Sports Night

The dinner and the 4 speakers at the Sports Night on the Wednesday of the Spring Tournament were all fantastic. Over 100 people, including many ladies, attended and had a great night. Congratulations to our speakers for being able to tell their stories and anecdotes in a way that was suited to this mixed audience. If we have a similar level of speakers next year you can be guaranteed an entertaining night. At only $35 the night was terrific value.

Colin “Funky” Miller of blue hair and “Australian Test Cricketer of the Year” fame started off with a few stories and then chaired proceedings. “Funky” can definitely spin a yarn and had us laughing along, as he told about his meeting with Queen Elizabeth and stories about international and state cricket.

Ian Meckiff walked us through what it was like to tour internationally in the late 50’s and early 60’s. He also covered the detail of what happened in the tied Test in Brisbane and provided some background to the “famous” incident. Ian’s love of cricket and sense of humour came through in all the stories.

Sandra McKenzie chatted about the development of her golfing career. Having started on the “sand scrapes” at Edenhope, Sandra moved to Melbourne and quickly progressed to representing Victoria at junior and senior levels. Sandra played on the LPGA Tour in the USA. Her efforts to satisfy United States visa requirements and the leaders of the LPGA sound humorous now, but at the time would have been stressful on a “young country girl”. Sandra also spoke of some of her recent experiences as an international golf commentator and of the pressures on a prominent young female golfer in the USA.

Dean Jones was in good form and always amusing. His rendition of how “Boonie” broke the record on the Qantas flight to London was hilarious. Similarly about the perils of travelling in India and his 210 in the tied test in Madras. He talked about developments in modern cricket including 20/20 with particular reference to India. His insights into the politics of the game and where the game is heading were most enlightening.

“Funky” then chaired a “Questions from the Floor” session which covered both golf and cricket. The questions were to the point, answered in the same way and with a good dose of humour.

Congratulations to our Spring Tournament Committee for arranging such high quality speakers, who all enjoy their golf (and playing on our courses).  As a side note - therehave only been 2 tied Cricket Tests - we had a player from each on our panel.