Thread: Gaijin Golfers on Tour Down Under!

Ping, Woy Woy, James Allen and myself took Australia by storm over the Xmas/New Year break in Gaijin Golfers first international events. The weather was absolutely, splendidly … shiite , but we refused to let that dampen our spirits and a fun time was had by all with plenty of laughs, OBs, lost balls and snowman sightings.

The first event took place on Dec. 28 at Tuggerah Lakes Golf Club on the Central Coast of New South Wales, not too far from the sleepy hamlet of Woy Woy ... the place that is.

Tee off was scheduled for a very civilized 12:04 p.m. No 4 a.m. wake-up calls this time!

Rather, a night of heavy rain left the boys waking up to this.



After several committee meetings, a cabin-fever induced decision was made to play after a desperate search revealed at least one optimistic weather forecast.

Following a few ceremonial pics





we were off in a game of skins with Muggins here losing a ball on the first hole on the way to a solid start of 10 strokes!

The rain eased after several holes and although Ping was the steadiest of the trio it was Woy Woy who bagged six skins to take control of the event.

The coastal course started to shine









but the small greens





proved difficult to hit although their carpet-like nature ensured true putts … for some …





There was trouble to be found … and lost!







Despite the course having several tame-looking short par-3s, there were numerous long par fours, such as the 412-meter (approx 450-yard) par-4 11th hole and the 404-meter (440-yard) uphill par-4 12th.

Like many link courses, there are generally some "pay back" holes for any perceived unfairness, and the 409-meter (uphill) par-5 15th was there for the taking, with Woy Woy and myself both hitting through the green for two. My "millennium" dream of three eagles in three rounds ended in the back bunker after I hacked out to 37.3 feet!

At the end of 18 holes the skins count stood at Woy Woy 10, HH 7 and Ping ONE but Shane was eager for more and came back strongly over the final nine to leave the skins count at a respectable WW 11, HH 9, Ping 7.

The most memorable hole of the day was the 18th, a brutal 533-meter (580-yard) uphill par-5 that played into a strong southerly wind. On our 27th hole we all hit driver, fairway wood, fairway wood, and even then WW was the only one past the hole. Matt and I halved the hole in pars to force a putt-off play-off for the final two skins and surprise, surprise, Ping steps up first and left his 50 foot putt on the lip to steal the prize.

With green fees of A$40 (plus $5 for a pull cart) for the 27 holes the day was good value for money and we all vowed to come back again if we have the chance.

Thanks Shane and Matt for a superb day!



The second event was at my home course Long Reef Golf Club on the northern beaches on Sydney, where James Allen and I teed it up on Jan. 2.

Another splendid day weather wise



saw the course receive a good hosing before we started.



JA and I agreed to play match play with the British Bomber off 6 and me off 22 so I received a shot on index holes 1-16 and after he blasted his drive some 250 meters right down the middle on the first I thought I'd been cheated! A shanked 3-iron for his second shot leveled things up a bit though. The greens were in superb shape and after a scratchy nine that saw neither of us play that well, I was four up.

As expected JA came back hard the back nine and had cut the lead to two when lightning forced the day's play to be cancelled.





There were some scenic moments on the course.













Before we headed to JA's sister's house for a BBQ washed down with some fine Barolo wine.






Here's a few other random pics of the Aussie natives around my mum's house.







All the best for the New Year GGs, hope to see you on the course.

Greg

Thanks for the pics HH. It looks like we had better golfing weather here on those days

Nice looking courses, mate. Looks like everyone had a good time.

Great pictures. I'm a bit homesick.

All the best for the New Year to you all. Happy golfing!!

good write up Greg, and thanks for putting up the pics of me in that mess i was in on that mongrel of a hole. it ended in an 11 - including four shots that wouldn't have moved me more than 15 feet in there. should've taken a drop there

was a top day out though and i'm glad we didn't call it off after all. it was touch and go with me waking to lightning and thunder all round, visibility at less than 100 metres with torrential rain bucketing down.

will have to get onto long reef next time, it looks like another really tough one in the wind.

and how did Ping get into that play off on the 27th?!

My father lives about 10 minutes drive from there.
Will have to play there next time I'm home....

Used to go surfng a lot there as well...

hey, youre from the coast too are you makken?

nice beach shelley beach. the course is in good shape now and defintely worth a visit. they've been doing a lot of work with new bunkering, greens and it's made it quite tricky on a lot of holes.

Thanks HH for posting the report. It was a lot of fun over there. Looking forward to next time we play down at the reef, maybe have a few more beers at the clubhouse which probably has the best view of any club I have been to.

Hi There

I see you all enjoyed in warm Aussie.
I found few players in course except snake and crocodile.

Hope to join in next time.

I am planning to attend some GG game in spring
all the way from Shikoku

Kondo