FOR a bloke whose idea of recreation is paddling his surf ski 27km across the ocean from Rottnest Island to Fremantle’s Sorrento Beach, playing a round of golf at Brisbane’s Virginia Golf Club on a Tuesday morning must seem as challenging as mowing the lawn.
It certainly seemed that way when Mark Gardner, a 40-year-old structural engineer, recently took on the members in a Stableford competition at a course where Wayne Grady and Greg Norman learned the game.
Gardner, who modestly claims to have done ‘a bit of endurance sport’ in his time, had just rediscovered his love for golf while practising with his dad Jim, and was playing his first competitive game after becoming a new Virginia member.
After scoring 35 points from his first 13 holes, Gardner’s playing partners observed that he was doing well, and that he might be a chance in the day’s competition. Comments like that, of course, invariably lead to disaster.
But not this day; not for Mark Gardner. He continued to notch three-pointer after three-pointer and, when he added it up after the last putt dropped, he found he’d scored 51 fantastic points.
Playing from a handicap of 36, he won the comp by 11 points, a feat he admitted was a little embarrassing with such a friendly handicap, and which prompted an afternoon phone call from the club captain, who said some members had lodged complaints.
An adventure ‘junkie’ returning to play regular golf, Mark Gardner scored a remarkable 51 points in a recent round played at Virginia in Brisbane.
Gardner had played golf when he was a teenager, but had given the game away for 15 years as life got in the way. Father Jim, 80, a long-time Virginia member, had persuaded him to give it another go.
“I played a few rounds, put in the cards and was given a handicap of 36,” he said. “It was my first competitive round and I knew I was playing fairly well, sort of playing bogey golf.”
Despite a wipe at the par-four sixth hole, he notched 23 points for the first nine, helped significantly by a birdie three on the eighth hole, which contributed five points to his score.
On the back nine he continued his consistent form, tallying six three-pointers and two four-pointers for a remarkable 28 points.
The Golf Australia handicapper reacted violently, slashing Gardner’s handicap to 16 – but not soon enough for fellow member Dale Caulfield, who must have thought his 40 points on the day would be good enough for a win.
Gardner, who says he enjoys most sports, is now competing regularly at Virginia. He’s even practising on the range.
But in late November he flew to Perth to compete in the Doctor Ocean Ski Race, Australia’s most exciting – and daunting – ocean paddling event.
Gardner described it as ‘a different sort of sporting challenge,’ one he clearly enjoys. But an even bigger challenge will be trying to replicate that amazing 51 points.
The post 51 points! Golf is easy for Virginia’s adventure junkie first appeared on Inside Golf. Australia's Most-Read Golf Magazine as named by Australian Golfers - FREE.
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