June 27, 2013
Ninety-seven of us dared the thermometer to reach the century mark this Thursday, and we actually won that battle. Not by a lot however. The humidity was up there but with a lot of water in our bottles we survived the test. Congrats to all who made it without having to be rescued by the EMTs. The breeze that picked up late in the round was a life-saver with one exception; it managed to be in our faces for the final holes - typical %^&*$ golf course.
The announcement at the beginning that we would be faced with the dreaded "Cart path only" syndrome was met with some groans but as we made our way around the grounds it was readily evident that driving on the fairways would conjure up memories of mud bog racing that was so popular in the 70's and 80's. The management tried to make us feel hopeful that we might have to endure only half the round on the cart paths but there was absolutely no way that we could drive on those fairways unless of course we had air boats. Possibly by the next time we play there this place may have drained enough for us to tippy toe out to the ball in the carts. Fortunately, this is a flat course and walking to the ball, even on those expansive fairways, was not a debilitating chore.
As for the course conditions, they were very good. Rain always brings out the best in a golf course and it hasn't disappointed this season. The fairways were plush and the greens, although fraught with a lot of ball marks, were quite good. There was one oddity that we observed. The tee markers were extremely close together which made me wonder how someone such as Joe Goines would manage to tee it up somewhere between the markers and still find room to swing. You could always hit from behind the markers Joe, I'm sure a yard or so wouldn't harm your tee shot in any way.
As for our foursome, we managed to fritter away innumerable birdie attempts and frustratingly nullify the two we did manage to create with two rather stupid bogeys thus priming us for the good old sibling smackeroo. But hey, we did have fun and that is the only purpose for being out there, isn't it?
Results:
Flight "A"
In Firstcompletely running away with the day was the Ron Muse, Joe Cernich, John Aubuchon, and Phil Hess team who managed to toast this course with a fine -9. In Second with a very good -7 was the Don Giarraffa, Jack Panula, Joe McDaniels, and Art Soble team. In Third by virtue of the scorecard playoff (hole #8) was the Bob Meinhardt, Joe Pfeifer, Tim McCullen, and Ed de la Pena team. I'm sure Ed hitting from 100 yards in front of everyone else didn't hurt that team in the least. Also, we have to mention that one of Ed's teammate's deft chipping on #2 almost netted him a passing vehicle.
Also shooting the 67 but losing in the scorecard playoff were the Dan Snowden (absolutely no relation to Edward), and the John Boyd team.
Flight "B"
Four teams shot a very nice -4 (68) but because of the scorecard playoff the Jim Waugh, Lew Rosenbaum, George Eickhoff, and Bob Dixon team beat out the Larry Riedisser, Phil Helm , Dee Ridenhour, and Joe Jarvis team, and the John Prather, Ernie South, Jim Hawkes, and Paul Scheffer team. Also shooting the 68 was the Phil Lucido team.
Coming in with a 69 was the Jim Mead team, while the Paul Pals and Tom Gill teams each had -2 70's.
Flight "C"
Three teams posted -1 71's but the team on top in the playoff was the Ted Isringhaus, John O'toole, and Bob Stephenson team. Next was the Del Lohmann, Charlie Riedisser, Rich Graeff, and Jerry White team, followed by the Joe Mullins, Bob Checkley, and John Dierker team.
The Bob Fell team and the Lou Pessoni team each shot even par 72's and enjoyed the company of their sisters.
Fight "D"
Four teams shot 73's but the top 3 were the Charley Wilson, Gene Erard, Roger Hennen, and Gary Turner team, the Steve Dierker, Lee Readus, Bob Haddad, and Dennis Meade team, and the Joe Goines, Lowell Barnes, Bill Wegge, and Don Wulf team.
Also with a 73 but nudged out in the playoff was the Bob Thibodeaux team. The Dennis Terhaar team shot a 74 while the Dennis Swift and Darryl Rue teams each shot 75's. The final tally for the day was the Dan Fergus team which managed a 79.
Awards;
Closest to the pins for the day: #3 Paul Scheffer, #7 Joe Cernich, #11 Bob Meinhardt, #13 Ron Martens, #17 Jerry Mullen (I think)
Skins: #3 Larry Riedisser Team and #9 Larry Riedisser Team