2011
(11–14 November)

It was a small but quality field to contest the 2011 Binninup Open. The Little Master made a celebrity appearance, joining mine host Master Blaster, Phantom, Macca PC and, for his maiden trip south, Jacko.

Many thanks to Jacko, supported by Ronnie, for the written report and to Phantom for the pics (a lens problem appears to have affected the quality of some photos).

Friday
Here we go, here we go, here we go …. Binningup at 4.00 PM and in true Allardice fashion, by 4.30, drinks on the table and into the nibblies. Dinner with an international flavour, Indonesian and Hawaiian casseroles (huge thanks to Marg) and the boys settled in for an evening with cards, Crownies, Jamesons and Jim Beam.

Saturday
Day 1, Sanctuary Cove, carts and the tension on the first tee was palpable, everyone in with a chance, or thinking so until balls had to be struck. Macca and Ron started in fine form with 3 points and the rest were left to ponder the mysteries of silky smooth swings, alignment and ball placement. Tom started slowly but finished the 9 with a flourish, carding four 3 pointers in the last 5 holes (26 handicap?), and Walks and Jacko were enjoying the drive, but at the turn it was Ron and Macca with 19 and 18 points respectively.

On the back 9 fortunes changed a little, Walks carding an 18 including a memorable bird on the par 3 13th, and Jacko managed 17 points. Ron did enough to take the day with 35 points. Notably absent on the day were those mysterious birds with their distinctive call (AAARRRGGGHHH) although a muted call from what must have been a hatchling, was heard somewhere in the back 9. Macca held on for a creditable 2nd position on the podium and Tom did just enough to snatch the NAGA from Walks whose three 4 pointers on the day saved him.

The rest of the day was spent on lunch, a kip, dinner from the BBQ Master (aka the Little Master) and some entertaining cards with a bottle of red or 3.

Sunday
Day 2, Binningup, the compulsory game and crunch time. Macca took the long drive by a street (the Mitchell/Kwinana freeway), driving back for tee-off, having returned to Perth for a wedding after the first day’s game.

Ron’s bloody neighbours (7 of them) hit off before us at a respectable 9.30 … and 5 hours later we completed 2 circumnavigations of the course. Tom possibly set a record for Binningup with 20 points after 9 holes, turning with a 2 point lead over Walks. We played as a 5 due to the aforementioned early heavy traffic, although this disappeared as we turned into the wind for the second 9.

Tom 20, Walks 18, Jacko 16, Ron 14, Macca 5 … anybody’s game … if the leaders crashed!!! And Tom tried hard to crash, wiping  4 holes, but a 4 pointer and a 3 pointer helped to save his card. Jacko fell in love with the 6th/15th, scoring easy 4/2 and 3/3s. The signature hole at No 17 beat everyone on the day with 5 wipes and a couple of submerged balls. In the end, Tom took a handy 2 point lead for the compulsory round.

Post match activities were a repeat of the previous day, although a few of the boys were moving a little slower after walking the course. And long time member Jacko was finally initiated into the club which he undertook with great gusto!

The Little Master fuels up for the Bunbury challenge

Monday
Day 3, Bunbury, back in carts (aah) and some ambitious targets have been set. The biggest challenge was the card – with several holes being ranked differently for the second stroke of the 19 to 36 handicappers, there was a little confusion over when and where to claim the 2 strokes. Players in front but none behind (except for a single who mysteriously disappeared after a couple of holes), so we played as a five again after the first tee. Macca was the only one to bother the green on the par 3 first, but unfortunately just ran through and missed out on the NTP. Tom (the automaton or is that autonatom?) had his swing in the groove from the previous day and nothing was going to stop him hitting those fairways, unless unlucky enough to be struck by an out-of-control golf cart. Ron jumped out of the blocks early with 2 points, two 3 pointers and a 2 pointer but faded badly until a late rally at the ninth. Meanwhile Tom was inexorably inching closer to the prize with three 2 pointers, then two 3 pointers then one 4 pointer (then zero 5 pointers) to post another 20 point front nine, in spite of half a dozen near misses with the aforementioned  carts (doh!!!).

The 10th hole, a par 3 with a seriously elevated tee, was a cracker. Ron jumped onto the tee and blazed away just before the rest of us were assailed by torrential rain and force 9 gales/headwinds. Needless to say, the NTP went begging yet again.
The 16th was the final par 3 and after 5 tee shots, the green was still decidedly bare, so seconds to count. Jacko played a superb little lob which ran 1 metre past to take the jackpot. Some people hit some long drives too and Macca, Jacko and Walks had some undocumented highlights. At the final count, Walks notched an impressive 35, Ron managed only a mediocre back nine for a 29, but it was the top-ender’s day again with 19 on the back nine for a total of 39.

And the winner is ...
Tom with a very impressive 2 round total of 72. Walks took second place from Ron, courtesy of his final round, and Macca just edged out Jacko for the NAGA.