| | Friday, March 29, 2024 | It's only day two and birdies are flying!
Ready for play and ready for scores | | Ready to start them and ready to receive them | Day 1 - foursomes in the morning and singles in the afternoon
• In a morning foursomes match between three provinces, they all halved the 9th (stroke 1) with birdies • There were two aces on day one, Chris Delport on the 14th and Ian Smith on the 17th • In singles play, one fourball made 12 birdies on the first 8 holes • In singles play, one competitor was 2-under and 2-down after nine • In another three-man singles match (three provinces playing each other), there were 15 birdies made and in yet another three-man singles match, there were 18 birdies made
Phew! That's just from the stories we heard about!
There are some great players in the field and they have gotten to know St Francis Links in their time here. Some players, with respect to the course, traveled here before the event for practice rounds and the rest have been playing since Saturday. From Saturday to Tuesday, Mother Nature was not ever here, offering only a light puff from the east and then from the west, before returning to the east again yesterday - we are talking 10kms max! This morning we invited her to join as the coastal clubs were moaning that they had no advantage over the inlanders. As a matter of fact, Guateng North destroyed their foes on day one by 21.5 points to 2.5 points to let everone know they are here. You can't win the event on day one, but you can probably lose it - Ekurhuleni was sitting on .5 after the fist two matches.
Day 2 - same formats
With "mom" in the game, shot-making became even more of a challenge. As I write this, the powerhouse and defending Champions, Central Gauteng, cranked it all up another notch, white-washing Southern Cape and Northwest in the foursomes. Gauteng North carried on by going up 3-1 and 3-1 against their opponents. Tomorrow is predicted to come with a "perky" easterly, the two from Gauteng will play each other in what could be a real gun fight. That means the wind is reversing again.
Our team to this point is getting rave reviews on their presentation and service. Our course is being openly hailed for its attributes - variety of shots, shot-making, aesthetics, playability and conditioning.
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Tonight we braai, tomorrow we play and the boys will, again, frequent the area restaurants. They must be getting tired because my 4am call after three days would be showing if we weren't loving it all!
| | Club Champs are next week | May 4-6 The 2017 Champions, Helen and Ralph won their Divisions. Dr. Lynn is now retired and living here - will she win her 40th title over three different home courses in her career?
Sign up now and join us for the pre-weekend entertainment on Friday, the 4th, before competing for Gross and Nett prizes. |
Golf Funnies
Worst foursome in golf history (from a naughty friend)
1. Stormy Daniels
2. O.J Simpson
3. Ted Kennedy
4. Bill Clinton | | Why you ask:
1. Stormy is a hooker.
2. O.J Is a slicer.
3. Ted can't drive over water, and...
4. Bill can't remember which hole he played last. | | | | | Next Get-together is May 8th Last week's get-together was well-attended with a good deal of positive interaction. We welcomed Pierre Conradie, our consulting electrical engineer for the past 13 years, and Ray Nolan from Specialized Solar Systems, who presented the alternative energy supply options available now to Links owners. While it was, at times, a rather detailed and technical discussion, it also opened the door to good questions and further discussion. | Charl discussed a number of opportunities coming on for the Estate, some which were asked about in the Member's Forum. We have initiated the recycling programme with a good response from the residents. Bush clearing and fire breaks are ongoing. The upgrading of speed bumps are scheduled. Road repairs for pooling rain water has been addressed with solutions coming. We are also looking at improvements to the front and back entrances to the Estate. The Glovent system hardware has been ordered with exciting advancements coming for access control. PJ Powers is the first musical event on the books in an initiative to present great South African talent through Rock Lily Productions and Michael Kimmings. She is appearing with Tigger Reunert on the 26th of May. Please rate St Francis Links Please take note of the dates and post them where you will see them and enter! Links Majors and Special Events for 2018 Jan 2-3 The Pam Golding Annual (St Francis Bay wins – the overall is tied 6 games each) Jan 5-6 Men’s Member/Member Partnership, Chris and Jandré Lessing, Champions Jan 20 Windhoek Lager International Pairs (3rd Qualifying), Percy Owen and Norman Dyer Jan 27-28 EP Champs (course closed) Altin VD Merwe, Strokeplay Medalist (74-68=142) Feb 3-4 EP Champs (semi-finals and finals) Naldo Claassens, Champion; Hugo Maritz, Plate Winner Feb 14 Couples/Mixed Golf – Valentine’s Dinner Ronnie and Sally Nienaber, best members Mar 10 Greensomes over 18 holes, Pete Maskew and John Wilson, Champions on 39pts Apr 22-26 National Senior Inter-Provincials (90) (course closed) May 5-6 Club Championships (Helen Bridges and Ralph Richardson, defending) May 13-16 Senior Women’s Nationals (SFL and SFBGC) (course closed) May 18-20 St Francis Bridge Invitational May 20 Nomads Monthly Game (11am Shotgun) May 24-25 Woodland’s Golf Days May 26 Foursomes over 18 holes | | June 2 Ladies’ Invitational June 16 Quarterly Couples/Mixed – US Open June 17 Father’s Day Golf and Lunch June 21 EP Seniors June 25-26 Nomads Coastal NOoM July 7 The Inaugural Muirfield Day (foursomes and fourballs) July 20 Oakley X-Over July 20-22 Men’s Invitational July 22-25 PGA Road Trip - Pards Cup Aug 20 to Sept 4 Spring Programme (Club Closed) FINAL DATES - PLEASE TAKE NOTE Sep 23 - 29 Vodacom Origins of Golf (regional finals) Sep 28-29 formerly Links Cup / Ryder Cup (Paris) (new date TBA) Oct 6 Quarterly Couples/Mixed Golf Nov Pam Golding Ladies’ Open Weekend (date – TBD) Dec 1 Ladies’ Member- Member Partnership Dec 8 Par-3 Championships Dec 14-15 Pam Golding Annual (SFBGC host) Dec 17 Kromme Trust Amazing Race Dec 20 Food and Wine Festival Dec 22 Year-end Couples/Mixed – Pro Shop Sale Jan 3-4 Men’s Member-Member Partnership | Important Note: We endeavour to keep our "Majors" on the same weekend each year to encourage the best participation. We are forced to move the Annual Club Championships back a week this year because we were the chosen course in the Eastern Cape to host the National Senior Inter-Provincials, a tournament featuring the country's top golfers. It finished on Thursday the 26th, leaving no time for practice or course preparation. I apologize and the Champs will return to the last week in April in years to come. | | | Open Wednesday Itec are our sponsors for OPEN Wednesday (2nd Wednesday) with meat and added prizes. Invite your friends to enjoy SA’s best with special rates for golf, snacks after the game and great prizes – Hey, Curry Night follows – stay or take away! Monday Roll-up! Pitch up and play (9 holes or 18 Par-3 from 2pm) - let's add you to the Whatsapp group! All day Saturdays: Morning and afternoon fields - the afternoon field will be booked from 12 noon backwards with emphasis on "ready golf" Monday Men's Book Club - 5pm in Jack's Bar (no reading required) | Ladies' Tea (and Coffee) - Every Tuesday at 10am on the Veranda April 11 ITEC Open Wednesday - special rates, prizes and snacks (R1500 in meat) April 20 - 24 National Seniors and Super Seniors IPT (course closed) May 4 - 6 Club Championships May 26 PJ Powers and Tigger Reunert | | | | | April Birthdays 1 - Tim Elliott, Peter Browne 2 - Leigh Bradfield 3 - Christiaan Serfontein, Keith Stacey 4 - Jan Joubert 5 - Dustin Hogan, Justin Collen 6 - Theo Vos 7 - Jo Viviers, Michael Schottler | | 8 - Richard Towell 9 - Ewin Collen 10 - Michael Barratt, Rob Birch, Saria Blaauw 11 - Bruce Brooker 17 - Maggie Langlands, Renier De Waat, Renthia Buitendag, Robyn Roberts, Silvio Scribante 19 - Charles Lourens, Kevin Pietersen, Tom Donnelly 21 - Geoffrey Roberts 25 - Andrew Payne 29 - Dirk Ellis 30 - Johanna Hubsch, Judith O'Hara, Michael Holden, Walter Ehinger | 21 April 2018 Alliance 2 to count Multiplication - click here
18 April 2018 Combined Stabelford - click here
Every great shot starts with a SMILE! | | | | | The Fairway Wood is probably as difficult a club to hit as any in the bag. It’s hugely useful if you can hit it consistently, but almost a waste of space in the bag if you can’t. So improvements in face technology to increase forgiveness across the face are welcome. | | | The fitting and setup of this club is critically important. Everything you can do to make sure the ball launches easily and accurately, should be done. That includes investing time to find the shaft that translates difficult into easy. An assessment and fitting is of paramount importance. | | | | | Make sure the Fairway Woods and Hybrids in your bag are as easy to use as possible, and integrated so that you have no big distance gaps or overlap from the clubs at the top of your bag. | | | | | | | Whether we’re coaching them, or you’re out with your child on the course or Range, never forget the need for FUNdamentals. Yes, we want to teach the FUNdamentals of balance, movement and coordination. Yes, we want to make sure they grasp the FUNdamentals of hitting a golf ball. Sure, we want them to have the FUNdamentals of how to play the game. But, we want it to be always FUN. | | | But actually, it shouldn’t be different for anyone coming to learn the game. There are four steps, and each child, or golfer, can decide where is far enough for them. | | | | | Whether it’s introducing golf to your child, helping them master the fundamentals, or taking them to new levels of expertize, we want to help. Come and talk to us about the best way to introduce golf to your child or how to develop their ability. | | | | | | This mail was sent to {{contact.contact_email}} by St Francis Links . and is provided as a service for the members and guests of St Francis Links and has been supported and sponsored by advertisers in this email and our partner suppliers. For any queries contact us on +27 42 200 4500. Sent on behalf of St Francis Links by RetailTribe: Unit 8 | Blaauwklip Office Park | Stellenbosch | 7600 | 021 880 2693 | | | |