GOLF CLUB NEWS

The highlight at the club for the month would have to be the Charity Golf tournament which was held on Friday, 12th. It was such an incredible day where 59 club members and 45 non members played an Ambrose tournament to raise funds for St John. To the players and many sponsors thank you and to Terry Blacktop and his helpers thanks a lot you all put in such a lot of time and effort. The photo was taken at the 8th hole haggle where a lot of money was made if you landed in the circle. Another highlight of the day was a hole in one by Melanie Johanson and a painting by Gay Reed of Lake Ferry fetched a good price at the Auction held at the conclusion of the tournament. Overall an amount of $6760 was raised.

Peter Hudson, John Slater, Tony Tait and Ian Henderson have all scored holes in one during the past few weeks. It was Ian’s third hole in one in 30 years of golf. I have trouble getting a two or a three on most holes. There were a couple of notable rounds played during the month. Jason van Zanten had a 70 off the stick in only his second game for the year and young Caleb Everson had a 73 gross which is pretty good for a 12 handicapper.
The Juniors are at last being recognized and Walter Barber, George Wilkins, Caleb and Reece Everson as well as Piri Wihone have all been selected to play for the Wairarapa. Well done boys you deserve it. Bill Jones has done a good job teaching them the etiquette of the game.
 
Green fee numbers have been steady and the Grumpy’s numbers are still around the 20 mark each week and the jug count continues to rise. Ray Lind had a purple patch there for awhile and Terry Blacktop organizes the day but doesn’t get in the winners circle very often.
 
Honor Clark is doing a grand job with the 9 holers and the 18 hole ladies are doing well with the organization and preparation that goes on when local teams are playing pennants is amazing. Some of the raffle prizes all of which are donated are a sight to see.
The Thursday Club is in some cases a jolly bunch of chaps. They are still getting between 40-50 players every week; the boys from Ngawi like playing together and there are no ‘fights’. Michael Hatrick and Doug Ferguson are a pretty good team and Ash Reed has been pretty consistent of late as well as Andy Morison and Bill Crook. Bob Goodley spent a couple of nights in hospital recently but it seems he is on the right road to recovery and Secretary Manager Sue Berger has had a well needed break and is now in top shape.
Most club matches are being played on time and there have been quite a few surprises. The Marquis Shield team is pretty much at the bottom of the scale at the moment and are looking like wooden-spooners; come on guys, you can do better than that.
Till next month, good golfing & good luck