O Flower of Scotland... when will we see your like again?

8 Dogs turned up to play on the last game of the year. Kurmitola was soooo quiet !! We were round in 3 hours... can you believe it !!!!

The scores were variable ... as always !!! A quick manual adjustment to a couple of handicaps was made before we started and I immediately regretted so doing !!! Lilo started off badly and finished very strongly having been adjusted upwards by 2. Holger also was upwardly adjusted and promptly played the game of a demon on the first nine... then the skids came off. Ross (my Lad) was adjusted from 8 to 12 having not played in a year and immediately parred the first 6 holes !!! But the second nine is the one that separates the men from the boys !!!!

So the final awards of the year..... Ian Wright cuddles the trophy over the new Year with 18 points.... 14 on the front side !!! At the other end we had Lilo in 3rd place with 28 points beating Khor on count back. In 2nd place was Major Chin of the Malaysian army and a friend of Khor's who is visiting Bangladesh. He lost on count back to me on 31 points... so I [Alan - the Bruce] am Leader of the Pack at the end of the year !!!

There will be golf next weekend... I think there will be about 8 people playing again next week. I will not be here as I am off to Kathmandu for a week. Khor will be the Top Dog next week.
See you in a couple of weeks and may 2007 bring you everything you wish for.

Merry Xmas & Happy New Year

Wishing all Dogs & Friends a relaxing Merry Christmas and a prosperous and healthy New Year 2007. Keep a positive outlook even if the Panni threatens and the ballboys cheat! Best regards from Switzerland

Lars

Medeau, maitre du monde...

The dogs hunt on.... no matter what !!! We had 10 mongrels turn up to play this week.... a surprisingly good turn out for this particular time of year. Our lady Champion graced us with her presence.......... well done Pascale on winning the banglalink Cup this weekend............. The DOGS rule !!!!

The weather continues to be very pleasant and the course in good condition but it gets no easier.... does it Holger ?? Holger for the second week on the trot kennels the Doodoo Trophy have only got 21 points. Ian Wright accumulated 23 but having played with Holger probably realised that his kennel was being spared the dubious honour of housing the Doodoo. Must have been an interesting battle towards the end..... Holger got 1 point on the last 4 holes whilst Ian managed only 2 !!!

To the other end where the real balls lie.... Greg missed out on 3rd place with 34 points, leaving Top Dog in 3rd place loosing on count back to Kim M with 35 points. But most fittingly, Leader of the Pack this week in his final game with the Dogs is Philippe on 36 points......... who would have believed it 3 years back ???? Well done Philippe. You will be missed but we have no doubt that we will meet up again somewhere in this world. We will be seeing Pascale again in a few weeks when she passes through Dhaka to take up residence in Beijing. Good luck to the pair of you.

It goes without saying that the Dogs will be there at Kurmitola again this coming Saturday .... for those still in Dhaka I look forward to seeing you. For those elsewhere, have a great Xmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year when it comes.

Klorious Khor

This will be quick note as I am due to go and watch Bangladesh teaching Scotland the art of playing cricket. The English have devoted centuries to trying to achieve this and have, to date, failed miserably !!!
Thanks to Philipe and Pascale for a great day on Friday.... the Medeau Golf Day was fun and we all had a very good time at the golf in Savar and the "Apres Golf" which went on until the small hours of Saturday morning !
The numbers were down this week mainly due to people abandoning their fellow mutts to visit their home kennels for Xmas.... next week we will be even fewer !! 14 mongrels suffered a tormentingly slow round of golf !! The problems of playing golf on a Public Holiday, I am afraid !! The results were not spectacular!! At the "derrière", Holger was suffering.... with only 21 points, he is Dog Doodoo of the week !! Barry came very close to it with 22 points having had 16 on the front nine !! And to the balls......... we did have a Nearest to the Pin winner this week.... on the 12th Putu had a magnificent short to within 8 feet of the pin but could not convert it into a birdie. In 3rd place beating Pascale was our 'Jail bird' with 32 points.... the first balls OK has had in months if not years !!! In 2nd place was Wati with 33 points. Our Leader of the Pack this week who was well ahead of the rest with a very solid 36 points was Khor. Well done Khor.
For those of us who are going to enjoy a Bangy Xmas, we will play at our usual time next week at Kurmitola. For those of you seeking a change of scenery have a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing you on your return.
Cheers
Alan

Leo lying low - again

Firstly let me thank Natthanya and Leo for a really fun night on Friday. It was a lovely evening and the food was wonderful. A great DOGS Dinner. Considering the consumption of 'pooch hooch' it was surprising that as many as 18 mongrels appeared for golf on Saturday !!
The course was in good condition... the greens were a little faster than we are used to and the men's tee boxes were placed far back so the course was 'testy' !! Starting at the 'aromatic' end, the Doodoo trophy found its way back to Leo's kennel once again this week, not courtesy of Natthanya but as a result of Leo's 16 points reflecting his very tired state after the night before !!! Ian Wright only accumulated 2 points more to save himself the humiliation of kenneling the Doodoo.
Now talking about balls and 'balls ups'........ the 8th once again proved to be unreachable with a drive as no one landed on the green.... so no Nearest the Pin this week. That is the second time that has happened on the 8th in recent weeks!!! The other 'balls up' happened in the scoring. Unfortunately one mongrel made a mistake on his card in terms of points which screwed things up but only when it was discovered by Kim and her computer after the event. Kim, it is blatantly obvious that we need you so don't take a day off again.... please !!!!!! Barry may (pun!!!) be forgiven for forgetting where he gets strokes!!! Instead of coming second with 32 points he actually drops to 4th on count back so Mike Tarry comes in 3rd on 31 points losing on count back to Rob Jones. Leader of the Pack by a large margin was Greg with 38 points. I am sure he will be sporting a new handicap next week.... will he not, Kim??? Well done Greg. I will redistribute the 'bollies' next week to Mr Tarry and Mr Jones !!!
I was going to tell you the story of the game played by Gus but after 7 holes there was little point !!!!!! Tee hee !!!!
We will all meet again this Friday to play in the "Medeau Muddle" ..... of course, I refer to the state of our game and not the organization which will be great. I look forward to seeing you all there. We will play Kurmitola next Saturday as usual.
The girls who need a larger size blue shirt please let me know. I have replaced most of them but there are still a couple who need a bigger size !!! Life in Bangladesh is a bit 'expansive"..... must be 'inflation' !!!!
Byeeee 4 now

Natthanya nabs it

17 assorted mongrels including one that managed to get weekend leave from jail were present to play on Saturday. The weather is very pleasant at this time of year and the course is in fairly good condition. So why no really big scores ?? I am not sure what the Standard Scratch was yesterday... no doubt Kim will tell us in her note giving the facts and figures but I would guess that it was fairly low again this week.
Starting at the rear end as always...... Natthanya was at the 'tail end' with 21 points depriving Kim on 22 points from taking the Doodoo home for the first time !!! As Nattanhya knows the trophy feels very comfortable in that kennel..... doesn't it Leo ??!!! And to the bollocks....... it took more than 13 attempts at the 12th to get someone to land on the green and the final group managed it twice !! Khor was closest wrestling the 2 balls away from Pete who would have had the nearest to the pin for the 3rd week on the trot !!! Missing out on balls in 4th place was Top Dog... again.... on 32 points beating Putu on count-back. In 3rd place was Wati on 33 with 3 Putt Pete on 34 points in 2nd. Leader of the Pack this week is Gary on 35 points. Well done Gary.
Sadly, after the drinks and nibbles, and people had drifted off it was found that the money collected for the drinks was short.... by the equivalent of 10 beers !!!! Obviously some people had left without paying their debts !!! Please please ensure that you pay your share of the bill !!! It is unfair, unreasonable and darn right ridiculous to expect the rest of us to have to subsidise the drinks!!!
On Friday we have the Dogs Dinner at Leo and Natthanya's kennel. The address is :
Baridhara, Road 1, House 20, Apartment 502
It starts at around 7 pm.
We will play at Kurmitola at the usual time next week. Meanwhile, have a fun time !!

Haggis does it

A ball in the evening and a ball at midday. Absolutely not the same thing, apparently. Therefore, disappointing scores after the great St. Andrew's performance and tasty haggis, teapots and the like. Nevertheless, 16 dogs out in the field and trying to slice off their haedaches. Despite drinking water all night (??) Kim could only just avoid to get Doodooed, which was kindly picked up by Holger (at 15 points) on his first new attempt to join us. Hopefully it will encourage Lilo to come out again too. On the other end of the pack and collecting balls were Gary, Gus and Putu, the latter bringing the LOTP home with just 32 points, however the average will be on 31, so adjustment will be limited this week. Again Pete secured closest to the pin, which was on the 13th this time (second shot closest to the pin on the 'island' hole). Not many were to compete .....
Next week, same time same place. Don't forget to tell Nat & Leo you are coming to the DOGS party on December 7th (or was it 8th?) and to the Medeaux for their farewell (snif)competition and party (December 15th).

A 4-way fight at 21... what?

A 4 way fight at 21 for the produce under the tail between 3 putt Pete, wee Dougie, long time friend of the doodoo Leo and visitor Graham Taggart led to much scrutiny of backward halves until eventually the winner was declared to be 3 putt Pete with the worst inward half. He tried hard to redeem himself by claiming nearest the pin but where Kim allows the trophy to be put on show remains to be seen. At the other end it was equally as tight with another 4 way tie on 32 between Gary, Pascal, Watti & Khor with the eventual order after inward half scrutiny being exactly that with Gary at the top.

Kim will be in touch with the pack with slices and dices but with the CSS being 31 don’t expect too much drama.

Grim Gus grabs doodoo

Despite serious hangovers following a night at the Glitter Ball the numbers on the 1st tee box were impressive. 19 dogs started with one dog appearing for the last 9 holes.... I am assured that his absence from the front 9 was work related and absolutely nothing to do with the very severe hangover he had woken up with !!!!!
The weather has now moved into the pleasant season.... not too hot with a nice breeze to cool things down. The course is in a reasonable state although there is not much run on the ball. It was made more interesting for the men as the tee markers had been moved to different places... some were played very far back whilst others were a bit forward. Sods law... the long holes were further back and the short ones forward !!! However, the results were generally good with the Standard scratch (SS) on Stableford points at 33 .... down from last weeks 35 based on the top 1/3rd of players. This week there was no one in the teens and Gus with his 21 points took the Doodoo trophy home with him. OK was very twitchy on 24 points believing that she was going to have the pleasure of kennelling the beloved thing for the next week. In the balls.... 3 Putt Pete was closest to the pin on the 8th. We had 4 people on 32 points ... Pete who had a blinding front 9 with 22 points but collapsed on the back losing on count back to Pascale for 4th place. In 3rd place was me..... oh dear, do I regret the 6 inch putt I missed on the 12th!!! In second place we had Mal and Leader of the Pack, way out in front was Philippe with 37 points. Well done Philippe, you have a new handicap..... of 26 !! Kim will, as usual, let you all have the other handicap changes.
Next week we will meet at the usual time at Kurmitola. Unfortunately, I will not be able to be there for the start as I have work commitments... anyone who arranges Board meetings on a Saturday should be shot at dawn !!!! Gus has kindly agreed to do the necessary.

Smelling roses... not!

A good turnout again this week with 17 Dogs making it to the 1st tee box despite many having tired and weary legs from the day before playing in the Rover Cup. Dingo Kate has already circulated a note on the Rover Cup. Thanks Kate for organising a great day out ...... enjoy your extremely long leave away from DAC !!!! You may find some of us still here when you return in the middle of next year!!!!

Fortunately, the temperature was pleasant and the playing conditions were good. Although some obviously found it more difficult than others!!! Starting at the rear end,..... (and lets be honest we all have one).... Lissette does not smell of roses !!! With 19 points Lissette has the pleasure of cuddling the Dog Doodoo trophy for the next week. She saved Ian Wright the ignominy of taking it home with his 22 points!!!

Leaping to the head of the pack..... Nearest to the Pin wasn't...... unbelievable as it may seem, not one mongrel managed to hit the green on the 8th !!!! That is a first !! Mike Tarry came close to getting balls for the first time in a couple of years with 33 points .... but that honour was taken away from him by 'moi' with 35 points to come in 3rd. In 2nd place we saw Teb with a great score of 38 points off his 13 handicap.... he is hot for winning one of the numerous competitions that will feature at Kurmitola over the next few months. However, in 1st place [LOTP] we had Wati on 40 points... a brilliant score which rightly deserves recognition by way of a handicap chop !!! Teb also takes a cut !!

Next Saturday we will play Kurmitola at the usual time. Some of us will venture out to Savar on Friday for a game ... if you are interested please let me know. We will aim to tee off at 1 o'clock.

The next DOGS dinner will hosted by Leo and Natthanya at their kennel on Friday 8th December. Please note it in your diaries. Further information will be provided nearer to that date.

ROW jubilant - Euros gubbed!

The Europeans and The Rest assembled at Savar for the annual Rover Cup Challenge 2006. Last minute adjustments to the schedule were amended without acrimony.

It was however necessary for Rob Jones to flee the European camp for a more favourable fun loving, not to mention a better team. Rob's decision was vindicated at the end of the day.

To cut a long story short - we, The Rest, clobbered 'em [the Euros] with a massive 15.5 to 4.5

Congratulations to all who participated to make it a great day [and a great evening]. A collection of game and post-game pictures can be found here soon.

Captain Kate

An....ti.....ci....pa...tion! The Rover Cup!

The event of the year is about to take place: The Rover Cup! The excitement is mounting, clubs are being cleaned and shined, balls are being balanced and marked, ballboys are being instructed (ooohps, no not really), bunker game is being honed, game strategies being pondered and everybody is getting ready for tee-off in the wee hours of Friday morning, November 3rd, 2006.

The team line-ups for now are as follows

ROW:

Lydia, Kate, Khor, Kim S, Putu, Douglas, Natthanya, Ian, Greg, Flemming, OK, Gary

EU:

Teb, Pete, Mike, Pascale, Kim M., Leo, Margaret, Alan, Gus, Rob, Lisette, Philippe

Format will be Greensomes, Individuals, 4-Ball-Best-Ball. Updates will be forthcoming soon. Good game everybody and don't forget to chill the Guinness.

How low can you go?

A fine day met the 12 mutts (including 2 guests & 1 associate stepping up) who assembled for the weekly carnage inflicted by us on Kurmitola. A new record was set by Marcel - one of our guests – by surpassing even the recent brave attempt of Phillipe to claim the lowest recorded score by a competitor in a DOGS round – a score which should stand for a long time to come – a massive 2 Stableford points. However as a guest he was excluded from the pleasure of the doodoo which was to be presented to the lowest regular DOG.

Having played with Leo and watched him play reasonably well over the back 9 only to see about 5 or 6 putts stop in the 2 – 6 inch zone it was nice to think he was only going to house the trophy as a “guest” of someone else – however Natalya’s 21 was also deemed to be out of play as she was a first time competitor with the DOGS and should also be excluded which meant Leo got reacquainted with his friend [the Doo-doo] as a full partner by clearing up the rear on 24 points (and saving myself on 26).

The rest of the scoring was of a middling level compared to lately with only 5 cards of 30 or above. Coming 3rd on countback was Pascal with 34 – a travesty given she was only 1 over par for the first 6 holes and picking up 3 birdies in the day (only outdone by Dingo Kate’s eagle at the island hole and its celebrations heard as far as the Aussie club). In 2nd place we had Rob Jones with his new R7 driver which he had demonstrated complete mastery of by driving directly into the panni directly in front of him on the first. Leader of the pack – and the master of winning only when the pool of balls is small – was the one and only Teb Marius – completing his day by also picking up the nearest the pin at the 12th.

Rover Cup takes place – riots permitting – at Savar on Friday with everyone meeting at the Army club at 7.30 for onward travel to Savar ensuring everyone who needs a lift is accommodated – please confirm your attendance with Kate.

Stream-lined pack

It was a stream line pack that left their kennels - as eight dogs were unfortunate enough to not be able to get out of the country. As a substitute hunt they headed for Kumitola and found they had the paddock to themselves.

The pack agreed (to keep things a little more varied....) that "nearest-to-the-pin" would be the second shot on hole number eleven - as luck would have it nobody landed on the green in two - all the better as the ball pool was depleted.

In the main event Dingo Greg came with a withering burst to cross the line with 36 points (Leader of the Pack) followed closely by the French Tart (Matahari) on 34 points and Dingo Kate with 29 points on a count back to Philippe and Douglas. The rear end was Leo sniffing the field with 18 points to take home the Doo-doo.

The pack thought it was only fair that all the wuss's that happened to escape before EID should bring back a bone from their holiday kennel's or otherwise be prepared for a fine on their return.

Woof woof

Dingo Kate

Un aigle montant!

Saturday was a pleasant day for golf and we timed the round perfectly with the rain descending just as the last 4 ball walked off the 18th. The numbers were slightly down this week with 17 mongrels playing. Next week the numbers will be down substantially as it is the start of the Eid week and school half term. However, there will be Dogs golf for those who remain to keep the economy afloat whilst the rest of us disappear to boost other nations economies.

The scores this week were generally very good..... with the Standard scratch this week being 35 points !!! Admittedly, the 'system' has now been 'tweaked' to reflect only the top 1/3rd of scores for handicap calculations as opposed to the whole field which we have been using up until now to ensure that the handicaps were a fair reflection of the state of peoples play !!!! The 'proper handicapping' system seems to be working well.

At the tail end we had one very shy dog.... she tried to lose her card but we the sent the 'sniffers' in and retrieved it.... Lissette took up where Gus left off..... 15 points earned her the honour of Doodoo of the week !!! The nearest contender was Rob Jones with 24 points !! At the head of the pack we had loads of mutts with 30+points... 11 to be precise !! Ian Wright was nearest to the pin on the 8th... and was still a good 25 feet from the pin !! In 3rd place we had Pascale on 35 points. Mal Robbins lost on count back for 2nd position on 38 points from Philippe... a very stunned Philippe and Leader of the Pack!!! I need to mention here that Philippe had a magnificent 'eagle' on the 11th where he hit a full blooded 2nd shot into the green and straight into the hole to earn himself 5 points !! Well done, Philippe !!

On the social front.... we have not had a Dogs dinner for while... any volunteers for hosting something in November ??

Once again, we have St Andrews night approaching fast and to celebrate this important occasion the Caledonian Society is hosting its Annual ball. It will be held at the Radisson on 24th November. Last year the Dogs had 2 tables at the event and it was a great night. If you are interested in attending this years ball please would you contact me as soon as possible in order in order that I may book the tables.

Most Scots are happy... one isn't!

Huge turnout yesterday with 22 mongrels showing their enthusiasm for a wee white ball. And we were still missing some of our regular players... you can see why we still have to keep new enthusiastic pups on a waiting list !! The weather was kind to us and the course in good condition generally so a fun day out........ for most !!!

Oh before I really get into the story of the golf..... I cant hold on any longer............. SCOTLAND 1 - FRANCE 0!!!!! Can you believe it !! I reckon Scotland hasn't suffered such a huge collective hangover since Scotland beat France earlier this year in the six nations !!! OH HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN !!!!

Anyway back to the golf. Thanks goodness Scotland won at football... it would have cheered Gus up... the burly Scot had a torrid day.... 5 points on the front nine gained on 2 holes leaving 7 blobbies !!! He faired better on the backside where he doubled that number of points giving a grand total of 15 ..... that earned him the Doodoo fair and square!!! The nearest contender was Leo on 19 points !!

At the other end where the balls are... (something wrong here chaps !!!) Margaret was Nearest the Pin on the 6th. Mike Tarry received a compensatory ball for coming 4th which is the nearest he has come to balls in the last 2 years !!! We had to do something as he had his handicap cut !!!! In 3rd place was Pascale on 34 points. In 2nd place was Graham with 35 points and Leader of the Pack this week was Dingo Kim with a staggering 41 points... Well done Kim. But your handicap has been annihilated !! Mrs Murdoch will send out the new handicap listing shortly.

We will play at Kurmitola next Saturday usual. I look forward to seeing you there. In the meantime, I am off to gloat on the news that SCOTLAND beat France....................... Yeeeeeeessssss !!!!!!

Touching balls... usurper of my bone... strange game

The sun shone on the chosen few – and by the end of it only a few were chosen. 17 mutts lined up in great expectation with the sun on their back and the great adventure in front of them – and it looks like some very adventurous golf was played going by the scores.

Having thought the days of being safe at 20 points were behind us some of the pack decided to give that new truism a bit of a go – as the troops came home there was a decided mood of resignation on being doodoo of the week – some people wanting to accept it (for the first time ever) even before they got off the final green. However, Kim’s mood of desolation coming off in the first group only lasted till the second 3 ball came off when she was returned to a state of euphoria seldom seen from her earlier in the day. Ian Wright’s wry acceptance of the prospect at 21 was also not to result in a smelly visitor for the week. However – in retrospect 3 putt Pete’s cries of euphoria at Mike Tarry’s expense should probably have merited a fine. Yes – Mike dipped below the line to 19 to accept his friend without even the consolation of a stroke rise in handicap. It doesn’t seem the same getting an addition of 0.1 for such noble sacrifice – at some point in the near future there will be a revision of low scorers based on the accumulated history – it may be that at the same time a slight adjustment to the handicap adjustment system could be envisaged – say giving a 0.5 manual adjustment for the doodoo of the week? – for debate at another time and place.

To the other end where those scoring above 30 were in a rarified atmosphere similar to pre computerized handicap days and certainly not comparable to the hosts of 2 weeks ago. Slipping into the balls at 32 was Paul Rodgers on a manly handicap which was challenged by Alice as being too high anyway (that’ll be sorted shortly), on a Sheila’s handicap of 29 I managed to sneak into second with 37 only to be pipped once again. In this case Maggie May had clearly woken up in late September and looks like she has visited a golf school or guru somewhere. 38 points including a bare 2 points on her favourite 7th ensured her the pooch and a pile of balls.

Having arrived in the first group with a suspicion of being towards the better end I was under much pressure from the devil within to restrict the CSS to the top 3rd and save myself a couple of strokes reduction in handicap but felt the moral high ground should bear my weight and as a result have been reduced to a manly 24 with only the pleasure of knowing the usurper* of my bone has suffered similarly. As noted earlier Paul did not escape unscathed and others had minor insults added to their injuries – a full resume to appear from MataHari shortly.

As noted at the post game cavorting it is a holiday on Monday and Alan had asked for volunteers for a trip to Savar – others noting the current problems in this area and suggesting another venue. I leave it to each of you to communicate on where and when.

Kate asked for some info on touching balls (how unusual for Kate!!) and I said I’ll get back to her – which I will but not today as my day job has interfered somewhat already. However, she has asked for an indication of who would be available for a Rover Cup (Europe v Rest of World this year) at Savar on the 1st Friday in November – please respond quickly – Kate add me in for Europe.

*from Latin usurpare ‘seize for use'

Kolossal Khor

Another hot and sweaty one but fortunately it cooled down as the afternoon wore on. Despite torrential rain at the start of the week the course was in remarkably good shape. 17 mongrels took to the course with a couple of the girls looking a bit dodgy for the full 18 holes..... a gruesome injured wing in one case and a Dingo with myxomatosis in the other !! I thought that it only happened to rabbits!! Needless to say, we duly gave them the sympathy they rightly deserved !!!

The scoring under the new handicapping system has improved dramatically but the end result is the same... some one still gets the Doodoo trophy............ But long gone are the days when scoring in the mid 20's assured avoidance of a sh*tty week. This week Dog Doodoo went to Greg Boulden on 26 points !! Now to be fair, he did win it on count back from 3 Putt Pete who was striking the ball well and was deadly around the greens... literally !! His chip shots resembled loose cannons... huge lobs going in any and every direction !!! Leo was only one shot off Doodoo with 27 points. Nearest the Pin on the 8th was Mike Tarry... only one name on the tab and it was sitting 30 feet away from the hole !!!

Dingo Kate scored 35 points but lost on count back to 'skin and bone' Pascale for 3rd place. In 2nd place losing on count back was Putu with 38 points leaving Khor to take the Leader of the Pack this week. Well done.
Kim will send out the revised handicaps.... I cant remember the adjustments but I know there were no upward revisions and the top 4 take a tumble!!

As most of you will know, I am not available to go on the Dogs tour of Kunming. However, OK (and Bill!!) has (have) kindly agreed to progress the tour. If you are interested in going please contact her soon to confirm your intentions.

Next Saturday we will play Kurmitola as usual at the same time. For those of you who are interested, some of us will be going to Savar on Friday and will tee off at 11 o'clock in order that we can get back into town after a pizza in time to watch the Americans suffer at the hands of the Europeans....... (again and again!!).... I love it !!!

Big thing and pink shaft?!

19 mongrels, all with brand new handicaps, eagerly awaited the 'off' on the 1st Tee box on Saturday. The new but 'proper' handicapping system was introduced for the first time using a programme obtained by 'the girls' and which has created some interesting handicaps !! These will, of course, be 'normalised' as time goes on and more cards are entered onto the system. In the meantime, we have generally got much better scores to report.... in fact some are darn right brilliant !! Gone are the days when you could come into the club with points in the mid 20's assured that the 'smelly thing' belonged to some one else that week !!!

There was an awesome array of power displayed at the start.... the lads showing off their newly acquired weapons of mass destruction. Gus with his enormous new lump of metal trying to compete with Bill's newly acquired 'big thing' that had the most revolting pink shaft !!! Yuk !!!

But to the results...... there was a spot of controversy about the tail end but a bit like 'Darrell Hair' (for those cricketer's amongst us), once Top Dog has taken a decision it stays !!! The issue at point is that one dog limped off injured after playing 13 holes. I worked on the basis that the injury had been sustained in the process of the playing the game and therefore discounted his card and awarding the Doodoo to Leo who came in with 22 points. However, it was pointed out by several that I was showing signs of inconsistency as in the past I had awarded the doodoo to someone who had limped off without completing the course. This is quite true but on that occasion the 'chappy' had arrived feeling 'sickly' and therefore was prepared to play despite the way he was feeling. It was then pointed out that Mr Jones had arrived limping at the start of the game !!! So now it is up to Mr Jones to come clean and state whether he arrived with injury and therefore should be the Doodoo of the week or whether the war wound happened on the course and therefore leaves the trophy with Leo !! Oh, and by the way, Rob you owe Gus a ball and the kitty Tk100 !!!

Now to other 'ballsy' end.... Paul Rogers was nearest to the pin on the 12th. In 3rd place we had Teb on 33 points, Gus had a staggering 38 points off his 33 handicap.... !!! And Leader of the Pack this week was Dingo Kate with 40 points off her 21 handicap.... She played a great game and was absolutely deadly around the greens. Well done. Kim will release the latest version of the handicaps shortly.

In the meantime have a good week. We meet at Kurmitola at the usual time next Saturday. Those who are interested in playing at Savar on Friday let me know... a few of us will going out there and teeing off at 1 o'clock.

Less is more!

Well Saturday was an interesting day for the dogs with a very large field, given the numbers away, with 20 turning out for our first 4 club s/ford competition in living memory. Barry & Margaret were back along with Bill and even Paul Rodgers who on reading last weeks email, booked his tickets in Houston, got on the plane and made the journey to the scene of his recent Kiss Me Kate episode to take part in the 4 club competition…. Good to see you Paul. Conversation in the club house before hand was all about the science of club selection. Despite all the science we managed to have one club temporarily stolen by a Ball boy with the result that Mike started the competition with three clubs before stolen article was returned.

Also fair to say that amongst the 20 were a significant number who sacrificed themselves in the name of club funds, turned up a few minutes behind the 11.45 deadline for being on the tee box, and spread there wealth in the form of fines. Treasury Teb is grateful (even though he paid as well).

Turning to the sporting events… In terms of play, things got slightly cut short by a heavy storm that swept though mid afternoon and didn’t let up. A couple of groups had been sheltering at the little café (?) between the 13th and 14th for about 45 minutes when Leo came wandering out of the woods and joined us. We think he had been struck by lightening and was simply going in circles in a daze looking for his female playing partners who had abandoned him to the elements. (He had been playing the 16th ?)

The Balls:

First order of the day, nearest the pin on the 12th which went to Mike Tarry knocking yours truly out of pole position. Well done Mike who picks up a couple of clean shinny ones.

To the S/ford scoring. With all 5 groups managing to complete through the 12th scoring was taken up to that point and it has to be said that despite the limitation on clubs scoring was significantly better on average than normal weeks……. a couple of exceptions do exist however. There was a real dog scrap at the bottom of the field with Pascale, Khor and Ian Wright all doing there best to win the steamy replica at various stages of the day. Ultimately Ian, clearly concerned about the HSE implications of waving golf sticks about in the face of the impending storm, came out triumphant with 8 points through 12 and is DSOTW. Ian, expect a wee present in your office.

At the other end there was a whole batch of players in the 18 – 22 point range through 12 which is pretty steady golf by normal standards before we come to those competing for the balls. In 4th place on 23 points but loosing out on count back was Rob Jones. (It should be noted TD, that Rob was also fined for scoring 5 points and 4 points on the first and second holes respectively) Third place balls went to wee Douglas also with 23 points. Second place went to Gary, who with not much else to do this week must have spent all his time practicing and achieved a very respectable 24 points but loosing out on count back to Greg Boulden who is LOTPOTW. Well done to all.

Normally at this point we would be saying.. ’Matahari do your stuff’ but general consensus of the quorum attending was to move to the R&A based handicap program that Kim and a couple of the girls have been investigating and maintaining over the past few weeks. A general upward shift in handicaps is the result but there are one or two exceptions. (Kim & Pascale to distribute latest program handicap sheets this week). System should normalise itself over the coming weeks and scoring should generally be higher. Fresh handicap sheets will be made available during the week by email and on the tee box on Saturday.

Next week Top Dog will be back at the front of the sledge after his R&R in Greece and will no doubt be in good shape from all that relaxation !

Next Week, Same time, Same Place (11.45 on the tee box or call Alan if think you will be late)

3PP