Melbourne
Cup Cup 2004
Rubber
Man Stamps His Seal on the Cup Once Again
|
Dew on the fairway
Curtis and The Bloke
Play-off – Rubber Man and The
Bloke
Pup presenting trophy to Rubber
Man
Lamingtons for Stavros |
Cardinal On Fire: The Cardinal
was the first to show true form on the day with 7 pars or bogies on the first
9 holes. This however, even with an excellent 94 off the stick wasn’t enough
to win this Callaway event for 2004 (due to a slight malfunction in the
computational systems employed). “What’s
with this Callaway scoring system? If the best player on the day can’t win
then what’s the point?” he was heard commenting to Pup as the results
were announced. Rubber Man (95
off the stick) and Curtis (96 off the stick) were very close behind. In fact,
Curtis came home very strongly with 2 pars, a birdie and a number of bogies
on the second nine. But even this was not enough to get him over the line. “You come, you play, and you lose. I mean
that is what the Melbourne Cup Cup is? Isn’t it?”
He mumbled as he got into his car at the end of the day. The rest of the field
just enjoyed the beautiful morning. Stavros tried to compete with Sir Donald
(with a 10 on the last), while Nurse Min and Cinders put in credible rounds.
Pup didn’t have such a good game (102 off the stick) but didn’t seem to mind.
“It’s the thrill of the competition.
It’s just great being out here.” he
said as he banged his club into his bag after missing another putt. Quiet Achiever the Bloke Almost Took the Trophy: But the real news of
the event was The Bloke who quietly and consistently stayed within striking
distance of the leaders. With only two
blow-out holes in the round, he got home with 100 off the stick, but of
course that was not what it was all about. As readers will recall, in the
9-year history of this event only once has someone other than one of ‘The Brothers’ won the event. Was 2004
going to be the year to break this tradition? Play-off required: At the end
of the day the Callaway handicaps were calculated and low and behold it was a
tie with Rubber Man (surprise!) and
The Bloke both ending on a nett 75. “So,
do we call it a draw?” asked Nurse Min as he opened another beer? “What the normal procedure? Has this ever
happened before?” asked Stavros as he did the same. “Yeah, it’s happened before and we had a play off from down by that tree.”
said Rubber Man rather reluctantly. And so, it was decided. The Bloke and
Rubber Man were to play off with a single shot – closest to the pin on the
last from a few hundred meters away. There was a
delay for a few minutes as a group of golfers came through. The atmosphere
was tense as the crowd looked on and the players waited. Then the opportunity
presented itself and the two contestants had their final shots. History repeats itself: Now I don’t
really need to tell you the outcome. While The Bloke’s shot was a beauty
landing just off the green, Rubber Man delicately placed his ball right on
the green and only 15 feet or so from the pin. “Well, there is always next year.” said The Bloke as he
congratulated Rubber Man on his win. “At
least it’s not another cup. I wanted something else to look at on the
mantelpiece this year.” explained Rubber Man as Pup presented him with
the 2004 Melbourne Cup Cup trophy. Rubber Man also
won three balls for his efforts giving him a 10 Stavros Wins the Lamingtons: Of
course, there was the traditional ‘nearest the pin’ competition which Stavros
won convincingly. As there wasn’t a NTP trophy, Pup and Rubber Man decided to
present Stavros with a spare pack of lamingtons that hadn’t been consumed
during the celebrations. “No point
throwing them out” said Pup as he handed the lamingtons to Stavros. “No, I can do that just as easily as you”
commented Stavros as he accepted the prize. Stavrs
also won a ball and two league ladder points for his efforts. The Tradition Continues: At the end
of the presentations ‘the Bros’
announced their intention to continue the Melb Cup Cup tradition. “Same
time, same place next year boys” stated Pup as everyone was heading for
the cars. “Yeah
and remember, anyone can win this event” emphasised Rubber Man with a
snigger. “Oh yeah! And that’s why there
is such a long list of previous winners” someone was heard groaning as
the crowd dispersed. The club committee extends it congratulations once again
to Rubber Man for his convincing win, albeit in a nail bitting playoff
against The Bloke. The committee also wants to point out that next year will
be the 10th running of the Melbourne Cup Cup
and thus it is sure to be a big event. “We
have got to knock ‘the Brothers’ off the perch and
next year would be the perfect time to do it.” said The Cardinal at the
last committee meeting. So that is the challenge members…. to beat ‘the Bros” in the 2005 Melbourne Cup Cup. Start practicing now! Hidden Controversy: Oh, by the
way, if you look at the results table below (calculated properly by GMAC
using the Callaway computer program), you will see that The Cardinal was also
equal first on a net 75. That means there should have been a three-way
play-off between Rubber Man, The Bloke and The Cardinal. John Doe did the
scoring (for safety reasons we can’t disclose the name) with the aid of hard
copy Callaway instructions printed from the nnomads
website, and a group of competitors looking over his shoulder. The markings
on the card shows he picked the right holes for deduction. However, for some
reason The Cardinal’s handicap was recorded as 16 instead of 19, putting him
out of contention. When the correct calculations are used, the results
clearly show that The Cardinal should have been in the final play-off.
However, the results have already been declared, the trophy and prizes
presented and the points have been allocated, so it is impossible to turn
back the clock. But if The Cardinal had won he would
have gained 3 balls and 11 points on the nnomads
league ladder. If he misses out by 11 or less points at the end of the year,
you can just imagine what he will be saying! He was third on the ladder last
time I looked so Folks, as always it could be another very controversial end
to the year. See you at the presentations. |
Winner Overall: By Callaway Results –
Yarra Bend
|
Player |
Score |
Net Score |
Cal HCP |
|
The Bloke |
100 |
75 |
25 |
|
Rubber Man |
95 |
75 |
20 |
|
The Cardinal |
94 |
75 |
19 |
|
Curtis |
96 |
76 |
20 |
|
Nurse Min |
108 |
77 |
31 |
|
Pup |
102 |
79 |
23 |
|
Cinders |
111 |
80 |
31 |
|
Stavros the Greek |
120 |
81 |
39 |
Player Statistics Yarra Bend
|
Player |
Birdie |
Par |
Bogie |
Dbl Bogie |
Give up |
Seek Help |
|
The Bloke |
0 |
2 |
6 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
|
Rubber Man |
0 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
|
The Cardinal |
0 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
|
Curtis |
1 |
2 |
6 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
|
Nurse Min |
0 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
|
Pup |
0 |
1 |
6 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
|
Cinders |
0 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
|
Stavros the Greek |
0 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
7 |
3 |