- 2019 Club Championships Concluded.
- Coming Events
- Recent Results
- The Mentor Programme
- The Rules Quiz
- "Who Am I?" Competition
- A Little Humour
The final rounds of the Match Play to determine the Club Champions were played last Sunday the 24th November. The contestants were treated to some very mild conditions, which made the going considerably easier than might have been the case. All the players who have contested the knockout finals series are to be congratulated on their achievements.
The two finalists for the 2019 BGC Club Championships were Phil Jeffery and John Mulholland. During the knockout phase of the finals, Phil accounted for Jim Phillips 2/1, and Clark Gibbons 2/1. John accounted for Brian Hanrahan 7/6, and John Mellen 1up, so the final was going to be very evenly balanced, and as anyone who has played a match over 36 holes can attest, anything can happen.
After the first 18 holes, and with each holding the lead at some point in the match, John Mulholland led by 1 hole.
Following the break, John chipped in with his 3rd shot to win the first hole. He would extend this lead over the next 11 holes as Phil found the re-start difficult after the break. Although winning one hole after the break, Phil found the relentless pressure applied by John to be too great to overcome. Despite fighting hard the match ended after 30 holes with the score 7/6 in favour of John Mulholland. Congratulations to both players, a worthy champion and an equally worthy runner-up.
Craig Houden and Tony Rourke contested the finals for the 'B' Grade club Championships. Craig had beaten Alec Dietsch 3/2 and Ash Southon 3/1 on his way to the final, while Tony had accounted for John Ferguson 5/4 and Jim Larkin 4/2. Tony gave nothing away as he started quickly and was always in control of the match. Craig gave a good account of himself, but was unable to make any inroads, Tony Rourke winning 8/6 after 12 holes. Congratulations to both players for a well played match and final series.
Ken Dobie and Roberto Ratalino faced off over 18 holes of match play for the championship. Ken had won through with success over Norris Dudgeon 2/1 and Piero Dal Bianco 1up, while Roberto reached the final with wins over Alan Lindsay 2up, and Alan Turpie 1up. After the dust had settled, Ken Dobie overcame Roberto on the 14th hole with the score at 5/4. Another great competition, and both players should be rightly proud of their effort. Congratulations to both players for a fine match.
- The St Andrews Day event is on this Saturday the 30th November. It looks to be a lot of fun, so put your team of 4 into the booking sheet. The competition is a 4 person aggregate Stableford. The major prize is a bottle of Scotch Whisky for each player in the winning foursome (donated by the convenors), however there must be at least one member of the team at the presentation in order to receive the prize. Only BGC members are eligible to win the major prize (there will be the usual team prize as per the prize schedule). The nearest-the-pin prize for the 11th hole will be a bottle of Scotch, and the best individual score prize will also be a bottle of Scotch (but the winners must be at the presentation, or the usual prize will be paid).
- The 2 rounds of the Peter Tait Trophy (Stroke) will be played on the 7th and 14th of December. The December Monthly Medal will be played in conjunction with the first round on the 7th. This will be your last opportunity to gain an entry into the Medal of Medals competition.
- The Ted Box, Medal of Medals competition will be held in conjunction with the second round of the Peter Tait trophy on the 14th December. The entry qualification for this competition is to have won a Monthly Medal during the past year and to hold a membership category eligible to win a trophy. The qualifiers currently are: Jim Larkin, Paul Carroll, Tony Rourke, John Buchanan, Alec Dietsch, Tony Fitzpatrick, Frank Eggert, John Mellen, Clark Gibbons, Roberto Ratalino, Warren Ryan, Dick Hiser, Pat Donoghue, Norris Dudgeon, Dominic Richardson, Grant Blanchard, Martin Flaxman, John McGuire, Bruce Windybank, Dennis Cooper and Rob Humphreys.
- The Wright-Cavaye Competition is drawing to a close. The second round of the Peter Tait trophy is also the final round for inclusion in the best 8 net stroke rounds of medal or Trophy competition for the year. This competition is currently being led by Grant Blanchard narrowly from John Mellen, Alec Dietsch, Tony Rourke and John Mulholland. There is only 1 stroke separating the group.
- Christmas Cheer, and the Captain V's Captain 4BBB. Sunday 15th December. This will be a fun event indeed. Santa will be on the course (not sure of his handicap) and will be handing out gifts, (have you been 'Naughty' or 'Nice' ?), from his 'home course' -The NPG&CC. There will be a morning shotgun start followed by a BBQ lunch and live music. Woohoo!!
Wednesday 20th November. An excellent day for a game of golf, and 67 players joined the field for our usual Single Stableford event. Paul Pettiford (13) put together an excellent round to post 42 points to win from James Rowe (16) with 40. The Eagle is doing a marvellous job protecting her nest lately and again there was no winner on this hole. The NTP 11th went to Ash Southon and the pro-pin to David Bickford. We welcomed a visitor from Warringah GC to the club and the DSR was 69.
Saturday 23rd November. Otherwise known as the 'Patron' day as it appears that Brian Lamb (20) had a blinder to post 44 points (and he missed a couple of short putts!!) and win the competition from Col Weatherby (32) with 42 points. The Eagle now has 4 balls in the nest awaiting a good shot. The NTP 11th went to Ash Southon and Tony Rourke won the pro-pin. 74 players in the field with 11 visitors!! We welcomed players from Gosford, Wisemans, Sandhurst, Pennant Hills, Balgowlah, Strathfield and The Ridge GC's. It was a pleasure to have 4 of the visitors stay for the presentation. The DSR was 69.
Sunday 24th November. A very small field for the competition (perhaps due to the crowd following the players competing for the Club Championships). The Men's winner was Nik Potter (27) with 38 points, and the Women's winner was Diana Lindsay (28) with 34 points.
Last week I advertised for players to act as Mentors to assist new members into golf, and to assist current (but not playing) back into the game. I received quite a response. Thank you to the following members: Bob Young, Rob Bearup, Chris Barry, Carol Turpie, Peter Metcalf, Simon Kemp, Pat Donoghue, Tony Dick, Paul Carroll, John Buchanan, Peter Cottee, Alec Dietsch, John Mellen and Martin Flaxman. Over the next few days I will complete an introduction letter to each of the Mentors which will provide you with an idea of the role ahead. If anyone wishes to join the program, either as a Mentor or as a player in need of a Mentor, just drop me an email at [email protected]
As a result of the Legacy Day competition not providing an opportunity to run the quiz, there were two rules questions asked at last week's presentation. Go back and read the questions now.
The answers are, there is no penalty for signing in the wrong box on a scorecard, and a player may not have two caddies working for them at any one time.
Alec Dietsch and Daniel Weekes again fought out a putt-off, and again Daniel made good with the putter to win. I think he may just have the 'wood' on Alec now. Just saying!!
This week a question with a difference. As the Saturday competition is the St Andrews Day affair, I thought I'd ask a question with a definite Scottish flavour.
Question. In 1744 the first Rules of golf were published. They were produced to provide 'The Gentlemen Golfers Of Edinburgh' ( later to become 'The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers') with a set of rules to be used for the first 'Open' competition which would be played at Leith GC.
- How many rules were introduced in that list?
- Who was responsible for their composition?

Still no correct answer to this competition, now in it's 4th week. The clue for this week.
"I am known for my special ability to put people to sleep".
Email your guess to [email protected]
(note: the photo is a logo only)
John and Bob were two of the bitterest rivals at the club. Neither man trusted the other's arithmetic.
One day they were playing a heated match and watching each other like hawks. After holing out on the fourth green and marking his six on the scorecard John asked
Bob, "What'd you have?"
Bob went through the motions of mentally counting up. "Six!" he said and then hastily corrected himself, "No, no...a five."
Calmly John marked the scorecard, saying out loud "Eight!" "Eight?" Bob said,
"I couldn't have had eight."
John said, "Nope, you claimed six then changed it to five, but actually you had seven." "Then why did you mark down eight?" asked Bob.
John told him, "One stroke penalty, for improving your lie."
Now Go Out and Enjoy A Game of Golf !!