The champion Novotel Twin Waters Golf Course is rated number seven amongst resort courses in Australia and was indeed a suitable venue on which to hold our President’s Cup tournament. The players had to contend with three separate handicaps to play this in prestigious event.

They were:-

1. The weather forced the closure of the course on Saturday afternoon.         
2. The 0650 start on Sunday morning.
3. That some of the players didn’t get to bed after the Vampire Dinner the previous  evening.

Sunday Morning …. It was terrible! Not only had the dawn come far too quickly after the night before (the aforementioned Vampire Dinner to blame) but it had continued to rain during the night and with further rain predicted. Rod Searle (The Man-In-Charge-of-Golf) had already spoken to those brave souls (some would say foolhardy), who wanted to play golf so early, and arranged to phone them at about 0615 to let them know if there was any chance to play and the start time. The course Marshall advised that a decision would not be made about play on the course until 0730 – so the troops duly rallied to the assembly point in the foyer at 0730, as most golfers are optimists (sad isn’t it!). By this stage, four had dropped out (they weren’t silly): - Mike Naughton, Dave Watson, Jim Stewart and Tom Byrne had all seen the light and opted to stay in bed. The others, well they made their way to the golf course to await the answer to the question “Will there be play today?” By this time, Theo DeChaufepie and Harry Butterworth were looking decidedly shaky - we were not sure if it was the lack of sleep, or the nightcap with George and Robyn Russell, that made this pair look the worst for wear.Seriously Now ….The decision was finally made to allow play and the remaining 16 ventured to their carts and head off to the 1st and 10th tees. The groupings on the 1st tee were:- Lester Anderson, Peter & Daniel Madigan and Leon Pollard; followed by Brian Hansson, Rob Lennox, Kevin Mellowship and Brian Milde. The groupings on the 10th tee were: - Jack & Di Shepherd, Dave Wittner and Ruth Devine; followed by Harry Butterworth, Theo DeChaufepie, Brian Houliston and Rod Searle.Conditions at the start were quite pleasant and the course looked in reasonable condition. We were restricted to the cart paths for the duration of the round; which meant a lot of walking to where the ball finished (and the ball finished in some weird positions). I was part of the Harry and Theo group and it looked like there might be a winner amongst us – mainly because I knew they would keep their heads down to watch the ball! I asked what their handicaps were and Harry presented his handicap card showing a handicap of 27 (I thought ‘Ned Kelly is NOT dead!’) Theo said that he was only a social player and his club had given him a handicap of 54. After I picked myself up off the ground, I told him he would have to wear a skirt (only joking ladies, please don’t be offended) to play off a handicap like that. I begun to smell conspiracy when Harry hit a good drive down the fairway and I waited in anticipation for Theo’s effort – after playing three shots and gaining ten metres in ground, I was beginning to believe that 54 might just be a reasonable handicap. (Later that day, Theo was presented with the NAGA (Not A Golfers Arsehole) Trophy from our President, Bob Bell (himself a former winner (twice) of a NAGA Trophy). The President’s Cup had been scheduled to be an 18-hole stroke competition but because of the appalling conditions no one ventured past 9 holes. For those who braved the conditions, you deserve two things:

Congratulations for attempting to play in the terrible Queensland weather

And

An appointment with our resident shrink – Maurie Sainsbury!!

The Winners ….

Longest Drive:  Jack Shepherd (Jamestown SA)

Best Calloway:  Leon Pollard (Jamestown SA)

Best Female Nett Score:   Di Shepherd (Jamestown SA)

Best Male Nett Score:  Dave Wittner (VIC)

N.A.G.A. :  Theo DeChaufepie (NSW)

And last but not least

The President’s Cup: Lester Anderson (QLD)