Strong Field Contests
a Classic BIT in 2005
1st of October 2005: It
was around
High
Quality Field: Three groups of players congregated around
the first tee as the game time approached. Brendan, Pete, Steve and Steph were
to head off in the first group with Tom, Harry, Mark and Min in the second and
Gordon (last years winner of the TSCCC), Tim (winner of the BIT for the last
two years), Ricko and Fritz rounding out the high quality field (see The Players as they tee off and various faces around the course).
“Are we playing off the Blue or the White
markers?” asked Brendan as he went to tee up on the first. A
decision was made by those within earshot to play off the blues (the members
markers, and the most difficult on the course), a decision a number of players
subsequently regretted at various times during the game. “Where were we? Our group didn’t agree we should play off the blue
markers …. Any reasonable person would have known they were the member’s
markers!” argued Gordon when the issue was discussed later that evening….
But that’s another story.
A
Tough Event: Well Eagle Ridge was in beautiful condition.
The fairways were challenging and the greens were fast (see The Course). In addition, the
breeze was up slightly and really came into play on certain holes. Combined
with the additional distance
resulting from playing off the blue markers (which could go some way to explain
why the third group had to defend the slow rate of play to the group behind
them), the whole environment and the conditions of play made for a really tough
event. Oh and did I mention the bunkers?
Well the bunkers were brutal…
Two
Players Stood Out On Handicap: And those tough conditions
were reflected in the final scores. Brendan was the only player in the field to
break the ton with a 97 off the stick, with Tim next in line with 104 off the
stick, a superb performance for a 30 stroke handicapper. Then there was huge
gap of 9 strokes to the next group of players, Harry, Steve and Tom on 113. So
as you would expect, these guys took the prizes! On handicap Tim with a net 74
strokes was a convincing winner of the Balnarring Invitational Tournament (The
BIT) for 2005, and for the third year in a row. The committee
congratulates Tim on his accomplishment and notes that his name remains the only
name on the BIT trophy (introduced three years ago). “Is there any point me bring this trophy back every year? I may as well
leave it at home permanently.” sniggered Tim when as he was presented with
the trophy once again. Brendan was the runner up with a net 81 strokes and
Ricko was only a stroke behind on a net 82. “Another
ball is another ball” smiled Brendan as he was presented with a ball for
second place by Min ….and … errr….Mark?
(See the BIT presentations). Fortunately Mark was available for every presentation on both
days. The Club thanks Mark for his diligence on this matter!
Two
Players Stood Up in the Callaway: But that was not the way it
happened in the Callaway event.
As most members know, Steve is a Callaway specialist and really knows how to play
to Callaway rules (see any article on the Melbourne
Cup Cup in the last few years). So lo’ and behold Steve and Brendan ended
up net 75 strokes each in the cup, followed by Harry on a net 76. And you can
see how Steve did it by looking at his game statistics. While Brendan had four
pars to Steve’s one, and they both had 5, 6 or 7 bogies and double bogies, it
was Steve’s strategically placed three ‘Give-ups’
and three ‘Off-to-the-pubs’ to
Brendan’s 1 of each that did it. That got him a Callaway handicap of 38 strokes, do you believe it? So with
Brendan’s handicap of only 21 it brought these players into equal first place.
And as results were not available until the presentations back at Balnarring
later in the early evening a play off could not be held at the time (although
chipping a ball onto the trampoline in the dark at the back of Min’s place was
mooted at one stage).
Dramatic
Play-off: Now the nnomads Golf Club doesn’t have an equal first
place in club events. The rules require that a winner is decided by some means.
This can be Rock, Paper, Scissors or
a play off of some type, for example nearest the pin. In Callaway they often
decide based on the handicap. But Steve and Brendan decided to have an 18 hole
play-off at 6.00am at Flinders Golf Club the next morning. Ironically the play
off was a handicap event and while it was neck and neck until well into the
second nine, Brendan eventually prevailed with a net 69 versus Steve net 76,
winning the Tullum Sands Callaway Cup
Classic for 2005. Steph oversaw the competition to make sure it was played
according to the rules. The club congratulates Brendan on this excellent win
and notes he played under the hardest of the three different sets of rule
adopted by players in this event. (See the TSCCC play-off and presentations).
Nearest
The Pin & Longest Drive: Other performances of mention included
Tim again who took out the longest drive. This was much to Harry’s disgust who
thought he had it won. “I even had the
picture next to the marker ready, until Timbo came along. Was he really playing
off the blues at the time?” Harry questioned after he realised he had been
beaten. Congratulations to Tim once again. Fritz took out the one and only NTP
for the day, as no one else in the field got on the green for the other
available NTP. Well done Fritz.
Presentations,
Celebrations and Controversy: In that order! Back at Min’s
place after the game, the Callaway results were calculated and the
presentations for the BIT & TSCCC were conducted. Congratulations were
bestowed on the winners (or at least to those that could be congratulated as
Steve and Brendan’s contest was yet to be decided). Min and Harry and the rest
of the crew did a lovely job on the food side of things (including Harry’s
famous Eggs Benedict at Tom’s place
on Sunday morning); while all did a very good job on the raging side of things.
And so the celebrations went on into the night around the fire. So where was
the controversy you ask eh?
It
was the Fire’s fault! … It was nice and
warm, and the day’s adventures were being recounted, the stories getting taller
as the night progressed when Gordon uttered the words …. “Oh yeah, we played off the white tees for the last 9 holes”! ……
There
was silence … throats were wetted … and then a minor Hell broke loose.
The Winner On Handicap; Tim, and the Nearest The Pin; Fritz, came from that group. So as you might expect a solid and rather robust conversation ensued. This resulted in the realisation that each group of players had used a different set of rules.
The first group played off the blue markers throughout and thought they had one ‘mulligan’ for the game, which they wouldn’t use on principle. These were the “The Purists”.
The second group played off the blue markers throughout and thought they had two ‘mulligans’, one per nine holes. These were the ‘Sticklers’ as these were what they thought to be the agreed rules at the beginning of the game. Incidentally, this group used their two ‘mulligans’.
The
third group played off the blue markers for the first nine holes, then used the
white markers for the second nine. They also thought they had two ‘mulligans’,
one per each nine holes, they of course used them. This group were the ‘Righteous Four’ (soon to be available on itunes).
So
how do you reconcile three sets of rules after the presentations have been
made? Did we consider the arguments? … Yes we did! … Did we do anything as a result? … We had a
great time arguing! … Did we learn anything? … Not really, ‘cept it’s pretty
hard to organise a bunch of nnomads!
So
congratulations to the winners. And to those that were not there – Apart from
missing the fun, remember this is an Official Club Championship Event. So don’t
miss out next year - put it in the diary – The
weekend after the AFL grand final 2006 at a classic peninsular golf course yet
to be decided.
Results: The
Balnarring Invitational Tournament 2005
Player |
Out |
In |
Score |
HCP |
Net |
Prizes |
Tim B |
56 |
48 |
104 |
30 |
74 |
First & LD |
Brendan |
45 |
51 |
96 |
15 |
81 |
Second |
Ricko |
61 |
57 |
118 |
36 |
82 |
|
Harry |
57 |
56 |
113 |
29 |
84 |
|
Tom |
58 |
55 |
113 |
27 |
86 |
|
Min |
59 |
60 |
119 |
33 |
86 |
|
Steve S |
61 |
52 |
113 |
22 |
91 |
|
Gordon |
62 |
59 |
121 |
25 |
96 |
|
Steff |
61 |
56 |
117 |
21 |
96 |
|
Fritz |
63 |
62 |
125 |
27 |
98 |
NTP |
Pete S |
62 |
59 |
121 |
22 |
99 |
|
MarkF |
69 |
65 |
134 |
34 |
100 |
|
Results: Tullum Sands
Callaway Cup Classic 2005
Player |
Out |
In |
Score |
Net Score |
Cal HCP |
Brendan |
45 |
51 |
96 |
75 |
21 |
Steve S |
61 |
52 |
113 |
75 |
38 |
Harry |
57 |
56 |
113 |
76 |
37 |
Fritz |
63 |
62 |
125 |
77 |
48 |
MarkF |
69 |
65 |
134 |
78 |
52 |
Min |
59 |
60 |
119 |
78 |
41 |
Ricko |
61 |
57 |
118 |
78 |
40 |
Tim
B |
56 |
48 |
104 |
78 |
26 |
Gordon |
62 |
59 |
121 |
79 |
42 |
Pete
S |
62 |
59 |
121 |
79 |
42 |
Steff |
61 |
56 |
117 |
79 |
38 |
Tom |
58 |
55 |
113 |
80 |
33 |
Results:
Tullum Sands Callaway Cup Classic 2005
Player |
Birdie |
Pars |
Bogie |
Dbl Bogie |
Give up |
Off to Pub |
Prizes |
Brendan |
0 |
4 |
7 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
First |
Steve S |
0 |
1 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
Second |
Harry |
0 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
1 |
4 |
|
Fritz |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
7 |
|
MarkF |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
7 |
|
Min |
0 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
2 |
5 |
|
Ricko |
0 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
|
Tim B |
0 |
1 |
6 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
|
Gordon |
0 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
|
Pete S |
0 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
6 |
2 |
|
Steff |
0 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
|
Tom |
0 |
0 |
5 |
8 |
2 |
3 |
|
If
you want see even more photos, then look at our
Gallery of Other Photos.
The answer is
none or zero – What is the question?
Hint: It involves Mark and presentation photos.
Don’t look until you have decided on your answer - Answer, I mean the question.