OUTRIGHT WINNER: JAMES DAWKINS (14 HCP) 42POINTS
A relatively warm morning greeted twenty seven (27) players as they prepared for a 5:59am hit-off at the nearby Hurstville Golf Course. With a barbecue (BBQ) on offer after the round, players were already drooling on the 10th tee in anticipation. Naturally, the Cook extraordinaire, Ryan Cassin, and his minion, Mark McDonald, led out early.
The under-rated Hurstville layout is quite challenging, particularly the undulating front nine with its many tree-lined fairways, sinewy Kikuyu rough and water hazards (and don’t forget the tennis courts on the 5th hole – a definite ball magnet) 🙁
The greens can be the Achilles heel for this course. Varying from small to medium in size, they can vary from extremely fast, well matted greens to slow, bumpy and patchy greens, it all depends on the season and weather conditions.
Sydney has experienced a very hot and humid January and the Hurstville course looks toasted, with fairways looking dry and hard and greens patchy in appearance.
Play commenced from the social tees on the 10th hole with players involved in the second round of the singles matchplay leading out (after the cooks).
With prefer-on-fairways only the local rule for the day, players still had difficulty with nipping the ball on the tight fairways. Like Campbelltown the previous week, the Hurstville greens were oversaturated with water to protect them from the scorching hot weather.
Yes, the greens were definitely “heat-stressed” and very patchy on some, but they were definitely puttable. In fact, some of the greens were very quick and quite challenging, in particular, the par4 10th and par3 4th greens. Some players were quite numb from the shock of 4 putting, and in one case, 5 putting 🙁
Even though the game was quick, the effects of the mid-morning heat and hills on the last nine holes drained the energy out of most players.
Resuscitation was on hand after the round, with players quickly convening to the covered outdoor area for the BBQ.
With Ryan Cassin and Mark McDonald busy preparing the food and sizzling the snags and steak, players rushed to the eskies for the cold bottles of water and soft drinks (sorry fellas, no alcohol unless you buy from the pro shop)!
Overall scores were reasonable with unofficial CCR for the day set to 38 points.
The overall winner (on a count-back) was James Dawkins, who amassed a fine score of 42 points. A good striker of the ball, was able to master the tight lies with his precision irons to prove to every one that golf is not genetically engineered.
Of course, I could be wrong, in which case, James must have been adopted 🙂
Next best was George Lattouf, who took out A Grade with another fine score of 42 points. His poor recent form has magically transformed into a winning golfer, with good driving backed up by a sound chipping game. However, he needs to sit down in a small courtyard for a couple of weeks and think about the trials and tribulations of aggressive putting if he is to acquit himself successfully in the upcoming Championships 🙂
The B Grade winner went to Steve Vaughn with, dare I say it, a sound score of 41 points. Yes, Steve will be out of action for several weeks following an ear operation, so it was only natural for him to shoot a sound score. Putting was the key to his success today as he was able to get his ear close to the ground and read the breaks correctly 🙂
The C Grade winner went to Kevin Gerkens with a delicious score of 38 points. No slicing and dicing today, just raw golf with no bitterness. Carried an extra cucumber in his bag to boost his energies and bragging rights. The key to his success today was striking the ball sweetly and avoid getting into a pickle 🙂
The dreaded Bradman winners were Mick McCarney (A), Claude Poletti (B) and Paul Dawkins (C).
I swear, Paul Dawkins is fast becoming as iconic as Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in the United States Army.
Many thanks to Master Cook, Ryan Cassin and his minion helper, lanky Mark McDonald as well as Rossco Hamer. The food and cold drinks hit the right spot with many languishing in their seats like contented babies after breast-feeding 🙂
Noteworthy shots of the day:
Glen Blades 5-putt on the par3 4th hole – it was unbearable to watch 🙁
John McDonald nearest the pin on the dreaded par3 4th hole. Protected by towering trees either side of the green and a frontal lake full of heavy water (full of golf balls, thats why)! It was a beauty of a shot:-)
Speaking of nearest the pins, how did the champion bradman winner, Paul Dawkins, manage to get one on the par3 18th hole? The Revesby golfing stewards are still trawling local CCTV cameras for confirmation 🙂
The match play between Shane Thorn and John Varrica was all square after seventeen holes. Playing the 9th par4 hole, both players played their second shots from about 70 metres out. John hit first and was safely on. Shane then hit and watched his ball land slightly left of the pin, bounce once and land in the hole for an eagle 2.
It was game, set and match for Shane !!!
A smiling Rossco Hamer walked off the long par4 6th hole with a quadruple bogey 8 to win the hole against his out-of-sorts opponent, Ken Little (who also had an 8). What made it worse was it was also the match 🙁
A dejected little Ken went to the next hole, the par5 7th hole, and smacked the ball from the tee with uncontrollable fury and was surprised to see it go straight. When reaching the ball to play his second shot, a stunned Ken Harris walked up and looked at his GPS watch and said, “do you know you hit that ball 290-300 metres long”?
What really made it more memorable for little Ken was when he took out his 8-iron from 130 metres out for his second shot and proceeded to shank it into the trees on the right – must have had the BBQ on his mind all day – it was a baaaa day 🙁
Individual results on the day:
Outright Winner: James Dawkins [14] 42 pts c/b
A Grade Winner: George Lattouf [14] 42 pts
B Grade Winner: Steve Vaughn [19] 41 pts
C Grade Winner: Kevin Gerkens [27] 38 pts
GUZZLER’s CUP: Matt Campbell [18] 40 pts
Nearest To Pins:
C.Poletti(2), J.McDonald(4), J.Varrica(11), R.Knebusch(12), F.Saify(16), P.Dawkins(18)
Drive & Pitch:
F.Saify(10)
BRADMANS:
A Grade: Mick McCarney [15] 25 pts
B Grade: Claude Poletti [18] 28 pts
C Grade: Paul Dawkins [28] 23 pts
MATCH PLAY Results:
R. Johnston def C. Poletti 4&2
M.Campbell def Alan Tricker 5&4
G. Lattouf def M. McCarney 7&5
F. Saify def C. Bourquin 5&3
S. Thorn def J. Varrica 1up
L. Tasaico def J. McDonald 2up
T. Coleman def W. Coleman forfeit
R. Hamer def K. Little 5&3
