The history, details, info, facts, weather etc for the JAM 1997.
Year Four, hello Yarrawonga. Yarrawonga set a new standard in accommodation, course layout, facilities and food. The first three reached for the stars; the food on the other hand was proudly bought to you by BEX, for stomach relief choose BEX, ask for it by name BEX, B-E-X, BEX is better!
Yarrawonga provided the JAMers with real luxury: the room was large, all four JAMers fitted into the one unit, and just outside was a chipping and putting practice area. Like we�re gonna put that to good use. Right!
Day one, the Murray Course. Perhaps one of the most beautiful 18s ever to challenge the JAMers. Set right on the Murray, as the name suggests if you didn�t work it out already, it was a challenging course that insisted on accuracy, as most holes were lined with beautiful old eucalypts and some really nasty rough. A great deal of thought had obviously gone into the design of this 18-hole masterpiece. It was almost offensive that the scruffy, bad-mouthed four known as the JAMers were traipsing around such a work of art. WHACK ... #@$#. At the end of day one, Gibbons was leading, with Mackie and Avery in hot pursuit and Abbott cussing another belting in the handicaps department.
Day two and Abbott threw down the gauntlet. Up against Mackie, Abbott produced some scintillating golf and the odd total disaster to bring him back into contention. Gibbons worked Avery over, and took a comforting gap into the last round. The Lakes - you guessed it, water - proposed a challenge completely different from day one. The course was kinder to the wayward shot and had an older, established feel about it. One of the more interesting holes was the 8th. A short downhill par four with a second-shot approach over water. A booming drive would almost take the water out of play for the second shot; however, the way the JAMers were playing, the water could�ve been in play during the putting!
Day three was a little overcast and, with a hint of moisture in the air, distances were going to be down as a result. A return to the Murray course to finish off JAM �97 was a tough ask as this course was looooong. Gibbons rubbed out Abbott early much to Avery�s disgust, as Avery was the only other JAMer within reach of the Golfing Birch tree! Very little happened on day three: Gibbons won, we went home, end of story.
1998