Photos From This and Previous Years

I have just uploaded some of the pictures taken this year, and have also put in links to some previous years I had floating around

2006 (be warned, some of these have ugly men without shirts and may offend)
2005
2004

There Can Be Only One

So my esteemed readers, the games have been played and won. A full final leaderboard will be posted in the coming days, but the quick synopsis is:

1st: Greg "Jack" Attrill
2nd: Nigel Roulston
3rd: Robert "Harty" Hart
4th: Robert "Gus" Starke

The others

Which just proves that my form guide was correct. I think if you look back you will find I said

"... knows how to get it together for the big day. Previous winner, and can never been discounted."

Once again this year it proved to be true with Jack posting an unheralded net 62 in the final round to win by 3. This earned him another nickname which I won't post here as it's a family blog.

Anyway, congratulations to Jack, may his handicap be reduced and he get truly nobbled next year.

Remember, it's only 361 more sleeps until we start The Great Northern Tour 2007 on the 13th of November next year!

Just One Picture To Give You The Idea

I thought I'd post a quick picture of Harty on Day 1. The man should be a model - he's certainly selling the right stuff.

Electricity At Last

So my blog readers, we have finally found electricity in ole Euchuca, so I can update you on the scores and goings on.

Current leader and defending champion Bill McNaughtan leads the pack with a first and third round of net 66. Second, believe it or not is Mr Robert Hart on a 67. There is a pack behind them on 72 - Messers Col Simpson, Bob "Gus" Starke and Nigel "No Hope" Roulston.

Following on
74 are Jack Attrill and John Palmer
75 Gary Lennox, Craig Tingate
76 Mike "the Scotsman" Smith
High 70s (score not quite known at the moment) - Kingy
86 Mick the Phantom
Yet to register a score are Greg Lennox, Tony Lane, Tony "My PVI is enormous" Pearce and Glenn Simpson (for the second year running).

So, it looks like a Bill/Harty shootout, with the 72s a long odds chance. All the others, write your own tickets.

And They're Off

Commencement Day!!!

The bulk of the convoy will be heading up for the tour this morning, with the Simpsons there already and Phantom, Laney and Pop to follow tomorrow. The weather's looking a bit ordinary for Wednesday, but other than that I think it's going to be a great tour.

For those attending, I'm looking forward to seeing you there, for the voyeurs out there just reading the blog, we'll try and keep you updated, but this may be determined by the amount and availability of electricity and communications connectivity in Echuca.

Happy Touring.

General stuff and a 2005 Scores repost

Well, it's not very long at all now - just two more sleeps. The handicaps are up - some seem harsh and some seem a bit lax, but as I'm sure we all know, it seems to work out pretty much right at the end. Craig has also posted (in a comment under the course info) a couple of hole by hole descriptions of the East and West courses. Makes for interesting reading - the tips like "Tee shot must be in the centre of the fairway" had me laughing - like I have any idea how to make that happen :-)

Just to give you all a bit of a target for the week, here is a link to last years scores.

Provisional Handicaps

Bill McNaugtan ** 54
Bob Starke 40
Col Simpson 32
Craig Tingate 3
Gary Lennox 12
Glenn Simpson 24
Greg Attrill 27
Greg Lennox 20
John Palmer 16
Michael De Nittis 30
Mike Smith 8
Nigel Roulston 36
Peter King 14
Rob Hart 32
Tony Lane 27
Tony Pearce 45

** Defending Champion

General Rantings & Accomodation Information

Well, what can I say, so much has happened since the Cup I just don't know where to begin....

Harty took a bit of a bath at Jack's (booo), Nigel won the quinnie comp at the GeeDub (yeeaaahhh), Bush has taken a whacking (wheeeee), Rumsfeld's gone (double wheeeee), Johnny Howard's done a bit of Bono snubbing (and as much as I hate to say it, fair enough too). Brad and Angelina have stopped trying to get themselves a full set of babies from the United Nations and most importantly, Britney and K-Fed have called it quits. Now there's some news for you.

Of course none of this actually has any real impact on the tour - well except maybe the Brangelina thing - who knows, now that they're not adopting in India maybe Echuca will be next on the list.

So, we only have another 4 days to go and it'll be tour time. The traditionalists (ie Jack) will be mumbling under their breath once again - "This isn't like it used to be in the old days!"

The irony is, the only traditional thing left is Jack whinging about there being no tradition :-)

For those of you who don't already have it, the address of the accomodation is:
The Echuca Holiday Flats (3 stars)
105 Sutton St
Echuca, VIC, 3564
ph: 03 5480 6350

Here's a map if you want or need one - you should be able to get driving directions from here too.

Melbourne Cup Day!

And you know what that means.....

A number of the tourers are heading off to Jack and Alex's place for a bit of practise for the evening activities on the tour.

There will be meat cooking, bets being placed and plenty of the frothy stuff. Harty will put his arse on the line once again and take up the book. The rest of us will be monitoring our PVIs (or maybe even have them monitored for us).

Good luck to all. I have just found out that Efficient's been scratched, so there goes one of my GeeDub quinnies, and one of my work sweeps. I'm going to need a reasonable return from the rotund one to get my money back!

Better go now and pack my lunch for the trip to Waverley. See you all there.

Movember - It's Not Just Another Month Anymore

A little birdy has told me that one of our tourers - Nigel - has volunteered himself for Movember which is a fund raising effort for male health issues (Prostate Cancer, Male Depression, Testicular Cancer etc). Basically, you sponsor him, and in exchange, he spends the month of "Movember" growing a pretty sad looking moustache which you can spend many hours laughing at.

If you wish to sponsor his pathetic efforts at emulating such Moustache growing legends as most of the Aussie cricket team in the 70s, any male pornstar, or the biker guy from the Village People; please go to the Movember website and enter his sponsorship number - 16566 followed by your credit card goodness. Everything over 2 bucks is tax deductable. Alternately, bring cash on the tour and just do it the old fashioned way.

Links to course and other info

The Rich River site itself isn't all that great so I've looked around for a bit more info.

Ausgolf - doesn't say much, but has some pretty pictures.

Unfortunately that's about all I can find.

There is this generic tourist site for Echuca & Moama - kinda scary, maybe some of you would like to have a go at the Oz Maze after an afternoon session (I'd pay to watch that).

Anyway, if you find any other sites of interest, chuck em in the comments.

The Players

Billy - aka The Metronome
Defending champion - handicap will come in this year and I think he'll find it pretty hard to maintain last year's form.
Long odds but shouldn't be left out of the multiples.

Col Simpson - aka Glenn's brother
Steady off the tee, but it all goes a bit pear shaped after that. As a golfer, he is a gifted tennis player.
Probably not up to the class here.

Glenn Simpson - aka Col's brother
A more talented golfer than his brother, will probably remain steady on the handicap, and may even come in a bit. Form is a bit of a worry as he wasn't able to actually complete a full round last year.
Dark horse

Robert Hart - aka Harty
A previous winner, has been working late shifts recently, and this may hold him in good stead for the evening activities. It's unlikely to get him a gong for the golf though.
Outsider, but runs the book, so could be at pretty good odds.

Craig Tingate - aka Craig
Easily the best off the stick on the tour. Multiple previous winner. Handicap has gone out a couple this year, but probably still under what it should be.
Very hard to beat on a new track. Put in for win, win/place and any multiple you can think of.

Greg Attrill - aka Jack
Has had some reasonably horror form recently, but knows how to get it together for the big day. Previous winner, and can never been discounted.
Top 3 finish last year with a strong last day. Get on.

Tony Pearce - aka Pearcey
Even if he can keep his PVI near 90 when playing, no chance. Has the dubious honour of having the shortest drive in tour history at Findley a number of years ago. It actually went backwards.
Don't think he's up to the class of this field, but if you are looking for value, he will be showing long odds.

Mike - aka Big Scottish Bloke
Total unknown. Didn't show expected (golf) form in 2004, but easily made up for it by outdrinking everyone else put together. Handicap will be out a bit this year, and this means he can't be discounted.
Definitely one to keep an eye on.

Kingy - aka Kingy
Has the swing, the talent and the desire. More than half a chance if he can keep his body together - has had back issues in the past.
Expect in the top half dozen.

Greg Lennox - aka Ox
Has shown some good form of late by winning one of the lesser golf tournaments (some club comp or other). Seems to be playing to handicap. Late nights can do diabolical things though.
Watch with interest.

Gary Lennox - aka Brother Ox
One of the top two swings on the tour - pretty as a picture. Has been handicapped out in recent years, but might get a good bash at it now.
Excellent each way chance.

John Palmer - aka Pops
Comes from the crow eating state, but always puts in a good run. Would probably have won last year if he hadn't had to forfeit due to family commitments. Has the highest hand finish in golf.
Certainly a good chance, and don't leave out of multiples.

Nigel Roulston - aka Nigel
Shocking - makes Pearcey look like he should be on the President's Cup team.
Stay as far away as possible.

Mick - aka Phantom
Unknown in this field, but has connections in Carlton so be nice to him.
Unlikely to be able to win as a rookie.

Tony Lane - aka Laney
Doesn't seem to care about the golf (spends the whole round studying the form), but keeps hitting em up the middle.
Previous winner coming back after a long spell. Dark Horse.

Bob Starke - aka Gus
A player like no other. Second place finish last year so can't be discounted.
Keep him in your multiples.

The European Contingent is Back

Our favourite European brother is back for the week. That's right - the Scottish wildman from Furry Boot town (ie Furry Boot ya Frum?) who thinks a light beer is a 10 Oz (cause it's not as heavy as a pint) is now living down under - although it is Perth, so it doesn't really count - and will be taking the Northern Tour challenge once more. I think his handicap may have blown out a bit which should make him a good chance at reasonable odds.

Is the defending champion a chance?

Having looked at the maps of the course, I've gotta say the defending champion may have his work cut out for him.

Just the idea of seeing the black slasher coming out on some of those holes with the blue areas around them is surely enough to send fear through the Metronome, but makes my heart sing with joy!

PVI - just what is it?

PVI or the Pearcey Verticality Index has been created to give one simple overall number which shows the level of sobriety of players on the Northern Tour 2006. The index has been named in honour of our most solubrious (or should that be sonorous) member Mr Anthony Pearce Esq.

The PVI is a number between 0 and 90 where 0 is lying flat (and presumably dead) and 90 is at right angles to the Earth (and presumably sober).

As an example, take a typical Friday at the GeeDub, and a combination of Messers Pearce and Attrill. They may start the afternoon with an index somewhere around 90 (depending on how hard Pearcey and Col have hit the chateux cardboard the night before), but as time marches on, drinks accelerate and decelerate, people arrive and leave, they typically move in a somewhat linear fashion towards an ending level of perhaps a PVI of 15 or 20.

So to further the example, assume Pearcey starts at 85 and finishes at 20 while Jack begins on 90 but finishes at 15, you would end with an overall PVI of ((85+20)/2 + (90+15)/2)/2 or (52.5 + 52.5)/2 which of course is 52.5, a perfectly acceptable number.