Day 1

The DC Cup was moved forward by a week due to Easter being brought forward by a month. This also meant that two of the players who were meant to defend their local club championship title would not be able to. As it turns out the weather in Johannesburg played along and most club championships’ were rained out.

We returned to Zebula again for the second consecutive year. Old age and wisdom regarding early rises and starts, seems to have taken over from youth and energy (beer induced of course) so all 6 games would be played on one course.

We arrived early to find the hospitality as good as it was the previous year, and the weather as fine as it was when we left it.

A few went off to the practice range and a few had a couple of beers before we set off for the inaugural round of DC 08.

After what seemed to be a few close calls, the Gud Gize took the betterball 3.5 to 1.5. this even after Jason O’Connel chipped in for a par 5 (or Eagle after out of bounds drive) on the 18^th, thus halving his match.

The customary table awaited the players with ice cold beer on the edge of the 18^th. It didn’t take long to upgrade this to include Mainstay and Coke as well.

After an awe inspiring and thoroughly entertaining session with our fines master, we all went off to enjoy a wonderful meal. Some more than others can remember. It turned out to be a fairly early evening for most of us.

Day 2

The dreaded foursomes lurked! Staying at the venue certainly had its advantages. With a 7am tee-off time for the morning matches, no one had to be woken up in time and we got off to a good start. The Bokkoms took the Foursomes 3 to 2 and thereby pulled back 1 of the points they had lost the previous day.

After some of us sat around having lunch and a beer, and some others snuck off for a quick power nap we organised ourselves and set off for the afternoons better ball. Given the fact that the morning games, off of the Zebra Tee’s and the Afternoons game off of the Elephant Tee’s would see the course length increase by about 1,200 m, it was certainly going to have some effect of the pairings and the matches.

As the games arrived at the 18^th and the players were handed an ice cold beer, the trutch began to slowly emerge. The Gud Gize has taken the afternoon 4 to 1, two of which were only secured on the 18^th, thereby securing themselves a 4 shot cushion midway through the DC Cup. After exhausting the beer and cain, we drifted off for a shower and to get ready for the evenings proceedings.

Fines went off as expected and we all sat down to another spectacular meal.

Day 3

Friday morning arrived with the Bokkoms knowing what they had to do if they were to keep it alive. We were playing foursomes again, and again we were playing from the Elephant Tee’s – would this have the same effect as it had the previous afternoon? The Bokkoms pulled back a 4 to 1 win in the Foursomes. There were lots of comments about the character of a Bokkom given that they enjoyed the foursomes format so much.

The afternoon betterball games were moved to the Leopard Tee’s thus reducing the length of the course by just under 1km. After the effort in the morning the Bokkoms managed to hold onto the Gud Gize somewhat, and the afternoon finished with the Gud Gize taking it 3 to 2 which meant that they had lost only 2 of their 4 point cushion from the previous day.

The beer and cain on the 18^th was wolfed down and we prepared for another round of fines.

Thankfully it was agreed to carry the fines over to the following evening. Who knows what time we went to bed?

Day 4

Saturday morning arrived and we had a very civilised start to the day. In between breakfast and playing with the striped pussy on the practice green (that would be the Tiger Cub in case anyone feels left out) a lot of us went off to the driving range to groove their faults. The Captains led the field off at 11:30.

We had dispensed with the tradition of the Captains calling alternate draws and went for a ‘draw from the hat’ approach to the singles matches. This produced some very interesting results, one of which was Keith Dye and Jason O’Connel. Not only did Keith predict that he would be drawn with Jason in the singles, but when it came time for him to draw a name from the hat he actually drew Jason’s name.

At the turn the Bokkoms were down in the first two games, but it soon became apparent to us the matches following us were for the most part tight.

The first point of the singles went to the Gud Gize, and they claimed their second with three holes to go. At that that point the Bokkoms had no points but required 6.5 to win, the Gud Gize with 2 already almost seemed assured of the required 4.5 points they needed.

How quickly things change, and how quickly we forget this fact on the DC Cup. In rapid succession the Bokkoms picked up 5 points as the matches arrived at the 15^th green and we realised that the Bokkoms were up in 2 of the remaining three games.

In the final fourball of the day, the both the Bokkoms were 1 up with 2 to play, and in the one match still alive on the 17^th they were all square.

The DC Cup was concluded in these three matches almost simultaneously. As the final fourball arrived on the 16^th green we realised the Bokkoms would go 2 up with 2 to play, and courtesy of a John Moyes shank on the 17^th tee, Johan Loubser when 1 up with 1 to play. The certainty of at least 1.5 points in the last three games gave the Bokkoms the 6.5 points they needed, and the DC Cup was concluded.

There were a handful of players, from the second fourball waiting for us at the 18^th when we arrived, and the stunned look on all of their faces as we announced the Bokkom victory spoke volumes for what had happened on the golf course that afternoon.

In the spirit of the DC Cup all three matches were played out to conclusion. John Moyes pulled off an amazing win on the 18^th after being in the water to halve the game with Johan. The final result being the Bokkoms taking the singles 7 to 3, thereby winning the DC Cup by two points.

We celebrated and commiserated on the 18^th with our now traditional port-a-pub, that is, until Monty got hit by a wayward approach shot into the 18^th. At that point we went up to the pub to watch the Lions play the Sharks.

Dinner was preceded by fines, toasts and the prize giving, and after dinner we had a few drinks with some really good mates – and so the 8^th DC Cup came to an end.