From Phil

The yearly winner was Ian who came from a long way behind to beat me on the last day.  He would have also won the Downlow for the best scores over the trip weekend but because the rules say you can’t win both, Geoff was awarded the Downlow.

The trip was fun with lots of laughs etc although not as many POTS as in the past. Geoff and Nick managed to get lost on the way up to Rich River and to top that off they got lost on the trip back to Hidden Valley and arrived almost an hour after their expected eta.

Hidden Valley was tough, especially the second nine. There were at least five holes that involved water clearances (some of them about 150 metres) so there were quite a few lost balls. I played with Rick, Geoff and Peter G and on one hole we all failed to clear the water off the tee. Rick’s long driving was a highlight and his score of 40 points was excellent.  Geoff was his usual consistent self over the three days but it was Ian who really shone and his victory was well deserved.  His second shots from 150 – 170 metres out on the first day were brilliant and he managed to hit most greens on the par 4’s.  My only highlight after 3 putting 8 of the first 9 holes yesterday was my 7 iron tee shot on the 18^th to the island green which ended up 300 mm from the hole.

I’m very happy to step aside as Secretary and let Rick fill in next year.  I’ll help if needed but we look forward to 2022.  Alistair, thanks for your work behind the scenes with the communications and the website. It just makes the whole process so much easier to manage.  Our next game is at Rosebud on Monday 24 January. Bookings are now open and close on 17 January.

 See the table below that lists the best five scores from monthly games and the three away trip games (Annual Top Five Total). The Downlow Total is the total of the three away trip games.