With only 3.5 points separating Bean, Schimma, Murph & Gooey we were off to the Black Bull GC on a very unYarrawonga like cold & rainy day for the conclusion to season 2017/18.

At the half way mark the scores were:
Murph (off to a flyer!) 22, Schimma 19, Robbo 19, Fussy 18, Glenn 18, Quinny 16, Mike 16, Beano 13 (gone!), Jimmy 10  & Gooey 9 (also gone!).

The Match Play final had Michael turn 2 up at the half with Gooey winning the ninth to stay within reach.
 
So, barring any miracles it was now down to just Murph & Schimma head to head!. With Schimma only 0.5 point ahead of Murph going into the final game means that Muph now leads The Massey by 0.5 a point (or by 3 stableford points to be more precise!)

Remembering that they are in different groups so let's recap their hole by hole situation - Shall we!

10th - Murph has his first wipe while Schimma managed 1 pt (Murph leads by 2);
11th - Murph 2pts / Schimma 1 (Murph by 3);
12th - Murph 2 / Schimma 2;
13th - Murph 2 / Schimma 3 (Murph by 2);
14th - Murph 1 / Schimma 3 (Wow! All Square);
15th - Murph 2 / Schimma 1 (Murph back up by 1);
16th - Murph 2 / Schimma 1 (Murph now by 2) - Was the little man in his head starting to whisper?...
17th - Murph - /  Schimma 2 (Murph missed his approach way right and was beginning to scramble - I mean CHOKE! - up by 1)
18th - Murph - /  Schimma 1 (Murph way right again on approach, below right hand bunker - down hill  and couldn't get up & down

Hot coffees were the order of the day rather than cold beers in the Pro Shop where we awaited the all clear from the scorer that no play off is required. Then back to the Lake Edge Resort for the reading of the scores / points.

Scores were:
Robbo 40 (19 out / 21 in), Glenn 34 (18/16), Schimma 33 (19/14), Murph 33 (22/11), Mike 32 (16/16), Fussy 31 (18/13), Q 30 (16/14), Jimmy 26 (10/16), Beano 21 (13/8) & Gooey 21 (9/12).

Aggregate individual weekend total prizemoney went to Robbo following his 40 point final round to close with a combined 71 points over Schimma 67 others were:
DM 65, GM 64, MO 58, IQ 54, SL & JG 53, MH 52 & AS 51.

The prizemoney for the Pairs event in the final round went to the combination of Robbo & Glenn on 74 (40/34), then RW/IQ 63 (33/30), MO/JG 57 (31/26), DM/AS 54 (33/21) & MH/SL 53 (32/21).

Only 10 starters made it away for the weekend with Kenny & Henry both being ruled out for the finals due to injury.

Bean did enough though to maintain a 1 point lead over Schimma, 1.5 over Murph, 3.5 to Gooey, 7 to Glenn and 9.5 to Mike the only other mathematical chance.

HANDICAP WORST:  M.Hall 34.1 (prev. 33.5)

Quite windy conditions made scoring difficult which saw Glenn score a much needed win with 34pts (15 in & 19 out) followed by the evergreen Bean with a 33 (20/13) and Robbo on 32 (16/16) in third place for the day. While other contenders Murph & Gooey were not that far behind with 30's but had to settle with equal 8th which sees Bean jump out in front by 5 points with a bunched up field waiting to pounce at the border. 

Other scores were:
Schimma 31 (17/14), Fussy 31 (16/15), Jimmy 31 (12/19), Mike 31 (18/13), Murph 30 (16/14), Gooey 30 (17/13), Kenny 26 (11/15), Q 25 (15/10) & Henry 23 (12/11).

A full Massey field turned out today for the inaugural Scoot's VB Classic. Where conditions were good but scoring proved difficult for most.

The Bean showed the way and came out blasting 24 points on the front nine to finish on top for the day with a final tally of 40 points. Jimmy the Griff was not far behind with 39 (20 out / 13 in) and Schimma rounded out the podium with a useful 37 (17/15). However, the runaway Massey leader Murph could only muster a measly 25 pts to finish equal last on the day (13/12) which has helped bunch up the overall leaderboard. Gooey must get a mention for a well constructed 36 points off his 16 handicap to stay well in contention

There is now only 12 points covering 9 players which augers well for a possible "any body's Massey" leading into the final home round before heading off to sunny Yarrawonga.

Many thanks once again to Murph for the hospitality at Camp David, Westy & Jimmy for cooking, those who brought salads etc. and to those who helped clean up in the morning.

Other scores were:
Fussy 31 (14/17), Quinny 31 (20/11), Mike 30 (14/16), Glenn 27 (13/14), Henry 25 (13/12), Robbo 25 (13/12)  & Kenny 25 (15/10).

The Scoot's VB Classic Team results were:
RW/KB/JG/MR -  37pts (20/17 -brought ball home)
PW/SL/IQ/MH - 35pts (21/14 - lost ball on last)
DM/MO/GM/AS -  9pts (lost ball on 7th)

Only a field of nine today with absentees being Henry, Kenny & Robbo.

On a stormy afternoon we managed to get through the 18 holes with a storm just missing us which threatened to halt play on the back nine. Gooey put on a master class of "up & down" golf where he also seemed to find most fairways off the tees to storm home with a mighty 44 points (20 out & 24 in). Jimmy also found some form putting together a "winnable" 41 (20 & 21). While the Massey leader (Murph) couldn't make it three in a row but did plenty to score a podium finish tied in third place with Mike (both had 17 & 21).

Murph has increased his lead over the field to 8.5 points with an emerging Gooey now in 2nd place overall who lost 4 shots off his handicap in the process. With 4 rounds to go Murph has to average 10 pts+ to break his record season total of 72.5 pts.

Other scores were:
Glenn 36 (18/18), Schimma 36 (16/20), Q 33 (18/15), Bean 30 (13/17)  & Fussy 27 (13/14).

Only Henry was missing for the second round of the year after making some lame excuse of a triple bypass or something.

Starting with the back nine first, Glenn & Murph compiled a handy pair of 35's to share the top points. Glenn with 16 out and 19 & Murph with 17 out & 18 in. While Q came home strongly to make the podium with 32 points (12 out / 20 in). Kenny.... well Kenny left some important clubs back home by his nets (inc Driver) and let's just say that he found scoring points rather difficult, finishing last with only 15 points (6out/9in).

Our current overall leader is Murph who has skipped away with an impressive 6.5 point lead after two equal firsts. Putting himself in a good position to chase down his own 7 round record total of 72.5pts set back in 1999/2000.

Other scores were:
Gooey 31 (15/16), Schimma 30 (13/17), Robbo 30 (13/17), Mike 30 (14/16), Beano 30 (13/17), Fussy 28 (13/15) & Jimmy 24 (16/8).

It was great to see a full field for our first round of the year in mild and pleasant conditions.

Murph & Kenny lead proceedings with solid 35's (Murph 19 out / 16 in & Kenny 18/17). The Bean has also once again started well in third place with a 34 (18/16). While last years champ finished the day equal last with only 24 points.

Other scores were:
Henry 32 (16/16), Fussy 30 (17/13), Schimma 29 (16/13), Q 28 (11/17), Mike 28 (15/13), Robbo 26 (13/13), Gooey 25 (13/12), Jimmy 24 (14/10) & Glenn 24 (13/11).

Only three players left with a mathematical chance of winning the Massey. Q now 4.5 pts ahead of Glenn and Jimmy. With Quinny getting way to far ahead of himself the night before with some witnesses saying that he was parading the Massey Trophy round & around the dinner table (pfft!).

At the half way mark the scores were:
Glenn 21, Tubbsy 18, Henry & Jimmy 16,  Murph & Mike 14, Bean 12 & Quinny 11 (o oh!).

The Match Play final had Jimmy 3 up at the half after winning 4 in a row from hole 5 to 8 after Q could only scramble 1 pointers.
 
It was great reward for consistency throughout the year as Glenn never really had a bad round but left his best until last coming home with a 37 (21 & 16) to earn his third Massey title to go with his 9 runner ups. While Q 23 (11/12) was the exact opposite having three excellent rounds to go with 3 equally crap rounds (my doctor says the pain will subside so I think I will recover in time for round 1 of the 17/18 season). Jimmy did enough to maintain third place with 28 points (16/12).

Glenn has now finished 1st, 2nd,1st & 2nd over the last four years! (what happened to the Walter Lindrum rule? Has it been softened too much?)

Scores were:
Glenn 37 (21 out / 16 in), Henry 33 (16/17), Murph 30 (14/16), Tubbsy 30 (18/12), Jimmy 28 (16/12), Bean 26 (12/14),
Mike 26 (14/12)  & Q 23 (11/12).

COURSE RECORDS:    Strokes - P.West 81 (prev. P.West 83 01/02)
COURSE WORST:        Stableford - I.Quinton 23 ( prev D.Murphy 27 12/13)

Aggregate individual weekend total prizemoney went to Glenn with a combined 71 points over Henry 69 others were:
JG 68, AC 67, MH 59, DM & IQ 58 & AS 47.

With only 8 starters including Andrew (Tubbsy) Cameron this years penultimate round is on the kikuyu fairways of the Shepparton GC then onto Yarrawonga for the final round on the Murray Course.

Groups were .... PW/MH/GM/AC & DM/IQ/AS/JG (matchplay group)

Coming into the barriers Q was holding a handy 3.5 point lead over Glenn, 4 points over The Bean & 6.5 over Jimmy. At the half way mark the scores were: Tubbsy 22, Mike, Glenn, & Henry 18, Jimmy & Q 17, Murph 14 & Beano 8 stableford points

At the end of the straight it was Jimmy the Griff greeting the judge with a fine 40 points (17 & 23), then Tubbsy 37 (22/15) & Henry third with 36 (18/18). While Q fought well for 4th spot on 35 (17/18) and Glenn 5th with 34 (18/16). Mike 33 (18/15), Murph 28 (14/14) & in last place Beano 24 (8/16) blew his chances on the first nine holes of the weekend.

So Q now takes a 4.5 point lead over Glenn & Jimmy going into the last round while Bean can't win - 8 points behind with only a field of 8.