Annual meeting low key

The 105th Annual General Meeting of the Masterton Golf Club held in the Club-house last Sunday morning proved a fairly quiet affair for the 40 or so people who attended.
Of interest is the changed composition of the seven-person Board.
Paddy Greville and Graeme Jones were returned to office which means that these two, plus Dermot Fitzgerald, are elected members while Jan Williams and Mike Dixon are the respective Match Captains and Lorraine Stewart and Arthur Sandford are Women's and Men's Nominated Members.
Annual General Meetings are one of the few direct lines of communication available for ordinary members to express their suggestions, their compliments, or their grievances.
Like Voltaire, I would always defend the rights of members to have their say. However, certain questions are often better addressed to a relevant committee such as grounds, match or house.
In his report, Men's Match Captain Mike Dixon, touched on three of the most successful tournaments held this last year. Members will be aware of the tremendous sense of achievement gained from the Sir Bob Charles Tribute Tour event, back in November, and the more recent Masterton-Eketahuna Pro-Am Tournament.
However, less well-known is the huge success of the Farmlands/Hitz 89.3 FM Twilight Tournament. At this stage 147 different golfers have played at least once, with 50 of them likely to qualify for a prize at the prize-giving on Wednesday, March 9.
Thanks are due to Henry Stechman who has made it his baby, and what a bonny little fellow he has turned out to be.
In Round 2 of the Wellington men's interclub competition, the Masterton Division 2 team had the bye and so hosted the other teams in the division. However, the two other divisional sides were in action with Division 3 at home to Te Marua. The latter proved a tough nut to crack, but eventually Masterton came out an 8?/6? victor.
Masterton took the fourballs 3/2 and the singles 5?/4? with Bob Hill in a starring role with a 7/5 victory and a round of 74. Jeff Ogg, Ash Peterson, Nigel Udy and Murray Wolland also posted wins, but at the other end of the scale it was Ian Buchanan who took the piece of porcelain, porcine posterior. Ian wasn't available to receive the trophy but I have no doubt that his team-mates will ensure that it gets to his desk.
Division 6 played Paraparaumu on the beach course, going down 4/11 to their hosts. It wasn't too bad an effort as the Masterton players found difficulty in adapting to the rather awkward greens and different summer conditions.
It was no great problem, though, to Ben Campbell who continued his fine form with an excellent 76, including three 3 putts. Derek Clarkson and Mike Dixon also scored wins while there were a couple of halves in the four-ball contests.
Back at the ranch on Saturday the Indians took part in a stableford contest with these results:
Women: Adie Paku 40 pts 1st.
Men: Robert Gardiner 40 pts 1st, Kieran Dougherty 39 pts 2nd, David Baker 37 pts 3rd.
In the nearest the pin awards, Shane Grant distinguished himself by winning at both the Alex McLeod 8th hole and the Money Managers 18th while Trevor Hill was closest at the Fire Services 11th.
On Monday getting on for 60 Vet golfers took part in their weekly stableford with these results:
Women: Liz Bensaude 35 pts 1st, Bib Vallance 30 pts 2nd, Colleen Hamilton 29 pts 3rd.
Men Group 1: Kel Biggs 30 pts 1st, Charles Anderson 30 pts 2nd, Mac Martyn 29 pts 3rd.
Men Group 2: George McKinlay 34 pts 1st, Graeme Newland 31 pts 2nd, Ken Stephenson 31 pts 3rd.
Also on Monday the women's Pennant teams played at Te Marua. They got their season off to a very good start with the silver winning 4/2 over Royal Wellington 1 and the bronze winning 4?/2? over Judgeford. In the bronze Ann Kenny had a very creditable 6/5 win.
Tuesday saw the women departing into the unknown on their Mystery Trip. After much chasing of red herrings they arrived at Olivo in Martinborough where there was a wander round the fantastic planting of fruit and nut trees plus an olive oil tasting and morning tea. From there they took a circuitous route to the Patuna Farm in the Ruakokapatuna Valley to attempt the fascinating, frustrating game of Polo Golf.
After a late lunch it was back to Masterton with a quick stop at Keith and Jackie Levy's beautiful garden for a drink. With quizzes, jokes, a very co-operative bus driver and a huge amount of imagination and work by the organizers Liz Waddington, Sally Blathwayt and Jan Williams it was a wonderful day.
While the Masterton Division 3 team is not in action on Saturday, it is nevertheless a busy weekend for men's interclub with Division 2 and Division 6 playing on Saturday with the first round of the Maquis Shield on Sunday.
Division 2 play Manor Park at Te Marua without Simon Dew who has broken an ankle after a freak accident last weekend. The team (not in playing order) is as follows: Michael Schofield, Peter Forrester, Sam Forrester, Brent McKenzie, Alan Sandford, Robin Smith, Simon Hodge, Ben Harrowfield, Wade Walker, Courtney Gane.
Division 6 play Otaki at home with this line-up (not in order): Tony Iggulden, Mike Dixon, Brian Leighton, Shane Grant, Brett Gibbs, Trevor Campbell, Tony Roseingrave, Joe Tuoro, Rob Harrison, Barry Smith.
The 2005 contest for the Maquis Shield kicks off at Featherston on Sunday with Masterton up against Mahunga.
Seniors: Bart Guckert, Colin Hicks, Steve Elliott, Mike Dixon.
Intermediate: Derek Clarkson, Arthur Sandford, Alan Sadler, Rod Garden.
Junior: Alex McLeod, Peter Kenny, Tala Mapusua, Steve Hemmingway.
The Club competition on Saturday is a net plus putts event, while men are reminded that entries in the Captain's Trophy close on Sunday.
Many will have been saddened to hear of the death this last week of Ruth Myers, a noted character amongst the members at Masterton. Ruth came to the town 22 years ago as Senior Mistress at Wairarapa College, a position she held till her retirement. She began her golf at Mahunga before moving to Masterton.
Here she won recognition as a most consistent golfer and a great collector of trophies. Incredibly, the last Annual Report lists her as winning seven separate events in 2004, though sadly she was too ill to collect them. Jonesy and I found Ruth a great sparring partner and quickly realised that the best way to deal with her was to get in the first word. I'm sure that if there's a golf course wherever she is now Ruth will have already won her first LGU round.
Off the Fairway
Graeme Jones has a golf trolley with pneumatic tyres ? or at least he did. The trolley had been in the boot of his car during the recent hot spell. At golf a couple of weeks ago, he found that one of the tyres had blown out, presumably from heat expansion. He let some air out of the other tyre and away he went. At the 9th tee there was an almighty explosion as the second tyre blew up.