Going For The Grand Slam? Well, would you believe it? ‘The Captain’, Ricko is one step closer to a Grand Slam of nnomads Golf Club events! After winning the first major event of the year, the ‘Monarch of the Tullum’ back in May, he has now taken out the next major golf event on the calendar, the PIS 2005, held in Waikerie South Australia. That means Ricko can now combine his personally autographed Nick Ahern sun visor with the coveted PIS ‘Green Jacket’. Now that is a huge combination you might say and you’d be right (see photo below). The amazing thing is that the South Australians actually let the Jacket slip from their grasp! How did they let it happen? And well may you ask! It was all within their control so read on.

Day 1 - Round 1: So finally the 12 competitors stepped up to the tee for the first of two rounds of golf to be played that weekend (…and that was somewhat amazing after the Friday night and Saturday morning exploits during which they almost lost Min!). Tour Leader and Chief PIS artist Nicko, allocated players to groups, provided the traditional game briefing and then supervised the tee off. ‘And what a nice course it was. I almost floated down the fairways. It was a beautiful environment.” commented Ricko when recalling the day. And that’s not far from the truth because Ricko and Jack hired individual golf buggies, unlike the rest of the field (who walked and pulled buggies), but that is another story.

Only Two Players Under 100: The arduous Friday night had obviously taken its toll because at the end of the first day, only three players were able to keep their score at 100 or less strokes off the stick (Nicko with 96, ‘Happy Jack’ with 99 and Greenie 100). But the leader at the end of the first day on net score was ‘The Captain’ Ricko with a gross score of 110 and net score 68, not that he noticed at the time. “Look Ricko, you are a real chance to win this” commented Min in a Victorian team huddle at the end of Saturday’s play. “You’ve got three strokes on Nick and five strokes on the next group of players so you have got to be a chance if you play well tomorrow.” reinforced Jack. And he was right. Two strokes behind Nicko on net 73 were four players, ‘Happy Jack’, Greenie, Normie (last year’s winner) and Boz. The rest of the field led by Min and Jacko were another two or more strokes further back, a full eight or more strokes behind Ricko. “Well I had better prepare myself properly for tomorrow eh.” sighed Ricko as he headed for a very long session at the bar (along with everyone else.).

7.00am Sunday 3rd July Waikerie Golf Club: No the game didn’t start at 7.00am. That started at 10am. But Fruitcake was right there at the golf club at 7.00am to retrieve his travel bag and shoes (see Saturday night exploits for background on why he was there at 7.00am). Technically that’s incorrect because Fruity picked up the bag, told everyone he had got the bag and on the day went. At the end of the day, after the game, a guy came out of the club house saying ‘Who’s golf shoes are these?’, and of course they were Fruitcake’s (so we are not sure what he wore during the game?). “Whoops…yeah the golf shoes, Forgot about them. I was more worried about my medication.” he commented at the time.

10.00am Sunday 3rd July Waikerie Golf Club: Anyway, believe it or not, all 12 players made it to the10am tee off for the second and final round of the event. And there were some very impressive performances too. At the end of the day there were four players with a gross score under 100 led by Greenie on 94, Steve S and Nicko (host and chief PIS artist) on 95 and Jacko on 98. At the net score level, there were five players within 3 strokes of each other. Greenie lead the field home (net 67), with Jacko and Ricko two strokes behind (net 69), followed by Nicko and Fruitcake (net 70). Clearly the overnight rest and relaxation had been effective because 7 of the 12 players put in better rounds on the Sunday than Saturday.

And the overall Winner was…: There was tension on the 36th hole as ‘The Captain’ Ricko took his first putt from 35 feet above the last hole…. and he ended up 20 feet below the hole for his second putt. The crowed went silent as the big man missed again pushing his ball well above the hole. Could he blow away his chances of winning the event on the last green? Not likely as he sunk the third 15 foot putt convincingly. The crowd erupted in delight (except for Greenie who had been heard mumbling miss miss miss!.  Note: Ricko’s putting would dictate whether Greenie gained 1st or 2nd place so there was tension in the air (see 'Tension on the 36th hole - a photo pictorial'). Well Nicko (official scorer, umpire, handicapper and referee), checked the final scores before declaring that Ricko had indeed won the PIS for 2005 with a net score over the two days of 137 strokes, a full three strokes ahead of the next player Greeine on 140 (a previous PIS winner). A further stroke behind in third place was Nicko on 141, a full 4 strokes ahead of the next group of players.

The Green Jacket: And so it was…. Normie (last year’s winner) slowly removed the prestigious Green Jacket and with the aid of tour leader and chief PIS artist Nicko, helped the Big Man Ricko put it on. “So Gungagalunga boys.” pronounced Ricko as the competitors toasted the 2005 champion (See and hear the moment in 'Happy Jack's Video Clip' Note: Requires latest version of Windows Media Player).

 

The Patricia Isabel Slape (PIS) Champion 2005

 

 

The Gungagalunga Trophy: The other man of the moment was Tour organiser Nicko who won this year’s Gungagalunga Trophy for the best round off the stick. His gross 191 was three strokes in front of the next player Greenie on 194 and Steve S on 199. All competitors agreed it was another brilliant performance by the host, albeit not enough to beat recently naturalised Victorian, ‘Captain Ricko’.

“I just don’t understand how that could happen. How could we let the jacket cross the f__ing border?” sighed Nick just after the presentations. Weeks later he was quoted as saying “home is where the heart is and that the Green Jacket transcends artificial state boundaries.” (See 'recent email exchange').

You Just Had To Be There: After the presentations, tour members were privileged to witness a golfing demonstration from Fruity. (See Fruitcake’s Golf Clinic). It was the perfect warm down after an arduous event. “Although I wasn’t really in the mood for working out why I lost.” groaned someone at the time. And so it went … The PIS was over for 2005.If you weren’t there then you really missed out on a great event (as I did – miss the event that is). If you were there, then you know why you will be back next year. The PIS is a don’t want to miss event. So put it in your dairy now. July 2006 (assuming you are extended an invitation of course as the PIS is strictly an invitational).

Photo Gallery

Results: The Patricia Isabel Slape Memorial Trophy (PIS) 2005

 

Player

PIS

Handicap

Score

Gross

Net

Gross

Net

Net

 

 

 

Day 1

Day 1

Day 2

Day 2

Day 2

 

Ricko

42

110

68

111

69

137

 

Green Machine

27

100

73

94

67

140

 

Nicko

25

96

71

95

70

141

 

Jacko

29

105

76

98

69

145

 

Normie

40

113

73

113

73

146

 

Fruitcake

36

114

78

106

70

148

 

Steve S

23

104

81

95

72

153

 

Happy Jack

26

99

73

106

80

153

 

JB

40

120

80

117

77

157

 

Boz

40

113

73

124

84

157

 

Min

37

113

76

119

82

158

 

Boog

23

103

80

113

90

170

 

Addendum: The handicap saga: Well from this side of the border it all looks pretty funny because nnomads Golf Club members are quite aware that Ricko has been playing better and better lately. Now way back in October 2002, Ricko had a handicap of 42. Since then he has sliced 7 strokes off that total to achieve a handicap of 35 (but has since slipped to 36 strokes). In addition, Ricko has been winning major golf events and as recently as May 05. Surely this is all showing that his current handicap is probably pretty generous (unless everyone else just played shit at the time, which is not that farfetched).

So what a gift eh! They give Ricko a handicap of 42!!! Do you believe it! And they wonder why the ‘Green Jacket’ is now residing in Victoria? “Look I just go with what the tour leader and chief PIS artist says. If he gives me a handicap of 42, then I just say Gungagalunga! Who am I to upset the boat.” smiled ‘The Captain’ when reminiscing recently. Of course the astute readers would note that had they given Ricko his current handicap of 37 (which hasn’t changed for 12 months), Greenie would have won. But it is clearly the prerogative of the event organiser to set the player handicaps where they see fit. So congratulations to Ricko are certainly in order and the rumour about some controversy associated with Ricko’s 42 handicap, is clearly not true.

 

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