20-Jul-2014: Rosnay GC-1st Rnd Club Championships

Well, its that time of year again when Revesby golfers take out extra health insurance for self-inflicted wounds and mental disturbances. The Championships consists of four rounds of stroke play and the winner (scratch and handicap) in each Grade (A, B and C) is determined by discarding the worst round and totalling the remaining three rounds.

With the promise of a “sausage sizzle” after the round and the start of the Championships, it was no surprise to see a great roll up of 32 players today, or as some might say after the round, 32 sausages for the meat grinder 🙂

Rosnay is a short course (par 68) and always popular with the members. It has low rough, few bunkers and is easy to walk. Fairways are well grassed and generous in width and best of all, has terrific greens which are small to medium in size with contours that normal golfers can putt on (with one exception). Rosnay’s defences are lots of trees, some water hazards and nearby out-of-bounds.

Clear skies, cool temperatures and a light breeze greeted players on the course. A relatively late hit-off at around 8:10am found many players warming up on the practice putting green or hitting in the nets. The practice putting green was quick, and judging by the colour of the nearby greens, which looked dry and slick, you knew it was going to be a hard day at the office on the greens.

Play was initially very slow, with 2 or 3 groups waiting on the early tees. The long wait between shots was off-putting for some and it was no surprise to see some players score poorly on the initial holes. Fortunately, the waiting abated after a couple of holes, however, stroke rounds can be notoriously slow, so patience may be key to a good score.

Feedback from players after the round confirmed the course was tough to play, particularly when chipping and putting on the greens. However, this did not stop many players coming in with below handicap scores, particularly in the higher handicap grades.

With 32 score cards to be checked, sorted and recorded, the players were busy devouring the many hot dogs and snags cooked by the clubs resident master chefs, Noel Connolly and Rossco Hamer and apprentice chef, Jeff Hilder. Hats off to the chefs for doing a wonderful job and many thanks to the dogsbody, Mark Connolly, for appropriating the right amount of food, beer and SOFT-DRINKS 🙂

The outright winner today was a shock to many, but to those in the know, it was just a case of “horses for courses”. With a score of 59 nett on a 15 handicap, Mister George Lattouf amazed everyone with his bravado performance today. After just one week in retirement, Mister G has unburdened all his work stresses in the up-and-down business of KONE Lifts, to unleash his jittery-smooth golf swing. This is the 3rd game at Rosnay this year and Mister G now has two Outright Winners and one Runners Up at Rosnay in 2014, so was it a surprise result, definitely not! Fantastic round Mister G, lets hope you find a new horse for Bankstown 🙂

Speaking of smooth swings, the A Grade winner went to Rodney Keen with a score of 63 nett on a 17 handicap. Rodney has been known in the past to be somewhat erratic off the tee, but his smooth and controlled swing exhibited today was both a surprise and pleasure to watch. Just one or two blemishes spoiled a chance to take top prize. Well played Rodney.

In a welcome return to form, Ken Harris shot 62 nett on a 21 handicap to take out B Grade winner on a count-back from Joy Mesuria. Ken has been missing from the podium for some time, so he couldn’t have timed it better than fire up in the Championships. Ken always fares well in stroke rounds, he is very good at adding numbers and subtracting, gee, maybe we can find him a job in the club 🙂 Great round Ken “Big”.

The C Grade winner went to Rossco Hamer with a score of 63 nett on a 26 handicap. Rossco is no stranger to the podium, but seeing him shoot such a good score so soon after the Gold Coast Tour means his timing was off 🙂 A hot round with no snags on the course and a hot round plate with plenty of snags off the course – a talented player indeed !

The Guzzlers went to another “lemonade-aholic” player, namely Joy Mesuria with a fine score of 62 nett on a 21 handicap. Joy has been mostly MIA this year so it was good to see him back in form.

Bringing up the rear, the Bradmans went to a motley crew well versed in the acceptance of the award. Mind you, two Bradmans were won on count-back, which means there are two other players out there with a smile on their face.

Two shots (infamous) of the day:

Antony Conte claimed a “birdie” when he hit a duck in the legs with his drive. The match committee ruled it a “fowl” shot because it was a low blow 🙁

Ever had a bad putting day? Well, have you ever had a 5 putt from one metre? No, then ask Louis Tasaico, because he did 🙁

 
Individual results on the day:

Outright Winner: George Lattouf [15] 59 nett

A Grade Winner: Rodney Keen [17] 63 nett

B Grade Winner: Ken Harris [21] 62 nett c/b

C Grade Winner: Rossco Hamer [26] 63 nett

GUZZLER’s CUP: Joy Mesuria [21] 62 nett

BRADMANS:
A Grade: C. Poletti [16] 74 nett
B Grade: G.McMahon [23] 76 nett c/b
C Grade: B.Vaughn [27] 74 nett c/b
Nearest To Pins: G.McMahon(2), K.Harris(5), R.Keen(6), J.Hilder(9), M.Campbell(10), G.Lattouf(13), R.keen(16), J.Varrica(17)

Drive & Pitch: G.Lattouf(14)