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nnomads Golf Club |
The Balnarring Invitational Tournament 2012
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Winner on handicap: Date: Course: Competitors: On course coverage: Prize winners: |
Steve (Bull or Rubber Man) 13th October 2012 St Andrews Beach |
Event
Report: ‘Bull Take BIT by Horns Saturday 13th
October 2012: Well, this was the 10th
running of the Balnarring Invitational Tournament (BIT) and it certainly
didn’t disappoint. Nor did St Andrews Beach Golf Course (rated 10th
best public course in Australia), which was in superb condition and hosted
perfect conditions (until the last three holes). Truly national field: As one
would expect with such a prestigious event, there was a truly national field
with competitors flying in from five mainland states and territories (The Interlopers). And of course there
was a quality field from the home state of Victoria (The Mexicans) setting up the perfect environment for a fierce
competition at the individual and team level. “And I thought we were going to charge Interlopers for food this
year. An opportunity missed” lamented The
Mist as he imagined what could have been. So it was Pup, The Bloke, The Tanunda Kid and The Hanging Judge that led the field away (The Heavies), followed
closely by event sponsor Nurse Min,
Billy, Clean Phil and Freddie Five
Iron (The Softies). Behind them
were The Maroon Breasted Warbler, The
Cardinal and Critey
(The Three Amigos), followed by Shags,
The Captain and Thombei the Mist (The Dreamers), and finally Stavros, Rubber Man and The Mild Colonial Boy (The Seniors). With
a line up like that you could tell it was going to be a sensational day (see BIT player groups 2012). The weather was mostly
kind: Unlike last year, everyone did
finish the round (that’s right, no injuries and no work for the on course
medic and event sponsor Nurse Min),
which didn’t reflect the difficulty of the course because it was a tough day
out there for most. But St Andrews is such a lovely looking course with its
challenging tees, undulating fairways, deep and meaningful bunkers, rolling
greens ….. Just a delight to play on. And the most impressive performances
were split up across the groups so it was a pretty difficult to tell who was
doing well and who wasn’t - right up to the end. “It wasn’t difficult to tell that some weren’t doing it well”
observed Clean Phil who was playing
on a golf course for the second time ever (the first time being the previous
day). To add to it all, a touch of rain during the last three holes
distracted a number of players creating that extra bit of challenge at the
end of the round (see on course at the
BIT in 2012) Three Way Play-off: And at the
end of the day when the scores were tallied there was a three way tie between
Critey (SA – 108,36,72), Rubber Man (VIC – 96,24,72)), and The Mild Colonial Boy (WA – 91,19,72).
And of course no one discovered this until they were back at Balnarring Beach
meaning there had to be a three-way chip-off on the beach (the second
play-off or ‘chip-off’ in two days). “Well
I hope this chip-off is more entertaining than yesterday’s disappointment” murmured
the Hanging Judge as he assisted The Cardinal to set up his papal cross as a target some 100 metre
down the beach. But it wasn’t disappointing and was very exciting too. “Particularly because it was fair with the
handicap adjustment” nodded The
Cardinal approvingly, who was referring to the fact that lowest handicap Mild (19 strokes) got three shots,
middle handicap Rubber Man (24
strokes) had four shots, and highest handicap Critey (36 strokes) had five
shots at the pin or should I say cross. “Being
religious, it was a bit daunting deliberately trying to hit a ball at a cross
being held by a man of the cloth” reflected Mild later that night as he imagined what could have been (see
full video of BIT Play-off 2012
– Warning Large .wmv
File) Bull Takes BIT By Horns:
Which implies that Mild didn’t win
(he came in 3rd), and that was because Rubber Man proved very convincing, just touching out Critey (he came
in 2nd) with his last shot. “I
had my chances but Bull just took the BIT by the horns didn’t he”
acknowledged Critey
as he congratulated Rubber Man on
his win. “There is only one thing wrong
with that public golf course we played on young Tony, and that’s the Public.
If they could get rid of the public …..” suggested Bull as he settled
into the idea of being the BIT champion for 2012. Interlopers Tip out Mexicans: The other sensational
development was the highly unexpected win by the Interlopers in the team’s event. In fact the Interlopers (average Net 80 strokes across team) won by a clear
five strokes totally embarrassing the Mexicans
(average Net 85.9 strokes across the team). “That’s right, embarrassing” reinforced the Tanunda Kid as the Interlopers
congratulated each other on hearing the final results. 10th Anniversary presentations: And as this was the 10th anniversary for the BIT, the
presentations were long and laborious, I mean long and appropriately
celebratory. For example, there was suitable reflection on the past players
and past champions in the form of a 12 minute slide show, now available as a
video (see BIT of
History video – Warning Large .wmv File – You have to wait for a while to buffer by
is worth the wait if you like grass growing). For example, The Cardinal coordinated the leader
board as the scores were read out painfully from last place to first place
(at which point the play-off occurred). For example, all of the sponsors were
acknowledged including Day-N-Night
Electrical (Sparks R US), Hydralyte (Rehydrate with Hydralyte),
Kaessler Wines (Deep Roots for Bastards), and Omni-Foods (We Deliver if it’s
Convenient) – See photos of 2012 sponsor
representatives. A true celebration of winners: And then the long list of presentations commenced with Thombei the Mist in 4th place
taking out the ‘Golfer’s prayer’
plate for 2012, Stavros and the Tanunda Kid taking out the longest
drives, Mild, Shags, Freddie and Critey taking
out the NTPs, Clean Phil taking out
the ‘Most Improved Player’ (improved
27 strokes from Friday to Saturday), Mild
taking out the ‘Butterfly Bottle’
trophy for best off the stick, The
Bloke taking out the ‘Shaker it up’
award for kitchen duties beyond the call, MBW
taking out the ‘Lust after an update’
award for overt craving of email ‘course
updates’ prior to the event (including other relevant content in the
emails), and of course Slugger who won the
‘Oh my Gourd’ award for the piss-weakest excuse for not turning up (broke
his wrist falling out of a spar after a sip or two of beer the night before
the event). “First time I won a trophy
for not playing but I must say it’s an honour’ smiled Slugger to the
media as he was later awarded his trophy. But of course the focus of the
night was on the new champion Rubber
Man, who was almost humble in the gracious way he accepted the most
sought after perpetual BIT trophy (see 2012 BIT presentations). “While I am proud to win such a
prestigious event, the nnomads Golf Club is not a
Club Club Tony. It’s not a Club Club”
he was heard explaining to the media using a street map of Collins street
during a photo frenzy after the presentations. The committee congratulates Rubber Man on his convincing performance and of course all other
prize winners on the day. And special thanks to event sponsor Nurse Min for bringing us another
brilliant event, Thombei
for providing his outstanding accommodation, and Stavros for superb administration. |
Detailed Results
The Balnarring Invitational Tournament 2012
Player |
Gross |
HCP |
Net |
Prizes |
Steve |
96 |
24 |
72 |
1st on nnomads
GC handicaps |
Critey |
108 |
36 |
72 |
2nd
after play off and NTP |
Tony |
91 |
19 |
72 |
3rd
after playoff, NTP and best off the stick |
Tom |
100 |
25 |
75 |
4th
and ‘The Golfer’s Prayer’ award |
Rodney |
104 |
26 |
78 |
|
Pete |
101 |
20 |
81 |
|
Ricko |
115 |
31 |
84 |
|
Shanksy |
106 |
22 |
84 |
NTP |
Min |
119 |
34 |
85 |
|
Harry |
113 |
27 |
86 |
Longest
Drive |
Steph |
104 |
18 |
86 |
The ‘Shake it up’ Award |
Bryan
C |
115 |
29 |
86 |
The ‘Lust
after update’ award |
Nick |
111 |
23 |
88 |
Longest
Drive |
Fang |
116 |
26 |
90 |
|
Jack |
115 |
24 |
91 |
|
Fritz |
132 |
36 |
96 |
NTP |
Phil |
147 |
36 |
111 |
The ‘Most improved’ award |
Video coverage of the ‘Chip off’ (Large file)
BIT 10th
Anniversary Slide Show (Large file)
This month’s competition: Why
didn’t Slugger play and what did he
win for his efforts?