up for the next 4-Ball 🙂
The Guzzlers winner was Phil Kilazoglou with 39 points.
How fitting is that, the one-armed bandit from The Fugitive is now holding up the Guzzlers Cup!
The doctors didn’t just reconstruct his shoulder, they must have used spare parts borrowed from Colonel Steve Austin. Is this the fore-runner of things to come, that is the Six Million Dollar question 🙂
A-BRADMAN
B-BRADMAN
C-BRADMAN
The Bradman winners were tried and proven Bradman winners, probably the hottest/coldest players in the Club.
They were Ryan Cassin (22 pts), Steve Vaughn (27 pts) and Gary McMahon (28 pts) for A, B and C Grade, respectively, and all were last seen going on the internet ordering a new thermostat to regulate the temperature of their golf games 🙁
MATHCHPLAY FINAL
When Frank Saify hit his first shot skimming across the water on the first hole to find dry land, it meant either he was going to have all the luck today or he was going to have a very hard day at the office.
Fortunately for Frank, his partner, Terry Coleman, was in the zone and was able to cover for Frank’s misdeeds.
On the other hand, the odd couple of Shane Thorn and Phil White, who were thrown together at the last moment in round one when their original partners did a no-show, had proved to be a potent team throughout their matches, and were going to be a tough nut to crack, particularly with all that experience and Shane Thorn in such good form.
It was like watching an arm wrestle all day, with each player chiming in to do their part.
The turning point came on the par4 15th hole, when Frank was pin-high for two about 15 feet away, whilst Shane, who was on the back of the green for two about 40 feet away, was facing a devilishly difficult downhill putt.
You wouldn’t believe it, Shane sank his 40 foot putt, forcing Frank to sink his putt for a half.
Well, Frank missed his putt, in fact, he actually missed the green as well because his putt rolled off the green and ended up at the bottom of the hill to the green. From that point on, Frank had problems with lagging his putts 🙁
Fortunately, Terry came to the rescue and managed to keep the team only one behind when standing on the 18th tee.
With only Terry receiving one shot from Shane on the last, things looked promising for a halved match.
Alas, Terry stumbled with a double bogey six to halve the hole with Shane.
It was a very tight match with the result always close, even to the very end.
Congratulations to Shane and Phil on a marvellous campaign and commiserations to Terry and Frank, it was a stirling performance 🙂
Highlight of the Day:
Joy Mesuria and highlights don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand.
However, whilst playing the par4 9th hole, Joy played one his usual poor tee shots by pulling the ball straight left into the trees about 50 metres away.
Struggling to get out of trouble, he managed to advance the ball another 100 metres.
From about 170 metres away from the hole, Joy hit his hybrid only to lose it in the glare of the sky. His playing partner, John Varrica, carefully watched the ball land and run onto the green, and run, and run, and run, until it nose-dived into the hole, for a miraculous birdie three, effectively doubling his birdie tally for the year 🙂
Lowlights of the day:
1. The course architects may have orientated the tees and fairways to minimise damage to neighbouring property, but that didn’t stop some Revesby trailblazers from finding their targets.
Adam Giltinan was playing his third shot out of the right hand bunker on the par4 5th hole, only to see the ball come whistling out of the bunker over the green, over the tree, over the fence and into someone’s house. His defence for the overly aggressive shot was that the house wasn’t there three years ago 🙁
Speaking of houses, the scribe was playing his second shot on the par4 2nd hole fairway when he blocked his hybrid way right of the trees short of the green, only to see the ball soar over the fence and land on a metal roof. It was a clanger in more ways than one 🙁
2. How do you know when you’re not driving well?
Its when you’re driving a cart on the par3 4th hole after finishing the hole and you miss the tunnel entrance!
A sheepish Adam Giltinan was asked what does he do for a living, to which he replied “a courier driver” 🙁
Individual results on the day:
Outright Winner: Cliff Bourquin [18] 41 pts
A Grade Winner: George Lattouf [15] 38 pts c/b
B Grade Winner: Adam Shields [17] 39 pts c/b
C Grade Winner: Alan Tricker [44] 38 pts
Guzzler’s Cup: Phil Kilazoglou [12] 39 pts
BRADMANS:
A Grade: Ryan Cassin [12] 22 pts
B Grade: Steve Vaughn [19] 27 pts
C Grade: Gary McMahon [24] 28 pts
Nearest To Pins:
K.Little(4), K.Little(6), G.Lattouf(12), S.Thorn(14), C.Bourquin(17)
Drive & Pitch:
J.Mesuria(18)
2017 4BBB MATCHPLAY RESULTS – FINAL
Shane Thorn & Phil White def Terry Coleman & Frank Saify 1 up
