COD 2018

The 2018 Mouth of COD Invitational was curated by Iggy Pop, taking in the Buninyong, Trentham and Ballarat Golf Clubs.

Day 1

COD 2018 got off to a terrific start at Buninyong Golf Club.

First things first, and Hujakate had once again come up with a tournament shirt of more than dubious sartorial splendour.

Thanks to greatrounds.com, carts were used by all except a recalcitrant Iggy.  An equally recalcitrant Mike Sheahan threw off his tournament shirt after two holes.

Buninyong is an interesting course with good greens, but the lack of rain made fairways hard – ideal for tee shots to scuttle and run, not so ideal for fairway shots to attack the flag.

Despite his aversion to carts, Nifty started out brightly and was the Green Jacket leader after Day 1.  But the big news was the form of The Elegance.  After talking himself down pre-tournament, he came up with a very tidy 94 – including a chip in on the 18th – to finish with a nett 62.

After Day 1:

	Score	Handicap	Nett
Nifty	83	8	75
Dunnngo	88	15	73
IggyPop	89	12	77
Indahouse	90	18	72
The Elegance	94	32	62
Hujakate	103	21	82
Dr Tushy	116	36	80
Mike Sheahan	121	35	86

Day 2

Following a night at exclusive Tarilta Towers, Day 2 action took place in magnificent weather at Trentham Golf Club.

Similarly to Buninyong, the lack of rain made for hard fairways, but it’s fair to say that the greens at Trentham are outstanding.  A bit tricky to judge the pace early on with the dew, but once they dried out they were fast and true.

Mike Sheahan was finding the going tough, despite following his new found ball address routine as advised by The Elegance on Day 1.

Having seen his handicap drift out by 4 strokes after Day 1, Iggy got back into form with a 79.

Nifty continued his form with an 80, but once again The Elegance made a mockery of his handicap with an 89 – nett 62.

A new competition was run simultaneously on Day 2 – a 4 Ball Best Ball where teams of two score points if either player is nett under par for the hole.  This competition – for the very handsome looking Odd Couple Plate – was won by Hujakate and Iggy.

After Day 2:

	Score	Handicap	Nett	Total Score	Total Nett
Nifty	80	9	71	163	145
Iggy Pop	79	16	63	168	140
Dunnngo	93	16	77	181	150
The Elegance	89	27	62	183	124
Indahouse	95	18	77	185	149
Hujakate	94	26	68	197	150
Dr Tushy	114	40	74	230	154
Mike Sheahan	117	42	75	238	161

Day 3

A fabulous meal at The Forge pizzeria and a night at the gloriously retro Bell Tower Inn put CODsters in a great frame of mind for the deciding day’s action at Royal Ballarat Golf Club.

It seems almost mandatory at the COD that an early tee off means breakfast can only be held at the evil Golden Arches.

The weather was once again superb, although a stiff breeze on the opening tee tested all but Inda and Nifty, who parred. This meant Nifty had stretched his overnight lead to 6 strokes – but danger was afoot.

Winningest Green Jacket winner Nifty suddenly collapsed with double and triple bogeys – after 4 holes, the Green Jacket was all square between Nifty and Iggy Pop.

But the champ got off the canvas with three straight pars, slugging it out with Iggy in an epic contest. Iggy, however, had other ideas, peeling off par-birdie-par to finish the front nine with a sizzling 38 – three strokes in the lead.

Meanwhile in Reserve Grade, it was Inda setting the “pace” (if you can call it that). Then at the par 5 10th hole, COD history was made with all four players – Indahouse, Hujakate, Mike Sheahan and Dr Tushy – recording a pick-up double-par 10 in a cornucopia of incompetence.

Tushy may be at the wrong end of the leader board, but who could deny that he looks anything other than a low ranking touring pro?

And who could deny that Inda looks anything other than…. a Queenslander?

The battle royale continued over the back nine but Nifty could not make any headway on Iggy, each recording a 41. This left Iggy Pop as the 2018 Mouth of COD Invitational Green Jacket winner!

The quiet achiever on the final day was El Gamble, posting a pair of 49s to run out Auld Mug winner by a whopping 7 strokes in a truly triumphant return to COD action. In his unassuming way, he packed his trophy before anyone could take a photo – such a modest man.

The wash up:

	Score	Handicap	Nett	Total Score	Total Nett
Iggy Pop	79	12	67	247	207
Nifty	87	9	78	250	223
Dunnngo	99	19	80	280	230
The Elegance	98	22	76	281	200
Indahouse	103	21	82	288	231
Hujakate	108	24	84	305	234
Dr Tushy	117	41	76	347	230
Mike Sheahan	118	44	74	356	235