The Worrying Trend Of Hackerism Continues

Early morning was required on Saturday as Yu-Jin had his first grading at taekwondo. He did well, better than I expected, and he gained his promotion to yellow belt with two tips, 8th gup. Following the grading he did a class with little kids where he was the second highest ranked. I much prefer that he goes to his normal class which has a large number of adult black belts.

Had a bit of lunch and then went shopping for a basin for the bathroom as Miky is getting a new vanity built. We knew a shop in Osborne Park near Ikea but were a little disappointed with the range, although they had one that we particularly liked. Wandered over to Ikea to let Yu-Jin play in the ball house whilst we sat down for a drink. When it was time to go I bought him a hot dog as he loves them. We did a bit more looking around for a basin and finally arrived at Bunnings. They had the same basin as the first shop but it was $26 cheaper and not just a sample. Jackpot. We bought 10L of paint mixed to Antique USA for me to do the passageway and dining area sometime in my spare time.

Yu-Jin and I went to the pool after the shopping was done. There was a large group of Indonesian boys, who weren't small lads, playing a modified game of rugby in the pool and Yu-Jin tried his hardest to join in, even when three guys were tackling another guy. He's not afraid of the water.

Sunday morning = crazy time of morning. Had to get up at 4:20 to get ready for golf at Marangaroo. I'd told Joe that I wanted an early start so that I would have much of the day free. He booked us in for 6am and I thought that he was joking. Kim arrived at my house at five o'clock and I drove to Marangaroo. We got there at 5:30 and the gates were locked and the sign on the gate said that the course opened at 6:30. Oh, no. They did open up at about 10 to six.

Still dark at six. The sun didn't come up until we were on the third hole!

Crazy time to play golf. This is the view from the clubhouse.

Kangaroos on the first - flash required still.

My hackerism is confirmed after yesterdays game. Talk about crap. I came last on handicap by four strokes! Not that mucking about on the par-3 16th with a left-handed putt that missed cost me the match either. On the par-3 4th I had a double-hit trying to get my ball out from underneath a yacka. On the next, a par-5, I creamed my drive and thought that I could see the 150m marker so I laid-up with a 5-iron only to find myself 30m from the green - could have reached the green with a 3-iron and anything could have happened. Ended up scoring a double-bogey seven.

The greens were generally quite slow as they had been sanded, the grass was long and very dewy as we were playing so early. I did hit the best score with the putter though. Just the rest of my game was crap.

Kim birdied the 9th which was thoroughly deserved. On the par-5 11th I teed off into the trees and had to fashion a shot where I was hugging a tree to swing the club. Hit the ball under a yacka and lost two balls just trying to knock it out onto the fairway!! I have no idea where the balls went but no-one saw them come out. Struck an 11. Joe had a putt for eagle and missed the cup by a couple of inches and had a one-footer for birdie. Well done mate. Well played.

We had a group of two behind us who were obviously in a hurry to finish and after I'd spent a few minutes to find my ball on the 10th they yelled out "Congratulations," when I finished. A couple of holes later Joe and I notice the old bastard of the two kicking his ball towards the fairway. No wonder they were playing quickly.

At the 18th there was a queue, as we had other groups in front of us who had started on the 10th, and the group of two caught up to us. Shayne just walked up to them and said, "You'll be finishing late today," and I mentioned to Joe that maybe you wouldn't get a nine if you kicked your ball back onto the fairway. Cheating bastards.

Kim and Joe won the day on handicap, Shayne came third and I filled last place. The worrying trend has been confirmed. Great time to play golf though. Maybe half an hour later though.

Marangaroo Scorecard 26th March 2006.

Kangaroos grazing happily.

Had to fashion my shot here to miss the kangaroos.

What's up skip?

Friendly little buggers.

The afternoon was spent mixing three bags of soil improver and 12 bags of mushroom compost into the front garden. Fun. Fast Eddies for tea where we had lasagne, apple pies and wedges. I hit the sack at eight o'clock, quite buggered I was.