For The Winner This Year
This special bottle of single malt will be awarded to our winner this year. This 12 year old Glengoyne was a special edition for the 15th oldest golf club in the world; Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club just north of Inverness in Scotland. Just 200 bottles were produced and we have bottle number 101.
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Good luck to all those who are in with a shout at taking home the 2024 Race to Waitahuna. If you needed any more incentive to play well, you could have this single malt in your collection.
Shorts For The Front 9
Thermals For The Back 9
With bright sunshine and light winds, the early part of the game yesterday was played in almost perfect conditions. But then the clouds rolled in, and a wind which was either easterly or nor'easterly started to blow which dropped the temperatures and many went to their golf bag for the extra layer they had peeled off earlier.
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Now there are many like me who haven't won a Blue Jacket for more than a couple of years. It's on my list of golfing goals for the year and I'm aware the weeks are running out. Then there's Temu Trevor who had to jump through all sorts of hoops to gain his Wednesday golfing ticket and who also has a spare coat hanger in his wardrobe searching for his first Blue Jacket. Then there are newbies like Les from Karitane .....
Now it was a tough school this week. 7 golfers in the field recorded a score of 36 points or better. That is unusual as just one or two are normally 36 +. So as Eric was shouting out the numbers, many hands were in the air for a long time and many thought they might be in with a chance.
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In the end it came down to 2 people tied on 39 points. Recently retired Keith lamented 3 putting his last 3 greens which ultimately cost him line honours. So our winner on 39 points was Waggler new boy Les Howard. It was my pleasure to mark Les's card yesterday and boy did he play well. Playing off 19 he's a dangerous proposition and a real asset in a haggle. Well done Les.
Happy Birthday Nick Nicolson
Nick has reached the grand old age of 75 and as is the custom, we all sang Happy Birthday and then toasted Nick with a generous shot of Scotch. Thank you Nick and many happy returns from us all.
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In the sixes we had another record to celebrate. 31 points saw Senaka, not team captain Vaughn, Richard and Keith take home the spoils. A massive 47 points saw Duncan, The Nugget birthday boy Nick and Bruce Carvell clean out the middle six. "You sure you're not doing the 3rd six ?" we queried. That's a good haul. Finally our team of Les, Mahmoud, Geoff and David B had 50 points which was just enough for the 3rd six.
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So in conversation afterwards, we collectively believe that 36 points is the record for the first set of six, 47 for the middle set and 59 for the last set. If anyone has any data to dispute that let me know.
Surprisingly with scoring so high, only 2 birdies was enough for the night out in Balclutha, it must have been a par fest.
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From the recesses of Eddie's phone, Vaughn's number was drawn out in the raffle.
Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics
Or as George Canning said " I can prove anything by statistics except the truth." For those of you who might be wondering how your game has been going over the years, the numbers below show your average Wednesday afternoon stableford score for the last 4 years. Some are remarkably consistent, others are improving their game ( or their handicap ), and others are on the decline. You be the judge.
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Name 2021 2022 2023 2024
Alistair Adam 30.42 30.53 32.77 31.87
John Alexander 31.42 33.72 32.29 29.78
Tony Attenborough 33.18 33.29 32.55 33.74
David Bloor 31.81 33.05 32.79 31.59
Phil Broughton 32.21 31.00 31.88 32.71
Hamish Caithness 33.46 31.90 31.50 30.38
Neil Cameron 33.57 32.48 32.72 31.24
Bruce Carvell 32.62 32.31 32.30 31.52
Murray Cooper 32.00 31.34 31.50
John Cutler 33.61 31.41 32.44
Errol Duckworth 31.09 29.65 25.86
Warren Egen 32.58 32.94 31.55 30.56
Phil Ellis 32.44 31.77 34.16 33.33
Richard Freeman 32.94 34.04 32.91
Bruce Grant 33.63 33.50 33.15 32.27
Bob Griffiths 32.75 32.92 32.18 33.29
Mike Henderson 32.82 31.97 33.25
Vaughn Keenan 33.15 32.24 33.74 32.25
Trevor King 31.48 33.33
Geoff Laney 33.65 33.58 33.63 33.28
Jamie Mackay 32.70 30.33
John Marsh 32.62 31.72 29.32 31.13
Lloyd Morgan 31.82 32.91 33.05 32.39
Keith Newton 32.03 31.27 31.56 32.44
Nick Nicolson 30.66 30.65 32.42 30.65
Mahmoud Nikou 31.91 32.49 32.59 33.47
Eric Olsen 32.68 31.50 31.60 33.57
Dean Parsons 31.24 31.52 33.42 30.67
David Peart 30.64 31.04 31.36 32.65
Sandy Ross 33.03 31.34 32.68 32.63
Eddie Walter 32.46 32.88 31.70 31.52
Andrew Whiley 32.80 33.71 34.17
Senaka Wickramagedara 33.39 33.63 33.22 32.39
Roel Wijland 31.62 30.67 28.75
Jarod Williden 32.42 31.17 30.30 29.13
Murray Edgar 33.24 33.79