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Saturday started off with us sitting in the car in the carpark thinking” What the hell are we doing here???”. It was raining & cold, but at least it wasn’t windy. I had to mention that didn’t I!!! About 10 seconds later the wind started to pick up & was soon blowing a gale. We all agreed that if we didn’t prepay for the round we would have turned around & gone home, which I guess is one of the reasons they make you prepay.

Daryl Stan & I braved the inclement weather & teed off into the teeth of the wind with the raining falling thinking this is going to be a long, long day.

Thankfully the rain didn’t continue falling much after the 3^rd or 4^th hole, but unfortunately the wind did persist for the rest of the day.

The course is fantastic condition, the fairways are lush & the green were firm & rolled true. I love the greens here at Growling Frog, you have to use your imagination to get the ball in or near the hole. The bunkers were effected by the rain, making them hard & compact but you can see that without the rain they would be good quality, which is good because there is a hell of a lot of them.

In the end all of our scores suffered from the conditions so best not to mention them here ; ) I really enjoyed playing this course again & would like to come back again with better playing conditions.

 

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Cary, Neil and I went out for a quick nine holes the other evening after work at Strathallan. I haven’t played there for sometime–even though its literally only a couple of minutes from home–and boy has it changed! The course layout has been completely revised, with only the ninth hole in the same position as I remember it. It was a little bit confusing at times, but we worked it out in the end.

I got off to a flier with three pars in a row, despite not hitting the ball well off the tee all day. I made up for it though with an exceptional (modesty has no place here) short game and had one chip, one putt finish to all but three holes. I ended up with another two pars for a total of five for the round, and a final score of 43. Cary also shot a 43 with some uninspiring, yet consistent bogey golf, and Neil was a few shots behind (less than he thought). It’s funny though, I finished the round with 5 pars and felt that I did not play all that well. I guess at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how you get the score.

I really enjoy playing at Strathallan, it’s got some great holes with challenging tree and bunker positionings and the shortish fairways suit my game. It’s always in pretty good nick too. The greens were spot on and the fairways pretty good considering the time of year.

The guys will be back out again next weekend (at Ringwood), so if you’re interested in tagging along for the action, leave a note here or contact us.

On a glorious Sunday, Stuart, Roger & I went out to Whittlesea for 18 holes. The course was it pretty good condition. The greens were fanatsic & the fairways were pretty good for this time of year. They were a little patchy in places but after summer this is to be expected in the country.

It was Rogers day, taking all the money for the closest the pin’s & shooting one of his best rounds. Stuart won in the end with a score of 84 from Cary 94 & Roger 102.

I like Whittlesea & look forward to going back out there again soon, firstly to pick up my phone & secondley to play another round ; )

Neil, Cary & Chris played at Chirnside Park on the 15.02.06. The fairways weren’t in very good condition so we had to play preferred lies. On the first 9 the bunkers weren’t too good either, but were OK on the 2nd 9 bar one hole. The ladies tees were behind the visitor tees on all but two tees which was good for me! The greens were in good nick but were hard to read.

On the 10th I (Neil) chipped in for a bogey from about 17 metres and was asked before my shot if I had my putter with me. My par putt on the 11th sat about 1cm off the hole when Cary said “oh that’s a shame” — but then it dropped in! Oh, and thanks to the person(s) before us who left an indention with the flag pole on the edge of the hole.

On the 15th on my approach shot I hit Chris’ ball with mine about 20 metres away from the green, we thougth that I had put Chris’s ball closer to the green but when we arrived I had put my ball closer to the green and Chris’s about 5 metres away from the green. Cary had 2 birdies for the day — one on the 6th par 5 and the other on the 16th also a par 5. I had 3 pars for the day and Chris had 3 as well.

I finished with 95, Chris 94 & Cary 86.

Cary & Shane went out to Ivanhoe on a gorgous Thursday. Trevor was supposed to join us but couldn’t get his clubs out of his shed. I’ve heard some lame excuses but this takes the cake ; ) The place was chockers so we got paired up with a couple of blokes, Barry & Bob. We had a great day, Shane is still trying to figure out how to play after mangaling his finger but he is getting there. I’m trying to deal with the horrible problem of driving the ball straight, the problem being I’m still aiming left to compenstate for a slice that appears to have run away. The course was in good condition with lush fairways & smooth (once your clear the leaves) greens.
In the end, after handicaps, Shane beat me by 1 shot.

Stuart & I played 9 holes at Whittlesea on the 2nd of January. The place was pretty busy & we got paired up with a couple from Wattle Glen. The course is in pretty good condition, but it is starting to get dry in places.
The best part of the day was my birdie on the 6th. I was left with only a 3 foot putt & made it. Stuart beat me by 4 shots but he didn’t get any birdies ; )

Neil organized a round of golf out at Yarrambat & invited Trevor Ian & myself. The day was fantastic, 27 degrees with a little breeze. The fairways were in good shape & as Ian & I found out the bunkers were soft & thick. The greens were being mowed while we were playing making some like glass & some putting friendly. We had a great day, with a lot of putts missing by a smidge & going past by 5 or 6 feet. Ian won the front nine (after which he had to fix his pops fence) & I won the 18.

Stan & I played here on the 20th of December. Neil joined for the back 9. The works at Bundoora are coming along nicely. The three holes on the front 9 that have been changed to couch look & play fantastic. There are 4 more holes in the process of being changed over. Probably best to give the back 9 at Bundoora a miss for the next couple of months until these holes have a chance to grow.