22/02/2018
TCP Cup 19 has been run and won in the fabulous city of Newcastle, NSW.
Although the field was very small this was one of the most enjoyable TCP Cups with the locals Newman and Robbo going out of their way to showcase this gem of place.
Our time in Newcastle included visits to the Newcastle Races, the fabulous beaches, great watering holes and fantastic restaurants and cafes.
Some excellent performances at the races included Shirley having three big serves of pavlova and the diminutive Laroo eating 79 prawns off the stick from the buffet!
Was a tough weekend for Shirley who lost his car keys in Nowra on the way up and had to leave it there and pick up a rental. In a near disaster a tidal wave hit the Merryweather Beach baths on the Saturday and the keys to the rental car where washed away. Fortunately we were able to find them in the baths.
On the golf front in a change of format we played 1 round on the Sunday at Pacific Dunes and 2 rounds on the Monday at Newcastle Golf Club.
On the Sunday at Pacific Dunes conditions were tough as it was hot, windy and humid. In addition the course was extremely dry with lots of run and the bunkers were a bit flukey.
Brett Dolly Barton shot and astonishing 32 and Gareth shot 27 separating themselves from the rest of the field who averaged 20 points in the trying conditions.
Conditions at Newcastle GC were much better with cooler weather and excellent fairways. Still a challenging tough layout which played hard for the visitors. In the morning round, Dolly shot 36 points streeting the rest of the field. He followed that up with a lazy 31 points in the afternoon for an aggregate of 99 winning by 23 points. Second was Gareth with 76 points ahead of a cluster of players in the low 70s.
We must not forget the outstanding performance of the other local lad 'soft hands' 'not Snake' Baker who did not play the first round but finished equal 4th with rounds of 32 and 39 on the Monday. He followed this up with bringing a box of magnificent wines to share for dinner at the Thai kinez on the Monday night. Thank you sir!
Congratulations to Dolly on an outstanding performance a worthy winner!
Many thanks to Newman for organising everything. I am becoming like Lou Richards, just pretending to run the show and just running around cracking jokes and talking s**t.
Thanks to Robbo for providing the free rounds and organising the bookings. Thanks Laroo for the photos and massage, Shirley for driving us around, Jars for looking after me, Razor and Argy for coping with Laroos nuclear experiments.
And that is all, for TCP Cup Newcastle 2018.