Step right up….

With the outbreak of warmer weather, thoughts begin to turn to this year’s tour (as if you ever think about anything else). Some who have a more organisational capacity begin thinking of logistics….

How many beers can I drink?
Where am I going to sleep?
What are the chances of winning the toss for the master bedroom this year? etc, etc.

Anyway, I think the chief handicapper and rules committee would appreciate it if those of you who may not be considered certainties would get in touch with some firm information about whether you will be touring and for how many nights you will be doing it. So, either get in touch with him directly, or leave a comment here and I’ll let him know.

Don’t forget to practise!

The Great Western Tour?

Forget two courses set together and Peter Bloody Thompson. How does 1,365Km for 18 holes sound? It’s not a joke, it’s 18 holes (which actually look alright), par 71 stretched from Ceduna, SA to Kalgoorlie, WA. It opens in August.

See here for details.

Not much to report

It’s all been a bit quiet on the GNT front. People seem to have been concerning themselves more about footy than anything else.

Pearcey is more than likely still in a state of inebriation following the win by his beloved Saints over the Cats of Sleepy Hollow. I’ll be surprised if he can get it together to grace us with his presence on Friday.

There is a gathering of tourers and others for a card night on Saturday, so that should give us some fodder for the blog. The only disappointment is that Jack “just hand over your money now and save yourself the trouble” Attrill will not be attending as it is his wife’s wedding anniversary. This is leaving some of the punters wondering who will avail themselves of the ATM moniker this round.

We shall see…..

124 days and counting.

Jack says

Maybe I should quit while I'm ahead

0.4082 years and counting

That’s right, it’s only

0.4082 years or
4 months 27 days or
21 weeks 2 days or
149 days

until the convoy begins for “the tour” 2009.

Perhaps it’s time to begin the mental preparation :-)

Jack says

"Pearcey's right and I'm wrong"

Don't Know Why We Didn't Think Of It Sooner

I was talking to our illustrious handicapper and rules committee at headquarters the other night, and he came up with a brilliant plan to fix the accommodation problem should Tiger and Geoff come to play. It's simply genius. What needs to happen is that the Shark should come as well. We know he's not going to play in the AUSTRALIAN Masters, but surely he wouldn't mind bringing his little runabout up to the Murray for the tour. It looks like it would have plenty of room for the boys. They could probably even convince him to pull out the sticks and have a bash around Rich River. Anyway, it sounds to me like an excellent option. So boys, when you put in your acceptance, please give the old Fish Finger a bell and get it all teed up for us would you?

Open Letter to Tiger Woods and Geoff Ogilvy

Dear Tiger and Geoff,

I'm sure that it was just a scheduling mistake, but you may not realise that you have organised yourselves to play the 2009 Australian Masters at exactly the same time we will be attending the 2009 Great Northern Tour. Now, that's a bit unfortunate, as there are a number of us that would have liked to head off to the Heath and watch you play. I have however figured out a possible solution to this problem.

It seems that the Masters starts on the 12th and goes through to the 15th. The tour of course starts with the pro-am on the 11th. So, while we may not be able to see you play at the Heath, it would certainly be possible for you to come up and play with us in the pro-am (how apropos). 

Of course, there would need to be some ground rules set - firstly, you would need to submit your last 5 cards to the handicapper. It's also been traditional (sorry Jack) that anyone playing for the first time is likely to be handicapped out, so don't expect any favouritism purely due to your superstar status. You would also not be eligible for the Bee Moore trophy as you won't be playing on the last day (not withstanding any issues you would have by being handicapped out of it).

You may not be aware, but we play on the Rich River golf club which was designed by Mr Peter Thompson (aka something that can't be published in a family blog), who won 5 British Opens, so there is a fair amount of cred to be had here.

Now, I don't like to talk about money, but there has been some talk that you in particular Tiger have a fairly hefty appearance fee. Unfortunately the Northern Tour doesn't quite have the wherewithal for that level of compensation, but I'm sure that the boys might be able to organise a whip around which would probably cover a countery at the Taras Hall and a couple of pots. On top of that, there's a good chance that Billy or Pearcey may let you into some late mail on the punt and you could boost it up a bit that way.  After a few all ups you'd probably be well in front.

The other thorn in the side of course is accommodation. With Col back on deck, Laney an unknown, the Sparrow, Q and Pop Palmer threatening to make comebacks (and heaven only knows what the story is with Woodhouse), there may not be the room to get you two beds for the night, but don't you worry, you can always bunk down on the couch in the house. Don't forget earplugs in case you have to share with Pop.

Anyway, let us know what you think. It would be great if you could make it, it would certainly give you a good run for the day and I can't think of a better preparation for you for your 4 days (of course I'm assuming you make the cut) at the Heath. 

General movements and other stuff

Not a lot to report. There has been a bit of tourers going and returning from overseas action, mostly centred around Vietnam. Col’s back for good?, Pearcey’s gone over and back and Harty’s getting ready to head off.

As far as the golf goes, again, very little to speak of. Craig, Vaughn and Nigel have played a bit on various work function things, but nothing exceptional. The three of them have all played to their usual standards – ie, Craig, excellent, Vaughn and Nigel, rubbish.

If you haven’t played Eynesbury yet, I would recommend you head out there and give it a bash. It’s all good except for that hole where I got a 13 :-) Please leave us your comments, but remember that this is a family blog.

Anyway, 240 days and counting until the tradition doesn’t continue.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Cats v Pies tonight – who cares. Storm v St George, go Stormers!

The Bear's 50th

While not technically a GNT posting, I think there are enough of us that know Terry "The Bear" Kennedy, a former winner on the tour - 1990 and 1992 to warrant me linking to photos from his 50th Birthday party. It was a veritable Terry Bear's picnic :-)

Maybe we should get Geoff Ogilvy on the tour

With quotes like this (talking about Titleist), he makes about as much sense as Pearcey.

"There's a new-old one, and there's a new-new one, which is the new one, which is the model in front of the old one," Ogilvy said, grinning as he spoke. "The other one is a 2007 ball, and this is a 2009 ball. There's a version of the 2007 ball, but it doesn't breach the patent. So I'm using the non-patent breaching version of the 2007 ball these two weeks."

Pictures from Craig

Here is a selection of some shots taken by our illustrious handicapper and rules committee.

2008 Scores

Click for a larger version

And the winner is

Kingy followed by
Vaughn
Phantom and big Mike equal 3rd
The others

More info, scores and pics to follow later

Day 2 update

Leaderboard (scores are best score over the two days)

Big mike - 69
Craig - 71
Phantom - 71
Kingy - 72
Nigel - 73
Greg Lennox - 73
Jack - 74
Gary Lennox - 76
Bill - 79
Harry - 79
Gus - 89
Pearcey - 90

Day 1 update

Well, day 1 is (mostly) out of the way. We have one more to add to the scratch pile; Mr T. Lane is a no show - something about his wedding anniversary - likely excuse. As if that would be more important than the tour!

Anyway, our #1 low handicapper Mr Craig Tingate leads the field with a net 71, followed by Jack (74), Gary Lennox (76), Billy (79), Nigel (80), Gus (89), Pearcey (90), Harty (92). Kingy and Big Mike are still on the course, so we'll update their scores in the next installment.

No More Sleeps

Well, today's the day. Most of the tourers are heading up today probably getting in around lunchtime. Perhaps someone should ring the Tara's Hall and let them know.

Good luck to all. I'll try and keep those of you who aren't with us posted with reasonably regular score updates.

For any interested, the hypothetical bookie (if he was to exist) would have modified some of the odds due to the weight of hypothetical money. For some ridiculous reason, early favourite is Nigel (might as well just burn your hypothetical money now I say) with Gary Ox in second, Big Mike third, Phantom, Craig, Bill and Kingy following behind him. The stragglers of the field are Kev and Vaughn.

One Out, One In

Just as the numbers deplete with the late scratching of Pop Palmer, a previously scratched tourer comes good and puts himself back on the roster. If there was a bookie he'd be going nuts!

Anyway, it's good to see Glenn Simpson back on board.

Last Minute Scratching

Stop the presses, in a bold move, and to the gratitude of everyone that has ever had to sleep in the same room as him and put up with the ear shattering volume of his snoring; the early favourite - Mr John "Pop" Palmer aka Pop of the High Hands is a last minute scratching for the 2008 tour.

Apparently he needs to stay in Adel-diddle-dadelaide (I have been reliably informed that it should be) Adel-daddle-diddleaide to look after some renovations being done at the mansion. Given it's Adelaide, the "renovations" may just be the addition of running water and that new fangled elekricle stuff.

Anyway, that ought to shift the hypothetical market.

Oscar's move to Wednesday

Due to timing of arrivals etc, it has been suggested that the proposed Tuesday night at Oscar W's be moved to Wednesday night. 

Can I have a seconder? .....Done. 

All those in favour - aye 

All against - . 

Ok, consider it done. The evening repast is now moved to Wednesday following the Bendigo Cup.