By Ron Hottes
No comp on Wednesday 29 March due to inclement weather.
TWwilight:
Well, loyal readers, it finally arrived, the culmination of the 2022-23 Twilight season, with the holding of the famous Shootout on a cold and damp afternoon. The top ten qualifiers, namely Danny Fox, Paul Osbourne, Clinton Toohey, James Stewart, Darryl Ward, Rob Hendy, Jeff Gill, Simon Spenceley, Ashley Hall and Seth Spenceley, stood on the 1st tee; some were clearly nervous, others portrayed a calm serenity or perhaps that was an acceptance of their fate.
Whatever the reason, all ten hit off on the 1st tee with hopes of still being involved 2 hours later at the famous 9th tee. I have no intention, dear readers of giving you a hole-by-hole description of the elimination order, but we should highlight the intense drama of the last three holes. And so, it transpired that standing on the 7th tee were the last 4 survivors. They were Danny Fox, Clint Toohey, Simon Spenceley and Paul Osbourne. After all four hit off, it was clear that Paul had the toughest 2nd shot to the green, over some trees. Although he hit a solid shot, he caught some foliage meaning he needed to play another approach shot which finished just short of the green. His chip shot left him with a tough putt to claim a 5 for 1, meaning he was the only one in the group who didn’t score. This left the remaining 3 to tackle the tricky Par 5 8th. All hit long drives, but Clinton’s was wayward, leaving him no choice but to take the scenic route down the 7th and this, for those who have tried it, know the many risks involved! Although ‘Toosa’ got close to the green in regulation, he could only manage a 6 for 1, whilst the other two boys had regulation pars, Danny with 2 points and Simon with a very good 5 for 3.
And, so, standing on the 9th tee were the last two survivors. Simon hit first on this seemingly easy Par 3, and finished on the flat green but a long way from the pin. Danny’s tee shot also hit the intended target, but less than 2 metres away. Simon’s first putt finished a metre and a half short and Danny hit his first putt well to finish right next to the pin. He then tapped in to complete a compact par. With over 40 spectators watching intently, we saw Simon miss his one-and-a-half metre putt, leaving Danny as the sole survivor. Congratulations to both Danny and Simon for getting to the ultimate peak, and thank you to all who took the journey with us to support their favourite participant!
The Club, and especially the Match Committee wish to thank Vicki, Kevin, Ineke, Henk, Trisha, Mick and particularly Manager Kevin for their help in running this fun and iconic event. There is talk that a Winter Twilight will be on the cards. We can only hope.
Saturday 1 April, Stroke and Monthly-Medal:
With weather conditions improved, although still cold and damp, there were no April Fools out on the course. ( Plenty of golfers posted foolish scores, but that happens every gameday even more so on Medal days) But there were also a few who made fools of the course, too. The best of this small select group was Luke Patrick, who recorded a superb Nett 64. Luke also scored the Medal and the A-Grade voucher. A great day for you, Luke. The A-Grade runner-up was Shane Campbell, with a solid Nett 67. The B-Grade top prize went to Jack Sheehan, also matching Luke’s great Nett 64. Peter Bell posted a Nett 69 to take home the runner-up voucher. Well done, Belly. Balls closed off at 72. NTP winners were Tex Van Der Kooi (3rd), Danny Fox (5th), Dave Scott, (9th), John Hall (12th) and Barry Maltman (15th).
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