Sept 5, 2013
94 of us converged on Belk Park to see if we'd learned anything about our skills from the previous week. Some have diminished, some have improved and some have stayed at the same lousy level. The weather was great, the fairways were plush, and the greens were something to behold. I don't think we've played on better greens this year. One of the great things about them was the lack, or nearly the lack, of ball marks. Either those who play this course aren't very good with approach shots or the maintenance for the course is exceptional. Either way these greens were wonderful. At first look they appeared to be slow but the first putt revealed just the opposite. They were very quick, but very true and with the exception of number 15 there were not many vicious breaks on any of them. It was a pleasure putting on them for sure.
The fairways were also excellent. One of my pet peeves is the course that cuts their fairways to perhaps an eighth of an inch leaving it very difficult for rank amateurs to get the club under the ball. Not so with Belk, the fairways had a nice cushion to them allowing the most inexperienced hack to hit an occasional beauty of a shot.
One disconcerting occurrence yesterday was the amount of time it took for the whole group to finish the round. The first group done was back in the clubhouse at 11:30 but the final group didn't come in until 1:00!! We have no idea where the congestion is, nor specifically what causes it, but we all need to be aware of the pace of our play and for sure keep up with the group ahead of us. If you find your team falling off the pace please nudge one another to speed things up. Golf is an enjoyable endeavor (most of the time), but slow play can be very frustrating for the players waiting behind you.
Results:
Once again old age and cunning helped the winning groups. Maybe not so much cunning as shear talent and the ability to hit from the front tees. Some on the esteemed committee are willing to look at the age milepost for hitting from the front tees and suggestions range from eliminating the advantage altogether to putting the qualifying age at something more realistic, like perhaps 93.
Flight "A"
Comming in First by virtue of the SCP (#18) and posting a nice -9 (63) was the Joe Jarvis, Don Schmidt, Harry Trammel, and John Boyd team. Jarvis and Trammel represent the old age and cunning part of the equation and John Boyd has been known to hit it out of the (Belk) Park on occasion. I'm sure Don Schmidt enjoyed the ride for the day and I'm sure he contributed too.
In Second tied with them at -9 was the Pete Grouzos, Rich Graeff, Ed Boyer, and Pierre Sans Souci team. Here's another squad with at least 2 guys hitting from the front tees and one of them has been known to shoot pretty low at TPC Sawgrass!!
In Thrid by virtue of the SCP with a 64 was the John Ross, Joe Cernich, Russ Wall, and Dan Fergus squad.
Finishing out the A flight but out of the money were the Ted Schuessler team (64), the Larry Willman team (65) and the Doug Nolte team (65).
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Flight "B"
Four teams finished at 66 (-6) but in First winning the shooting match via the SCP was the John Aubuchon, Ed de la Pena, Bob Brewer, and Alan Schaeffer team.
Next in Second was the Darryl Rue, John O'Toole, and Dan Snowden team.
Then in Thrid came the Bob Pahmeier, Charley Wilson, Mark Hagler, and Larry Amen team.
Also with a 66 but out of the playoff was the Art Soble team. Finishing with identical 67's were the Livingston Sykes team, the Bob Meinhardt team, and the John Dierker team.
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Flight "C"
Two teams vied for first at -4 but winning thanks to the SCP was the Steve Comfort, Dan Ottoline, Dave Rapp, and Dave Buesse team in First.
Shooting the same -4 score in Second was the Ernie South, Bob Pankey, Don Moschenross, and Del Lohmann team.
The Jim Waugh, Don Wulf, Harvey Ruth and Bob Haddad team was Thrid with a -3 tally.
Also with -3's were the Paul Villhard and Ron Martens teams.
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Flight "D"
First in this flight was the Dennis O'Connor, Tom Murphy, Paul Scheffer, and Bob Franke team with a -2 for the day.
Second at -1 was the Dennis Terhaar, Joe McDaniels, Vince Koehr, and Ron Smith squad.
They beat out the Dennis Meade, Jack Panula, and Larry Knopfel team who had the same score but screwed up in the SCP.
The Bob Edwards team shot even par 72 (ooh, lucky sisters!), while the Bob Checkly team checked in at 74 and the Dave Gillett team got the most practice for the day at a +7 (79).
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day:
#3 Joe Jarvis #8 Ed Boyer #12 Earl Phillips #17 Dan Snowden
Skins:
Two of 'em by the same team and they're both eagles; #11 and #13 (par 4!!) done by the John Dierker team.
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