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Only 3 players turned out for Thursday’s mulligan contest, probably because of the high temperatures forecast. High brisk Easterly breeze prevailed throughout the morning kept conditions comfortable for the players. The Easterly in Burra feeds off the Southern Ocean bringing cool relief in the Summer. It was much warmer after lunch when the Easterly dropped.

Dick Cleland reversed his recent poor form, thanks to an email tip received that morning from Brayden Wauchope Golf. Dick scored 21 points for a comfortable win. Runner up was David “Robbie” Robinson with 17 while Bob Taylor scored 15. Because of the small field there was no runner-up prize & no Mars Bar.

Tuesday’s stableford saw the consistent players succeed over the show ponies. After 9 holes Eddie “The Flying Dutchman” Van Keulen led with 23 points followed by Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel on 21, colourful local identity Philip “Tomo” Thomson on 20, Bob Taylor on 18 & Dick Cleland tailed off on 12.

Gus The Good Guy continued his good form scoring 19 on the homeward nine for a winning score of 40 points. Bob Taylor scored 20 on the back nine for 38 to finish 2nd.The Flying Dutchman only managed 12 points on the back nine to finish with 35. Once again Thomo failed to finish off, scoring a disappointing 14 homeward for 34. If anyone knows of a good personal trainer I am sure Thomo would be pleased to hear from them as his fitness requires some work. Although he scored 18 on the back nine for a total of 30, Dick Cleland took the Mars Bar having given the others too much start at the turn.

Despite the extreme heat six players risked their health to play a par event. The reason that this report is late is because your correspondent could not imagine anybody being so foolish.

David “Jack” Webster & colourful local identity Philip “Thomo” Thomson at least had the sense to play early. This paid off for Jack but not for Thomo, Jack scored 2 up to win the day. Thomo on the other hand finished 5th with -4. Unfortunately for Thomo playing early does not make the course any shorter. Andy Phillips finished 2nd with plus 1 with a gap to Michael Tickner -2, Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel -3, then Thomo. One would normally think that having a cart would be a big advantage in the heat but Eddie “The Flying Dutchman” Van Keulen showed this is not necessarily the case taking the Mars Bar with -10.

Chris “Critta” Waters started 2017 on a high note taking out yesterday’s mid week stableford with 37 points. Runner up was Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel on a countback from colourful local identity Philip “Thomo” Thomson both on 34 points. Once again Thomo was in a winning position with 20 points at the turn but once again faltered on the homeward nine. While Thomo has been accused of choking on numerous occasions, it has been pointed out that poor physical fitness is probably the cause of Thomo’s disappointing results on the back nine.

Eddie “The Flying Dutchman” Van Keulen scored 30 points & Luke Spackman a disappointing 28. Many golfers benefit from a short break from the game but it would seem that Dick Cleland is not one of them. Dick took home the Mars Bar with a very ordinary 25 points.

The acting handicapper moved quickly deducting a stroke from Critta’s handicap & giving it to Dick.

The holiday period saw competition fields somewhat diminished. Colourful local identity Philip “Thomo” Thomson took advantage of the reduction in competition to win 3 events.

Christmas Eve turned out to be a family affair, with David “Robbie” Robinson & son John, David “Jack” Webster & son Chase & Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel & grandson Koby, plus of course Thomo. The day was extremely hot & the Robinsons pulled out after 13 holes. Thomo took out the day with 39 points, just 1 ahead of Jack on 38. Kobi scored 32 defeating grandpa Gus on 30. Chase is still waiting for the handicapper to give him his handicap.

Tuesday December 27 saw only 4 competitors with “Mad Max” Wiech spoiling the party for Thomo with 32 points. Thomo & Gus scored 31 & Kobi got the Mars Bar with 27.

The Thursday Mulligans on the 29th saw only 3 players. Thomo, Gus & Kobi. Thomo won with 16, possibly the lowest winning score for mulligans. Gus & Kobi both scored 15.

New Year’s Eve saw 6 players with Thomo successful again with a fairly average 36 points. Jack scored 34, Mark “Mouldy” Millward 32, Gus 30, Neil Webster 29 & Kobi got the Mars Bar again (he likes them).

 

Christmas obligations saw our field limited to 4 players today, despite perfect conditions. Dick Secomb took the honours with a solid score of 19 points with the use of only 1 mulligan. Runner up was Dick Cleland on a count back from Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel both on 18. Dick did not use any mulligans (he forgot!) while Gus used 2. Kobi Wenzel took the Mars Bar despite a very good score of 15.

Eddie “The Flying Dutchman” Van Keulen sailed past his rivals on Tuesday to score a comfortable win. After a typically slow start (only 2 points after 3 holes) the Dutchman hit his straps to make the turn in 18 & charge home with 23 for a winning score of 41. The best of the rest were Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel & the mercurial Bob Taylor both on 37, followed by colourful local identity Philip “Thomo” Thomson with 36, then a gap to Andy Phillips 32, Mark “Mouldy” Millward 31, & David “Jack” Webster 30. Club Champion, Michael “Tickers” Tickner could only manage 27, while Dick Cleland & Kobi Wenzel tied in last place with 25. Kobi took the Mars Bar on a countback which was fortunate as 10 year old Kobi is the only player who doesn’t mind getting the Mars Bar.

The Burra Golf Course was miraculously converted to a 20 hole par 3 for the biannual par 3 event. This work was performed by Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel and it provided some very interesting challenges. Surprisingly it was allocated a slope of 83, whereas you correspondent would have considered 90 more appropriate. Handicaps were not rounded to the nearest whole number,inconsistent with Australian handicapping system.

Needless to say the event was won comfortably by Gus The Good Guy with a net 55.75. Runner up was Neil Webster on a count back from Andy Phillips with net 62. Colourful local identity Philip “Thomo” Thomson was next with 63.25, then Eddie “The Flying Dutchman” Van Keulen 66.5, Kobi Wenzel & Mark “Mouldy” Millward 67, Dick Secomb 69.5, Club Champion Michael “Tickers” Tickner 70.25. Tarcowie member Klaus Heymann had the Mars Bar score of 77.

Seven players played in less than ideal conditions on Tuesday, with hot blustery winds.

Eddie “The Flying Dutchman” Van Keulen with the benefit of a cart was too good for his opponents  winning comfortably with 37 stableford points. Runner up was Andy Phillips with 35, followed by colourful local identity Philip “Thomo” Thomson 34, Bob Taylor 32 & Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel on 30. David “Robbie” Robinson scored 27 avoiding the Mars Bar that went to Neil Webster on 24. Surprisingly The Dutchman’s handicap did not change. Both Andy & Thomo had reductions of 0.1 which has not affected their playing handicaps. Bob Taylor, however, has gone out by 0.4 which sees his playing handicap increase to 30.

The scores matched the weather with 12 players scoring 30 or better.

The winner was Chris “Critta” Waters with a well engineered 41 points. Critta was just ahead of David “Jack” Webster who finished with 40. The new handicapper took 1 stroke off Jack but left Critta unchanged. Andrew Phillips & Phillip Arthur were next with 37, followed closely by Bob Perry on 36 then Dick Cleland, Michael “Tickers” Tickner & Eddie “The Flying Dutchman Van Keulen on 35. The Dutchman experienced extreme asphyxiation on the back 9, after having turned on 23 he could only manage 12 on the run in. David “Robbie” Robinson & colourful local identity Philip “Thomo” Thomson scored 34, while Russell “Gus The Good Guy” Wenzel scored 33. Peterborough visitor & former country member Geoff Ashby scored 30 and Tarcowie visitor Klaus Heymann scored 24.