Handicap Pennants Padtyhaway v Robe 10/4/11

Tuesday 12th April
Played Handicap Pennants on Sunday for a losing score (3/1) and putting the only blemish on the team score of 4 wins and 1 loss. It was great fun and damn it was good to drink beer and not have to drive. Even so the following is cut from another of my posts on here today

"Our club had a real battle getting a team in to play and to be honest even though it was fun we really are wasting our time fielding a team in my opinion. Three months of asking players to play got us a response as invigorating as a tepid cup of tea. Taking 5 players out of our Sunday competition field is anywhere from a third to a quarter of regular players. (Pennants is on Sundays here and most clubs play Saturday comps. except ours.) Personally the experience of match play is good and I do enjoy the challenge and playing that format of golf. On the other hand I am playing for “nothing” and have no motivation to want the win. Club glory ,adding a piece of material to the wall, in a team where it is a matter of cajoling players to play is “F@@ked” Would rather play at home and have a crack at winning a $50 voucher.

I will be travelling to play in 10 or more regional club opens this year and that is doing more for the club and my golfing enjoyment than playing pennants this season."

The big plus was the Driver is beginning to work again in my hands. The practise of the past week has paid off and Lucindale has the same gum tree lined fairways as Naracoorte, not as thick though. Even sop the driver was incredibly accurate. My game fell apart with my long irons and of all things pitching to the green. Two parts of my game that has been a strength since January.

It was mostly a fault caused by a lack of motivation. In all honesty I was not playing for anything with two holes to play I was 2 down and hit a great drive absolutely perfect and where I was aiming. Cut the corner of the dogleg to be 75-80 m from the green and 50 m closer than my opponent. two half arsed shots later I was still 15 m short of the green, put the next one on (half arsed shot again) and was 4 m short of the pin.

Not in the team this weekend, only because the need to get other players qualified for finals (play 2 rounds). I need to play my Handicap Championships elimination game also and this weekend is the time to get it done. Cannot do it earlier as I am off to Adelaide today, and getting another round in at Mt Lofty on the way of course lol.
Thankyou for your time and attention "Hit 'em straight all" Geoff

Carlton V Collingwood "Footyheads" film clip rd 3 2011 game review.

Third game of the season for the Blues against the reigning Premiers. Losing by 28 points. Collingwood scored 15.12 to 11.8, Carlton were not over run and kept in the game with the improvement over the past 2-3 years in experience showing through. Next week it is the Faaaarrrkkking Croooowwsss.
Go You Blues.
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Silver and Bronze medalist Masters Games 2011

Silver and Bronze Medalist 2011 Naracoorte Masters Games

The two days golfing in the Naracoorte Masters Games was an effort well worth the time. Playing at a course which over the past month has simply taken my game and thrown it out into the street with the rubbish, did not get any easier during the competition. The positive at the end of the two days, was to see in the scores of the other competitors that it was not only me who the course bettered. In 2010 when I travelled and played other courses the change in my game for the better began in earnest. It was not easy, the lack of experience putting on different greens and especially playing on courses which had trees over 5m made me add a lot more diversity in shot making.



To share the experience with the other competitors was very different to any other golf competition I had been in. Not just an A, B, C Grade Open but split into the age groups it was a change of status, knowing the challenge to beat a single digit handicap player for me was the same as the 20 and 30 handicappers in my age group to beat me. I threw everything I had at the course and was definitely bloodied for the effort. To finish with a Bronze in my age group on the first day after scoring a nett 83 was a surprise. To come home on the final day from a 54 front nine and 44 back nine (nett 84) and be rewarded with the Silver medal for my age group gave me a reality check on how much I truly enjoy playing golf.



The playing partners both complimented me on my good nature and how I was smiling and laughing through the disaster of the front nine, and this did not change as i took the course on and won on the back nine. For me it would have been easy to throw the game, instead I persisted and finally began to come out on top of the challenge. It was flaming exhausting mentally, the front nine was nothing more than poor tee shots and taking two - three shots at the start of a hole before being where one shot would take me usually. The damn trees to the left were not leaping in front of my tee shots I was simply unable to play confident forward shots down the narrow necks to the fairway.



On the back nine I began to drive with the confident charge that previously was in a galaxy far far away. Dwelling on the problems will not be a feature of this post. Nor will how I overcame them. The social side of the Masters games far outweighed the importance of the result, if you are 35 years or older have a crack at the Masters games if you get a chance. To be in a clubrooms as the awards were handed out and hearing the clink of medals round necks in the room was culmination of one of the most satisfying golf experiences I will ever have.

Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em Straight all” Geoff

Carlton def Gold Coast Suns - "Footyhead" rd 2 2011

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff