Caitlyn, a reporter from WIN TV, ventured out from her Canberra office today to file a story on the Queanbeyan leg of the New South Wales Open Regional Qualifying Series.
Presumably, given the parlous state of Australian media, it was a job to which she was assigned rather than volunteered.
Her partner, she said, was a keen golfer, so she’d taken some of the “lingo” from his ramblings and that provided her baseline knowledge without signalling a passion for the sport, shall we say.
And that’s also not to mistakenly create the picture that she left a convert, either.
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But what she most certainly did while at Queanbeyan Golf Club was realise that there are literally dozens of stories she could choose if more time was available.
There were, of course, two of the leaders at six under par – powerful left-handers in Ryan Peake and Will Florimo who combined to play the first three holes in seven under par today. No, that’s not a misprint.
The other was Andrew Kelly who, unlike his fellow leaders, was just meandering along until 10 minutes of complete magic was gifted to him by the golfing gods.
Kelly’s 9-iron for his eighth career hole-in-one on the 12th would have been good enough for the resume, but he followed it minutes later with a second straight eagle on the par-5 12th.
There are the grizzled veterans who continue to amaze even themselves with what golf can throw at them.
Neven Basic, 45, was today’s poster boy with “a round of golf like I just can’t remember” en route to a four-under-par 66.
“I made birdie on the first, had a mudball on the second and hit it long for a bogey, hit a horrendous shot on the fifth and had a swordfight (extracting it from) the trees for some time, then birdied six of the next eight holes and missed a couple in there, too,” Basic recalled with a wry grin.
“I had a chip-in, a triple (bogey), a plugged lie in a bunker and holed a couple of long putts, it was remarkable.”
Next on the hit parade of story ideas was Amelia Mehmet Grohn, for the second time in three tournaments mixing it with the men and right in the thick of it at four under.
“The boys are very competitive, which suits me just fine. But it’s a great chance to mix it up with them and put my game to the test,” she said.
“Ultimately, though, all I can do is play my own game and see how it stacks up at the end.”
There’s Trent Britton, another of the 11 players two off the lead at four under.
Britton is an assistant professional at the host club and, in dealing with his “day job” in and around the tournament, still managed to mix it with his touring peers.
The perfect host, he didn’t even mind – publicly at least – that he was forced to stay in the pro shop a day earlier awaiting carts and last-minute practice round participants to waltz in at dusk while his own preferred tournament routine withered on the vine.
There’s good mates Cameron Kelly and Chris Fan who each shot at-time blistering rounds of five under that were each marginally curtailed by visits from the media and their revered “mozz”.
Kelly, in particular, was extraordinary for 90 minutes, crossing the road back to the clubhouse at six under through seven holes and then having another birdie on the eighth for good measure.
Unfortunately for the Melbourne-based West Aussie, his outward 28 was followed by the “mozzed” inward 37, but his total was nothing to be sneezed at – especially given that he didn’t pick up a golf stick until he was aged 18.
“I’m still just learning … and I learnt a few things today, mostly that I won’t be looking at a leaderboard ever again,” the 28-year-old joked.
“Also that I’ve got some talent and I’ve just got to work at it. I’ve always looked at it like I’m 10 years behind the other guys out here, but I’m making progress.”
And lastly – for the purposes of this story only – there’s Adam Coull, a member at The Lakes who’s little known outside his own circle, but clearly a prodigious talent.
The Sydney amateur spent much of the past three years completing a management degree in the United States and – at his second stop – playing golf for the vaunted University of Memphis team.
Just last week, Coull came within a bad lie in a bunker on the 69th hole of Asian Tour Q-School in Melbourne of landing some form of international professional status in the first phase of his competitive career.
“Until the 15th hole in the last round, and even when it happened, I felt very comfortable and in control,” he said.
“I just didn’t feel like there was much sand, l caught it a bit too clean and hit it over (the green) and into the hazard and took a triple.
“Then I didn’t quite get up and down on the last and missed (advancing to the next stage) by a shot.
“It hurts, but then I’ve just got to remember that it was my first Q-school and I’m still just learning (professional golf). It’s my first time in a situation like that, so I’ll be better next time.”
And he’s clearly a quick learner, burying four bogeys today with five birdies and an eagle in his opening 68.
And we’re not even out of the top 20 yet.
It’s no wonder Caitlyn left – she’d still be writing scripts.