Quality time with daughter this morning. An hour on the bowling machine at my local indoor centre. Trialling my new eyes out. Saw the ball didn’t hit it any better!

A few beers cooking a late lunch.

A decent bottle of red with a rack of lamb.

Apple pie and cream for desert and a glass of baileys.

Put a fork in me!

All the best to Aerie today. Hope you've had a great day.

Starting to make some plans to get a few hits in.

One thing I noticed, is my local 18 hole public track are doing $16 as many holes as you can play mid week after 3.00pm. May take advantage of that.

Friday 29th Sept is a public holiday - playing with a few mates at the local track. 9.30am hit off, in the pub by 2.00pm. Nice.

Got another mate I need to catch up with, he is in Europe right now, so look him up when he gets back for a hit in October.

Having the entire week of Melb Cup off. Wednesday after the cup, playing Club Mandalay. It's about 35 minutes from my place. They have a deal $40 per players, which includes a cart & a post round beer. Can't loose.

Then heading to SA in early November to take in one of my lads games of cricket (at a new club) so we will have a game on the Sunday before I fly back.

Best be getting that new Driver in the bag....

Starting to make some plans to get a few hits in.

One thing I noticed, is my local 18 hole public track are doing $16 as many holes as you can play mid week after 3.00pm. May take advantage of that.

Friday 29th Sept is a public holiday - playing with a few mates at the local track. 9.30am hit off, in the pub by 2.00pm. Nice.

Got another mate I need to catch up with, he is in Europe right now, so look him up when he gets back for a hit in October.

Having the entire week of Melb Cup off. Wednesday after the cup, playing Club Mandalay. It's about 35 minutes from my place. They have a deal $40 per players, which includes a cart & a post round beer. Can't loose.

Then heading to SA in early November to take in one of my lads games of cricket (at a new club) so we will have a game on the Sunday before I fly back.

Best be getting that new Driver in the bag....

Correction to the above - My local public course are doing $15 as many holes as you like after 2pm........ "Working" from home" this arvo, and was logged on by 7.20am..... sunny out today, I think I will be on the first tee by 3.00pm. So long as I am answering e-mails (on my phone), technically I am at work!

Starting to make some plans to get a few hits in.

One thing I noticed, is my local 18 hole public track are doing $16 as many holes as you can play mid week after 3.00pm. May take advantage of that.

Friday 29th Sept is a public holiday - playing with a few mates at the local track. 9.30am hit off, in the pub by 2.00pm. Nice.

Got another mate I need to catch up with, he is in Europe right now, so look him up when he gets back for a hit in October.

Having the entire week of Melb Cup off. Wednesday after the cup, playing Club Mandalay. It's about 35 minutes from my place. They have a deal $40 per players, which includes a cart & a post round beer. Can't loose.

Then heading to SA in early November to take in one of my lads games of cricket (at a new club) so we will have a game on the Sunday before I fly back.

Best be getting that new Driver in the bag....

Correction to the above - My local public course are doing $15 as many holes as you like after 2pm........ "Working" from home" this arvo, and was logged on by 7.20am..... sunny out today, I think I will be on the first tee by 3.00pm. So long as I am answering e-mails (on my phone), technically I am at work!

Well that was an interesting few hours to say the least.

Arrived to the course about 2.20pm. It was soon pretty clear a few others had picked up on the $15 deal, like bloody Flinders St Station, people everywhere.

Called into the pro shop paid my fees and the lad behind the counter said "about 20 minutes and you can get on the tee". No worries a few chips & putts to pass the time.

More and more people rolling in. So after 15 minutes I wander down to the 1st tee. Group of 4 had just hit off. Group of 3 standing on the tee. Just me however loitering to the side of the tee. The 3 hit off. While I was waiting a big lad turned up, and just by his body language, I could see he was intending to hit off next. Another group of players had started wandering down the path to the first tee. So I asked the big lad if he minded me joining him.... "No problems brother was his reply"...

As we waited to hit off I was looking at his set of clubs - Taylor Made Sim 2 Driver (Exactly like I am wanting); Sim 3 wood. Srixon ZS5 irons. And a very interesting set of head covers. Indigeneous designs. He explained to me a friend of his makes them, I then realised he was a first nations lad.

He invites me to hit off first, I duck hook into the trees. I didn't really see his tee shot, but it sounded good. Eventually get to his ball, he has a 60 meters pitch into the first. Has hit his drive 300'ish, makes par. We play a few more holes, I am all over the joint he is making pars, the odd bogey. We get to about the 5th hole & I ask what he plays off. +1 is the reply. Yep ok, this is a serious dude I am paired with. I hit a reasonable drive on the 5th, he says to me nice swing, but do you mind if I give you a tip..... just a slight move of your grip. He called it "giving blood", then says Sergio gave him the tip when he was playing some events in the USA!

We chatted some more, even touched on the referendum, as I was interested in his views..... so I try the change of grip on the 6th, it helps. On the 9th he invites me to hit his driver. He has it dialed into about 8 degrees, and it has an extra stiff shaft. I hit it well, and very low, due to the shaft and lower kick point.

We ended up playing about 12 holes before packing it in. As we are walking off the course I asked him why he was playing here at Bundoora, a bog average public track. Turns out he works in aboriginal affairs (Legal aid for youth) and had meetings on this side of town, so just ducked in for a hit. He is a member of the Southern Golf Club in Oakleigh...... other side of Melbourne. Only problem is, I can't recall his name!

All we're really interested in is the grip tip :lol:

Sounds like it was a great walk.

And at +1 would have been some good golf to watch

I will try my best to explain..... Essentially it was rolling my bottom hand (right hand) back to the right, effectively opening up my hands just slightly. It did make it feel a little easier to release the club through the ball. What the big lad said was it would increase my lag & increase my speed through the ball. Hope that makes sense?!?

He was rusty to be fair, and hit some average chips & putts for a +1.

But some of his ball striking was just pure.

Grundy is a real different cat so Sydney would definitely suit him.
During Covid we saw him up at Alice at Hanuman’s getting tea and he strolls into the restaurant barefoot and looking like a homeless bum, picks up his takeaway order from the front counter, gets a few photos with some patrons who recognised him and then heads out the front door and hops on his push bike with the food strategically hanging on the handlebars. We did have a good chuckle
Bet is was a fixed wheel bike too.

carey wrote:When you could drink 8-10 cans and drive home

& a bottle of red!

Massive day. First beer at 11.

Just home from the pub now.

Ryder Cup on. Go the Euro’s!

Massive day. First beer at 11.

Just home from the pub now.

Ryder Cup on. Go the Euro’s!

Now for some details.

9.45am tee off. 3 mates plus me.

1 bloke (Ryan) off 13; 1 bloke (Timmy) 3 times a year player; 1 bloke (Big Johnny) not played since before Covid - he was only in for 9 though, he had to work in the arvo.

We play the first 3 holes just to get a feel for things. Then on the 4th, decide to play skins.

The skins categories: - NTP on Par 3's (must be on the green); Longest drives (on the fairway in play) on about 6 designated holes, Greens in Reg; Sandis (up & down out of a bunker) and Chipping or putting in from off the green. A round of beers waiting on the tee, confirms the categories!

The front 9 was awfully slow - public holiday and all. over 2.5 hours for the 9. By now it was getting pretty warm too.

Sadly for Timmy his best hole of the day - Smashed a drive & made par, was on the first hole, before the skins were agreed on. We later conceeded them in the pub!

Ryan, ended up with 10 skins for the day...... and after saying he does not hit driver all that well, proceeds to smash them there after. Good ball striker, chipping & putting lets him down. Good swing, gets them out there.

Think I ended up with 8 skins, made up of 1 NTP, 1 Long Drive, 3 Pars, 2 GIR's & a sand save. Went out in 47, came home in 53 (or in an ambulance) for a Bradman!

Raced around the back in well under 2 hours - probably a bit over 1.5 hours actually.

Adjourned to our local to tote up the scores. Great day had by all, and while it may be beer talk, we are teeing it up again in a bit over a month.

New Driver update - Funds sitting at about $600, helped by Collingwood bet/win. Will jump on the Sim this weekend at Drummo's and narrow the field and see where that leaves me.

Drummo’s Driver Fitting.

Hit a few warm ups on the sim. 8 irons, then a few with my 25 year old Taylor Made.

Spoke to the bloke about hitting it a bit lower off the tee.

Set me up with the Taylor Made Sim 2. Hit everything all day with a draw/hook. Not one fade.

Then he handed me the Callaway Paradym. Hit it better than the Sim 2.

Finally I tried the Taylor Made Stealth 2. Overall think the set up here suited me best. The bloke from Drummo’s set the club up with a fade bias ( weight into the toe) and dialled the lift back to 7 degrees…. At least that’s what I thought he said it was. Which is like a putter loft!!

So it really came down to a choice between the Callaway and the Stealth. By this stage I think I would have hit 80-90 drives. I was stuffed!

End result is I will go back next Saturday fresh hit 20 or 30 with each and pick what’s giving me the most consistent shape.

I was happy that my swing speed was super consistent, however my outside to inside swing was quite pronounced.

A group of blokes in the 2 bays next to me on a bucks day. On the sauce at 10.00am. Fair play lads!

Good to see a SA Footy luminary interviewed on the A&EH - FB roaming edition.

Taylor Made Stealth in the bag. On debut tomorrow!

**** I hate golf!

“So same time next week mate”

You bet, can’t wait.

mighty_tiger_79 wrote:Poms lose.

Moral win though.

29 degrees tomorrow, twilight golf. Cold Beer!

Happy Birthday Boon.

Pirate Life for lunch perhaps?

Last Friday - 18 holes Twilight

The deal at Bundoora GC is on all through Summer - $15 unlimited golf after 3.00pm.

Friday was shaping up as a quiet day on the work front. By 1.00pm I think I'd received, and dealt with 4 e-mails for the day! Big boss not in, my boss working from home. So I was the only Rep in the office, there are 6 of us. Ok, I am out here by 2.30pm. Drive up from Dandenong completed in under an hour. Get changed in the car park (into shorts) and walk into the Pro Shop, pay my dues & I am away. Esky with 4 Corona's that had been on ice since 7.00am that morning strapped to the buggy.

2 blokes on the first tee, invite me to play through. so it was a bit rushed, and I was still a bit stiff from the hour drive up the Eastlink. Proceed to hit 4 awful shots, before a shank into the green side bunker! Not the start I was looking for. 2nd hole not that much better, but at least I was now away and not holding up the 2 blokes who let me through.

3rd hole is a tight, but not overly long par 5. Stealth driver deployed. Hit it with a touch of fade, but reasonably well, get down to it, just off fairway, sitting ok'ish, and I am 210 out, down hill. Hit a poor 3 wood left into trees. Lucky bounce out to fairway, but need to clear overhanging tree branches, 70 meters out. Sand Wedge to 10 foot. Happy with that.

4th hole - 160 meter uphill par 3. Duffed 4 iron, followed by bladed 9 iron over the back, never to be found. Get ******. I open my first beer.

5th hole - short par 4. Stealth slices into trees right. Not much on offer, decide to hit a 5 iron, and see if I can get lucky. I don't. Hits trees, and richocets left... onto fairway. 100 meters left. Wedge into 12-15 feet.

6th hole. Short par 4. I have driven this hole a few times in the past. Hit Stealth - leaks a little right, and about 20 meters shorts. Flick sand iron to 8 foot. Miss putt. Finish 1st beer.

7th hole - Dog leg left par 5. Plenty of driving room. Stealth deployed, sliced right into god know what, never to be found, in fact I can't be arsed even looking for it. . ****! Re-load, still head right, missing perfectly nice fairway. 8 iron to 100 meteres. Wedge in to 15 feet.

8th hole - 150'ish par 3 playing into the breeze and into the sun. 4 iron leaks right, but pin high. Duff chip, duff second chip, blade third chip. I open the 2nd Corona.

9th hole. Solid par 4 - 380'ish. Stealth deployed. Cracked it, just inside the 150 marker, right hand side fairway. 6 iron pin high right. chip onto green 2 putt.

10th hole. Down hill 170 meter par 3. 4 iron, pushed a little right....at least I think it was, felt like it. Didn't find the ****. 2nd beer emptied.

11th hole - 400m Par 4. Stealth deployed. Cracked down the left hand side (ball played back in stance) of the fairway. 185 in, hybrid - pulled left.

12th hole - another 400 m Par 4. Stealth deployed - sliced to god know where. ******* ****! Re-load. Better shot but still crap, trees right.

13th hole - long par 5. Stealth deployed, pulled left but not awful. 4 iron out, 8 iron in. 3rd beer is opened after putting.

14th hole - short-ish par 4. Stealth deployed. Best drive of the night. Spanked that little white bastard, left centre fairway. 95 meters in - choke down pitching wedge ( I am not on speaking terms with gap wdge) to 8 foot. Rolled in the putt. Finish 3rd beer in celebration.

15th hole - Bloody long Par 4 - 445 or thereabouts. Stealth deployed. Pulled left. Find it, kick it onto fairway. Duff 3 wood. Open last beer. 175 out - 3 iron, struck well, short left. Chip to 8 foot. I felt I was going ok with sand wedge chipping. Using a tip from Paul Gow's how good is golf. Just keeping my weight back up off the ball. As I tend to fall into them at times. Working a treat.

16th hole, short par 4 dogleg left. 3 wood off the tee into good position. 7 iron in, short right. Chip up & 2 put. Open my last beer on the 17th tee as groups in front backed up, included a group of 6. **** heads.

17th hole - mid length (155 m) par 3 down hill to a 2 tier green. Into the wind. 4 Iron pushed right. Chip up, but onto the lower tier, pin is back, on the top tier. 3 stab.

18th hole - short par 5, dog leg right. Stealth deployed. Needs to be left hand side fairway to be a chance of getting home in 2. I hit it down the left side but not that well. Can't get home in 2. smash 3 wood, comes up short. Drop a ball where I wanted to finish, and hit hybrid on. Finish last beer.

Overall in terms of the Stealth, when I hit it ok, it hangs in the air longer than my old driver, so yes I probably have picked up 10-15 Meters, but there is no consistency. Put that down to operator error!

Adjourn to my local pub, while I wait for my Indian take-away - Medium Butter Chicken, Garlic Naan and Basmatti rice to be ready.

Looking for to this Friday!

PatowalongaPirate wrote:

Booney wrote:Anyone fancy mowing my lawns this arvo?

I can craft a pretty good GFC logo in the middle.

With Roundup?

Friday Twilight.

I’m back baby!

Well, sort of. Stealth came to the party tonight. Piped a few down the guts. 2 fiddy + , which for an old **** like me I was happy with.

Drained a few putts, back to back birdies. Chipping sound.

Back to Adelaide next weekend which includes a game at the old stomping ground with son and a few mates.

Looking forward to it.

Having all of next week off work. They make us take Monday off before Cup day, so I said stuff it, I will take the entire week.

Heading to Adelaide Sat morning. Watch the lad's cricket, while punting. Golf Sunday, fly back Sunday night.

Monday recovery, before Cup day Tuesday, Golf on Wednesday at Club Mandalay, Punting at my local pub Thursday for Oaks day. Golf again Friday.

Back to work after that for a rest.

Lightning McQueen wrote:

JK wrote:

PatowalongaPirate wrote:Paid.

Phew, this is the one we want

Better shape up!

Coz we need a man..

Driving range tonight.

Dear reader, I’m trembling as I write this, tempting the golfing gods is not a good thing to do.

It’s with a large sense of trepidation, but, I think…………

The Stealth is dialled in. I repeat the Stealth is dialled in. Well, in Victorian conditions at least.

Without doubt I hit the ******* thing sideways on Sunday!

My plans for twilight golf last night crushed by of all things.... work.

Was looking to play 5 rounds in 11 days.... oh well may get out and hit a bucket of balls this arvo, before retiring to my local to begin working on the race form.

Ashton Hills (Mt Barker Golf Club) Review

Firstly some notes on the course. As a past member and not having played there for 2 or 3 years, the course is in fabulous condition. If you have not played it, do yourself a favour, go up the hill for a hit. Course improvements - both the 8th & 10th greens renovated. Both have been lifted several meters, both with false fronts. Makes these 2 holes stronger in my view. Bunkers looked well maintained (not that I went in them) which was always challenging during my time as a member. Just didn't have the ground staff numbers to maintain them to a good standard. Greens were a nice pace, not slow, but not too fast, and I could see they had been recently cored (guess 3/5 weeks ago) but played very true.

So to the game. Played with son & 2 of his mates. Individual Stableford and a side teams game ( this played as a multiplier stableford) so both individual stableford points multiplier together for a total. So if you & your partner both have 2 points on the hole, the combined total is 4. However, if your partner birdies for say 4 points & you wipe the hole, the teams gets nothing. Interesting way to play the side bet.

Having declared I had the Stealth wired in, I dead set, stone cold (Steve Austin) dome it off the first tee. Ball tumbled into the small creek about 80 meters in front of the 1st tee...... never to be seen again. I am teamed with my son. He pars the 1st hole, which is the number 1 rated hole on the course for 3 stableford points. I take a wipe. No points for us. Good one Dad!

Second hole. Par 3. I hit the green but spin back off, as does one of the other lads. Son hits it to 10-12 feet. Other lad is over the back. I chip up, past the hole. Left myself a tough 15 foot down hill, left to right breaking putt. Made it which was nice. Son birdies so as a team we get 12 points. Excellent.

The next few holes are standard affairs. Son birdies the back to back Par 5's I par them both, and we are miles ahead of the other lads.

Seventh hole - I loose drive right, chip out sideways, and leave myself 100 into the green. Wedge to the back of the green, another long downhill putt. Fortunately my read (and I know these greens pretty well) is its dead straight. I roll in a 35-40 foot putt for Par. The other lads are spewing!

Eight & Nine played without much fanfare, although Son finds the water right off the tee with drive, and scrubs the hole, still has 21 pts the front. I had 15 pts for the front.

11.00 am see's us on the 10th tee, I pull out a cold tin from the esky. Cheers lads. I should have pared the 10th, but made bogey, as did son. Then things changed a bit. Son started played rubbish, I was hanging in making the odd par and mainly bogey's. The other lads started coming good. One of them had 2 shots on about 4 of the last 6 holes....things tightening up.

Stealth was starting to behave itself by 13. I hit 3 wood on 14 as the hole narrows where driver goes (for me). To the par 3 - 15th. I overclub with 4 iron over the green. The 2 lads on the other team both short right. Son pin high right. I have a difficult down hill chip, land it just short of the green, and it trickles on. Left myself another curler for par. 10-12 foot left to right across, with some down hill about it. Roll it in. Best I have putted in a few yers. Felt very confident, as I know these greens so well. Son makes par too. 9 points in the bank.

16 & 17 played without much ado. Get to the 18th. One of the lads on the other side has struggled most of the day off the tee. Well he hits a screaming drive, cut the corner and has 60 meters in. Great drive. I am left off the fairawys & in the sandy shit under the trees, but I have a clear shot to the green. I decide its just a long bunker shot..... 56 degree wedge. I blade it, into the roof of the clubhouse behind the 18th green, much to the mirth of all concerned, including those having a beer on the verandah.

Scores toted up. Son had 32, I had 30, The other lads - one had 32 the other had 27. We won the teams convincingly in the end, as we combined better in the multiplier.

Lunch had at the Barker, before I head down the hill to the airport & a flight home.

Land in Melbourne, and as I am struggling onto the bus to the long term car park, with my clubs..... the bus driver says "where have you been playing mate?". Ashton Hills Mt Barker I reply. "Really, I am from Adelaide, played there a few times. Was it the first time you played the course" the bus driver asks. "I was a member there for 25 years, so no" was my reply. "Oh then you would know my brother, Justin Percy". "Umm yep I know Justin" I replied.

Then 2 passengers behind me is another bloke struggling onto the bus, with clubs in a beaten up old Taylor Made carry bag. The bus driver says "Where have you been playing mate?" to the scruffy looking, hippie type bloke with the bag. "Queensland" was his reply. "Oh whereabouts" said the bus driver........ "The Queensland PGA event" came the reply. "How did you go" asked the bus driver....."Yeah ok today, shot 3 under, and finished 32nd overall". Note - I am about to look up who this bloke is!!

All of this while 30 or 40 other bus passengers, who probably just wanted to get to the long term car park, and get home, where waiting for all this golf chat to subside.

Small World.

Booney wrote:..and the judges gavel fell.....

Some quaddie double ups, some scratchings and some F4 calcs and a summary will soon be posted.

Nice work Boon.

Warmonger salutes - as the lid comes of the first of "several" Coronas for the day.

Corona Man wrote:

Spargo wrote:Second leg, tick,

Great work from the Pirate!

Pirate goes back to back. Bang!

Umm no pressure on the lads in the late quaddie!!

9 race card at Flemington for Oaks day.

I’d be happy if we adopt same format as we did cup day.

Team quaddies, individual bets and perhaps a grouped trifecta in the Oaks itself.

Thoughts?

The kiwi national anthem.

Dutchy wrote:Seems to be a really close/even comp this year. Meadows bottom

As you know I saw the Lofty vs Meadows game.

Meadows are still a reasonably good team, just perhaps a few too many "older" blokes in their team. Wouldn't write them off just yet.

Booney wrote:Mrs Boon took off to Melbourne yesterday afternoon to see Mr R Williams with 6 girlfriends tonight, gets home Saturday afternoon.

I'll cope.

What night is she going tonight or last night?

Back 9 at the Vines on a beautiful Friday night, started by missing a 1 footer for par on the 10th :roll: got my first birdie for a while on 14 to be 2 over only to double bogey 15 & 16, recovered to par 18 and walk off pretty happy with a 42 and 20 points, down to hcap of 17 now and goal is to get to 15.
Well done mate. That Handicap has come down quickly.

mighty_tiger_79 wrote:Looks like 3 day passes are gone

Son snapped one up.

A very very cold beer in about 45 minutes from now.

I can hear it calling my name..

Re-arranging the red wine “private reserve”, and finding a 2016 bottle of 389 I didn’t know I had!

Sunday December 17th - Beacon Hills Golf Club

Had a hit yesterday with a social golf group I have been invited to join. Beacon Hills is a 27 hole layout in the outer Eastern area of Melbourne. Getting towards Berwick. Hour & a half from my joint!

Course is in fantastic knick, greens rolled very truely. Played as a guest of a member, and at $39 for the round, was good value for money.

Really other than hitting a few buckets of balls in the past week, it was my first hit since early Nov, at Aston Hills.

Beacon Hills is hilly.....Stirling Golf Club hilly. Probably more so. I was near cooked the 8th hole. Word is that the last time the group played here, 1 bloke had a heart attack.

Front 9 very very scratchy. If it wasn't for a birdie on the par 5 - third hole it would have been a disaster. Found every green side bunker on the front, and some of them are bloody deep.

Got it going on the back a bit, for 17 points. Started to hit the Stealth well. The side game was secured on the 18th hole.

I think my 25pts had me in second last spot for the day. Still, better than the NAGA I guess. Winner shot 78 - 7 over, reasonable golf.

Not sure where the next game is planned just yet.

On the strength of this course guide, Spargo will card a 67.

Gravy Day

Booney wrote:Awful song.

Its way better than Horses!

Booney wrote:I'd rather spend Xmas in Gaza.

If you get good behavior, you'll be out of there by July.

Best Christmas gift ever…

mighty_tiger_79 wrote:Merry Xmas folks

Have a great day

Remember to get plenty of rest to be primed for ball 1 tomorrow morning

Rest….. I’ll still be pi55ed!

Best Christmas gift ever. Grandchild on the way!

Nan (Mrs C) pumped. She’s gone baby clothes shopping already!

Bundoora Park - Friday

Despite being the worst week of the year to go for a hit (everyman & his dog out on the course) was getting bored sitting around. Headed out with a mate.

Front 9 or to be more precise the first 5 holes awful. Doubles, Triples and worse.

Par on 6 got me going. Should have made birdie on 7 - par 5, hit 2 decent shots to be just off the front in 2, then took 3 to get it in the hole.

Bogey on 8, Double on 9, found the green side bunker here. They are haunting me at present. Need some bunker practice.

Poor shot on 10 led to another bogey. Pars on 11 & 12 and was starting to hit the ball better, also 3rd "tin" kicking in.

Double Bogey on 13, despite being pin high in regulation, poor chip, bladed to the back.

14, spanked the Stealth 270-280 to leave a 50 odd flick of the 52 degree wedge. Stiffed it & rolled in birdie.

15 Toughest hole on the course was completed with the usual double unfortunately. We skipped 16 & 17 as we were being held up by a dreadfully slow 4 in front of us.

Short par 5 to finish is the 18th hole. Got a good drive away down the left hand side of the fairway, it kicked and rolled on & on. 6 iron in, knocked it close and made Eagle, chuffed with that finish. We adjourned to our local for a few more ales.

Playing Sunday, at Craigieburn, then the festivities heat up. Tuesday at Mandalay & Thursday at Hidden Valley. Looking forward to it.

Kamal should bat higher. Why are people so unkind?

3 rounds in 6 days. Report to follow. Back hurts, right forearm is shot.

9 beers deep now, more tomorrow.

mighty_tiger_79 wrote:

Corona Man wrote:3 rounds in 6 days. Report to follow. Back hurts, right forearm is shot.

9 beers deep now, more tomorrow.

Hope the Sim pulls up ok...

Stealth.

Face has caved in!

2024 New Year Golf Festivities.

Plans changed as the days past by, and the playing roster of courses had to be tweaked.

Sunday Dec 31st - Melbourne Airport Golf

For anyone who has flown into Melbourne, may have noticed this track out of the plane window, just to the right of the runway at Tullamarine.

Hit off at around 10.00am. The first few holes here are pretty gentle, early observations that the course was not all that long. Tree lined fairways, but the trees in the main not that tall. So if you missed the fairway, and went over to the next one, coming back was not that tricky. Fairways had not been mowed, however they are all kikua anyway, so tight lies on fairawys, just the odd "dingle dangle" that was shin height. Greens soft, not all that fast, and surprisingly a well bunkered layout. I got the feeling this was either a council maintained course, or by volunteer members. Either way they are doing their best. The clubhouse was a derelict looking old building. Apparently still in use, but I didn't venture in. In terms of the course itself and its location, if you didn't know it was there..... you wouldn't know it was there. Its tucked in behind an industrial area, mainly for the freight carriers. Every 4 or 5 minutes another plane takes off and goes right overhead. I guess in time you would not even notice. I found it rather distracting.

As for the golf itself, fairly unremarkable, out in 48, home in 43. Started to hit the ball better on the back nine.

Tuesday 2nd Jan - Craigieburn

Had played here once before, probably 2 years ago now. Arrived at 9.15am for a 9.45 hit off. Got away right on 9.30am. Par on the 1st, which is a gentle/short par 4. Bogey on the 2nd, Par on the 3rd & Bogey on the 4th. Ball striking is good, a few poor chips, and putts not dropping. Par on 5, was followed by bogey on 6th. Back to back pars on the 7th & 8th holes - highlighetd by 2 good drives, leaving SW & GW approach shots. So I am 3 over the card through 8 holes. Happy. Misjudged the drive on the 9th hole, and hit the ball too far left, running out of fairway. Dead in the trees. Hack out, chip on and 2 putt for bogey - out in 39 (23 stableford points).

Back 9. Duff my drive badly, which leads to a 7 on what is a very simple par 4. Bogey on 11, a medium length. par 3. The 12th hole is a shortish par 5 at 445m. Drive leaked right, into the trees, but had a shot. I am in 2 minds at 215m out, and a small window in the trees to hit through. Decide to go hybrid, which probably does not get me home, but from the lie was the best choice. Jump on it, and its pin high left. Chip & 2 put for par. Bogey on 13, and its starting to go backwards. Its also bloody hot, like playing in a sauna. 14th is a straight forward par 4, of 380 odd. Ok drive finishes just off fairway right. 6 iron in, down breeze to 15 ft. Putt made for Birdie. Ok I am back. Wrong. Triple bogey on 16th. Back to Back bogies on 17 & 18, home in 46, knowing I left 5 shots out there. Still an 85 for 39 Points. Adjourned to a well appointed clubhouse and a very cold beer.

Thursday Jan 4th - Hidden Valley Resort

First time here, its about 40-45 minutes from my place, up the Hume Highway. The land on which the complex (golf, tennis, bowls, function centre - along with residential complex) is located, was originally owned by Robert Holmes a Court (of Kingston Town fame) and is 45km from the Melbourne CBD. It was his country retreat. Beautiful rolling countryside, on which the Craig Parry designed course is laid out. In short, its a good track, and worth the visit if you have the time.

Opened up with a fortunate bogey, having pulled my drive well left (which ended up as the theme of the day) made a long put here to save my 2 pts. Another pulled drive on the 2nd, led to a double bogey. So after Thursday, not a great start. Fairway found on 3, as was the green & a 2 putt par. Par 3 4th hole, hit the green & 2 putt par. 4th, drive pulled left (spotted the theme yet?) led to another double bogey. Bogey on 6, Par on 7, Bogey on 8 & Par on 9 - out in 43 (20 pts) was probably a little flattering to be fair.

Over to the back 9, and with Pars on 11, 12 & 14 things were looking good. But, I hadn't factored in the strength of the finishing holes. Including a double water carry on the par 5 - 15th hole. An 8 was recorded here! The last 3 holes played all in bogies, including the par 3 18th hole, which has an Island green. Home in 47 (17 pts) for 90 off the bat & 37 pts.

Into the clubhouse for a feed of S&P Calamari and a few cold beers.

Highlight of the day, the lad in the Pro Shop charged me $20 for the round. I had tried to book this round with carts, however none were available. Its usually $40 for the round (midweek) with a shared cart included - Awesome deal for this quality of course. Corona Jnr is coming to Melbourne on April, so I have pre booked on the $40 deal so I don't miss out next time.