“How many
degrees did you say?” I asked in some astonishment as Doc, John and I sat at Melbourne
airport waiting for the remainder of the Brisbane chaps to arrive on their
delayed Jetstar flight.
“Two”, said
Doc. “Up from one a little while ago”.
Two degrees was
the Apparent Temperature at Frankston. Just as well I packed a jumper, I
thought, especially since it was the last thing I threw in the suitcase. The day
before it had been 34 degrees - welcome to Melbourne and the 6th
annual PDC International.
A few hours
later we were all on the 1st tee of the North Course at Peninsula
Golf Club, in howling wind, wearing as many layers of clothes as possible,
including team hats – red or blue, another aspect of Tom’s superb organisation
of this year’s tourney.
Craw led the field away, a cracking drive
over the right hand fairway bunker. Superb! Pity he never saw the ball again, a
victim of unknown or unseen fairway contours. Such is life on a course you have
never laid eyes on. And what a great course it was – beautifully maintained
fairways, true greens and lots of interesting, undulating and attractive holes,
especially on the front nine. Favourites for me were the slight dog leg left, up
the hill par 4 6th; the daunting and long par 4 12th,
played into a wicked left-right wind; and the beaut little par 4 13th,
only 284 metres but played straight into the breeze and a very tight green as a
target.
Round 1 was
followed by a traditional debrief with beers as the sun dipped and disappeared
and groups progressively finished their rounds. I love this part of the PDC –
slouching in a chair after the first day, cold beer, discussing holes and
shots, and life, with old mates. It’s basic, but it’s precious stuff.
Another
dimension of Peninsula then kicked in as the ‘hospitality’ phase started. Wow! A
tremendous array of food, wine and service was provided. I don’t remember what
time we staggered the 20 steps from the dining table to the billiard table, nor
do I remember what exact wines Jeff cracked for the snooker games, nor what
cheese was supplied as an accompaniment, but do I remember relaxing to an almost
slumber-like state with contentment. Or perhaps I was just tired. Which
wouldn’t be surprising since it took about a fucking hour to finish a single
snooker game! Which I think Timmy and I lost to some miracle shot from someone
else. Jaysus! The lack of skill was special.
On Friday it
was off to Moonah Links about an hour south of our base at Peninsula, first to
the Open Course, followed by Legends Course in the afternoon. The day started
cold, overcast and a bit blowy but cleared to a lovely afternoon. Highlights of
the morning round was a ding-dong match between Schnapper and me versus Craw
and Shirls. I don’t recall any brilliant golf, although I think they were a few
birdies in the last few holes. Schnapper’s bunker play was a
memorable highlight – dead as dead can be!
Some footage
of the afternoon groups tonking off the 1st including Doc, Matt,
Schnapper and Tommy HERE; Jeff,
Bellringer, Barnsey and Craw HERE;
and Wardie, Shaun, John and I bringing up the field HERE. Where’s Shirls? He retired after
the first 18 with a ‘bad back’, to a massage table and happy ending.
I think I enjoyed
the Legends course a bit more, although my form was pretty rubbish. The Open
seemed long, long, long and I lost count of how many times I had 4-wood in my
hand for my second, third (and sometime fourth!) shot. On the Legends I liked
the short par 4 11th (perhaps it was because I had about 40 minutes
to appreciate it as Wardie took a phone call from a client while searching for
his ball, which, mind you, he hit about 120 metres right, fuck that was wide. Actually,
I think that was the first one, the second was only about 100 metres right. And
then I think Shaun hit is even further right, down near the 9th tee.
Mysterious…); and also the dogleg par 4 15th.
Another fab
dinner and wine that evening – I didn’t even make it to the snooker table.
The last
round was on the even more superb South course. As usual in the PDC my form
gets worse by the shot and this year was no exception. Fortunately, I got some
beaut tips from Jeff as we spent hours chipping around greens waiting for the
groups in front to clear off. (hey Jeff, many thanks for the ‘keeping the left
side firmer’ tip, I’m still using that!)
Schnapper got some nature footage also.
I took a swag
of photos but they seem to have disappeared from my phone, bugger it, so you’ll
just have to view pics from the club site
if you are inclined. Pity, because the images really don’t do the course
justice – I thought it was excellent.
Many thanks to
Tom for his amazing organisation of the event. And to Jeff for delivering a
typically super array of wines. To first timer Matt for the wine and selections
on night two, and Wardie for the car hire. And to everyone for just being good
mates and nice to spend time with.
Until next
time
Fergus
PS, Sydney
gets my vote for 2013, if that’s worth anything…
