Monarch Bay Golf Course

Golf Day Round Up

August 18, 2010 By Chris McLean
The inaugural GGAFL golf day fundraiser was held last Sunday August 15th and by all accounts it was a great day with plenty of laughs, beer and golf to go around. Thirty six players made their way to Monarch Bay Golf Course in San Leandro, where they were greeted by motorized golf carts professionally adorned with their names, free warm up balls, lunch, golf balls and tees and much sort after and moderately priced beer - donated by Dallas Bradley of the McKenzie River Corporation.

A splendidly attired Chris 'Macca' McLean, who reminded all and sundry of a skinny Craig Parry, greeted players and set them up in their carts for a conga-line of loud-mouthed and obnoxious Aussies and Yanks, most of whom where well into their third beer by tee off. Barneys' foursome teed off first and set the bar at a very moderate height. My foursome included JP, Matt Bishop and Tocher Kellom and I must say as a moderately talented golfer myself, watching Tocher hit 16 out of 18 fairways and 17 of 18 greens in regulation, was worth my $80 entry fee.

There were many other highlights all round us, like Jim ADHD Blocho yelling out to me just as I was about to start my back swing, "hey Macca have you seen my ball?" Yes Jimbo the whereabouts of your balls is my highest priority in life! Adrian 'the only way is up' Al-Samarrie who's swing produced all manner of drives, did not stop laughing all day. Then there was Davide 'My Captain O Captain' de Vellis, a true competitor to say the least, driving up the 15th fairway and politely asking us to hurry the (insert expletive here) up. Apparently we didn't do that quick enough for DDV because 5 minutes later on the 15th green the course ambassador, under the behest of one DDV asked us again to speed up. I'm not sure if the course ambassador deserved the spray I gave him (Insert many expletives here) but given my strong Aussie accent I doubt if he understood any of it anyway. Finally there was a wonderful drive up the par-3 16th by DDV's foursome which was a pleasure to watch. And given the fact that we were still chipping to the same green at the time, we sure got to see it up close and personal.

Arriving at the 18th tee, we were greeted by a crowd not too dissimilar to the one that surrounds the 16th hole at the TPC Scottsdale. The approach shot to the green was very enjoyable and with so much positive reinforcement coming from the crowd around the green, it was not nerve racking at all. My personal favorite was Barneys yelling to me after I missed the front edge of the green, "Hey Macca that might have been a good shot, if you'd hit it better." Yeah thanks for that captain obvious!

Heading into the bar after wards for the prizes, raffles and bevos, the buzz in the crowd was palpable with everyone smiling and talking of how well the day had progressed. Beno, before passing out 3 holes in, had been kind enough to bring five mates to the golf day and after tallying up the winners score, both closest to the pins and longest drives, it was clear that four of his five mates where pretty decent golfers. Their group won with a total score of 5 under for the day and two of them also claimed both closest to the pins. Unfortunately we could not get them to donate one or two of their SIX bloody prizes back into the raffle, but they'll know better for next year. I have a feeling they got my subtle hints? Jimbo 'I got you beat' Blocho won both longest drives with a whopping 'who cares' x 2. The raffles were held for the Tequila, organic Vodka, 6 bottles of wine and a pop up tent donated by Mr. Lamont of The Gallo Family and for some extra cold Black Star Beer, again donated by Dallas of McKenzie River. Stoney and Sheiky won a couple of the raffles, which Sheiky then went on to tell the lovely bar girl all about. So mate, has she called you yet?

The day finished off in twilight on the putting green with Barnesy, Quirky, Dave and myself, the last foursome standing and putting for dough, with Barnesy making each hole 'winner take all' until he finally made a putt. Nice work mate, a well earned $4!

It was a ripper day and was well enjoyed by all who attended. Next year we will have twice as many players for sure as the general conscious is that the GGAFL fundraiser golf day will become an annual event and so is here to stay.

Finally many thanks to Luke Quirk, Michael Jobling, Leigh Barnes, Dallas Bradley, McKenzie River Corp, Mr. Lamont, Gallo, Adam Linke, a SJ player wishing to remain nameless and Garrett Vygantas for their donations and/or fantastic work leading up to and on the day.