Festivity for all at 50th anniversary golfing celebrations

The club was abuzz with excitement at celebrating the 50th anniversary of the new course.

On a beautiful day for golf, the golfers started arriving in dribs and drabs to register and get their commemorative welcome bag.

The golf competition was played as a team event over two days, with the Friday seeing your team split into two and playing a better-ball format, with both teams’ scores to count.

It seemed to be a day for the ladies, with Aurette and Nora (both from the Cloverleaf team) playing the best golf of their careers.

With the two male counterparts lagging a little behind, they still managed to score 95 combined points.

Belinda played equally well and with her partner, Pier, got their team (the President’s Keepers) off to a good start, but unfortunately their other two teammates were not so hot and this left the President up the creek without a keep.

The Boardman team, with George and Shane scoring the bulk of the points, played some solid golf and with hot-shot Tommy Larkin being imported for the weekend, were lurking just off the pace.

The Toyota Financial Services team were also waiting to pounce.

The pace-setters, with a one-shot advantage on 96 points, were Mrs Brown’s Boys, thanks to some crafty playing from Grandad (Steve) and Dermot (Leon), with Agnes, herself (Stuart) and her eldest son Rory (Roy) helping out with a good tally of points.

The surprise of the day and the side that most expected to do well was the visiting Bidvest McCarthy team from PMB, consisting of Russell and Harold who, together with Jacqui and Jayne, found the course trickier than most and were a little behind the pace.

There was a great atmosphere of excitement in the bar as the bowlers and golfers started to settle in and regale each other of the marvellous feats they had achieved out on the playing fields.

Some were so far out in the fields that they were seen petting Gerry’s ostrich, but that is another story.

Before the Gee Jays started, a superb supper of whole chickens, chips and rolls was served, which upset the resident rooster and had him scampering for cover.

With the crowd now fully sated and seated, the Gee Jays hit the stage running and played a wide variety of popular music interspersed with side-splitting anecdotes that had the crowd roaring with laughter.

The show was fast and racy, with all sorts of interaction on stage between John, Gary and Grant that, if you were not paying attention, you would miss.

They were quick to pick up on any crowd reaction or misdemeanour and play along with it, and actually apologised profusely to the lady for singing while she was texting.

The range of songs played was well suited to the audience, from The Beach Boys to One Erect (sorry, Direction), with the classic ‘Smoke on the Water’ thundering out and the crowd singing along wildly and out of tune with the lads.

It was some comedian who once said that it’s not about the joke, but how you tell it; whether it was a simple story of going fishing or waiting in a queue, they had the room bubbling with laughter.

The three of them can certainly spin a yarn, which they knit superbly in between the music, which makes for an awesome evening of entertainment. After the show, the patrons headed for the bar and according to reports, That’s when the trouble really started,as the party went into the early hours of the morning.

Saturday’s scoring was very close, with only 11 points separating the teams.

The Cloverleafs – that were Aurette Boardman, Nora Simpson, Enrico Bozza and Chris Nel – once again played really well and swept to victory, with all four players contributing on the day.

Mrs Brown’s Boys, after plenty to drink at Foley’s bar with Agnes and her great friend Winnie, could not produce the goods on the day and Stuart Hanlon, Roy Gibbons, Leon Petersen and Steve Dixon finished up in second spot.

Team Boardman showed some improvement from the previous day, but unfortunately could not catch the leaders and had to settle for third place.

It was a fantastic weekend by all accounts and thoroughly enjoyed by all, whether they played, just watched or joined in for the festivities.

The committee must be congratulated on putting together such a great event and especially to Glynnis and her gang of helpers for all the meals that were so superb.

To the course boys, for all their hard work in ensuring that the golf course and club surrounds were in tip top condition and all who played were unanimous in their praise for and compliments of the condition of the course.

To Brett and his team from Springbok Lodge, the main sponsor, and to all the other sponsors for making this an event to remember, we truly thank you.

The club and the committee, even though it was a long weekend, would like to thank all those who made the effort to make the 50th Anniversary a special one.

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