PIS 2011

Thursday 7^th July 2011 - ‘Arrival’: The PIS 2011 tour started even earlier than last year with a Thursday night arrival and golf high on the agenda. After all, The PIS ‘Green Jacket’ is one of those golfing trophies one aspires to win. You practice for weeks. You mediate and develop that winning attitude that is essential if you are going to win a major golfing championship like this, one of the toughest events on the nnomads Golf Club annual circuit of fully sanctioned Championship events. You step off that plane (or get out of your car if you are a local, or interstater because there was short drive up to the Barossa Valley, the venue for 2011), ready to take on one of the greatest golfing challenges on earth - the Patricia Isabel Slape Memorial Golf Tournament (PIS) for 2011.

Friday 8^th July 2011 – ‘Warm up day’: The Friday before the PIS is normally a warm up day with a game of golf somewhere at a PIS 11 Friday 13.jpg quality course for those that can get there. It gives you that chance to loosen up before the big event. But NOT in the Barossa!

This year the Friday was dedicated to a tour of the valley starting with early morning ‘shots’ (not the golf type – a choice of tequila, brandy or port), from a lookout with a magnificent view over the valley before a tour of Seppeltsfield (more fortified wines), a tour of Kessler wines (more truly magnificent wines and a kransky lunch), then onto the Tanunda Kegel Club for a very competitive game of kegel (more beer than wine at this stage), then back to pub for dinner (a combination of beer and wine) before returning to Tour Leaders Nicko’s private estate just out of town at which the tour was staying (and more beer and wine – see highlights of Friday and the kegel competition).

That’s not to say the day was totally devoid of golf. No way. That just couldn’t happen on a PIS tour. In fact there was a fearsome chipping competition on the lawns of Seppeltsfield that morning in which tour members had to chip three balls to into a cardboard box 40 metres away (after ten minutes of practice). The prize was a case of ‘Grange’ (year not specified) which proved irrelevant because not a person got a ball in the box (not surprising after all the fortified wine). Note: The prize was announced after the event which was a smart move on the part of tour leader Nicko. “Look, they all knew there was a prize. They just didn’t know what it was.” smiled a delighted Nicko as he put the Grange back into his cellar (see chipping competition).

tanunda pines 2.jpg Saturday 9^th July 2011 - ‘Day 1 of competition’: So the tour was in the perfect frame of mind and a heightened state of readiness as tour leader Nicko convened the traditional ‘toast to Isabel’ (choice of tequila, brandy or port) on the first tee at Tanunda Pines the following morning. Then the sixteen players who had made it through the qualifying rounds for the PIS 2011 (after all it was a gruelling Friday), stepped up to the first tee including Nurse Min, the Maroon Breasted Warbler, Boog and JB in the first group, Jacko the Measurer, the Captain, Thombei The Mist and Uncle Steve in the second group, the Bloke, Lazarus, Teflon and current champion Boz in the third group and Mild Colonial Boy, Beau Derrick, Fruity and Billy in the last group (see player groups day 1). You could see from the quality of these players the day promised some fearsome golf.

And the day delivered to that promise with the Measurer putting a sensational round of 94 off the stick (net 70 strokes and 2 under the card) to come in leading the field, from the Captain a couple of strokes behind (net 72 strokes and even with the card) and the Mist just behind him in third place (net 74 and two over the card). Of course there were other contenders within reach at that point in time including Teflon, Nurse Min, JB and Fruity all within half a dozen strokes (give or take – see oncourse on Day 1). But because this is a two day competition anything can happen (and normally does), so almost no one was out of contention.

A night to remember: Eventually the tour returned to tour leader Nicko’s private estate for a quiet night of rest and relaxation to prepare for the final day of competition – NOT! In fact it was a night to remember (although some like the Mist didn’t). “What’s for dinner Nicko?” someone asked at one stage. ‘Pigs arse’ Nicko replied which was a bit inaccurate because there was a whole pig, not just its arse, on the spit looking increasingly gorgeous and delicious as time went by. It proved to be sumptuous when finally served along with magnificent Kaesler wines including numerous bottles of the ‘The Bogan’ and a large bottle of ‘2008 Old Bastard’ (see highlights of Saturday night). Hence, it was a great night of social intercourse, the perfect preparation for the final day of competition to come (although Thombei as usual was in bed before dinner after making love to a bottle of Jagermeister in a way that only the Mist tanunda pines 1.jpg can).

Sunday 10^th July - ‘Day 2 of competition’: So of course there were casualties along the way which became apparent as players mingled around the first tee at Tanunda Pines for the final day of competition, the day when the ‘Green Jacket’ would be decided for 2011. Missing in action included Thombei (not sure why – last seen asleep and not rousable in a car in the car park), Fruity (who decided to go fish transporting) and JB (who started the round but had to withdraw part way through to go and help Fruity find the vehicle in which to transport fish which in the end was achieved remotely by mobile phone, enabling JB to return for the presentations, but that’s another story). But the rest of the tour stepped up the mark including tour leader Nicko (who couldn’t play on Day 1 due to a debilitating injury that somehow improved significantly enough for him to play on Day 2). “Its amazing what a few wines, beers, shots of port, tequila, brandy and a super strong anti-inflammatory can do for a bad back eh” he was heard saying as he stepped up to the tee (see player groups Day 2).

The Captain takes another PIS: And it was a day to remember as competitors fought it out over the beautiful Tanunda Pines course (see on course on day 2). But there can only be one winner and it was Ricko, who did it very convincingly by a full five strokes PIS 11 Winner.jpg (net 140 strokes over the two days and four under the card), from Jacko (net 145 strokes and one over the card) in second place. And it was a day to remember for another reason because this meant that the Captain has won the Green Jacket for the third time! That’s right; Ricko is now the one and only three time champion PIS Head (although there might be a different result if there wasn’t any golf involved), a truly incredible achievement in anybody’s language.

Everyone’s a winner: This made the presentations in the club house particularly special. Just watching last year’s champion Bozie, helping the triple champion put on the Green Jack was very moving. That’s not to say the other presentations weren’t impressive including Jacko who won the Gungagalunga Perpetual Trophy for Best-Off-The-Stick (again), JB who took out the NTP on Day 2 (despite not finishing the round), Beau who won the Bob Hope Fellowship Award and Uncle Steve who took out the NAGA 2011 (see The 2011 Presentations).

The committee again congratulates Tour Leader Nicko for running another sensational event. It also congratulates The Captain who has lifted the bar in terms of winning the Green Jacket, and indeed all winners (and of course everyone who attended this year’s PIS was a winner).

‘Danger, Danger Will Robinson’: The committee also points out to members that there is now a significant danger that Ricko could win this year’s club championship again (sitting net 71 strokes after the PIS 2011). If he maintains his form at the TSCC and the BIT in October he would qualify for the championship (requires four cards from championship events), and be well in front of current leader Steph (see YTD nnomads Club Championship). It could be another interstate coup! Then again, there is still a long way to go in this year’s championship as we enter the competition season........

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Detailed Results

Patricia Isabel Slape Memorial Golf Tournament (PIS), 2010

Course	Player	PIS HCP	Gross	Net	Gross	Net	Combined net	Prizes and awards
Tandunda Pines	Ricko	32	104	72	100	68	140	Winner of Green Jacket 2011 and NTPx1 and LD x 1
Tandunda Pines	Jacko	24	94	70	99	75	145	Gungagalunga 2011 - off the stick
Tandunda Pines	Harry	29	106	77	109	80	157
Tandunda Pines	Normie	35	117	82	113	78	160
Tandunda Pines	Steph	23	102	79	105	82	161
Tandunda Pines	Tony	18	100	82	100	82	164
Tandunda Pines	Rodney	22	109	87	100	78	165
Tandunda Pines	Bryan C	29	110	81	113	84	165
Tandunda Pines	Min	32	109	77	120	88	165
Tandunda Pines	Beau	38	122	84	122	84	168	Bob Hope Fellowship Award
Tandunda Pines	Boog	26	106	80	123	97	177
Tandunda Pines	Boz	30	118	88	121	91	179
Tandunda Pines	Steve	25	116	91	116	91	182	NAGA 2011
Tandunda Pines	JB	38	117	79			79	NTP x 1
Tandunda Pines	Fruitcake	30	109	79			79
Tandunda Pines	Tom	24	98	74			74

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Pig on Spit - Saturday night

Player groups Day 2

On course Day 2

Presentations 2011

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This month’s competition: The description of Friday is not in the right order. What should it be?