A weekend filled with sporting activity
January Monthly Mug and ‘V16’ Bowls Tournament make for great weekend sporting action at the Country Club
The past weekend was filled with sporting activity at the Ladysmith Country Club, with the January Monthly Mug (sponsored by Durban Overall) on Saturday afternoon and then the ‘V16’ Bowls Tournament on Sunday.
Weather conditions could not have been more perfect for both weekend days, with some cloud cover, very little wind and hot / humid temperatures. The golf course and the bowling green are in really great shape and the course staff are to be complemented for their efforts in their preparation of the playing surfaces. The low golf scores bear testimony to the playing conditions at this time of year.
The Monthly Mug, sponsored by Durban Overall, attracted a good entry, especially as this is the first round of the 2015 Eclectic competition which attracts much interest among the golfers, as there is a lucrative prize at the end of the year to the winners in both divisions. Winner of the ‘A’ Division Mug was Thokozani Dladla with a low-low 63 net, followed by Wayne Bentley with 67 net. The ‘Best Gross’ was carded by Sipho Hlongwa with a level-par 71. The ‘B’ Division Mug was won by Trevor Jacobs on an unbelievably low 62 net (nine under his handicap), with Ash Ranoo a distant second on 69 net. Colin Woodall collected the Individual Stableford prize, scoring 39 points, with Patrick Pieterse in second with 38 points. The ‘Longest Drive’ was won by Thokozani Dladla, and Stuart Hanlon started off the year in great style by winning the ‘Sucker of the Month’ (the score shall remain unpublished)! There were no less than 10 two-clubs carded in this competition, too many to mention by name. Thanks to Steve Tandy and Durban Overall for a great sponsorship of this golfing event and for his continued support to the sporting community.
Sunday’s bowls competition was the ‘V16 Invitation’ tournament, sponsored by Veronika Schuler. This bowls event was a “first” in that the concept has not ever been played before, with 16 bowlers taking part and entering as individuals. Played as “pairs” over five rounds of six ends each, the partners alternate after every two ends and each bowler carries through his / her individual score. This took some time for certain knuckleheads to understand, but Veronika had prepared the score sheets so perfectly that it all went off without a hitch. After each round of six ends, the bowlers stopped off at the Aloe Restaurant for one course of a scrumptious four-course gourmet meal. If anyone was thinking of starting a New Year diet, this was not the time to do it, because the grub was to die for.
It was so amazing that, with this format of play, every bowler was paired with every other bowler in the competition, so everyone had the opportunity to put a good score on the board before the end of the fifth round. As they say in the classics, “At the end of the day, the cream comes to the top”, and it sure did when the final scores were tallied. Winner of the ‘V16 Invitational’, with a huge score of 47 points, was Cheryl Mostert. Runner-up with 38 points was Pier Turconi and third place went to Jane Duncan with 35 points. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day’s bowls, the fellowship, the concept, the outstanding catering and just everything that was so well organised. Thanks and congratulations to Veronika for a tremendous sponsorship and for the introduction to a great way to spend a day on the bowling green.
This Saturday’s golf competition is the Ladysmith ‘Link’ Pharmacy Golf Day. The entry list is on the notice board and should fill very quickly for this very popular annual competition.
On Sunday, the local golfers will travel to Harrismith Golf Club to challenge for the ‘Piston Trophy’ in the biannual Ladysmith / Harrismith Challenge. Our guys had better get their ‘A’ game together before going over the hill to where the locals seem to dominate on their home course.
Friday-evening suppers continue to be very popular and with the variety of cuisine change each week, there seems to be quite an interest early on to see what we can come up with each Friday. This Friday, we will be dishing up mini-eisbeins, with the usual side veggies. Be there to enjoy!
