JIGGERS GOLF SOCIETY- DUBAI

Committee Rob Edgecombe Society Chairman +971 (56) 6034759 edgecombe1@gmail.com Ernest Hosking Society Captain +971 (50) 5503160 ernestjh@emirates.net.ae Kelvin Tayfield Vice Captain & Social Organiser +971 (56) 6503454 ktayfield@alkhaliji.ae Brian Schofield Scorer & Society Handicapper +971 (50) 4659375 jiggersdubai@gmail.com David Green Away Game Organiser +971 (50) 5508746 david.green@gaj-uae.ae Ant Milne Sponsorship Organiser +971 (50) 5581379 anthony@motivate.ae Captain’s Assistant Zia Hosking +971 (50) 8753033 zial@eim.ae

Captain’s Report Dec 2012

December Game and Year End Prize Giving Function – The Els Club - Friday 07 December 2012

Christmas came early for some of us as we enjoyed our December and 12th game of the year at The Els Club on Friday 07 December 2012. This was followed by our Annual Prize Giving Dinner and Quaffing Evening held on the patio of the newly opened Els Clubhouse – more on this later. The course was in its usual great condition – although judging by the scores a number of players found it quite difficult. All in all this is a great venue for our end of year game and the Club did us proud with a very competitive winter green fee including a pre game snack and a couple of drinks – some players took the opportunity to indulge in a few Castles that were on offer to try and improve their games.

A big thanks to Kelvin Tayfield for his great organisation of both the golf and the dinner – even though he was unable to play and attend until later in the evening.

We had a field of 24 players including 21 Jiggers and 3 Guests – somewhat disappointing for our year end game. This did not seem to dampen festivities though!

Welcome to our 3 Guests (in no particular order): -

Mark Barr (past Jigger)

Roscoe Friend

James Bisset

Prize Winners for the day

Individual Stableford (open to Jiggers members only)

Charles Arnestad 40 points

Dave Green 37 points (can’t keep him out of the prizes these days!)

Betterball Stableford

Charles Arnestad and Craig Strydom 41 points

Bruce Penn and Dave Green 40 points o.c.o. from

Pete Hedley and Wally Robinson 40 points

Individual Shotmakers

Nearest the Pin 0 – 14 handicaps Bruce Penn

Nearest the Pin 15 – 28 handicaps Dalton Taylor

Longest Drive 0 – 14 handicaps Mike Berry

Longest Drive 15 – 28 handicaps Erik Dekker

Matchplay

A number of games were played:-

Player 1 Player 2 Score

Pete Hedley beat Bruce Penn 2nd play-off hole

Jean van Loggerenberg

beat Paul Webb-Jones w/o

These were the finals of the Matchplay trophy and the Matchplay plate.

Updated Matchplay sheet attached.

Annual Prize Giving Function

Jiggers were honoured to welcome our respective Ministers of Home and Social

Affairs/Handbrakes/Chicks to the Annual Dinner and Prize Giving Function held at the newly

opened Els Club. The girls certainly arrived in their finest livery and the Committee momentarily

considered a constitutional amendment to embrace a unisex society! However, having enjoyed the

company of Charles Glass post the game in the afternoon and some fellowship in the Jacuzzi, it

was a very fleeting thought!

The Els Club did us proud as did the weather and the evening was enjoyed by all even with the

absence of quiz-master of yesteryear in his pink CK jocks – missed you Marty and your good

partying wife! A big thank you to Francisco and his merry team for keeping us well stocked with

good food and Ernie’s finest.

While on the subject of thank you – a special note of thanks to the Jiggers Committee for their

time and dedication to the cause of our society – I certainly appreciate the great support during

this past year, my first year of captaincy: -

Chairman Rob – whose wise council and ongoing enthusiasm for Jiggers is just fantastic

Vice Cappie Kelvin – whose no nonsense approach has been a great support

Scorer Brian – who has spent most of the year developing new handicapping software that

should be put to good use next year

Tour organiser extraordinaire David – who continues to ratchet up the bar and does so with

good humour and great patience in shepherding a bunch of aging Wrinklies around foreign

soil

Sponsorship Ant – who not only prevents any waffling at committee meetings by keeping us

rigidly to the agenda but has also spent the year cajoling various sponsors into a stunning

array of prizes that were available for the evening. (Please note guys – these are

generously sponsored prizes and Ant in many instances has his business reputation on the

line when collecting so they unfortunately cannot be swapped or exchanged in any way!)

Not to forget also my very capable and persistent assistant (and better half) for organising our

games roster and dealing with all the clubs. I would also like to thank El Capitano Bill Collins for his

assistance and advice in handing over the reigns – he sure made it easy for me.

Another big thank you is owed to both Chairman Rob and Jean van Loggerenberg for sorting all the

prizes out and getting the trophies repaired/replaced and engraved for the yearend function.

Coming to the end of another successful Jiggers year, a vote of thanks was extended to our

wives/partners/chicks (or in some cases perhaps all 3!) for putting up with the early alarm on a

Friday morning, listening to our noisy ablutions and receiving a loving tap on the behind as we rush

off full of hope to play Jiggers, only to have to deal with our grumpy return when not much of our

game turned out to be as we imagined!

The fines were conducted by our zealous Fines Master – Pete Hedley – and the coffers were well

lined by the time he had finished!

There were some real classic fines levied by some of the Jiggers - notably the tale of the two

wedges by Umgababa Wally Wun-Putt Robinson on Slapper McKerchar which nearly led to a war of

civilisations in Wally’s office and the fine by Bruce Penn on Bill Collins for a certain matchplay

monkey that does not appear to want to leave the Ex El Capitano’s back!

Annual Competition Winners

Player of the Year (Average of best 5 stableford points)

Peter Hedley 35.4 points

Mike Berry 35.2 points o.c.o. from

Kevin Hudson 35.2 points

Eclectic (Best stableford points on each of strokes 1 to 18 on courses played)

David Green 58 points o.c.o. from

Charles Arnestad 58 points

Mike Berry 57 points

Most Improved Player (Percentage reduction in handicap)

Bryce Allan 30% reduction to a 7 handicap

Kelvin Tayfield 25% reduction to an 8 handicap

Bryce was obviously also hoping to pick up an award as the most appropriately dressed Jigger of the evening!

Matchplay Winners

Trophy: -

Peter Hedley winner over Bruce Penn after the 2nd playoff hole – a titanic battle

Carmelo Plate: -

Jean van Loggerenberg walkover Paul Webb-Jones due to Paul’s unavailability

Jigger of the Year (As voted for by Jiggers)

Mike Berry

A new award was introduced for the first time this year. This was for the Jigger who showed commitment to Jiggers through regular attendance at Jiggers games and functions and who, in his own way, embodied the ethos and spirit that makes a “good Jigger”. Whilst there were some views expressed that it would be a mistake to single out one individual when there are so many unsung heroes in Jiggers, the Committee felt the more committed and spirited members we have in the Society the more successful it would be and the longevity would be guaranteed. In many sporting codes at the highest level there is an award for people voted by the players/participants themselves and it is usually a highly coveted award. The Committee hoped that in the future this award would also be valued within Jiggers and would contribute to an even healthier Society. It certainly is not the intention to undermine so many other great members we are so fortunate to have in our society.

Mike was clearly overcome by this award as he proceeded to indulge in some serious imbibing, then took hold of the microphone and suffered a case of brain-flatulence and made no sense to anyone other than himself!

Race to December

Kevin Hudson 87.50 place points

David Green 77.75 place points

Mike Berry 76.00 place points

This was a new competition this year which involved no playing skill at all. It was designed

to satisfy those punters amongst us who are missing their gambling. Essentially each Jigger

chose 5 players who he felt would perform consistently well during the year and

importantly would play in as many games as possible. Each Jigger would contribute AED50

into the prize pool with the winner taking home 50% of the pool!

Other Prizes, Awards, Special Mentions

Annual Jigger Chipping Competition Craig Strydom

Most Points over 5 Consecutive Holes 16 Points – Kevin Hudson, o.c.o. from Erik Dekker and Corey Spring

Most 5 Pointers in the Year 1 – Bryce Allan, o.c.o. from Charles Arnestad and Andre Naude

Most Jiggers holes played in the year 252 out of a maximum of 270 – Chairman Rob from David Green – 243 including only 9 holes at Yas after baling with heat exhaustion!

Some stats for this past year

o Average number of Jiggers who played the games during the year was 21. This was a

12% increase on the year before but we should strive to improve on this as it means on

average 11 Jiggers are not playing each game we play – this surely can be improved

upon.

o In total we averaged 27 players during the year which was an 8% increase on the prior

year.

o Green fees averaged AED430 per game which was a 3% increase on the year before.

o The hardest course we played based on the lowest average score was JGE – Earth

Course where we only managed to average 24 points.

o The easiest course we played was Abu Dhabi National where we averaged a very

credible 32 points.

o The most difficult hole we played was the 16th on The Earth Course – 448 yard par 4,

stroke 7 where we only managed to average 0.7 points.

o The easiest hole we played was the 17th at Al Badia – 360 yard par 4, stroke 6 where we

managed to average 3.0 points.

Next Game (first game of 2013)

Friday 11th January at Jumeirah Golf Estates – Earth Course (hopefully still in good condition following the Race to Dubai)

Confirmed tee times for 32 players

Green Fee: AED595 including a bacon (pork!) and egg sandwich for breakfast. (This is AED100 off the normal corporate rate for winter.

Tee Times: 08:00 a.m. to 09:24

Organizer: Bryce Allan

Fines Master: Bill Collins

We will also take the opportunity to raise funds for the very tragically injured cyclist – Richard Holland. The circumstances for him and his family are really incredibly difficult – see http://backonyourbike.com/. We have some prizes left over from the year end game which we intend to raffle off so please bring a few extra dirhams to this game.

Games Roster

The roster will be circulated early in the New Year. The first 3 games are as follows: -

Friday 11 Jan 2013: JGE – Earth Course

Friday 08 Feb 2013: Arabian Ranches

Friday 08 Mar 2013: Saadiyat Beach Golf Club

Please diarise these dates in the mean time and make sure you get your golfing butts into action.

Movers and Shakers

Mike and Barbara Berry are to be congratulated on their eldest son’s engagement. Mike’s future daughter in law comes with a “ready-made” so Mike is spending a lot of time in the company of Pete Hedley for a crash course on grand parenting an Aussie!

If you see the Chairman loitering in Baby Shop – don’t be surprised either as he and Linda are delighted to announce that they are grandparents in waiting as their daughter is expecting around mid 2013!!

A warm Jiggers congratulations to both these families!

Those of you at the Jiggers Annual Dinner 2 years ago will recall the “yena lo holiday ga mina” story related by Wally Umgababa Robinson. We had the good fortune of having Umgababa spend the night with us that evening. By the time we arrived home Umgababa was not in a tidy state. He took a terrible tumble as he was mounting the stairs and in a brave effort not to head butt a large glass vase and also not break the glass of water in his hand, he did some painful damage to his persona. Unable to gather himself without help and with my one arm being in a cast, I looked around for some support from my better half only to see her listing severely to starboard herself and giggling hysterically like some mocking bird. I had visions having to call the local constabulary for assistance but eventually managed to haul Umgababa up off the stairs in to bed. He awoke in some severe pain in his wrist during the night and stumbled down stairs looking for ice to ease the pain. Unable to find any, he sort comfort by wrapping his hand in a packet of frozen peas! This was not before the bedside lamp also took a trashing but was hastily repaired with some nimble DIY from Walter!

It was with some trepidation therefore that we answered the call for post Annual Prize Giving accommodation this year especially when it was accompanied by the instruction to ensure all ornaments were bubble wrapped before his arrival. We took comfort though, secure in the knowledge that he would be accompanied by his good wife Scary Mary this time round. We were not to be disappointed however. Umgababa waltzed in to the house with his golf bag over his shoulder and proceeded to do a pirouette that would have made Giselle proud – with one wide sweeping motion the offending glass vase from two years prior that he avoided so valiantly then, was in splinters. The effect on Scary was remarkable – like a lithesome female leopard she rounded on poor Walter with a threat that if he so much as moved in the direction of the lladro ornaments he would be forking out his entire year’s salary in compensation. Walter duly obliged and whimpered slowly off to bed!

The remains of the offending vase: -

Membership

This year we bid farewell to one of our founding Jiggers members – Erik Dekker - who played in the very first game in December 2005. Erik also served a 2 year stint on the committee as Away Tour Organiser and organised some really memorable tours, namely the Garden Route South Africa and Spain Tours. In addition to his ability to purvey a certain taste level of email around the group, Deks was also renowned for managing his handicap at a solid 17 throughout his period in Jiggers.

Whilst his handicap didn’t waiver his scores certainly did and tended to err on the good side when it mattered most. He was also usually seen wielding the “fines glass” after each game collecting the fines money and this somehow kept him under the radar when it came to being fined himself. Erik and his family have relocated back to Cape Town – expect to have a Jiggers Cape Town branch up and running soon. (I am sure Deks will also put some pressure on another past Jigger – Rodders to get the Johannesburg branch up and running as well.) Thanks Erik for your strong commitment, fun and camaraderie that you brought to Jiggers over the years – we wish you, Sharon and the family all the best in your new endeavours. Look forward to you joining us on tour again with some of your Cape Town Jiggers mates. (Preferably no “Dirty Dougs!”)

We also say good bye to Sean Drury, Tony Geldenhuys and Allan Stanton who have not seen their way clear to commit to be able to play enough games with Jiggers next year. I am sure we will see them “guesting” whenever they get the chance.

We accordingly welcome the following new members into Jiggers next year most of whom don’t need much introduction as they have played quite a few games as guests: -

James Bisset

In James’ words: “I'm 30 years young. A Creative Director at Ogilvy. Which means I run a team of creative people in coming up with various advertising campaigns - TV, print, outdoor, experiential and others. I've been in Dubai for nearly five years - including a 4 month sabbatical in South America. I've always been a golf nut. Ever since taking up the game age 6. Became a scratch handicap at 18. Been on the way out ever since. Currently it sits at 6. My claim to fame on the golf course was beating Margaret Thatcher's son, Mark, 6 and 5 in a league game for Mowbray against Royal Cape. He was a real pr.ck. I also won the ReMax Long Drive Challenge for the Western Cape in 1999. Enjoyed that! At the South African Inter-varsity Golf competition in 2003, I shot 76 on the West Course at Royal Johannesburg. The next day I shot 106 on the East Course. My girlfriend's name is Sofia Dadourian. We met in Dubai about 3 years ago. I haven't told her that I shot 106, so please keep that quiet.”

Graham Walker

In Graham’s words: “I was born in Zimbabwe and moved to South Africa after school. After 16 years in the Motor Trade I joined the Telecoms industry in South Africa. I now work at Al Babtain LeBLANC Telecommunications (based in Abu Dhabi but live in Dubai) – they are infrastructure providers to the Telecom & Broadcast industry. I have been in the UAE for about 2 months after living in Saudi for 7 years and Malaysia for 16 months. I am married and my “ball and chain’s” name is Theresa. I played off a very bad 10 handicap in Saudi and hope to have that “rectified soon”.

James Edgecombe

James Edgecombe is a 26 year old Chartered Accountant and comes with a significant pedigree being the Chairman’s son. His golfing pedigree however surpasses that of his old man – James plays off scratch so I am sure he will put some pressure on our perennial prize winners!! He is a Kearsney Old Boy which will bring much delight to some of our Abu Dhabi contingent – although one would hope he is eminently better behaved. He will be well known to many of you as he has played a number of games as a guest of Jiggers and has been on a few Jiggers tours where he was the Black Dog Tote’s wingman – in addition to being one of the late night revellers – didn’t seem to affect his golf though – he was always at or near the top of the leaderboard. James is in a relationship with Sarah May.

AN Other

To be advised.

Golfing Quotes and Trivia

A parting bit of trivia from Deks (which required no censorship!)

The Ryder Cup hadn’t even ended when the vultures started circling the U.S. Ryder Cup team and captain Davis Love. The captain sent out the wrong players, he made the wrong picks, and, most of all, the American team choked.

“Choke” is a loaded and misunderstood word in golf, and it’s out of order in discussions of the 2012 Ryder Cup. Team USA didn’t choke away the Ryder Cup, and to say they did isn’t fair to how well the Americans played. It also takes away from the incredible comeback the European team pulled off Sunday.

I covered every Ryder Cup between 1989 and 2004. Ultimately, when you put it all in the blender, the team that putts the best wins. On Friday and Saturday, the Americans putted better. On Sunday, the Europeans did. The question is, why did they putt better?

Everything in golf revolves around your energy level, and that level is hard to maintain. That’s why a guy who shoots 62 rarely follows it with a 65 the next day. On Friday and Saturday, the Americans had great energy. That’s a credit to Love and the team environment he created around his players. For years, the knock on the Americans was that they were great at singles but didn’t play well together. The 2012 Ryder Cup proved that wrong.

Playing together, the Americans were committed to making putts, and they did. By contrast, the Europeans were just trying to make putts they weren’t committed and they didn’t make them.

What I mean by "committed" is the feeling that you won't be denied. On Friday and Saturday, the Americans were so emotionally invested that they weren't going to be denied. They made putts without regard for the consequences of not making them. On Sunday, the roles were reversed. The Europeans put it all on the line and didn't think about the consequences of missing putts. They couldn't afford to. Playing with a lead, the Americans were more aware of those consequences. That's the difference between commitment and trying.

The Americans expended so much energy those first two days that they didn’t have anything left to rally around on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Europeans felt like nothing went their way until Saturday afternoon, when they gained a little momentum with those last two matches.

On Sunday, playing for the memory of Seve Ballesteros, they had extra emotion. They played like they had nothing to lose, which is the best way to play.

You could almost see this one coming. On Saturday night, I tweeted that Europe had won five of the seven matches that ended 1-up. Facing a 10-6 deficit, European captain Jose Maria Olazabal did what he needed to do: he sent his best players out first to silence the crowd. It’s no different from a Game 7 in the World Series.

The U.S. team made a similar comeback in Brookline in 1999, but that was a home game. The Europeans faced a more difficult challenge. The road team has to get a lead to take the crowd out of the game. After Europe won the early matches, the Americans weren’t able to draw the emotional energy from the crowd that they desperately needed. And once the Europeans got the score to 10-10, it was a whole different ball game.

One thing I hope this Ryder Cup puts to rest is the idea that the Americans somehow don’t want to win as badly as the Europeans. You can’t tell me Tiger Woods doesn’t care about the Ryder Cup. The U.S. team wanted this Cup badly; they just couldn’t find the energy when they needed it on Sunday. It happens. It happened to the Red Sox against the Yankees in 2003, and it happened to the Yankees against the Red Sox in 2004. And it will happen again to the Europeans and the Americans in the Ryder Cup.

I love this event, but I wish there wasn’t so much vitriol around it. These are two likable teams, and most of the players on both sides earn their livings on the PGA Tour. There’s no reason for nastiness. I’m not blaming the American fans or Chicago fans; it happens everywhere they bring the Cup. Let’s just enjoy the best golf the United States and Europe have to offer.

And that choking talk? Put a sock in it.

Race to December

The final race results after 12 games are as follows:

No. Name Pts

1 Hudson Kevin 87.50

2 Green David 77.75

3 Berry Mike 76.00

4 Hedley Peter 75.00

5 Hosking Ernest 74.00

6 Tayfield Kelvin 72.88

7 van Loggerenberg Jean 71.63

8 Dekker Erik 71.25

9 Schofield Brian 70.88

10 Robinson Wally 69.63

11 Milne Ant 68.88

12 Strydom Craig 68.88

13 French Wayne 68.25

14 Arnestad Charles 67.63

15 Bayly Martin 67.63

16 Drury Sean 67.63

17 Penn Bruce 67.50

18 Edgecombe Rob 66.00

19 Allan Bryce 65.88

20 McKerchar Brian 65.00

21 Webb-Jones Paul 64.13

22 Jones Dave 63.13

23 Taylor Dalton 62.75

24 van der Bijl Vince 61.88

25 Stanton Allan 61.38

26 McKerchar Dave 60.63

27 Naude Andre 59.25

28 Clements Declan 58.25

29 Spring Corey 56.00

30 Geldenhuys Tony 55.38

31 Collins Bill 55.13

32 Smyth Kevin 45.88

Kevin Hudson kept his steeds running strongly throughout the year and emerged the final winner and took home a decent contribution to his Christmas stocking. He was followed down the main straight by Dave Green and Mike Berry.

We will be running this competition again this year so start thinking about the steeds you wish to saddle up. Remember you need to choose 5 guys who finish strongly in the placing of each Jiggers monthly game (overseas tour games do not count.) It takes the average of the best 8 placings so one also needs to ensure you saddle up a regular participant. (Suggest you check on Messrs Gullivers Collins and Smyth’s travel plans for next year before saddling one of them!) Unfortunately no dispensation for withdrawals due to injuries so a look at whether your nag is a Wrinkly or a Pimply may be a good strategy given some of the injuries that have beset our senior members in

recent years. The final new Jigger for 2013 will be advised shortly so you guys can make your choices and let me have them before the first game.

Subs for 2013

We will be collecting subs again for 2013 – amount to be advised. In addition we will collect AED50 for the Race to December betting syndicate. (Apologies to the local laws and customs!)

Looking forward to another positive and fun filled golfing year for Jiggers in 2013 with competitive golf played in true Jiggers spirit. Let’s try and get the attendance up this year guys – we will be looking to some afternoon tee times in the hot summer months if we can’t get off early enough in the mornings – so get in the gym, get fit and get on the course – heat is not an excuse!

A belated Merry and Blessed Christmas to all of you and your families and may 2013 bring you all you wish for – especially that perfect golf swing – how about a Jiggers hole in one this year!!!

Happy golfing, head up and force!

Captain Nest