2023 GBWGC Winter Trophy
and AGM
(From the pens of Pinky - Golf; Dalbs - Social Scuttlebutt)

Sunday 20 August
Six intrepids made an attempt at "warming up" over the Secret Harbour links, but probably wondered why by Tuesday afternoon. Jetstream Jacko murdered the course with 40 points off an 18 handicap. Eight of the GBWGC finest then gathered at the flowered up Binningup clubhouse in preparation for the 2023 Winter Cup.

The big pine table set the scene for a Presidential Welcome to Country. Good news was relayed on from Terry Bridle who donated the original trophy; and passed on from brother Scobes who continues to make great progress. The Pres knew no bounds, reeling out a 12 page event program, a separate golf program, new snazzy bag tags and a 'goodies' bag including 2 poppers . . . the exploding of which ushered in a special presentation . . .

Dalbs prattled on about heritage as it applied to the club before presenting Pinky with his Number 14 Heritage Stand.

There were thank yous presented to MM8 non-attendees Litts and Ronzo for their considerable behind-the-scenes work before Walks revealed the trophies for 1st and 2nd placegetters.

And no one could have predicted the gastronomic bonanza that followed. BIG servings of Green Chicken Curry and Beef Massaman incorporating the National Health Standard recommended daily vegetable allowance, all served with rice. It left the mob bereft of superlatives. Jacko had excelled!

The back shed was the site for some Allardice antics from his mystery box. Tom was the recipient of "I'm not here for the hunting" "here's back at you kid" pressies; Macca presented the Pres with a sweet treat rather than Ron (didn't want to make a fuss of the Pres's fantastic Event Co-ordinator efforts); and the Great Man presented the gambling fraternity with a deck of gold leaf cards from Kalgoorlie. You had to be there! And to cap it off, he won the Pick-A-Sport. Poker followed late into the night with Pinky observing tactics.

Monday 21 August – Sanctuary
The first Stableford competition day was at the Sanctuary course with all greeted by a pleasant sunny day with a light breeze. The 4 lowest handicappers (Chris, Ron, Litts and Tom) chose to show the way in theory, if not in practice. They all had an up and down first day judging by their scores. Apparently the bunkers and the greens exacted their toll on them all and very little was said by any of them about their rounds at the end of day’s proceedings.

We're off . . .	. . .and hopefully we're in!

Bugger, nothing but sand and water	It's a slippery slope

The second group comprising Dalbs, Walks, Macca and Pinky had a slightly better day overall, although Walks and Macca struggled quite a bit with the bunkers and the water on the back nine. In fact, at one stage his playing partners thought Macca was trying to perfect a new technique of skipping his golf ball across the water and up onto the fairway; alas to no avail. Pinky was a bit erratic off the tee on occasions but had decided to forgo his usual heroics by playing shots to get back onto the fairway. This proved to be a very sound strategy as things turned out. Like the first group, all in Group 2 had some difficulty with reading the greens.

Some cracking good drives . . .	. . . some a bit erratic	Bunker struggles

Did Walks struggle with this water?	No one struggled with their meal

After a satisfying lunch and return to base, He Who Must be Obeyed activated the promised afternoon mystery event, the only requirement - a putter and golf ball. We were shunted off to the nearby oval (but not before Dalbs was locked in the house!) and, as the "gates" were being placed, the penny dropped. The GOKAY CUP was being contested and proved a lot of fun. Dalbs and Chris were vying for top prize over the last hole with Jacko proving the master and the inaugural winner of yet another innovative idea the club is becoming renowned for. Well done Litts.

The first day ended with Pinky on 35 and  Dalbs and Jacko on 29 points.

RD wins Pick-A-Sport. Presentation of club white wine to Chris for chefing services rendered. He returned the favour yet again with pizzas galore followed by dark chocolate Tim Tams washed down with a 2020 Kilikanoon Testament Shiraz judged a "A promising, age-worthy fine wine". And it was back to card table with the spiffing new o'head heater - and the old wood stove for a smoky atmospheric effect - and Pinky involved and fine tuning his game.

Tuesday 22 August – Capel
The second Stableford competition day was at the Capel course. Fine and sunny again with a light breeze but the atmosphere in the office was decidedly stormy to start as Jacko tried to use golf vouchers and his reciprocal right status to claim reductions in our overall playing fees. After some testy discussion, all was sorted and we were able to move onto playing some golf. Unfortunately, because it was a competition day, we were required to play the back nine first, the consequences of which proved a little contentious later in the day.

It was decided that the first group would comprise Ron, Litts, Macca and Walks and they strode to the 10th tee knowing they would have to be at their very best if they were to have a chance of claiming the trophy at the end of the day. Sadly, their aspirations proved a bridge too far with scores of 4, 13,  16 and 16 respectively. Walks in particular started to hit the ball pretty well and Macca benefited from the lack of watery challenges but the pressure was building as each knew their fourth nine had to be included in the 3 nine aggregate for their overall competition score.

And they're off with different results on the first . . . or was it the 10th?

The following group of Tom, Chris, Dalbs and Pinky had meantime stepped confidently onto the 10th tee and all but Pinky, who spent more time in the trees than on the fairways, played this back nine pretty well but without any luck on the greens. Scores of 17, 10, 13 and 9 respectively meant the fourth nine, which on this occasion was the first nine at Capel, would almost certainly decide the competition winner.

"Keep yer head down Mr Pink"	Tom shot of a different kind	Completing a great golfing event

Meanwhile, in a cunning ploy to unsettle the second group of players on the fourth and final nine, the first group encouraged a ladies group of 4 players to tee off on hole 1 before the second group had arrived. This led to a long delay between shots for the second group on the first hole and a general raising of the blood pressure among the group. However, the ladies were quite astute and quickly headed off to parts unknown on completion of the first hole, enabling the second group to play on without further delay.

Overall, the first group had a reasonable final nine; scoring 8, 14, 13 and 16 but again the speed and subtle variations on the greens made scoring too difficult for members of this group to close the gap on what was to be the winning aggregate score.

On the other hand, having settled after their disruptive time delayed first hole of the final round, the second group played some reasonable golf over the final eight holes. Tom in particular finally perfected his ability to drive into the trees and straight back onto the fairway in the one shot and as a consequence scored 14 on the final nine. The others scored 15, 17 and 18 respectively but, as with the first group, were challenged by the speed and subtlety of the greens.

All was forgotten after we retired to the Parade Hotel by the water for a wholesome meal and a few wines . . .

Determining the winner of the trophy was delayed a little by a difference of view as to which of the Capel nine holes should be included in the overall 3 nine aggregate. It seemed one or more of the competitors had not grasped the concept of number sequencing at primary school level and were positing that the third round actually played should be counted as the fourth round because this would have been the case if not for the Capel Club competition happening that day. Nine hole winners were:

Having heard the arguments for and against this proposition, Tom courageously announced the final results as follows:

1st PINKY 53 points 2nd DALBS 51 points 3rd WALKS 48 points CONGRATULATIONS BRIAN ON YOUR FIRST WINTER TROPHY TRIUMPH!

Exhausted, all retired to the warm comfort of the traditional Black Tie Dinner . . . and to yet another quiet evening of Poker.

Wednesday 23 August
It was cleanup and Closing Ceremony day preceded by CJ's goodbye BIG breakfast of eggs, sausages, bacon,mushrooms,tomato, hash browns and baked beans. (told you it was BIG!)

The Closing Ceremony highlighted the all inclusive effort by every participant to make this Trophy event such a great success, including the emergance of the Club Cellarmaster Pinky! Special mention must be made of the superlative effort made by Litts as the Event Coordinator.

And, as our Trophy champion succinctly put it: "A most successful and enjoyable time was had by all".