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I just got a new phone & I’m looking to get a GPS & scoring app forit. Does anyone have anything to recommened?? It’s an android phone & I had a look in the play store & there are 50 million of them in there. I’m going to give free caddie a crack & see if it is any good

When playing the La Meridian Nirwana Golf Resort in Bali, I was teamed up with a married couple from Osaka in Japan. Now the Nirwana resort has a signature hole which is a par 3 which you have to tee off over the ocean to the green about 160 meters away. It is a beautiful hole with the Tanah Lot temple in view to the left of the green. Now this is the sort of thing that, as a golfer, you dream about playing. In fact it was one of the reasons I wanted to play the course. So I tee up my ball (a little nervous I might add), & drill a 4 wood straight over the green & into the rough just through the back. I was stoked with the shot & wanted to hit another one, but not knowing the people I was playing with thought better of it. Now here is the bit I don’t get. Both of my Japanese playing partners didn’t even attempt to hit the ball from the tee. They both took drops on the fringe of the green. I mean they fly 6 hours to Bali to play golf & then don’t play the most amazing hole on the course. This got me to thinking, maybe they were playing with tour quality balls worth $20 each or something & didn’t want to lose them. When we got to the green I had a look at the balls they were playing with. They looked to me like driving range balls!!! They even had the stripe around middle!!!

After we got back home & looked at the video we took that day, I saw for the first time the expression on the face of the Japanese bloke I was playing with. The look of horror while the ball was over the water then the look of joy when it landed near then green was quite incredible. If he got that much enjoyment from my shot, imagine how he would have felt if he had have hit his own.

I was playing the par 5 2nd at Yarrambat with Stuart & had put my second shot into the water at the base of the hill up to the green. I pulled out the 8 iron hoping to put it close to save par. I hit a nice clean ball that flew over the back of the green. Thankfully it hit the slope behind the green & rolled back onto the putting surface. As we walked up the hill I was had my fingers crossed that I would have any easy putt. When we could see the green I noticed their was a flock of cockatoos on the green, & one of the little buggers was pushing my ball off the green with his beak. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life & Stuart & I just cracked up laughing. I have no idea what the proper ruling on that is, & I have the feeling that it wont come up again in the near future. For the record I put the ball back were I thought it would have finished up & made the putt.

Five intrepid Golf in Melbourne members set off for a trip to the Murray on a Friday night, Ian, Trevor, Neil Darryl & Cary. The weather in Melbourne was crap but we keep telling ourselves that once we get over the great dividing range the weather would clear. Poor misguided fools!!!!! It rained all the way to Cobram, but the weather will clear for Saturday surely??? Friday night was spent down the local watching the Swans & St Kilda on the small screen. After a surprising good Chinese meal at the pub we watched the Swanies (Neil & Trevor were barracking for the Swans & the rest of us couldn’t really care less) beat the Saints. After the game Trevor went & checked out the local night club which was inside the pub. We had a quiet chuckle to ourselves when there was only the DJ & a couple of barmaids in the place at 10:30, little did we know. In an hours time the joint was going off, the place was chockers. Seeing as though we had an important golf appointment the next day, we todeled off back to the caravan just after midnight. We went to bed with hopes of a great days golf ahead.

Saturday started off blowing a gale & overcast….. & stayed that way. We begun the day with Neil cooking bacon & eggs on the BBQ for breakfast, they went down a treat. After that we headed into the big smoke of Cobram to buy a couple of pillows (the couch chousin didn’t quite cut it the night before for Cary & Trevor) & a towel (Trevor again). We played the new course at Cobram on the Saturday & the starter there was kind enough to let us play as a 5 & to hit off a little early. The day didn’t start well with Cary heeling his first tee badly into the bushes 5 metres in front of the men’s tee & 5 metres behind the ladies (first shout). The plan for the day was to have a closest the pin on each of the par 3 for $2 each making the a nice purse of $10. Not one of us managed to put a tee shot on any of the greens of the pars threes!!!!! In our defence the conditions weren’t working for us. It seemed that every hole was playing into the wind. On the last par 3 of the day Ian took a driver of the tee & only just put the ball over the back. The only shining light of the first day was Ian’s birdie (the one & only for the day) on the 18th. This helped him to a 7 shot win over Cary & 8 over Trevor. The next day held a lot of promise, the conditions couldn’t get any worse, & a $40 jackpot on the first par 3

Saturday night begun with Neil’s shouts at the bar followed by a nice BBQ of a couple of steaks & some chilly sausages (Neil regretted the sausages the next day). After that is was into the van for a round drinks & a game of Trivial Pursuit. The drinks flowed & the game didn’t ; ) The two Poms finally beat the Aussies, the Aussies cause wasn’t helped by Cary giving the right answer to his team mates & at the last minute throwing in an alternative that was generally the one they picked.

What a difference a day makes, clichéd but very apt. Sunday was perfect day for golf. Clear sky’s & no wind. Which should mean no excuses for not hitting the green on a par 3 one would think. Not the case. The thought of money must have got to everyone as we all missed the green on the first par 3 of the second round. The jackpot was $50 for the next one. The next par 3 was a winner. We had tee shots going just right of the green, going just left, just short & then there was Trevor’s. Just managing to hang on to the back of the green (there were discussions regarding what was green & what was fringe) to win him the jackpot. The round ended with Ian again beating Cary, & Trevor this time, by 7 strokes.

The weekend was magnificent, even the crappy weather of Saturday couldn’t change that. We all had a ball & all looking forward to the next trip away.

Thanks must be given to Shane, (who could make it away with us due to a injured finger) for giving a the use of his family caravan. It would have been nice to know there was a TV in the locked cabinet so we could have watched the Melbourne Storm game, but thanks anyway. We all appreciate it.

Finally I would like to say to all of the Golf in Melbourne members that couldn’t make it to this trip for one reason or another. Make sure you get on the next one, it was a blast.

I’ve been on holidays up on the Murray and played at Rich River (Echuca-Moama) on Tuesday with my little brother.

I started off really well and shot a 51 on the front 9, but it all went pear-shaped from there! I shot a 60 on the back thanks to 4 penalty strokes at the 10th from two balls in the drink, which incidentally is nowhere near the tee. Dale ended up winning the 18 holes by 2 strokes. He shot a 55 on the front and 54 on the back. The course was in great nick — a fairly short first nine and a loooong back nine.

Plenty of challenging holes and only a couple of P3’s (3 in all!). The 16th ( a par 5 ) was one of the most interesting, as it is covered in bunkers on the fairway, with a water hazzard along the right! I nailed the hole from a 15ft chip on this hole which made my score respectable for the hole (a six I think).

Overall, I enjoyed the round, despite losing my game on the back nine.

Now I know I birdie is one under par & an eagle is 2 under par, but what is a cow?? Ask Shane. He managed to hit a cow with a wayward drive while playing at Whittlesea.

Shane recently come across some photos of his dream golf cart.

He has promised himself that when he shots under 80 he is going to buy himself one. The bloke in the Rolls Royce cart would have thought his was the best cart on course. And check out the Stereo. Reminds me of Rodney Dangerfield in Caddy Shack!