Round 2: Rowville Lakes: Pairs Event – 9 Drives Each
With rain forecast all morning and the memory of a course where balls were lost on the fairway last year, no one was sure what to expect at Rowville Lakes. What we got was a typical Melbourne four seasons in one day weather wise, sometimes in one hole, and a track in somewhat better condition than last year, although patchy fairways made the going tough for some teams.
In the lead up to this round, clear favourites for both winners and NAGA were suggested. One group stood out from the rest as clear favourites for winners, according to Barra, and it held true with Barra and Mitch winning with a score of 62.75 and a winning margin of 3.75 from second place getters Joe and Sutho. Later in proceedings, perhaps still on a high from victory and full of confidence, Barra stated that “you won’t see that hat on me”. From me and the rest of the troops hopefully this isn’t the case.
At the other end of the leader board we had perhaps the most contentious ending ever seen in MGC history, filled with bending of the rules, dodgy counting and a count back. What transpired was nothing short of farcical, with a countback needed to separate the short price favourite pairing of Hubba and Billy Mac and the unlucky pairing of Red and Clayton both finishing the day with a net score of 75.25. After some questionable counting carried out by the peanut gallery we call MGC rules officials, the final result showed the pair of Red and Clayton had taken out NAGA honours, which compounded a sorry day for Clayton who had to sacrifice a sock on the 2nd hole due to a call of nature. The validity of the result was further put into question with the revelation that a team had in fact played an illegal ball on the 1st hole and should possibly have been awarded the prize instead (Golf Australia ruling pending).
NTP for the day went to:
6th: No-one, lift your game lads, 8th: Billy A, 10th: Koala, 13th: Joe
Handicaps changes:
Slides: Red 17 → 18, Clayton 38 → 39
Cuts: Barra 24 → 23, Mitch 25 → 24
Catering for the day was supplied by Koala and Joe and took on a Christmas feel. Mains of ham, turkey, baked potato and salad was served up by Koala, with a special thanks to Linda who saw it fitting that we ate with proper crockery and cutlery, and trifle and mince pies supplied by Joe rounding out the Christmas feel.
Team 1: Hubba (23), Billy Mac (40) - Handicap 15.75
Team 2: Girdy (10). Sammy (24) - Handicap 8.5
Team 3: Bob (16), Titch (30) - Handicap 11.5
Team 4: Joe (13), Sutho (33) - Handicap 11.5
Team 5: Barra (24), Mitch (25) - Handicap 12.25
Team 6: Billy A (18), Winker (26) - Handicap 11
Team 7: Red (17), Clayton (38) - Handicap 13.75
Team 8: Ryan (18), Koala (31) - Handicap 12.25