Steady Balbir triumphs

The Wednesday Wackers were doing their usual thing over the four Wednesday mornings of March at Awali Golf Club. A couple of new faces were amongst the players, these gentlemen having the pleasure of discovering holes in their schedules, and choosing to fill said holes with attempts at whacking wizardry.

The first week of play saw Metje Alink and Diane Loney inch ahead of others with 17 points, but neither of them was in Bahrain for the rest of the month.

Dipping his toes into the waters of the Wackers for the first time, Balbir Singh led the field home in the second week, with 20 points. It appears his performance on that Wednesday buoyed his game, as two days later he won the club’s formal Friday competition - the Abdulla Ali Kanoo Cup with a nett-62 (gross 85).

Onny Martin announced his presence carding 19 points, to lead the chase.

Week 3, sandwiched in between the Bahrain Ladies Open Championship and the Bahrain Open Championship, saw a depleted field of players. Balbir added to his total with a shaky 15-pointer.

Entering Week 4, only three players had two weeks’ scores in the bag: Balbir in the lead with 35 points, Onny still in with a chance on 31 points, whilst Serwin Rampersad on 26 points appeared out of contention.

Thus Week 4 on the front nine was a two-horse race. Onny came out of the starting gate with gusto: par - par - birdie - par - bogey, with the higher-handicapper Balbir shooting a similarly impressive par - par - par - bogey - double bogey. However, the wheels then fell off Onny’s trolley, his tee-shot on the 6th landing in very soft sand to the right of the green, the ball almost totally buried, nul point the result.

Balbir continued his steady play for the rest of the round and pulled ahead, finishing with 22 points and securing him the Wednesday Wackers Monthly Trophy for March with a total of 57 points, as well as a 6-shot handicap cut so as to align him a little more accurately to his overt display of competence. Onny was runner-up with 50 points.