September Competition
It was a typical spring morning which started cool and overcast, but this gave way to an absolutely beautiful sunny day and the 82 starters relished this first day of spring. The course was a bit heavy after all of the rain in recent weeks but the greens were rolling true and if you managed to hit the fairways pretty consistently, you were always going to score well.
With 82 starters there was enough for two division and the results were:
Division 1
Steve Rippon 39 points
Doug Perry 38 points
B Vernon (Kiama) 37 points
Division 2
B Stephens (K) 39 points
Laurie Fogarty 38 points (c/b)
Bob McDonald 38 points
NTPs – 9th Dave Ruddy (198cms) 11th B Vernon (K) (160cms)
Drive & Pitch 8th Steve Rippon (110cms)
Balls to 29 points.
October Competition
Some concern was raised by the organisers of the Camp Quality day that our new Vets day on the 3rd Monday in October might cause a clash for some members who might then play in the Vets rather than on the Camp Quality day. While we are not convinced that this would occur we have reluctantly decided to delay the introduction of our new Vets day until November 2014. We will monitor the starters in the Camp Quality day to act as a guide for future years. Therefore we will only have one competition in October which will be on Monday 13th.
Membership renewals
Membership for 2014/15 falls due on 1st October, however I will be unable to be at the course on Monday 13th October, so I will collect memberships on the first Monday in November. For those who paid at our last meeting in September, your membership cards are available in the office, but you still need to sign your card and then either Linda or Meaghan will laminate the card for you.
You might remember Dave Ransom’s recent article on John Turner who broke his age in a recent event. I think this is a very rare event indeed and to recognise John’s achievement we have prepared a framed certificate that includes his score card from the day. The certificate will be on display on the counter at our day on Monday 13th October next to where you pay your money to Rod Hodkinson. Lance will make the formal presentation to John at the completion of his round.
Seaside and Valley Veterans Tournament
To date over 90 entries have been received for this inaugural tournament to be held at Jamberoo and Kiama from 24 to 28 November 2014 with the closing date for entries being 17 November. There will be three divisions for men and two divisions for ladies with lots of prizes on offer. If anyone is interested in playing they can contact either myself, Lance Fredericks or Stuart Potter for full details.
Next month we will be asking for volunteers to nominate to act as rangers, spotters, starters and scorers on the day.
Trevor Bell Shield – Jamberoo still leading
The September competition was held at Russell Vale on Wednesday 17th October under blue skies but extremely windy conditions. Team captain Ray Orr was unable to play on the day so he delegated responsibility for the days motivational speech to Brian O’Hare. I am assured by the other team members that Brian did in fact deliver his speech, but I just can’t seem to find anyone who was there!
The course had some reasonable run but the greens were lightning fast and if you were putting from above the hole a three putt was on the cards. However you couldn’t tell that to Karl Edlinger who was outstanding on the day and won the overall competition with 41 points just edging out Dick Farrant (Kiama) with 40 points. Karl was ably supported by Brian O’Hare, Ron Chilby, Geoff Reynolds, Peter Young and Chris Goodwin to give us an overall score of 202 points.
With 202 points Jamberoo won the day from Port Kembla (194), Links Shell Cove (190), Kiama (188), The Grange (185), Wollongong (183) and hosts Russell Vale (176). This win means Jamberoo has now won four of the five days of competition and gives us a lead of 30 points with two rounds to play at Wollongong (October) and The Grange (November). The nomination form for Wollongong is now on the board.
To illustrate the power of the wind on the day, one of the Russell Vale players left his buggy adjacent to the 17th before the arduous climb to the tee. Once at the top of the path he turned in horror to see his buggy and clubs careering down the hill and straight into the dam in front of the 16th. He didn’t get much sympathy from his playing partner who’s only comment was a complaint that his score card was now wet!
Chris Goodwin
Secretary/Treasurer Jamberoo Vets