Handicap Day Results - November 16 2008

 
BRG Handicap Day - November 16 2008 - Gallery & Results

The tenth Bushranger Golf Handicap Day for 2008 was held at Settlers Run Golf Course (designed by Greg Norman) in sunny but breezy conditions. A field of 14 set out and most were belted around with only one courageous Bushranger able to tame the monster and post a round under par. When the dust had settled, it was Louise Tornerhielm who took the chocolates with a superb round of 38 stableford points to take a three shot victory from Matthew Thomas and Ian Crotty who were duelling it out for the honours in the inaugural BRG Player of the Year.

Louise also gave the Movember cause a boost (by giving all the blokes a reality check on their health and vitality) when she smashed a huge ball to comfortably take out the Longest Drive award on the par five 9th hole. BRG founding member Warwick 'Boo' Stonehouse showed his class once again by taking out the Nearest the Pin on number 11, but in finishing fourth overall he drifted just out of range to catch the POY leaders in the final Handicap Day on December 13. Below are the final results for the day.

The next BRG event will be the 11th and final Handicap Day for the year playing strokeplay at Yarra Bend Public Golf Course on Saturday December 13 from 8:30am. For more info, watch out for news items and keep an eye on the Event Schedule and the Handicap Day page. Below is a small gallery of images with some of the special highlights of the day at Settlers Run.

The par five 1st hole at Settlers Run and it was a slightly chilly start to the day.

Matt T, Louise and new member John Hearne prepare to lead out the field.

The Hamburglar, Harro, Boo and Macca all set for some fun on the course.

Mark Gemmola, winner at his last start, John Potter and Jason Hoe on the first tee.

Rossco, Dubs, Kingo (with Movember appendage) and Crocko hamming it up on the first tee as they prepare for a day of most exclellent leisure.

Ian acknowledging his many adoring fans near the tee of the par four 6th hole.

Rossco and Da King letting the good times roll with a laugh between wipes early in the round.

Pw gets a good break with a dry water hazard on six and is able to scramble his ball back into play.

After a horror start to his round, Rossco produced the shot of the day when he holed out with a perfect 9-iron from 123 metres on the par four 7th hole. Above we see the man from Nesso saluting the crowd after collecting his pill from the cup. He made par the easy way - after losing his drive and hitting a provisional, he calmly knocked his approach in the cup to make a 4 for 3 points. After struggling to score just four points on his first six holes, this shot turned things around completely and he scorched home with 25 points on the last 12 holes.

Boo and Harro focussing on the past on the ninth fairway - possibly looking back to spot the ladies tee to figure out just how far Louise hit her drive.

Crott-man embracing the sky on the tee of the par four 15th hole.

And then he winds up to smash a long ball down the right side.

A view of the Settlers Run clubhouse on the back nine.

Crocko playing a pitch to the par five 16th green past the large gum that is a feature of the hole.

He missed left and here he is pitching back onto the green. The ball is just visible in the top of the frame. In the background, POY rival Matt Thomas looks on as he and Louise make their way to the 18th green.

Continuing our Crocko feature, here he is lining up his drive on the picturesque par four 17th hole with Rossco looking on. This short par four is the very best hole on the course in the humble opinion of this correspondent. For the record, Crock and Rossco both took on the hole with drivers and hit superb shots to finish near the green in front of the left trap.

Crocko chipped on and then produced a magnificent putt from 15 feet to nail the birdie. Here he is at the moment of exhilaration as the ball goes in the hole. This pose is clearly an homage to the great Jack Nicklaus and the memorable image of him saluting another birdie as he shot 6-under on the final nine of the '86 US Masters to clinch his 18th Major Championship at age 46. Nice one Crock.

Here Matt T holds the flag as John rearranges his clubs and Louise putts on the 18th green. 

 The podium finishers - Crock in third place, Louise first and Matt T in second.