Round 1: Singles Stableford
In the unusual month of November, the new season kicked off at Devil Bend with a singles event starting proceedings. With mixed conditions ranging from cool and raining, warm and windy and hot sunshine it was a mixed bag and hard to find a rhythm early on. We found the course in magnificent condition but being the first round since we finished up last season for a lot of the players, the hilly terrain and vast number of trees a slow round was expected and this is what we got, just ask Girdy!
With the early withdrawal of Billy Mac NAGA was up for grabs, with a mix of old and new faces battling it out. Even after a practice round the week before, a less than average round saw Bob within a hair of taking possession of the twirly hat and dog, but a strong finish saw him draw away from the eventual winner. Having spent more time in the trees than a lumberjack, it was Tommy who took out the prize with a total score of 19pwa and hitting almost every tree on the course.
At the other end of the table it was a returning face taking out the Tweed and bounty of prizes. It was Baby Koala returning after a spell scoring a respectable 38pwa to beat out Barra on 36pwa on the day. By all accounts a sensational round and welcome back Baby.
Secret 6 was taken out by Barra, with a record score of 17pwa. Well done Barra and doesn’t he look happy celebrating with his mate.
NTP for the day:
Although some controversy with forgotten NTP markers we went with the honesty system to award, with some confusion over who got which hole, but all deserved winners.
3rd: Sutho, 8th: Baby Koala, 11th: Hubba, 13th: Barra
Cuts:
Baby Koala: 27 → 25
Slides:
Tommy: 34 → 35, Bob: 15 → 16, Mitch 24 → 25.
Catering for the day was pizza supplied by Big Chief in Langwarrin and a special dessert of rhubarb crumble, ice cream and custard supplied by Hubba.
Given this was the first chance we had as a group to get together since the end of last season Player and NAGA of the Year awards were presented.
There was little surprise who took out the NAGA of the Year Award, what was surprising was the margin by which it was won. Billy Mac, with a score of 22pwa over 9 games took out the award, a comfortable 11pwa from the second placed getter. Although he only just returned the NAGA Plate, he was able to pick it up again, along with the turkey, safety glasses and a cask of the finest Sweet Fruity White to take home and celebrate. Well done on another stellar year Billy, this may take some beating in the seasons to come.
The new Ann Lee Player of the Year Trophy will be presented to the Player of the Year from last season onwards. Ann helped lift this club to a level superior to other clubs around and her contribution will never be forgotten.
And so it was that Joe took out the title and was presented with the superb looking glass trophy by Clayton, Ryan and Taffy. It must be mentioned that Joe was quite confident, regularly saying he had it sewn up throughout the season. An eclectic selection of prizes was presented including an umbrella, Atkins bars, 6 genuine Pro V 1’s, safety glasses and a bottle of Grey Goose, with the latter being shared later in the evening. Top effort throughout the season Joe and thanks for letting us share your spoils throughout the evening.
Public Service Announcement: Remember it’s never a good idea to don’t drink and ride!
Group 1: Mitch (24), Hubba (23), Joe (13), Ryan (18)
Group 2: Tommy H (34), Sutho (33), Red (17), Sammy (24)
Group 3: Barra (24), Baby Koala (27), Girdy (10), Gav (33)
Group 4: Koala (31), Clayton (38), Winker (26), Bob (15)