Again blessed with exceptional weather, Clinton, Gerard, Jon and Dave headed back to Clinton's home course to compete for the shield. Thanks to the Auckland Polyfest being on we were given a day off work so it would have been a waste not to ventured our for a game.
Our last visit to the Waitakere's was a wet and frustrating affair but this time the heat was a factor not the rain. Upon arival we were informed that the forth hole was out of action as there was filming of a comercial going on and we would only be able to play 17 holes. We tried to make it into the comercial and the sight of an Airforce Hurcules flying a low flight path in our direction only added to our excitement. It was not to be our day however as the closer we got to the action, the more we realised there really was no action.
Apparently the ad invovled some dude supposedly playing golf and then a tree is struck by lightining and he is squashed. As Jon they only one in the group with acting experience explained there is a whole lot of sitting around when filming. He spent his day on the set of Xena playing cards.
Clinton proved to be the best golfer on the day and he stormed to victory with a 79, his best ever score on this course.
Highlights
Dave scoring a birdy on the tenth hole twice. (we played the tenth hole 2 times to make up for the fact we could not play the 4th.)
Dave outdriving Clinton a couple of times, (pity the rest of his game was not as sharp)
(can't remember anymore, clinton was supposed to write this)
On Anzac Day we were up early and arrived at Chamberlain Park at 7:30 hoping for an early start. As we drove in the drive we were greated with a horrible sight, queues of people, stacks of cars and potentially a long wait. We checked with the starter on the duration of the wait and were informed of a minimum of a two hour wait. (It was now 8:00am). After a bit of debate it was decided that we would retire to the cafe to discuss our options.
Lukily for us we found a TV to catch the end of the NZ v Sri Lanka world cup cricket semi-final. unluckily for us, NZ played like a bunch of muppets. It did however distract us from the wait for both our tee off time and the 30 minute wait for a toasted sandwich. It was decided that we might as well wait as we didn't have much else to do.
Due to the still and calm weather there was also a massive fog cloud covering the course. Fourtunatly the lifting of the fog coincided with the, copitulation of the black caps and when our names were called to begin our round we were off. 11:20am a massive waith and definately a wait we do not want to repeat.
So it was slow going with the course chocka full of random players most of which could best be described as "Sunday" golfers. Dave and Gerard were joined by Matt, a new player in the JT Shield family. We decided upon a handicap that should have seen him ruled out of contention but unfortunately for Dave and Gerard, Matt played far to well posting a 74, tying the previous record. Matt's round was made all the more remarkable as he was trailing new clubs he had never played with before, apparently they worked quite well.
Highlights
- After leaving home at 7:15am, Dave got home after the compulsory drink at about 5:45pm, that's
longer than he usually spends at work and it was supposed to be a public holiday.
- The boys were also joined by Billy. It turned out it was his 40th birthday so that was pretty cool.
- For the first time in JT Shield history, money was waged on the match. It seemed like a good idea at the begining of the round but things changed pretty quick when we got to the end and had to work out who owed what.
- The Chamberlian Park Cafe must have been the only place in Auckland open on Anzac day that served food and did not charge a surcharge. Nice work.
- Not really a highlight but after turning up and watching the cricket Jon decided to go home, fair
enough as his family were due to arrive home from the UK and he needed to tidy up the house. This was the first JT Shield match that Jon had missed.
