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LAST UPDATED : Monday 13th November, 2018
The 3 day trip to Canberra is over and a most enjoyable weekend was the result.
We had 4 debutantes on this tour and, not for the first time, they included the eventual winner when Matt Armstrong came home to win the Tour Championship by just 2 points from the comeback kid and fast finishing late starter, Tony Arnold.
Accommodation at the Tradies Club in Dickson is excellent and very convenient although they did not make the changes to the rooming arrangements requested the week before we arrived, which created some confusion at check-in but it all worked out ok in the end.
The weather was superb for all 3 days and all of the golf courses in excellent condition. In my view the greens at each course were notable for the lack of mounds, hollows and swales which seems to be the preferred option of designers these days. I think those extremes are unnecessary as the game is hard enough when greens offer good pace and gentle slopes to test putting skills.
Belconnen, which none of us had played before, turned out to be a very good parkland course with a brand new clubhouse opened just 2 weeks ago. It is characterised by big trees, bent grass greens and rye grass fairways. We played from the blue tees and it is a good walk just 13 metres short of 6k with some large greens with gentle slopes and subtle rolls. We managed to collect 7 balls from the Pro Shop next morning so our scoring was pretty good with 13 of us making 31 points or better.
We played Murrumbidgee, starting on the 10th, from the white tees and at 6148m it is a good walk. Not too dissimilar to Belconnen in many ways, it is a very good layout also with Rye grass fairways although the 'rough' is probably a little drier and less forgiving. Alan Digger had a day out with 41 points and was leading the comp when we left but we didn't return to check out results because it is about 40 minutes driving in the wrong direction.
Gungahlin Lakes is as usual in excellent condition, which was much better than those of us who dined on Indian the night before in Dickson. That particular restaurant is off the agenda for future visits or, perhaps just the curried goat, which seems to have been the common denominator for those of us making regular 'comfort stops' during and after play on the Monday. Tony Arnold managed 40 points on the day and clearly was very comfortable after dining on Chinese the night before. I regret I didn't!
For full results click here.
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