They say it’s a long way to Tipperary but we found it was only about a 6 minute drive to Tipperary Golf Course. This was our much anticipated morning activity and it certainly lived up to expectations. We were met at the shed by Geoff who provided the most personal service ever experienced by this golfer! He shook our hands one by one (no COVID niceties here), expressing great joy to meet us and welcome us to the club. Not only did he open said shed and find us a cart and two buggies – this entailed taking off other people’s golf clubs and setting them aside with gay abandon – he gave us a detailed guide to the course with lots of finger pointing, arm waving, and detailed descriptions. I lost him after he said, “this is the first tee,” but Gaz took it all in, right up to, “and that’s the 18th green.”
When I say “green”, I was absolutely fascinated by the sand greens – I thought they were great! The heavy rain last night had dampened them nicely and I thought they played fine. Geoff brushed away any suggestion that we should rake or brush them or whatever you’re supposed to do and suggested the rain last night was enough to ensure no ongoing maintenance from us was required. When Gaz asked Geoff how much we owed him, he seemed puzzled and indicated a sign near the honesty box that said $6 round per person. Gaz then reminded him that Geoff had been dragged from home and hearth to meet us and the four of us were using some other random people’s equipment and should perhaps pay for that privilege. Geoff was perplexed at this notion and reluctantly took the proffered $50 from Gaz, thanking him profusely on behalf of the club. Gaz reminded me later that our round at Bathurst had cost us $80, just for me and him!
Having waved Geoff off, we commenced the game and only aimed at the wrong flag once, admittedly this was on the first tee and my confidence was low that we would proceed with any accuracy … but we did. There was a nasty moment on the 2nd where the bull ants were so large and ferocious where the ball lay that we had to take a sort of Happy Gilmore run up in order to avoid being stung. The rest of the round went smoothly with everyone playing a pretty good round. This was helped by the total lack of bunkers on the whole course and the fact there was only one patch of water in the form of a billabong that we all easily avoided.
With a fine round of golf under our belt (btw Kev got the honours and the point for RTG), we proceeded to Poppa’s Fudge & Jam Factory, located on the edge of Young. What an amazing array of sweet things and giftware. We spent a pleasant time there picking out some yummy treats. I also found some perfume for Gaz to give me for Christmas so that was a bonus! A quiet afternoon reading and eating cherries – does it get any better than this?
Early evening saw the continuation of the Road Trip Games in the form of Bocce out behind the cabin. I was on fire (even if I say so myself) and snavelled two of the three points up for grabs. A fun time on a beautiful spring day!
We then adjourned to the cabin where I whipped up dinner – Penne Boscaiola and Maz provided stewed cherries with cream & custard. OMG – we were in raptures – both meals were well received but the cherries were to die for! Maz also experimented with adding some liqueur to the custard and cream which was also well received by those who like that sort of thing.
To top the evening off we had our usual Euchre tournament with Gaz the victor tonight and the rest of us sharing the crumbs. Off to Wellington tomorrow – we have enjoyed Young … and especially the cherries!
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