TAMBORINE MT GOLF CLUB

November, 2008

Following the pattern of alternating the levels of seriousness in the editorial, I appeal to our members to provide me with material for segments of the newsletter. I believe this publication has more than one function. It is not merely to inform members of what is happening officially. It also has the role of building an ethos within the club of unity, friendliness, empathy and belonging. As a storyteller, I know that life is full of stories and those stories demand to be told. They do not have to be told exactly in the way they occurred. Embellishment not only is good for some happenstances, it is essential. Nor do the protagonists have to be identified. So, if you know of some event that could do with an airing, please tell me about it. You do not have to write the article – just leave the wordsmithing to me and you may even get to be anonymous. No one will be maligned, libelled or held up to ridicule. The inherent humour of human behaviour provides plenty of material. Even mundane events can be given that little twist that brings a smile to our faces. Give me that material and let the stories roll!

Tri-series Day: It seems that the ladies have done again what the Vets did; that is, win the interclub rounds for the second year running. Boomerang Farm, Canungra and Tamborine each hosted a round of this interclub competition. Before the last round, played at Tamborine, Canungra was in the lead marginally from Tamborine. The end result was confirmation that local knowledge always comes up trumps, and that seems especially so when it comes to Tamborine. Visitors always seem to struggle when playing here. We may not have a long course nor does it have a big par rating, but it certainly requires some good golf to get good scores.

An excellent field of 43 players, 22 of whom were locals, teed off in delightful weather on a course immaculately presented. They recorded an average of 31.94 to not only win the day, but take them to the top of the table with 88.14 points. They only just shaded Canungra who finished with 87.59 points, but a win is a win is a win! To ram home how much they were in control, Katherine Lim totted up 42 points to be the day’s individual winner from Pam MacAllan (Canungra) with 40 points. Congratulations Katherine and well done to all the Tamborinettes.

Medal of Medals: A good field of 17 contested this final Medal competition and the scores must have reflected the condition of the course. Liz Howard was the Medal of Medallists with an very good 69 nett, but was shaded for the day’s event trophy by Debbie Keir and Narelle Cooper who scored sensational nett 66’s. Debbie managed to win on a countback. Commiserations, Narelle; no one deserves to lose with that sort of score. Well done, Debbie!

Melbourne Cup Day Event: The ladies will be hosting (once again) the Melbourne Cup Day competition and luncheon on Tuesday, 4^th November. There will be an 8am, shot-gun start to a 4BBB Stableford Medley, followed by lunch and lots of sweeps. Cost is $10 and lunch needs to be ordered on registration. All members and friends are invited.

On Sunday, 12^th October, eight of our younger brigade wended their way down the mountain to do battle in the Coolangatta-Tweed Junior Classic and they did not come away empty-handed, no indeed! In B Grade, Chris King was runner-up in the Nett category with a fine 70. In C Grade, Sterling Gregory went one better to win the Nett section with an excellent 67. I’ll bet that had a positive effect on his handicap! Congratulations, lads and a "Well tried" to our other entrants.

Hole-in-one: Fred Erickson-Miller started the month with a bang, or in this case, an ace! On the 17^th hole, he hit what he thought was a pretty good shot, but neither he nor his partners saw the finish (well, what do you expect the eyesight of a bunch of old b*****s to be like?). When they trundled up to the green, no ball could they see. Thinking the worst, they proceeded to check behind the green – still no ball. While they scratched the heads, someone suggested that the hole be checked in case (ha!ha!) it was there. Lo and behold, it was and the celebrations began. I think Fred was the last to leave the bar that day. Oh, and it was his first so it was especially exciting. Congratulations, Fred.

From left to right, the super, Super Seniors are Mike Molson, Kerry Castree, Terry Austin, Peter Clark (Captain), Peter Dent, Peter Morris, Ken Dew and in front, John Halpin. Missing from the photo (gone home early for a home-cooked meal!) are Peter Fields and Mark Bailey.

Super Seniors: In Round 5, played at Boomerang Farm, Tamborine defeated Helensvale 5 matches to 2 and ensured a finals berth in the Divisional play-offs regardless of the outcome of the last round match against Boomerang Farm. Nevertheless, the Mountain Men were not content to rest on their laurels and proceeded to give the Boomerang Farm lads a touch-up to the tune of 5 matches to 2. Parkwood managed to sneak into the other finals berth by having a better for and against record than Tally Valley. The Final was played at the River Course at Coolangatta-Tweed and was a see-sawing match all day. With three wins apiece, it came down to the last match which was all square at the 18^th. The two players went back to the first tee and off they went again. The 19^th was halved and it was on to the 20^th hole where Parkwood finally prevailed. Our lad was shattered but no blame could be attached for such a sterling effort. The familiar cry went up, "Next year; just you wait and see!"

District Shield Day: On Friday, 10^th October, Tamborine hosted the last round of the Northern Gold Coast District Vet’s Shield. Tamborine went into this round leading the standings and local knowledge proved superior. The Mountain Men took out 5 of the six main prizes, 11 of the 17 ball run-down awards and 1 of the 4 NTP’s. (1 of the three successful visitors was Terry Luckett who counts as a local because he used to be a member)

Bruce Bartle won the A Grade with 40 from Peter Morris who had 39. Peter Fields was runner-up in B Grade, losing the winning spot on a countback with Clinton Humphries from Gold Coast Country. John Young led in the C Graders with 43 to pip Hal Orth by one point.

In the overall Shield results, Tamborine recorded 179 points to comfortably beat Parkwood who notched up 171.4 points. Gold Coast Country (161.4), Emerald Lakes (156) and Tallebudgera (148.6) made up the rest of the field. That makes two years in a row that Tamborine has grabbed top spot.

Veterans’ Cup: This was a two-round event in Stroke Play format. A number of players got out of the blocks to a flying start with some excellent scores in the first round. John Youngman had a scintillating 62 nett to give him a significant head start over the rest of the field. There were 64’s, 65’s and 66’s a-plenty though, to indicate it was not going to be a one-horse race. But, as with all the long distance events, it was the stayers who showed their mettle. In C Grade, it was the old war-horse himself, Mark Bailey, who had consistent rounds of 69 and 71 to inscribe his name on the trophy. He may not hit them long, but does he hit them anywhere but in the middle? Not on your nelly! John Cairns began with a very satisfactory 67 and roared home with a 64 to easily win the B Grade section, collecting a very close approach on the 15^th along the way. Someone must be driving the buggy for him so he can concentrate on hitting the ball and not the trees, fences and other buggies! The pressure of leading so well must have told on our Prez because he had a reversal of fortune in the second round to be overtaken by John Halpin who, with a pair of 67’s, was the eventual winner of the A Grade section.

Postscript: Peter Dent is now well and truly in the poo with his Super Senior mates. After losing at the 20^th – costing us the promotion due a winning team – he goes on a scoring rampage in the Wednesday Stableford with 49 points! With that score, he could have easily won a teams event, let alone an individual competition. All sympathies were with Michael Buck, who had 46 points which would have been a winning score on any other day of the year. You can bet the handicapper will not miss you, Peter! Well done anyway.

My roving reporters who cover this part of club activities, have been rather slack in their observations of late. I did however, note one shot that deserves mention. Standing behind the 16^th green the other day, I watched Anton Wernerkinck play his second shot out of the back bunker (he had blasted his drive through the green – he takes no prisoners with the big stick) with spectacular results. The club splashed sand about three inches behind the ball, followed through classically and he watched his ball bounce once, twice and then dive into the hole for an eagle 2!

Catering: Andy’s catering contract has been renewed with the proviso that the club can make its own arrangements for up to 4 functions per year.

Mountain Accommodation: The club is continuing its 2-for-1 green fees for guests of participating accommodation places on the mountain. We are allowing these premises to link the golf club’s web-site to theirs and to use information and images on our site for promotional purposes.

Road closure: The club has applied to close the gazetted road that runs from the main road behind the 2^nd tee, along the fence line to the corner beside the practice tee. If successful, this will allow us to block access from the main road and prevent hoons from easily entering the course in an isolated area. We now wait upon the slow grind of bureaucracy.

Poker Machines: If you are an addict or a fan, get in your last games now because they are going! They are now costing us money and not just a couple of dollars. In the 6 years I have been on committee, they have come up for discussion at least two or three times a year. Each time it was decided that, as long as they were making money, however small the amount, they would be retained. The time has come when they are losing money. There is not only the licence fee, but we are faced with significant monthly fees, line rental and other costs, besides the time and effort of keeping up with the money handling and the paperwork. We will be surrendering the licence and having the machines scrapped. We cannot sell the licence or the machines, so, sayonara!

Main Road Sign: This will be painted to delete the reference to "licenced restaurant".

Doors on Club Annex: The door to the men’s locker room will be replaced and all doors in that building will be repainted.

Buggy Signs: The spraying of broken white lines around greens will be discontinued and small signs (to be declared "Movable Obstructions") will take their place. The paint was costing us about $25 - $30 each week and the signs will be a once-only expense of less than $100. The signs will be more noticeable even if something of a pain to Wayne every time he mows the fairways. Please take notice of them and keep buggies at least 10 metres from back and sides of the greens. We will be extending the no-buggy gap at the front to 25 metres.

Parking on Paths: Notices will be painted on the buggy paths beside the first tee, between the 3^rd and 9^th greens and beside the 5^th green. The signs will read (in large letters) "PLEASE PARK BUGGIES ON THE PATH" If drivers follow this simple request, we will not have those unsightly (and hard to chip off) bare patches.

State of the Finances: Competition fees are up significantly, as are visitor’s fees. Membership is very slightly down and expenses are up as well. All in all, we are in a better financial position than at this time last year. If the requested grant for the construction of the new green comes through, the bottom line will be even better and we can immediately consider the extension of the cart path at the 7^th/16^th tees. If it does not, a situation that was considered in the calculations, we will not be in any strife.

Membership Fees: As at the meeting date (28^th October), 3 Country, 10 Junior and between 70 and 80 Fully Paid Up members have paid their subs. These were due by the 21^st October, so anyone now playing without having paid those subs is technically ineligible to win any prizes in competitions. Because the committee members have such kind hearts and because we know of lot of you old b*****s have such wonky memories, the "unfinancial" cut-off date is being extended to Tuesday, 4^th November. If you haven’t paid in full or made an arranged partial payment, by that date, you may be asked to pay full green fees and may not be collecting any vouchers or balls or other kinds of loot. Notices to this effect will be displayed in the clubhouse, locker rooms and proshop. You have been reminded!

Today’s topic has been covered in previous issues, but in a peripheral way only. From my own observations and from the comments made to me by others, it seems that more than a few golfers could do with a reminder about the specifics of ball dropping. If you follow the directions given here, no one could ever accuse you of acting improperly, either deliberately or through ignorance. It is also advisable to give your marker the opportunity to watch you perform the correct procedures.

If you are taking a drop within a specified distance from the ball’s original position (e.g. 1 or 2 club lengths), it is advisable to mark the original position and also the limit of the distance allowed with tees. This ensures that your ball comes to rest in the allowable place, that is, no closer to the hole. You should also be scrupulous about the measuring – near enough is not good enough!

If you are taking a drop which involves the "nearest point of relief", you should mark the point of relief that is nearest the ball and then the point that is the one or two club lengths allowed from that latter point. Measuring should again be precise. The ball should then be dropped so that it finishes between the two markers and no nearer the pin.

The ball must be re-dropped if the ball finishes closer to the pin, outside the allowable limits or more than 2 club lengths from the point it first struck the ground. If it does so a second time, it is placed at the spot where it hits the ground. Incidentally, you cannot pick up the ball until it has stopped rolling, even if you are sure it will not finish in the correct place.

A final note here concerns the dropping of the ball. It must be dropped from shoulder height with the arm extended and no spin imparted as you drop it. This may all sound rather pedantic but honesty is a big part of this game and no one, I am sure, would like to carry a reputation as a rule bender or breaker.

Consistency will always win the day. The old adage was again proved true with Barry Roberts and Tim Kerr scoring 79’s in both rounds of these championships. Peter and Clifford Arnesen began well with a 78 but faded to an 83 in the second round, to leave Barry and Tim the champions for 2008 by the comfortable margin of three strokes.

In B Grade, Warren Castledine and Chris Walker did what true champions do. The started with a creditable 86 and improved to an 85 in the second. This was more than enough to give them a 4-point buffer over Kerry Castree and Peter Fields who went the other way from round 1 to round 2.

Bob Mortlock and Tony Lynch had the unenviable experience of leading after round one, improving by six shots for round two, and still losing. The real kicker was that the loss came at the end of a countback! Kevin Gough and Owen Leudicke trailed by one after the first round but also improved considerably to tie the other pair. Their 89 was good enough to beat Bob and Tony’s 90 on that dreaded countback.

Congratulations to all the champs and may you enjoy the warm glow of victory for the next twelve months!

Again, I owe an apology to the players concerned for omitting to cover this event in last month’s newsletter. All I can offer in explanation is that I had a lot on my mind during the last few days of September.

In the A Grade section, something of a paper upset occurred, although anyone who knew the players involved would say that it was not really surprising. Roger Way, who absolutely thrives on Match Play, managed to tip out the Club Champion, Peter Arnesen, by the slim margin of 2 and 1. By all accounts, it was quite close all day.

Ramos Petraitis, another under-the-radar player, had a convincing win in the B Grade by 4 and 3. Jimmy Dunn, with his handicap lower than Ramos’, would have been the bookmaker’s choice, but such was not to be.

In C Grade, at least, the favourite got up, but not without a battle. Fred Erickson-Miller had quite a tussle with Ross Hodgson before claiming a 2 and 1 win. Ross was playing on the maximum handicap and must have played a series of blinders to get to the final and to take Fred to the 17^th hole before succumbing.

Congratulations to all the winners. May you enjoy your bragging rights until August next year.

This month, we welcome three new Junior members to the club. Dominique and Christian Buckland (yes, they’re grandkids of Virgo Buckland, but don’t hold that against them!) and Dion Smith are our latest enrollees in the Young Brigade. Welcome to this great game and may your patience levels be well developed!

Our thanks go to Bob Mortlock who has donated an Acacia pendulosa (weeping wattle). This has been planted near the 100 metre marker on the first. I think Bob is trying to get his memorial tree in about 25 years early so that he can have the pleasure of watching the thing grow and develop into a problem for future golfers!

The new green has had its second haircut. Anyone who has been taking more than a passing interest will be noting the lush growth. The surrounds are also starting to show signs of the couch seedings. Comments are already flying about what diabolical positions that dastardly pin-setter will be choosing. I can rush to assure one and all that he is mellowing and will save his spleen-venting for the last Saturday of the year, or, so he assures me!

Last month, when I acknowledged the volunteers who came along to help with the greens renovations, I forgot to add the name of Peter Wilson, one of our newer members. Peter also volunteers his services most Friday afternoons to rake the bunkers smooth for the weekend’s play. Thanks, Peter. Incidentally, he now brings the Peters to equivalence with the Johns in the naming stakes.

The Annual Presentation dinner will be held on Friday, 12^th December. It will be a 6.30pm for 7pm start. This is basically the do where all of the Honour Board trophy recipients are recognized for their deeds and presented with their prizes/trophys. Because many of the winners of last year’s events were not there, this year, those people will be contacted directly or by letter and invited to attend. The costs of the dinner will be kept to a minimum and ticket prices will cover costs only in an attempt to keep it as economical as possible. Non-trophy winners are equally welcome and you can be assured of a very pleasant social evening.

This month, we have biographies with a difference. Instead of birth, growing up, career and golfing background details, we have a love story – boy meets girl, boy courts girl, they marry and finish up at Tamborine. It all began way back in 1959, in London. Virgoe, a young blade from Capetown had been in London doing the OS bit for a week or so when he met this Brisbane sheila doing the same at the Overseas Visitors’ Centre. After a bit of conversation, he asked her if she played any sport. "I play a bit of golf," she claimed and Virgoe, a golf fanatic since age 12, arranged a game at Royal Wimbledon. When it was Ly’s turn to tee off, she took a couple of whiffs before topping a dribble down the fairway. "Heavens, I think I’m a bit rusty," she said. By the third hole, when the weather was turning rusty, Virgoe turned to say something after a putt, only to discover Lyn hiking at pace back to the clubhouse in the pouring rain! Virgoe’s sister arrived in London soon after and the two girls hit it off. A group of 8, including our mutually interested two, packed into a VW Kombi and did the tour of Europe with the girls in the van and the boys in tents each night. The chemistry was just right and they tied the knot in Brisbane in 1961 and – get this – had their 2-day honeymoon at Tamborine Mt. They eventually returned to Australia in 1982 and visited the mountain frequently until buying the block on which they built their house in 1987. They have been there ever since and absolutely love it. Virgoe claims, with Lyn’s backing, that the golf course is one place where they have never had an argument! Aaawwww! Wasn’t that just sooo beautiful? To tell you the truth, I think they are a lovely couple and the club is enriched by their membership. Incidentally, Virgoe must have the largest collection of golf clubs of any person I have ever encountered.

ODD SPOT 1

I’ve seen some oddball scenes on this golf course in my time as a member, but this one has to rank up there with the weirdest! During the last Vets’ competition of October, Dick Hart had some bike trouble, so Ian Grimsey, being the bloke he is, had a tow rope handy – with snatchem strap as well, would you believe – and, voila!

"Beware your playing partners!" This is a cautionary tale about the unexpected effects upon one’s game if your playing partners have decidedly sick senses of humour. Recently, this unfortunate bloke teed off on the second, hitting a longish drive that should have slid past the trees on the left corner of the dogleg. It got a very dodgy bounce hard left and finished up about 20 centimetres from the base of a tree. The ball had to be back-handed out onto the fairway with a gain of only a few metres (lucky to get that). A bogey resulted and a grumble or two was uttered about Murphy’s Law.

On the very next hole, the drive went past the 150 marker but the draw took it into the tree line again. Unbelievably, the ball finished a mere 20 centimetres from the base of a tree and, once again, required a back-handed shot to get it back into play. Another bogey and more grumbles which had a sharper edge of "What did I do to deserve this?!" about it. The drive on the fourth was a duck hook into the tree line on the left – and this is where the trauma started. The player was tardy getting away from the tee and his playing partners were off down the fairway, well ahead. As he approached the spot where his ball had been located, those same unsympathetic partners announced, "You’re not going to like this!"

Striding up to the spot, the player saw a ball positioned exactly like the previous two tee shots- 20 centimetres from the base of the tree and right behind it this time. The explosion was monumental. The face became red, steam issued from the ears and the language could not be repeated in this family newsletter. After the tirade died down, the partners said, "Of course, if you don’t like that position, you can always play this ball here." A moment’s stunned silence was followed by a quick scan of the other ball which turned out to be his real ball. The offending ball was a different brand which he had not noticed through the red haze of emotion. At this point he burst out laughing and mumbled something like, "You rotten sods!"

The moral of the tale is this; if you are ever partnering David Strong, Marty McGinn or Maurie Payne, watch out! They are definitely bent and twisted in the humour department. The poor victim did concede that anything bad that happened after that was small beer in comparison and the day proceeded in high spirits. And just to show that there is justice, Marty lost his ball on the 18^th. The victim found it – 20 centimetres from the base of a tree and right behind it!

May this never be you – unless you’ve just been playing me matchplay! Cheerio, everyone.

(Picture courtesy Gary Patterson’s "The Golfer" calendar)