Summer Quaich

From http://bsvgolf.blogspot.com/

Greetings this time from Grants Pass, Southern Oregon.

Amazing score from Gary last week - the highest stableford points for 5 seasons, equalling Les' 44 points on 8th August, 2007 - but still a bit adrift from the all-time record of 49 points, which I suspect will never be beaten.

His gross 65 was, however, the lowest ever gross score in the Quaich, beating his and Syd's 66 from 2006. I think there's something wrong with Rob's arithmetic however, when he said that Gary had 7 birdies. His gross score less his stated handicap of 5 amounts to a net 60, which is 8 under par by my counting?

Anyway, what other facts and stats can I amaze you with this week? Well, Gary became our 3rd two-time winner this year, equalling Dick and Harry - with the latter also claiming his 3rd DoD of the season. Careful, Harry - you're entering McRae/Riches/Taylor/Simpson territory now!

Good to see some 40-pointers being scored at last - it usually happens when the greens get better, so I hope that's a good sign. We've still only had 6 this season, however, compared with 16 at this time last year.

For those that can't/don't access the Excel spreadsheet, here's a summary of where everyone is in this year's Race for the Quaich:

			To
		Top 10	drop	Apps.
1	Taylor, Dick	350	31	12
2	Stewart, Ian	330	27	11
3	Sharp, Ian	323	27	10
4	Simpson, Jack	321	27	12
5	Pollard, Rob	313	28	13
6	Corbett, Daniel	295		9
7	Meaden, John	293	14	10
8	McRae, Ian	282		9
9	Bhagrath, Jas	279		9
10	Grant, Gary	275		8
11	Black, Ken	264		8
12	Riches, Hugh	252		8
13	Fulford, Steve	248		7
14	Dickinson, Chris	235		8
15	Salter, Harry	216		7
16	Gray, Keith	203		6
17	Gray, Les	196		6
18	Cook, Archie	158		5
19	Grigor, Malcolm	133		4
20	Page, Ken	70		2
21	Freeman, Syd	36		1
22	Simcox, Richard	17		1

So Dick appears to have a commanding lead, but watch out for  Steve and Gary, who have yet to complete the minimum of 10 games.

You'll all be pleased to know I've managed a few holes here and there with my son-in-law and grandson. The outstanding thing - apart from the weather, of course, is the condition of the courses, especially the greens - even on "hick" courses like Dutcher Creek, where we were playing today (Syd will remember playing here). If only it were like that at Banchory.

One "feature" at Dutcher Creek is the colour of the bunkers. We've all seen the black volcanic sand in Tenerife and other places, but this stuff was keichy/khaki/green:

Here's Scott and I at the end of today's round: