The Red Buggy Does Five -
01-09/11/2025
Return to
Golf page:
Saturday 01/11/2025.
Starting Saturday, the weather finally came good for golf. The golf might not
have been so good, our pair of players got hammered by the opposition, lost on
the 13th, and had to pay for the beer. It felt so good to be out in the sunshine
and warmth. This started a run of five rounds of golf with a recovery day in
between each round.
Monday 03/11/2025.
Monday it so happened I ended up with the same partner I had had on the
Saturday, Paddy Keegan. We had our revenge against a different opposition and
won the beer on the 16th hole, which on a hot day tasted all the more
refreshing. The golf was not good enough to get in the prizes, but somebody has
to pay for them.
Wednesday 05/11/2025.
Wednesday I joined a group of four players featuring Steve Wood, and our usual
three others, Alan, another Nigel and me. Putting it nicely, I had a good day.
Birdie or two, pars and the odd bogey. Unfortunately I also managed to have
three 'other' scores where it was horrible golf and scored nothing toward my
score. It ended up with three players for the day all scoring 38 points. The
computer has a 'count back' system which ended up with me being 3rd overall.
Still happy for a $20 prize and we won the beer most importantly.
Friday 07/11/2025.
Friday also featured beautiful weather and being the Monthly
Tournament (1st Friday of each month) I re-invested $10 of Wednesdays winnings
for the entry fee. The usual three were joined by the Club Captain (Club
Royalty) and off we went. I had another good day. Two in a row! Like Wednesday I
had some horrible holes that I did not score on, but did enough on the rest to
amass 37 points. I was first when I left the club house, in my division, and
still first when I got home. It must have been one of the last cards entered
that beat me into second place. Not unhappy with 2nd as that was a $30 return.
We didn't even win the beer, James and the other Nigel won the 18th to halve the
match. Buy your own it was.
Sunday 09/11/2025.
Onto Sunday which was the clubs Open Xmas Hamper day. 152 Entries at $30 a shot.
Just as well I got 2nd on Friday, that was my entry fee paid for. Different
group of players today with Shaun and Josh Hitchcock (brothers), Jason
Ballantine (my 36 hole partner) and myself. Both Shaun (7) and Jason (9) are
single figure handicap golfers and good players. I started with a hiss and a
roar with 11 points after four holes which was very good. Then the wheels fell
off for the next nine holes and I was scoring two, one and zero points on the
holes. Looked like I was going to be paying for the prizes again. Que Sera. I
must have got tired as I stopped trying so hard and everything came together
again. I scored very well on the last five holes to have a slightly better than
average score of 35 points. With three divisions the prizes get split around a
bit more evenly. I was in the third group and when I left the clubhouse I was
top of the tree (sounds familiar). Would I get run over by other players? Short
answer, yes. I ended up with the third best nett score which won me two hams and
a chicken. We are going to eat well this Xmas. Maybe I will make a pig of
myself!! Ha Ha! (Ok, Ok, so maybe that should be "Ham Ham!" or "Ham and Cheesy")
and of course we managed to win the beer!
A lot of people have commented on how good the buggy looks and several have
asked about price and availability, how I got mine. All agree that if it keeps
me out there then it is worth every penny. I agree. I could not have played five
rounds of golf in 9 days without it.
I do go on a bit about 'winning the beer', and there is a reason for that. If
you have a good day and win the beer off your opposition you are also going to
have a good score in whatever competition might be running for the day. The
internal competition between the four players gives them an incentive to play
well, no one likes having to pay for someone else's drink! Playing well in your
four can get you into the prizes. Golf is one of the few sports where you get
penalised for playing well. Over this period I am writing about my handicap has
dropped two shots from 17 to 15 making it harder each time for me to score well
in the competitions.
Return to
Golf page: