By P Utter
THIS week Umkomaas Golf Club (UGC) has great news and not-so-great news.
As mentioned in last week’s papers, two of the club’s women, Sabiha Bacaus and Michelle van der Merwe travelled up to Maritzburg to play in the KZN Championships at Victoria Golf Club.
Unfortunately, UGC’s girls were drawn against each other with Michelle winning that particular round and knocking out Sabiha. The great news is that Michelle scored a hole-in-one on the 13th hole on Sunday, 13 March and was presented, as a token of her prowess on the green, a lovely badge at prize giving. The number 13 was definitely lucky for her.
Even though the club’s girls didn’t fare that well in the championships, the hole-in-one certainly made them feel a whole lot better. News just to hand – Michelle has been chosen to be a member of the President’s team for the inter region matches this year. Many congratulations Michelle, all the very best from all at the club – this is a fantastic achievement.
Wednesday afternoon’s individual stableford competition welcomed regular visitors, Dave Rickards and Mike Harvard. Thanks to Bing Opie for doing a very short prize giving, albeit reluctantly. The winner was Simon van den Bosch, counting out Mike Harvard into 2nd place, both with 42 points, with Bing Opie taking home 3rd prize with 41 points. Dave Rickards counted out Warren Taylor for 4th and 5th places respectively, both with 38 points.
Saturday’s competition was the fourball betterball and the club welcomed Risto Ketola, a reciprocal member from Wanderers GC in Gauteng. The winners were Vesa and Susi Suhonen with 47 points, counting out Eric Morsner and Bing Opie into 2nd spot, also with 47 points. Wrapping up the prizes were Barrie Taylor and Jacques Kirstein with 46 points. The jackpot was shared between Bing Opie and Simon van den Bosch, both with 11 points. The hidden birdie (on hole 11) will be carried over to next week and the kitty will be at R300 soon. There were only two two-clubs this week – Wally Kent 4th and Jimmy Spear 17th. The attendance draw was scooped up by Barrie Taylor with Derek Crookes taking home the ‘birds’ in the football sweep with Dartford FC.
This Saturday, 26 March, the competition will be an individual bonus bogey with social golf on Sunday, 27 March. The club is holding its very first car boot sale on Monday, 28 March. As this is a public holiday, gather your unwanted stuff, go down to the car park and sell it. You never know what you might find in a car boot! Contact either Annette on 082-927-5013 or John on 082-322-4920.
A reminder to all members wishing to play in the club champs which is to be held on Saturday, 16 April and Sunday, 17 April. The lists are up on the notice board so put your names down to enter this annual event.
KidzGolf is closed for the duration of the school holidays but all the youngsters are more than welcome to go down to the club and practise what they have been learning during their lessons. Once school term starts again, it’s back to normal for more tuition.
The Geriatrics play quite early (with tee-off at 7am) on Tuesdays and Fridays only, at reduced green fee rates. Call Keith on 083-305-5740 or Graham on 083-325-5705 to find out more.
Another reminder that the Sardine Run is only three months away. To enter go to www.sardinegolf.co.za, fill in the relevant form and submit – it’s that easy. The three clubs involved are Umkomaas, Scottburgh and Umdoni, which should present a challenge since all three courses are very different.
For news on UGC, go to www.umkomaasgolf.co.za
