2014 VIC OZgolf Champs - Feb 7 - 10

[LeftyHoges]

Thur, Fri, Sun accomm: andigolds Park View Hotel on St Kilda Rd. A very generous rate (again!) of $62.50 pp twin share, can to room up as 4's for below $50 a head. No prepayment required, one person in each room to put up a credit card on check in & then pay on checkout. 10 days prior for final numbers. Please add a review here.

Sat accomm: Nepean Country Club. 6 Two Bedroom Split Level apartments, sleeping 6 each at $350 a night. $60 a head if we fill the rooms, $72 a head max if we don't.

Thurs 6th golf: Woodlands Golf Club. $80 (member-guest rate and a very good price for a very good course) 3:45 to 4:00PM hit-off. Probable self-cooked BBQ tea afterwards, just awaiting confirmation of this. Cost of dinner TBA. Course guide here.

Fri 7th golf: An exceptional course last year in Southern GC. This year we're not just going one better, we're going 92 better (according to Golf Digests 2006 top 100 list). ROYAL MELBOURNE GC - West Course! Cost of $245 a head and includes a light lunch, drinks on course (non-alcoholic, I assume will still cost), finger food afterwards. Unfortunately no golf-only option (Club Captains Decision) and CAPPED AT 32 PLAYERS! Sorry guys, we tried to fight for more spots but no can do. If we want to play at RM we play by RM's rules. As a matter of interest we are the only corporate / social group in 2+ years to have got on to play RM on a Friday so we are very, very lucky. 1:30PM tee-off. Course guide here.

Sat 8th golf: The Dunes Links. 10 groups @ $55 a head with 29+ players. $60 with less. $42 carts. 2 tee start > 12:16 onwards. 10 carts booked. $5 pull carts.

Sun 9th golf: Portsea Links. 10 groups @ $50 per head with 33+ players, $55 with less. $45 carts. 2 tee start, 8:19 off 10th, 8:33 off 1st. 10 carts booked. $5 pull carts. $15 electric buggies. Obviously with seedings this may make things difficult with carts but I will try to juggle people around as best I can.

Mon 10th golf: Kew GC. 8AM hitoff. $75 per player. Download Course Guide here.

So, $105 for golf on Sat & Sun, with an additional $25 going towards prizes. All four official days $465 (includes $25 for prizes). Pre payment instalments available as per last year. Final payment by 10th January please.

Meals / activities:

Thurs night: Grab a few quick frothies at Woodlands, then head to the TapHouse on Carlisle St for more brewskies. Dinner from somewhere on the street.

Fri night: Buffet style with curry and slow roasted meat of some variety. Andy provided a conference room for "activities". They were great fun and included all important BYO alcohol. I urge all to attend this.

Sat night: Pizza's delivered. BYO alcohol. Unfortunately no personal games room but we have free use of it, mini golf course is under lights. Indoor tennis courts, basketball.

Sun night: STEAK NIGHT!!!

RESULTS:

Thursday, Woodlands (due to not being an 'official' round we only had a few things):
Winner:
Simmsy - 38pts
Long Drive - Jmac

Friday, Royal Melbourne

NTP's
5th wbennett
7th gammon
13th Spanner039
16th BenM
LD Shazza_rs

Winner:
Titleist 37pts
Runner-up:
Shazza_rs 35pts

Better scores:
LeftyHoges 34pts
Marto65 34pts
FoxGolf 33pts
Nudgee 33pts
Shadesy 33pts

Confederates V Union, Uncivil War
Confederate victory 16-8 (the first ever official team Vic Champs double of any sort)

Saturday, The Dunes

Putting Comp winner
LeftyHoges in a playoff from Marto65 (the first ever official individual Vic Champs double of any sort)
NTP's
3rd FoxGolf
6th PeteyD
13th LeftyHoges
17th Titleist
LD FoxGolf

Winner:
NK 43pts (on countback)
Runner-up:
Titleist 43pts

Better Scores:
AndyP 40pts
Spanner039 40pts
Hux 40pts
Gammon 30pts
Marto65 39pts

Saturday night, Nepean Country Club

The mini-golf by iPhone light championships
AndyP in a playoff from Courty, with a hole-in-one on the first playoff hole

The great snore-off
Monsta65 easily covered the field and was getting quite a wind-up going, despite our best efforts to be noisy and dribble as much shit as possible. Or was that just Jmac?

Sunday, Portsea

NTP's
2nd PeteyD
7th Senior Sgt Piddles
13th AndyP
16th Simmsy
LD BillyBaub

Winner:
Chappy1970 40pts
Runner-up:
Peter_rs 37pts

Better scores:
AndyP 36pts
Andigold 36pts
LeftyHoges 36pts

Monday, Kew

NTP's
4th andigold
11th Peter_rs
14th Peter_rs
18th LarryLong
LD LeftyHoges

Winner:
LeftyHoges 38pts (on a countback)
Runner-up:
IDGolfGuy 38pts
Better Scores:
andigold 37pts
BenM 37pts

Overall VIC Champs placings for two round competitors:
1. AndyP 40 + 36 - 76
2. Hux 40 + 35 - 75
3. andigold 36 + 36 - 72
T4. LeftyHoges 35 + 36 - 71
T4. Shadesy 36 + 35 - 71
T6. Marto65 39 + 31 - 70
T6. IDGolfGuy 35 + 35 - 70
8. NK 43 + 26 - 69
T9. Courty 35 + 32 - 67
T9. PeteyD 32 + 35 - 67
T10. Titleist 43 + 23 - 66
T10. Spanner039 40 + 26 - 66
T10. Gammon 39 + 27 - 66
T10. Nudgee 36 + 30 - 66
T10. Jmac 32 + 34 - 66
T10. Grumpy 32 + 34 - 66
T10. Peter_rs 29 + 37 - 66
18. Simmsy 32 + 33 - 65
19. Waddzy 30 + 34 - 64
T20. Foxgolf 35 + 26 - 61
T20. Bruce 32 + 29 - 61
22. Monsta65 35 + 24 - 59
T23. Shazza_rs 36 + 22 - 58
T23. Peppas 28 + 30 - 58
T25. GK 32 + 25 - 57
T25. Kev 31 + 26 - 57
27. Billybaub 30 + 25 - 55
T28. LarryLong 30 + 24 - 54
T28. BenM 30 + 24 - 54
T28. wbennett 26 + 28 - 54
T31. Solarman 31 + 22 - 53
T31. Haysey 28 + 25 - 53
33. Oncewasagolfer 27 + 18 – 45

Gross Prize: LeftyHoges - 154
Gross Runner-Up: AndyP - 158
Shanks Award: FoxGolf - Lots
NAGA: Oncewasagolfer - Lots or not many, depending on which way you look at it

Ironman (because of the number of players spread over the varying days we decided it was from all ‘official’ rounds, with best 3 counting)
LeftyHoges and Andigold tied on 109 points

Calcutta winner
Paying the relatively measly price (in comparison to some) of $30, Solarman was the winner of the first OZgolf Calcutta, which raised over $220 for BeyondBlue.
4 of the eventual top 5 went for relatively cheap prices with Shadesy being the only "high priced" player there.

Best Dressed
I’m giving this gong to LarryLong. When all of his outfits looked superb for less than the price of a Family Pack at KFC, you can’t go past it.

Thanks

I can’t say enough for all the OZgolfers who helped me out with these champs. You’ve all contributed in one way or another to what is now rumoured (I’m hearing whispers everywhere) to be THE OZgolf Champs.
Special thanks of course must go to andigold for his accommodation again and for arranging games at Woodlands and Royal Melbourne, monsta65 for his fantastic works with the trophies (I’m sure you’ll get a very confusing text message on the night that I polish off that bottle of Ouzo, and I’m sorry that it was my thing that nearly made you lose your thumb!), Simmsy for organising everyones handicaps for the week as the new slope system made things interesting straight up, Shadesy for organising dinner on Saturday night especially under the ultimate irony of him HATING that every WA champs he gets asked “Whats for dinner?”, PeteyD for his assistance with scores over the weekend, Bruce for being the consummate professional with his MC role and providing water for the guys at the Dunes, Marto65 for his work with gamebook it does keep things interesting and the multi-round feature will be great once up and running properly, and I didn’t mention them previously but Spanner & Kev, thanks for your chauffeur work over the champs.

Sorry if I’ve missed anyone, but another thanks must go to you all for your generosity with the auction and Calcutta. Total monies raised for BeyondBlue stands at $1,143-30. Well done guys!

Thanks all, much love!

[Captain Nemo]

You could, and should say that!

[Shadesy]

stand by for a long post shortly....

[peter_rs]

Don't worry Pete, you're about to lose that 'played to 5.8' round

Done

[Shadesy]

Well What can I say. I sit in my office, tired, sore but gave myself a day to reflect on the weekend.

So many great moments and a fantastic (read: best) weekend of Golf I have ever had. It was Great to meet everyone and I tried to chat to as many as I could. I will line up some games with those I didn't play with next year.

Thursday was Fantastic start... if there is a nicer "character" out there than Spanner than I am yet to meet them. His efforts to drive simmsy and I around and have a Red Trolley ALE waiting in his Ute, I knew this was a bloke I would want to know. He waited patiently for Simmsy on Saturday Morning too, and put up with my superior organisational skills all weekend. He stopped whereever we needed to, at bottle shops and ATM's and even got Bananas for Simmsy. What most might not know is he coached Basketball every night of the champs, so he must have logged some miles and late nights. Apologies for the smells on the way to the Dunes, and falling asleep on Sunday. You made the trip 100 Times better and your banter and knowledge was much appreciated. Enjoy the Scotch... cheers Cam.

The Nully Cup at Woodlands was amazing with simmsy (who didnt want to play it originally) playing superbly (38 Points) but only just shaking Courty at the end.. and I was able to play enough really good holes to shake Marto (who wasnt at his best... jetlag). The more I think about the course, the more it goes up in my estimations, such a great variety of different distances of holes, and variety. Would never get boring to play. My 32 points could have been better without the 6 wipes

Friday... Well what can you say. I gave up playing another Sandbelt course in the morning for a sleep in and breakfast and headed to RM early to practice my bunker shots (after knifing 3 on Thursday). The food and Spread, before and after was second to none and we were well catered all day with drinks and muesli/Chocolate bars all day. The Course was set up brilliantly and is everything you think it is. Not a better collection of Par 3's anywhere and holes that play longer than the yardage suggests. My playing group of Haysey, Bruce and Hux was brilliant. Felt for Haysey as his game got away from him, and Hux was so solid all day, after being 3 down early, he really only let me in with a bad stretch of missing a short putt and some bunker trouble. No surprises he finished second, but i had a really good Up and down on the last to win 1up. Bruce's knowledge and enthusiasm was infectious and he plays some great shots which belies his 13 handicap... Thanks also goes to Bruce for his MC work throughout the weekend (tough Gig) and his help in organisation on the Vic Committee. Cheers Bruce.

Highlight (or lowlight) of the day was the 12th at RM. Pull hooked my ball into the deep kack for a lost ball. Preceded to hit Driver/PW (downwind par 5) to about 12 feet and bin the putt for an unlikely par and win for the confederates (second ball eagle). Was not in a happy place after that...

But well done to the Confederate Brethren... that's what you call a stuffing

To be continued.... if you are still all awake.

[solarman]

I just realised I don't think I played (golf) with anyone from WA over the 5 days.

[mrbluu]

I just realised I don't think I played (golf) with anyone from WA over the 5 days.

#winning....

[Shadesy]

I just realised I don't think I played (golf) with anyone from WA over the 5 days.

You heard us speak enough shite on Saturday Night... Well Jmac anyway.

[PeteyD]

Captain piddles was good value. Plus teaming with him to bury Simmsy from 2 down with 3 to go was pretty special.

[Shadesy]

Thursday Night was a great choice with the beers flowing at the Taphouse and then onto Benno/Waddzys room for a 3am bed time (after a 2am wake up that was a solid 22 Hours). Even though I was called all the wrong WAnker names, it was a great chance to meet some of the guys and Benno was a standout... Little did I know the hilarity of Friday night. The Calcutta was a spur of the moment thing that I thought may fizzle... boy was I Wrong. the bad cop bad Cop routine was superbly run by Marto and Benno and everyone got into the spirit. With nearly $1000 in the pot, I hadnt laughed so hard for ages... Quality 2 hours and the beers flowed...again.

Saturday looked arduous with fatigue and hangover settling in, 40 degrees, a friggen long walk and a wipe on the first hole. But this was probably my most fun round. Courty, Andigold and Chinaski were great fun and pouring over the course guides each and every hole to check out where the Frig to hit the thing was great fun with Courty. I hit the ball the best all weekend and apart from wiping 2 of the first 4 again (a common theme among all 4 rounds) came away with 36 points. lost ball on the last to scrape a point hurt my chances of contention. The Dunes... WOW. Everything THE Cut tries to be and fails (for the most part). Undulating terrain, Rock hard fairways and greens, blind tee Shots, Tough Approaches, but friggen wide. minimal wind and firm conditions, meant the course was there for the taking and it was... Well palyed to NK, Titlist, AndyP and Spanner and a range of others that shot high 30's.

Saturday night Swim and Auction was good fun, and pizza was great (sorry Benno, blame Lefty). Obviously a few sore and sorry boys about, but Mini Golf was on. A field of 9 plus Rules Official Larrylong and Organiser Lefty watching on, the first 6 holes sorted out the scoring then it was in Seeded from hole 6 onwards to get the numpties out of the way first. After going toe to toe for the most part with AndyP some huge Hole in ones by courty saw him sneak into the playoff with AndyC (C = Clutch) and a huge hole in one on the first play off hole ensured victory as a sign of things to come. THis was great fun, played under torch light and Mobile Phone light and was played under some tension at the end there as 4 of us (foxgolf included) battled it out. After being offered to stay for 1 bourbon, lefty Jmac and I polished off the bottle and another late night ensued.

Early start at Portsea and this was another hilly walk. Wipe on 2 and 3 hurt and put me out, but a few four pointers (including a shot on a 300 meter downhill par 4) Lefty and I were both back in it with Rumours of capitulation early on the lead group. A wipe by lefty on 16 and then me on 17 for 35 points saw me have 36/35 and 71, 5 shots off the eventual winner AndyP. Portsea was a lot of fun with the wind around, but greens were not as good as the rest of the weekend and a few dumb holes (lots of holes with collection areas no matter what you hit from the tee), but still a great fun track. Thanks to Lefty, Courty (hope you weren't sick of me mate) and ID for another great round.

Well played to AndyP and Hux for there games on the weekend and AndyP double of Victorian Mini Golf Champion and OzGolf Champion (not sure which is more prestigious).

Thanks to Everyone for making this WAnker feel welcome, and I am already planning on coming back next year. The courses alone are the drawcard, but to me the nights make the trips. Great to meet so many people, and not one person I wouldnt play a round with out of the lot of them.

Lefty, special thanks to you. I know how hard it is to organsie an event like this, but you had to put up with so much more from simmsy and I, asking questions each and every day, talking about courses and organising a lift with Spanner for us. I have said thanks to you personally, but publicly thanks again mate. People may not know that I asked if lefty could make it this date last year, and I promised I would come. He did and I kept my promise, so thanks for that as well. Thanks to Monsta for the fantastic Trophies and The Vic Organising Committee.

I'm not sure what else to cover, thanks for reading if you got this far. Dropped 0.8 to be an all time low of 8.9 and hopefully turned a corner with my golf as well. Hope to see some of you come to WA Champs if you can make it.

If not See you all next year hopefully.

[PeteyD]

Good stuff Shadesy. My only regret is not getting a round with you out there, but you Mum was good company at Portsea.

[LeftyHoges]

OK, let's see if I can piece together a results sheet of some description...

Thursday, Woodlands (due to not being an 'official' round we only had a few things):
Winner - Simmsy 38 points
Long Drive - Jmac

Friday, Royal Melbourne

NTP's
5th wbennett
7th gammon
13th Spanner039
16th BenM
LD Shazza_rs

Winner:
Titleist 37pts
Runner-up:
Shazza_rs 35pts

Better scores:
LeftyHoges 34pts
Marto65 34pts
FoxGolf 33pts
Nudgee 33pts
Shadesy 33pts

Confederates V Union, Uncivil War
Confederate victory 16-8 (the first ever official team Vic Champs double of any sort)

Saturday, The Dunes

Putting Comp winner
LeftyHoges in a playoff from Marto65 (the first ever official individual Vic Champs double of any sort)
NTP's
3rd FoxGolf
6th PeteyD
13th LeftyHoges
17th Titleist
LD FoxGolf

Winner:
NK 43pts (on countback)
Runner-up:
Titleist 43pts

Better Scores:
AndyP 40pts
Spanner039 40pts
Hux 40pts
Gammon 30pts
Marto65 39pts

Saturday night, Nepean Country Club

The mini-golf by iPhone light championships
AndyP in a playoff from Courty, with a hole-in-one on the first playoff hole

The great snore-off
Monsta65 easily covered the field and was getting quite a wind-up going, despite our best efforts to be noisy and dribble as much shit as possible. Or was that just Jmac?

Sunday, Portsea

NTP's
2nd Petey
7th Senior Sgt Piddles
13^th AndyP
16th Simmsy
LD BillyBaub

Winner:
Chappy1970 40pts
Runner-up:
Peter_rs 37pts

Better scores:
AndyP 36pts
Andigold 36pts
LeftyHoges 36pts

Monday, Kew

NTP's
4th andigold
11th Peter_rs
14th Peter_rs
18th LarryLong
LD LeftyHoges

Winner:
LeftyHoges 38pts (on a countback)
Runner-up:
IDGolfGuy 38pts
Better Scores:
andigold 37pts
BenM 37pts

Overall VIC Champs placings for two round competitors:
1. AndyP 40 + 36 - 76
2. Hux 40 + 35 - 75
3. andigold 36 + 36 - 72
T4. LeftyHoges 35 + 36 - 71
T4. Shadesy 36 + 35 - 71
T6. Marto65 39 + 31 - 70
T6. IDGolfGuy 35 + 35 - 70
8. NK 43 + 26 - 69
T9. Courty 35 + 32 - 67
T9. PeteyD 32 + 35 - 67
T10. Titleist 43 + 23 - 66
T10. Spanner039 40 + 26 - 66
T10. Gammon 39 + 27 - 66
T10. Nudgee 36 + 30 - 66
T10. Jmac 32 + 34 - 66
T10. Grumpy 32 + 34 - 66
T10. Peter_rs 29 + 37 - 66
18. Simmsy 32 + 33 - 65
19. Waddzy 30 + 34 - 64
T20. Foxgolf 35 + 26 - 61
T20. Bruce 32 + 29 - 61
22. Monsta65 35 + 24 - 59
T23. Shazza_rs 36 + 22 - 58
T23. Peppas 28 + 30 - 58
T25. GK 32 + 25 - 57
T25. Kev 31 + 26 - 57
27. Billybaub 30 + 25 - 55
T28. LarryLong 30 + 24 - 54
T28. BenM 30 + 24 - 54
T28. wbennett 26 + 28 - 54
T31. Solarman 31 + 22 - 53
T31. Haysey 28 + 25 - 53
33. Oncewasagolfer 27 + 18 – 45

Gross Prize: LeftyHoges 154
Gross Runner-Up: AndyP 158
Shanks Award: FoxGolf
NAGA: Oncewasagolfer

Ironman (because of the number of players spread over the varying days we decided it was from all ‘official’ rounds, with best 3 counting)
Winner
LeftyHoges and Andigold tied on 109 points

Calcutta winner
Paying the relatively measly price (in comparison to some) of $30, Solarman was the winner of the first OZgolf Calcutta, which raised over $220 for BeyondBlue.
4 of the eventual top 5 went for relatively cheap prices with Shadesy being the only high priced player there.

Best Dressed
I’m giving this gong to LarryLong. When all of his outfits looked superb for less than the price of a Family Pack at KFC, you can’t go past it.

Thanks

I can’t say enough for all the OZgolfers who helped me out with these champs. You’ve all contributed in one way or another to what is now rumoured (I’m hearing whispers everywhere) to be THE OZgolf Champs.
Special thanks of course must go to andigold for his accommodation again and for arranging games at Woodlands and Royal Melbourne, monsta65 for his fantastic works with the trophies (I’m sure you’ll get a very confusing text message on the night that I polish off that bottle of Ouzo, and I’m sorry that it was my thing that nearly made you lose your thumb!), Simmsy for organising everyones handicaps for the week as the new slope system made things interesting straight up, Shadesy for organising dinner on Saturday night especially under the irony of him HATING that every WA champs he gets asked “Whats for dinner?”, PeteyD for his assistance with scores over the weekend, Bruce for being the consummate professional with his MC role and providing water for the guys at the Dunes, Marto65 for his work with gamebook it does keep things interesting and the multi-round feature will be great once up and running properly, and I didn’t mention them previously but Spanner & Kev, thanks for your chauffeur work over the champs.

Sorry if I’ve missed anyone, but another thanks must go to you all for your generosity with the auction and Calcutta. I’ll tally up all the money tonight but by my early estimations there’d have to be close to $1000 in that tin for BeyondBlue.

Thanks all, much love!

[AndyP]

Great work, Lefty.

Spanner039 40pts

So it was a gamebook fault that had Spanner on 42?

Portsea NTP's
13^th AndyP?

With a missed tap-in for par, of course.

Calcutta winner
Paying the relatively measly price (in comparison to some) of $30, Solarman was the winner of the first OZgolf Calcutta, which raised over $220 for BeyondBlue.

At the time of my auction, it was relatively high, then people realised that they might miss out on a player and went ape-shit with the bids.


Interesting omission of the gross prize winners from the list above.......

[LeftyHoges]

So it was a gamebook fault that had Spanner on 42?

I was doing gamebook, so that would be my fault.

Interesting omission of the gross prize winners from the list above.......

That would be my fault too. Corrected.

[Jackson]

Will definitely be making it over for this next year!

[PeteyD]

Wow T8 is way better than I thought I did. Go me! Might have to do some practice for next year now.

[FoxGolf]

Sunday, Portsea

NTP's
2nd Petey
7th FoxGolf?
13^th AndyP
16th Simmsy
LD BillyBaub

That one wasn't me Lefty. I made a great par after hitting my 4th shank of the day off the tee.

I think it might have been Jmac?

[LeftyHoges]

That one wasn't me Lefty. I made a great par after hitting my 4th shank of the day off the tee.

I think it might have been Jmac?

I knew you and the 7th rang a bell for me, but yes, that would be why!

[WBennett]

Thursday Night was a great choice with the beers flowing at the Taphouse and then onto Benno/Waddzys room for a 3am bed time (after a 2am wake up that was a solid 22 Hours). Even though I was called all the wrong WAnker names, it was a great chance to meet some of the guys and Benno was a standout...

Thanks Rubes, you are so sweet!

I have been looking everywhere for the bits of paper I made the Uncivil War matchplay predictions.

I can't believe all you stripers play off a higher mark than me!

[LeftyHoges]

Thanks Rubes, you are so sweet!

I have been looking everywhere for the bits of paper I made the Uncivil War matchplay predictions.

I can't believe all you stripers play off a higher mark than me!

THATS WHAT THAT IS!!!

Was going through my photos last night and couldn't figure for the life of me what that was!

Incoming Benno.

[FoxGolf]

Has anyone else had their round from Kew entered into golflink twice? Mine is showing as if I have played the course two times on the same day the only difference being one has a DSR of 69 the other one a DSR of 65. The played to for each is 16.7 and 20.6 respectively. I'm not too fussed just wondering if anyone else has the same?

My Royal Melbourne score is wrong though? I had 80 off the stick but golflink is showing it as Adjuasted Gross of 93? And a played to of 16.4? This is one I'd like showing my real score as I think it should be one of my flagged rounds.

[AndyP]

Just the one time at Kew for me, Foxy.

The RM card was entered by NK, so you might want to PM him.

[FoxGolf]

Thanks Andy.

Shadesy sent me a message too so I have just PM'd him.

[Johnny Canuck]

Has anyone else had their round from Kew entered into golflink twice? Mine is showing as if I have played the course two times on the same day the only difference being one has a DSR of 69 the other one a DSR of 65. The played to for each is 16.7 and 20.6 respectively. I'm not too fussed just wondering if anyone else has the same?

My Royal Melbourne score is wrong though? I had 80 off the stick but golflink is showing it as Adjuasted Gross of 93? And a played to of 16.4? This is one I'd like showing my real score as I think it should be one of my flagged rounds.

Davin?

Who the foxhat?

[Hux]

Awesome weekend.

The courses were awesome and I would like to thank all of my playing partners for great company over the weekend.

My sinuses hurt from sharing a room with Captain Chorizo. My god his wife must have no sense of smell and have tinnitus from the constant explosions from his ass all night. You can guarantee he is not batting for the other side - lots of lip tension.

Shadesy - well played. I needed another round or two on the greens to get some kind of feel with the putter - and I could have done with the bunker lesson from Nudgee I got on Saturday morning a day or two earlier.

AP - well done. You picked up 4 shots on me in 2 holes which showed real mental strength to make some real pressure putts.

Like everyone else RM was the standout. Kew would be fantastic to play with all holes in play - a lovely setting and nice holes.
Woodlands I had a love, hate relationship - similar would like to play that out of play hole (3rd?) it looked great, however unlike RM or Dunes and Portsea very punitive once you left the fairway.

Dropped 1.2 on Golflink to get down to 10.1 - new low and the magical single figures is looming. Need to learn to play to the new cap first though.

My first Vic Champs but not my last!!!

[BenM]

I just got back from the supermarket and when I walked past the chorizo in the cold case I couldn't help but smile and think of nudgee!

Thanks PeteyD for being a great chauffeur and roommate, especially for the ultimately wasted trip to try and find an optometrist at 9am on a Sat morning, and the fantastic timing of the drinks stop on the way down to the peninsula.

Everyone in the clown car was great, thanks for getting us everywhere on time and keeping me entertained, it was never boring that's for sure.

All the guys (and girl) I played with were great - some I'd met & played with before, some I hadn't, so thanks AndyP, Hux, PeteyD, GK, Shazza, OWAG, Grumpy, Waddzy, billybaub, gammon, idgolfguy and Peppas. I enjoyed playing with you all, especially thanks to Shazza and gammon for being so gracious after kicking GK and my arses quite comprehensively on Friday.

People keep asking me what was my favourite course and it would have to be RM really. The layout is really interesting and challenging and the atmosphere of the place is legendary. If andigold's thoughts about next year come to fruition it will be one helluva weekend - my only hope is that next time I can play good enough golf to do it justice.

Lefty, andigold, Bruce, Monsta, Shadesy, Marto, and anyone else who had any sort of involvement at all in the weekend - you have all done an absolutely sterling job and you should all give yourselves a huge pat on the back. Aside from some issues with course works and the associated handicap changes which were completely out of your control everything seemed to run like clockwork.

Congrats to all the winners - obviously AndyC is the big one but titleist, NK, chappy and quite a few others shot some great scores over the 5 days so well done to all of you.

Honourable mentions also have to go to:

Marto and Benno for the Calcutta/Auctioneering/dirty jokes all weekend
JMac for the entertainment Sat/Sun nights, it was a pisser in more ways than one
Waddzy for punching above his weight and putting up with my apparently crappy cart driving
Grumpy for putting up with my bad cart driving as well
Lefty for somehow remembering my stubby holder I left in the function room Fri night even with all the other stuff you must've had going on
Larrylong for the magnificent thrift shop outfits and for letting me pinch my lunch from right under your nose
GK for your efforts at RM trying to knock over the union scum, hope the blisters are coming good
And to anyone else that listened to me blather on after too many beers pretty much every night.... thank you. My voice still isn't fully back - it is going to be a huge struggle going back to work tomorrow.

I am already counting the days to next year.