Alpine Classic............

The Alpine Classic was held at Hanmer over the weekend. The following report is filed by our roving reporter Ben Frampton who appears to have stayed awake for the whole weekend's festivities a first perhaps??

The weekend event was attended by a total touring party of approximately 50. Excluding the caddies and other advisers there was a strong playing field of 40, comprising 28 men and 12 women.

Friday evening included a barbecue superbly cooked by Michael Gibbon with assistance from Kerry Sullivan and others, drinks, more drinks for some participants and a putting competition in the clubhouse, the prize of a bottle of Pinot Noir won by Brian Ronan showing early form with the blade.

On Saturday we were blessed with a brilliant day, fine and completely calm. Alan Scott and Brian Nixey, who had both been back in Christchurch on Friday night, drove up early and the benefits of their partial abstinence on Friday night appeared to be reflected in them both carding 39 stableford points and being joint first day leaders in the men's section. On countback Alan Scott was awarded the privilege of wearing the leader's silver jacket for the evening dinner.

Janet Osborn was the overnight leader in the women's section with 34 stableford. It was not clear whether her chances for the following day were assisted by the advice available from Grant , but we won't go into any further detail on that subject.

A strong norwester blew during the night but fortunately died down on Sunday morning to give us another good day.

Early indications were that Paul Needs was having some trouble negotiating the subtleties of the Hanmer layout and may not have been any more help in his other alternative option of playing in the President's Grade final at Clearwater . Paul had played his Saturday round in the same group as young Benji Andrews and commented how pleased he was to have the chance to play with someone shorter than himself. Considering the Andrews height gene pool, it is doubtful if Paul could make this claim for too much longer.

There was some movement in the scoring on Sunday with Ben Frampton emerging first on stableford at the end by one point over Brian Ronan and with Graham Watson steady in third place. Linda Sumner came home on Sunday to finish first in the Women's section with a plucky Janet Osborn holding on for second and Sandra Standage finishing third

Brian Nixey incurred a yellow card warning for attempting to enter in the Women's long driving competition . His excuse " I had to get my name on something" was unanimously rejected by the disciplinary committee

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the weekend was Russell Standage on Saturday night. Having won a Prenzel gin in the raffle, he competed strongly to come through and win the gin bottle putting competition in the clubhouse, fighting off the challenges of Peter Phelan and Brenda Parlane in the final round. However it was the standout manner of his performance that won over the spellbound audience. Each putt took something like 10 minutes as Russell preceded his putting by regaling the audience with some superbly told tales, including demonstrations and sound effects. A brilliant effort all round.

We all appreciated the assistance of Gibby and Liz making things work so well and the hospitality and fine condition of the Hanmer Springs Golf Course. A great weekend enjoyed by all......