5-APRIL-2015: Campbelltown GC – Single Stableford CCR 34 PTS

After a couple of thunderstorms in Sydney over the last couple of days, it was not surprising to find Campbelltown Golf Course so wet, with all bunkers deemed out of play.

The course is hard to walk at the best of times and with no carts allowed, plus it being the Easter long weekend, quite a lot of players elected not to play today.

It was eerily quiet with virtually no golfers on the course, excepting the ten (10) keen Revesby players who showed up, under overcast skies, to the first tee (white tees) for a 6:33 am hit-off.

With the course saturated from the rain, Revesby’s interim Captain, Ryan Johnston, quickly made an executive decision to lift, clean and place the ball through-the-green 🙂

The overcast skies quickly gave way to clear skies and a glaring sun that disconcertingly blinded ones eyes for the first couple of tee shots. Whilst the fairways were lush and reasonably firm (not much run), the greens were another matter.

Like most golf courses played over the last month, the greens had been recently cored, and if the practice putting green was anything to go by then the greens were going to be real slooow 🙁

As it turned out, the greens were much better than expected, with the ball running true at medium pace over the cored sand-less surface. Naturally, one still needed to be wary of green contours, particularly the down-hillers, so expect many of the players erring on the short side with their putts today.

A small breeze sprang up that made some holes much tougher to play, particularly the 10th and 11th holes when the breeze was straight in your face. On the other hand, some holes were more golfer-friendly with bunkers replaced by grass embankments. For example, the left-hand bunkers on the par3 12th hole are now gone, so to the right-hand bunkers on the par3 14th hole and front bunker on the par4 6th hole 🙂

Bravo Zulus go to all the players for showing up today and zooming around the course in record time 🙂

With Outright, Grade and Bradman awards on offer today, there were potentially seven awards available for ten players, and with CCR set to 34 points, you would have to be really unlucky to go home empty handed 🙂

The outright winner for the second time in two weeks went to Ken Little with a solid 36 points (handicap 11). Ken played from tee-to-green very well, with his driver the stand-out club. Highlight was his birdie on the very tough par4 11th hole.

The A Grade winner went to Phil Kilazoglou with a good 35 points (handicap 17). Apart from his 2BBB Aggregate win with Ken Harris this year at Rosnay, Phil has been off the golf radar, performance wise, so it was pleasing to see his name flashing again on the winners podium. Success or failure this year will depend on whether he’s back or his back 🙂

The B Grade went to another 2-for-2 winner in two weeks, namely Rossco Hamer, with a good score of 35 points (handicap 22). Being Easter Sunday, Rossco must have been on his best behaviour to keep his hamer-throws to a minimum. Or is he just priming himself for the upcoming Cypress Lakes trip away ?

Speaking of unusual feats, the next winner had the rare distinction of taking out two awards for the same grade, both the C Grade winner and Bradmans went to Alan Tricker with a score of 26 points (handicap 41). Being the only C grader to play today, Alan toughed it out by walking the hilly course on his gammy knees. The highlight was his terrific tee shot on the short par3 4th hole to get his name on the nearest-the-pin, only to lose it to the last player in the last group (his name will go unmentioned – out of shame). Alan, it was a Captains Courageous effort 🙂

The Guzzlers Cup went to a happy John Varrica with a decent score of 34 points (handicap 10) on a count-back. John’s timing was impeccable, well, he gets to keep the guzzlers cup for an extended two weeks 🙂

The Bradman’s board appears to have most of the names stuck from last week.

That’s right, we have two-for-two losers in two weeks with Messrs George Lattouf and Dick Paipa taking out A and B grade, respectively.

With George still playing with a crook back, Dick shooting a respectable 33 points and Alan the only player in his grade, the players can be considered unlucky recipients of the award 🙁

Shot-making highlights of the day were Ryan Johnston’s iron play on the par3’s and drive-and-chip holes. Winning four of the six nearest-the-pins is a very rare feat. A couple of mistakes cost him taking out the winners cheque, but great performance with the irons !

Individual results on the day:

Outright Winner: Ken Little [11] 36 pts
A Grade Winner: Phil Kilazoglou [17] 35 pts
B Grade Winner: Rossco Hamer [22] 35 pts
C Grade Winner: Alan Tricker [41] 26 pts

GUZZLER’s CUP: John Varrica [10] 34 pts (c/b)

Nearest To Pins: K.Little(4), R.Johnston(6), R.Johnston(12), K.Little(14), R.Johnston(17)

Drive & Pitch: R.Johnston(18)
BRADMANS:
A Grade: George Lattouf [15] 22 pts
B Grade: Dick Paipa [21] 33 pts
C Grade: Alan Tricker [41] 26 pts