Fait De Complete’ As Steve Passes the Cup Back  to Pete

2nd November 2005: So it was a 7.00am tee-off at Yarra Bend on Melbourne Cup day for the annual Melbourne Cup Cup golfing invitational. Reportedly in its ninth year, this Callaway event is a famous fixture on the nnomads Golf Club calendar and one that all members aspire to win. Reader Note: In the entire nine year history of the event one of ‘the brothers’ has always won the event, with one exception - Gordon a number of years ago (but that is another story).  So everybody wants to break this curse… oops, sorry I meant winning streak within the family. This is the event we all want to win.

Quality Field:  And it was a high quality group of contestants as the final result showed. The first group off the tee included Pete (co host and past winner multiple times), Brendan, Tim and Steph.  Close behind in the 2nd group were Tom, Min and Mark and rounding out the field of Ten in the third group were Harry, Steve (co host and past winner multiple times including last year), and Gordon (the only non family past winner in existence),.  See Group Photos.  The Swing Analysis photos may provide some insights into the performance of the various players (but I suspect not).

Perfect Conditions:  Anyway, as usual there was lingering dew on the ground as the first group teed off at 7.00am but it didn’t take long to turn into a truly beautiful day. The course was in super condition and the ambient temperature was just delightful.  The greens dried out quickly in the early morning sunlight becoming more challenging by the minute. The fairways were lush, freshly cut and generally well prepared. The conditions were perfect for good golf. See Course Conditions…….. and some really good golf was played.

Records Were Set: So what is all the fuss about? What fuss you may ask? … Well I know this was a Callaway event but the off the stick scores are really worth considering.  Five of the ten players in the event broke the 100 (including Tom - 94 and Steve S - 96) and three of those broke 90 (Brendan - 87, Steph - 89 and Pete - 80).  Now I will say that again….. Pete shot an 80 off the stick, that is 10 under his handicap (resulting in it coming in by 4.6.strokes) and setting a new benchmark for the event.  Now I want that card Gordon. I don’t do this that often.” Pete smarted as he reached for his score card after the presentations.

Par-fect Pete Stole The Day:  Ok so this was a famously Callaway event requiring a Callaway handicap to be calculated at the end of the day based on your score on the day. In other words it is a somewhat unpredictable scoring method that on many occasions presents unlikely players as the eventual winners.  But not in this case. In 2005 the outcome was crystal clear. Pete shot 10 pars, 6 bogies and 2 double bogies giving him a Callaway handicap of ‘8’ and a net score of 72.  This winning performance was three strokes better than Steph and Tom who were next on a net 75 with Tim, Gordon, Min and Mark a further 3 strokes behind them on net 78.  In other words Pete just played so well that he creamed the Callaway and deservedly won the Melbourne Cup Cup for 2005.

And The Outcome Was Nothing Surprising:  There was quite some tension in the air as Harry and Gordon slowly put the scores into Gordon’s computer. No one knew who was going to win at this stage. All the while the contestants refreshed themselves under some trees in the middle of the Yarra Bend golf course car park (because someone else was using our normal shelter so we had to do with the trees – which were fine as it was) …  the nibbles were delectable and the atmosphere relaxed (See 2005 Presentations). Finally the results were announced and while Pete’s performance was brilliant on the day, the crowd was not in the least bit surprised to find that one of the brothers as usual, in this case Pete of course, had won The Melbourne Cup Cup for 2005. That made it eight out of nine years for the brothers.  “And the tradition continues!“ spouted Pete as he paraded the 2005 trophy. “Every year you have a 50:50 chance of guessing the winner of this event. Steve or Pete!” observed Tom and most of those around at the time agreed.

And so it was for another year.  Another great event had been completed and the worthy winner on the day rewarded. The committee congratulates Pete on his great game and reminds all members who were not there - Fools you were. It was a great event. Put it in the diary for next year, Melbourne Cup Day, and hope you get an invitation.

See results, player statistics and Odd Photo Gallery below:

Results: Melbourne Cup Cup 2005

(A Callaway Event)

 

Course

Player

Out

In

Score

Cal HCP

Net Score

Yarrabend

Pete S

42

38

80

8

72

Yarrabend

Steph

43

46

89

14

75

Yarrabend

Tom

47

47

94

19

75

Yarrabend

Brendan

44

43

87

11

76

Yarrabend

Tim B

52

50

102

24

78

Yarrabend

Gordon

50

53

103

25

78

Yarrabend

Min

53

54

107

29

78

Yarrabend

Mark F

53

59

112

34

78

Yarrabend

Steve S

47

49

96

17

79

Yarrabend

Harry

54

58

112

33

79

 

Player Statistics: Melbourne Cup Cup 2005

 

Course

Player

Birdie

Pars

Bogie

Dbl Bogie

Give up

Off to Pub

Yarrabend

Pete S

0

10

6

2

0

0

Yarrabend

Steph

0

5

8

4

1

0

Yarrabend

Tom

0

3

9

4

1

1

Yarrabend

Brendan

1

4

8

5

0

0

Yarrabend

Tim B

0

2

6

6

3

1

Yarrabend

Gordon

0

2

5

5

6

0

Yarrabend

Min

0

1

4

7

5

1

Yarrabend

Mark F

0

1

5

5

4

3

Yarrabend

Steve S

0

2

7

8

1

0

Yarrabend

Harry

0

2

4

5

4

3

 

Back to Top of Article

Group Photos

Course Conditions

Player Swing Analysis

The 2005 Presentations

Odd Photo Gallery