SMERGS History

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	Key Dates
1984	First games played at Cammeray, Castle Cove. then Northbridge GC
1984	Ten second rule introduced
1986	First annual tournament against "The Morning After The Night Before Golf Club"
1986	Ten second rule abolished?
1987	Last tournament against "The Morning After The Night Before Golf Club" (click for photos)
1987	Click here for photos taken in 1987 at Northbridge Golf Club
19??	SMERGS first tour??
1992	SMERGS name introduced
1993	First Mountain Masters played
1993	SMERGS first annual dinner held
1993	SMERGS handicap system first used
1993	The first ANZAC Day Trophy
1994	Rick Chadwick first said "I can never win off my handicap"
1994	SMERGS' white shirt introduced together with famous SMERGS logo
1995	First Curtley Cup
1995	Riverside Oaks Country Classic
1996	Mother Mary McKillop Cup
1996	SMERGS' song first sung
1997	Click here for photos from Rick Butler's 50th birthday party, April 1997
1998	SMERGS' black shirt introduced
1998	The first Buenes Aires Cup
1999	First Di, Dodi and the Driver Memorial Cup
1999	First SMERGS Memorial Cup
1999	First St Nicholas Cup (at St Michael's)
1999	The first Beige Jacket
1999	The first Carlos Road Cup
2000?	Web page set up by Simon Rowe
2000	Riverside Oaks Tweed Jacket first played
2002	SMERGS' green Murray shirt introduced
2002	The first Newcastle Flyer
2003	17 August - the Green Croc Award (courtesy Ken Miller) awarded for the first time
2005	The SMERGS Hall of Fame created and first member inducted (Rob Lowndes).  Only anointed members may appoint future members.
2006	2 Oct - The first Croc'n'Brock Memorial Cup to determine the Pairs Champions
2006	Second member (Phil Stabback) inducted to Hall of Fame
2007	28 Jan - a new record on the back nine by Ian Baker with 29 points (34 hits off 23 handicap)
2007	13 May - a new stroke record, 31 strokes on the back nine by Alan O'Donovan (before the temporary holes came into play)
2007	8 Sep - The first Killara Cup played on APEC public holiday
2007	16 Sep - First day on new temporary course while dams built.  10 holes each Sunday until further notice
2008	13 Apr - Peter Burns scores an Eagle on the par5  6th hole at Cypress Lakes.
2008	20 Apr - Return to the traditional back nine after completion of dams.  Possibly lowest team score ever with just 7.5 pt average and four players in team!
2008	25 Apr - Rob Miller farewelled in style at Chez Hillyard.  Read the Ode to Robbie.  Rob takes leave of absence at end June to live in Syracuse.
2008	1 June - Rob Miller departs for Jamesville NY.  Leaves legacy of SMERGS Quotes!
2008	20 June - Inaugural Avondale Medal
2008	23 November - Inaugural Northern Beaches Open
2009	5 October - Lowest recorded four player team average of 9 points (Thornton, Lowndes, Waddington, Figgis) - but see 20/04/08), lowest CROC score of 3 points (Waddington), and lowest overall average of 10.25 points (8 players), and the winner had just 15 points - and it was a lovely morning!!
2009	11 November - RNGC Club Captain, Lindsay Domingue, joins us on the 10th tee to congratulate (and thank) all SMERGS for 25 glorious years!
2009	20 November - Annual dinner and four new Hall of fame members inducted - foundation members Peter Burns, Rick Chadwick and Phil Alexander, and Nick Hillyard.
2010	11 April - Simon Rowe reaches zero handicap so 10 strokes added to all SMERGS handicaps
2010	24 October - Phil and Helen sell their lovely Wentworth Falls house so the Carlos Road Cup returns to Blackheath as the Blue Mountains Classic after an 11 year absence. The Nick Hillyard Pastel Challenge introduced for "the most sartorially elegant pastel attired SMERG golfer" to see if anyone could match Nick's normal attire!
2010	14 November - A rule change!!  In future one shot will be deducted from handicaps for every four weeks absence.
2010	14 November - Photo taken showing heritage collection of four SMERGS shirts
2011	13 February - First SMERG booked for speeding on way to golf (Tim Becker).  First recorded instance of a group calling through the group behind while looking for lost balls and generally stuffing around!
2011	26 March - SMERGS sponsor Medley 2BBB and Individual Stableford in Saturday competition as "SMERGS of Royal Northbridge".
2011	April - RNGC News and Views features an article on SMERGS including Annual Dinner Ode
2011	13 June - Queens Birthday Club Championship and the second team (Chadwick, Ferreira, Miller, Webb) finished a record one hour behind the winning threesome.
2012	25 April - all SMERGS handicaps reset, mostly to club handicaps, and all future games, including majors, to be played based on SMERGS handicaps while club handicaps become of academic interest only.
2012	5 August - The Country Classic (Tweed Jacket) moves from its traditional home at Riverside Oaks to Lynwood Country Club due to rising costs at RO and general difficulty in dealing with staff there!
2013	31 March - Rick B wins with 17 points from a handicap of one to add 10 strokes to everyone's handicap
2013	21 April - SMERGS celebrate Alan Waddington's 70th birthday at Il Perugino.  Click to read Nick's Ode "Can you believe how old he is?"
2013	8 November - SMERGS annual dinner.  Phil Alexander reconfirmed into the Hall of Fame (in absentia!)
2014	12 January - Another record? Five turned up and played together. All finished within one stroke (four with 45 hits, one with 44) and with scores within two points (16 to 18) and a two way tie to share the huge number of balls!
2014	9 June - Peter Macdougall drops to 0 so ALL handicaps adjusted up by 10 shots
2014	13 July - And another record? Peter Thornton wins four weeks in a row and five times in six weeks
2014	19 December - 30th Anniversary Dinner held at Northbridge Golf Club
2014	21 December - Another record! Nick Hillyard has one putt on each of the nine holes to win The Bobbick with just 9 putts.
2015	3 April - Inaugural Royal Northbridge Easter Open held over 18 holes on Good Friday
2015	13 April - RNGC is 80 years old.  Click here for Kim McGlinn's detailed history
2015	19 April - Peter Macdougall drops to 0 so ALL handicaps adjusted up by 10 shots
2015	20 November - Annual DInner again held at NGC.  Click here for photos
2016	17 March - Nick Hillyard elected President of Sydney Veteran Golfers Association
2016	8 May - In his absence, Rick Butler drops to zero so all handicaps up 10 shots
2016	3 October - Founding member Phil Alexander died peacefully after long illness.  Click here for Phil Stabback's tribute at 10/10/16 funeral service.
2017	1 January - Handicaps for overseas resident members adjusted upwards to 18 and will in future lose a shot for every SIX weeks not played.  See handicapping rules
2017	23 February - believed to be the first winner of both front and back nine without winning overall in a major`, Steve Figgis wins both in the KOCUP
2017	21 August - Golf NSW Newsletter publishes a history of SMERGS written by Nick Hillyard.  Click here for article.
2017	12 November - Rick Butler hits a blistering 36 shots for 16 points to drop his handicap to zero so all handicaps raise 10 shots.
2017	17 November - Annual Dinner at RSYS and farewell to Ray and Kim.  First performance by the Smerg Brothers (later the Triple Bogeys).  Click here for photos and more
2018	17 June - One group of Waddington, Bell and Butler scored three birdies on the 17th green from 6,5 and 3 metres respectively
2018	9 September - DDD match, Figgis plays Webbie and together lose 5 balls on the 10th and score a DDD record high of 11 and 12 shots each on the same hole.
2018	22 November - Annual Dinner at NGC.  Click here for photos and here for words to "The Legend of the SMERGS"
2019	11 January - Annual Dinner at NGC.  Ricky B wins his tournament at St Michaels to drop his handicap to +1 so all handicaps increase by 10 shots.
2019	20 January - Two teams with total seven players exceeded 20 points average. Two with 22 points, three with 21 and two with 20.
2019	7 April - Steve Penny joins Smergs.
2019	6 December - Annual Dinner at NGC.  Click here for Peter's full scorer's report.  Click here for start of photo gallery. Click here for Nick's tribute to Lonnie Donegan.  Click here for The Triple Bogeys' tribute to Bob Dylan
2019	22 December - Declan O'Donovan joins Smergs and, as father Alan is playing more often and handicap was +1, all handicaps increased by 10 shots.
2019	29 December - Nine players and seven finished with 21 points!  Winner was Mike Bell with 22 points.  A seven way tie for second.  Records galore.
2020	19 January - Ken Miller scores a record 29 points on the back nine off 22 handicap with just 35 shots.  Seven 3's and two 4's!
2020	24 January - SMERGS runs a successful golf day to raise over $60,000 for BlazeAid.  Click here for event summary by organiser Nick Hillyard
2020	2  February - More records created with just six players all hitting between 40 and 45 shots.  21 points won the Croc and an average of 22.33 paid for coffee.
2020	5 April - new rules adopted to play in pairs to minimise risk from COVID19 pandemic and to comply with government/NGC advice and regulations.  No more coffee statistics will be collected while the rules are in place.
2020	Feb - Peter Thornton's brother in law Neil McLaren joins SMERGS after several guest appearances over recent years.
2020	May - The Golden Putter.  Previously also known as The Bobbick until extensive research by Peter Thornton revealed the error. Click here for Peter's research revealing the true name should be The Bobbitt.
2020	16 Aug - David Thornton joins SMERGS and on 19 Nov 20 becomes first smerg to marry while a smerg,  Click here for photo.
2020	7 Sep - First Ladies event ever with the Goodwill Pairs.  Teams of Louise Ferreira and Sue Webb, and Robyn Burns and Bernadine Penny
2020	12 April - NGC's Black Tee rule adopted for players 65 years and older.
2021	22 Mar - First handicap review as a result of Covid absences and other distortions leads to Peter B gaining 5 shots,  and Johnny F 2 shots and Roger's handicap being tied to Nick's.  Rules tidied up.

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