Champs Wrap Up

[AndyP]

I know a few have posted in the details thread, but I think it is worth having a thread of it's own for your thanks, highlights, lowlights and observations for the whole weekend.

I'll post more when I can, but it was a fantastic weekend yet again. It's just not long enough. Well done to all that make it what it is; both organisers and participants.

[PeteyD]

All things considered, I was extremely happy to make it this year. And on very short notice. It was disappointing to not be able to play properly, but the fact I could hit a ball at all made me pretty happy.

Highlights for me were meeting some of the first timers, catching up with a lot of you (particularly goughy and bruce), getting accommodation at 4:45 on Friday for Friday and Saturday nights, having a room to myself (no friggin snoring except mine!) .

Only things that were disappointing was not being able to go Friday and Monday, having to leave early to get the munchkins home so not finding the result until late in the evening and being deafened by the bloke strangling a cat at the pub.

No operation planned for next year so back to a 3 night stay

[Eag's]

Outstanding Champs once again, I had a rip roaring time
It was great to meet so many newbies, some real nutters amongst them
Bring on 2012.

[jaybam]

I was also happy with the Sunday draw thanks shazza. still got a headache though lol.

[dc68]

(no friggin snoring except mine!)

I see what you did there....

[sms316]

- People whingeing about the sunday draw.

Really? On what basis?

[Courty]

A huge pat on the back to everyone who volunteered time, money & effort to make this happen. It's what makes this forum so great.

A personal thanks to all my playing partners from the last 6 days: (Haysey, Solarman, AndyP, dc68, Virge666, Kev, Titleist, Eags, Marto65, Peter_rs, Matty, dc68 (again), Shavey & Haysey (again).

It was great to catch up with all of the regulars and also meet the newbies from all corners of the country.

Congratulations to all of the weekends winners, and commiserations to everyone else.

Thanks to AndyP & Ferrins for not snoring (much) and especially to Ferrins for not molesting my toothbrush.

I came so close to reaching my goal for my Champs week (averaging 30 pts per round for the 6 rounds in 6 days). I was on target after 5 but fell over at the final hurdle that is Northlakes.

I had a fabulous weekend as always and can't wait for the next one.

[KristianJ]

Loads of stuff I could say about the past 4 days (and I had, but the bloody browser crashed on me), but suffice to say I had a tremendous time. Plenty of laughs, some mixed golf played, and some very good weather. Massive props to Shavey and the other organising types, and the accommodation at the Crowne was great (I sorely missed the buffet breakfast this morning).

Looking forward to next year - bloody can't come soon enough!

EDIT: Now that I have a spare few minutes to try and remember what I typed before the browser shat itself:

Friday

- 5am wakeup to ensure I got to the airport long term car park by 7:30 and avoid the worst of the M5
- Maccas at 7am
- Endure the hour long flight delay with Virge and Jono, and ensuring that somehow Ferrins would know we would be late
- Touching down in Maroochydore and seeing the sun we thought would be eternally shrouded by cloud and rain
- Played in the comp at Coolum - loved the place, and came away with 2 birdies (putt off the fringe at 6 and a 2 putt bird at 12 after my 2nd was a 215m tracer bullet that somehow skirted whatever rough it could have been slowed down by).
- A delay on the 18th tee whilst we waited for a bunch of kids to stop playing chase the roo 50 or so metres away at the far end of the tee boxes
- Shavey's 26 points on the back 9...hardly a bad shot from what I recall of it.
- Checked Golflink on the ride back to Pelican and found that the cap had dropped from 14.5 to 14.4 (hence dropped a shot for the Champs rounds). Bit pissed with myself...
- Fri night pizza (both fresh and reheated), the coin on the wall experience, and the near hitting of a pill out of 705's lounge room by Virge.

Saturday

- NSW body clock got the better of me and I woke up at 5.
- Awesome buffet brekkie.
- Informal long putting comp on the practice green with a few of the guys prior to the group pic
- Slicing my tee shot on the 10th and finding it nearly on the 11th green, good second over the trees to the 10th fairway, then some sort of rubbish gap wedge over the green, flubbed chips, etc. 1 point through 4 holes and some consoling words of advice from AndyP weren't quite as effective as the first visit from Saturday's drinks girl.
- Going par, par, par on 16, 17 and 18...was very happy with that run and how I played the holes.
- 27 points...not too happy, but the way I played I deserved that.
- The whole dc episode - classic stuff!
- Getting back to the room just as the storm hit, and spending the next hour or so watching the lightning before heading down to the Tavern
- Disappointed for the Welsh, but fun times socialising despite the poor standard of pub music that evening.

Sunday

- Brekkie. Yum.
- Better start to round 2 with a regulation par on 1st hole and perfect drive (which was important considering BrisWesty was taping)
- Bill Haas style water shot on the 5th to get a point failed miserably. Even from the left rough, to wipe that hole from 130m out was just pathetic.
- Timah's eagle on 12, and Ferrins and I birdieing from the back of the green.
- Seeing Tim and Ferrins both beat the previous long drive mark on the 16th, dispute whose drive was the longest, then have Oxy hit up and out drive them both by about 20m was rather amusing
- 33 points - not bad, but had I been a bit more careful I could have broken the cap.
- Witnessing the debacle that was Quade Cooper, poker, Shavey's contrasting fortunes from game to game, demolishing the rest of my bottle of tawny port...all with the promise of a good bed to replace the sofa.

Monday

- Final good brekkie
- Getting to Northlakes and deciding rather stupidly that I wouldn't get my wets out of my bag (even though Courty was putting his rain pants on well before we started)
- The resultant drenching turning my Nike Dri Fit shirt into something that felt more like a loose wetsuit.
- My path along 13 and 16 being pretty much identical - slice tee shot into hazard, drop, slice into hazard, drop, slice almost into hazard, chip to about 12 feet, miss putt.
- 26 points...somehow I doubt that I'd have done much better if it was dry. Lazy, tired play. I kept on looking back at Eag's and Oxy behind us and thinking that they must have run out of stuff to talk about after the 5th or 6th hole based on how long they'd have had to wait.
- Farewelling new friends as the Ferrins bus left
- 3 hours in the departure lounge at Brissy airport; an hour with the FNQ boys before they left, and the rest waiting in the midst of yet another flight delay
- Getting to my car in the long term car park at Sydney airport and finding that my alarm keypad wouldn't unlock my car...but after about 20 button pressings from all different spots around the car it finally unlocked.
- Home at 10:30pm.

[Ned]

Lowlights
- People whingeing about the sunday draw.

What was that PM you sent me about the Saturday draw Shazza ??????????

[shazza_rs]

I sent a special request before the draw was even done thank you very much. And I see you obliged by grouping me with Blakey.

[Ned]

I sent a special request before the draw was even done thank you very much. And I see you obliged by grouping me with Blakey.

Huh ?

Was referring to your comment about "What till the whinging/complaining starts"or words to that effect.......................

[shazza_rs]

Oh different pm.....

[just]

Great Sunday draw Shaz, much better than inflexible wanker who did the other one.

[matty]

Also a big thanks to the organisers. It was superbly run and the accommodation was A+. Was a pleasure to meet and play with those I did, even Monty. What a lunatic! For those who didn't know Monty likes to search for snakes while waiting for the group ahead. He found two dead ones and kept one over the windscreen of our cart for most of the round until he looped it around the steering wheel in SMS and PeterRS cart. Worked a treat.

Was a pleasure watching the ability of SMS and the swing tempo of Courty. Personally, I had the two worst rounds of my life but will hopefully bounce back. It felt like Tommy Gainey was trying to swing the club for me. F'n hopeless. I'll put the blame on rooming with Haystacks and his airforce stories.

Until next year...............

[Yossarian]

Also a big thanks to the organisers. It was superbly run and the accommodation was A+. Was a pleasure to meet and play with those I did, even Monty. What a lunatic! For those who didn't know Monty likes to search for snakes while waiting for the group ahead. He found two dead ones and kept one over the windscreen of our cart for most of the round until he looped it around the steering wheel in SMS and PeterRS cart. Worked a treat.

Was a pleasure watching the ability of SMS and the swing tempo of Courty. Personally, I had the two worst rounds of my life but will hopefully bounce back. It felt like Tommy Gainey was trying to swing the club for me. F'n hopeless. I'll put the blame on rooming with Haystacks and his airforce stories.

Until next year...............

Seriously, snakes?

[sms316]

Also a big thanks to the organisers. It was superbly run and the accommodation was A+. Was a pleasure to meet and play with those I did, even Monty. What a lunatic! For those who didn't know Monty likes to search for snakes while waiting for the group ahead. He found two dead ones and kept one over the windscreen of our cart for most of the round until he looped it around the steering wheel in SMS and PeterRS cart. Worked a treat.

Pricks!

[Haystacks]

Huge thanks to Shavey for the delayed pick up from the airport and transport to Coolum. Organised a huge weekend and still took time out to pick up some noob. Cheers mate. Also thanks to Ferrins for the transport from Pelican to North Lakes and on to the airport in the Venga Bus. Not every trip comes with in flight entertainment! Thanks also to everyone I met, played with (no homo), drank with, played poker with and offended. They will know who they are, I may not necessarily remember

There was a lot of new faces at the champs, and it was always a worry that there would be some that wouldn't fit the Ozgolf culture. Gee what a bunch of clowns they all turned out to be, fitted in perfectly. Haystacks in particular makes Ferrins seem sane, where did he escape from?

Hmmm. Blakey considering me less sane than Ferrins? I think I need to go to the 'Things That Concern Me' thread.

Was a pleasure watching the ability of SMS and the swing tempo of Courty. Personally, I had the two worst rounds of my life but will hopefully bounce back. It felt like Tommy Gainey was trying to swing the club for me. F'n hopeless. I'll put the blame on rooming with Haystacks and his airforce stories.

Sorry they didn't rate with your "conquest" stories.

Another thing that I should be concerned about is seeing what my son is going to look like in about 20 years! Hopefully I'll get a game with you soon Eag's

Thanks again guys and girls. Need to go and start banking brownie points for next year!

[LeftyHoges]

Well after the experience I had at country week this year if the team manager is still the same person next year I'll definitely be coming to the champs instead. Sounds like much more fun (like that was ever in doubt) and exactly where I should have been this year instead.

[Grunt]

Where are all the pics?

[Haystacks]

Sorry...I forgot to mention the two bandits who left me feeling violated at Coolum after I offered to drive the Swdish Valiant back to Pelican. Thanks for the intro to the
OzGolf Champs guys!

[kpac]

first of all. Well done shave. Without the behind the scenes work, this would have been a shambles. So well played (not the golf... u owe me 15 )Well done to G69, solid golf for the weekend. Cheeky performance.Congratulations nudgee, great effort to wear down the old fella. From the sound of things u were striking it solid for both days.Thanks to my partners in crime.Jaybam,Jono,SmsHuxDdaseyAnd obviously westy for the match.I was good to see my playing partners all getting amongst the scores! Unfortunately the winner wasn't coming from our group, but the golf was good regardless!Like everyone else I can't wait for next year.Considering on wednesday I told shave I wasn't going to be able to make it I'm glad I got there, even thought I'm still exhausted now! Flew in last flight fri night to bris, free out sunday evening bris. Wife not too impressed the visit was only for golf but that's the way it goes sometime.I've collected a 3rd and a 2nd so far, I may be forever a bridesmaide at this rate.... Great to meet a few newbies. Sorry for the severe lack of festivities but the travel did and still has taken it out of me.Next year I'm hoping for an open schedule to get amongst the evening houliganisms. As I've fallen short the last 2 years.Great event. Bigger and better next year??

[shavey]

Thanks for all the kind words folks, my absolute pleasure assisting wherever possible... Great to see so many new faces this year and let's hope it continues to grow.

To my playing partners, room mates, drinking partners, coin tossing opponents and poker challengers, what an awesome weekend we had! And massive thanks to the respective partners of all concerned for holding down the fort, be it with young ones or the milkman, and allowing us some time to enjoy our annual pilgrimage to the coast of sun, golf and sore heads!

Suppose I should get the ball rolling for 2012!

[goughy]

Love your current avatar! Did you get a discount for adding that?

[shavey]

Love your current avatar! Did you get a discount for adding that?

No but thought it would be a good way to remember the weekend.

[AndyP]

Spam!

[Ferrins]

There is nothing wrong with my hand, by the way.