April 11, 2013 Results

Dire weather predictions for the opener caused quite a few cancellations at Whitmoor. We began with 118 scheduled players but when the dust settled we had to incorporate 24 cancellations leaving a total of 94 golfers for the day. When this happens we usually have some last minute chaos at the course as the Commish, Larry Knopfel, rearranges team members and does his darndest to make sure we have at most 3 threesomes playing. With 94 players this actually equates to 2 threesomes, so if you were on a third threesome something was amiss!

Amidst all the chaos and the usual melee that is the check-in process came word that one of our golfers had to cancel because of tornado damage to his house. Memory being what it is I cannot for certain say who it was, although Don Congleton's name comes to mind. We certainly wish for the best for him and his family and at times like this golf has to be furthest from his mind. We hope all is well, or at least better today Don. And if it wasn't Don Congleton, whoever it was, the same hope goes out to him and his loved ones.

It was only appropriate that we played the North Course at Whitmoor. It did feel like the North, right? We may have played in lousier conditions in this group but for certain you could count those on one hand. Most of the other miserable outings have been in the rain and we have to consider ourselves fortunate yesterday because had it rained it would've been a freak of nature because it should've been snow. How we all made it through I'm not sure but I'm positive that everyone that started finished in some manner or another.

One interesting weather observation; when we were playing #18 we looked across the valley at one of the long uphill par 4's on the South course (it's either #1 or #10) and the $%^&*@ sprinklers were on! Seems to me they'd said they had 2" of rain the day/night before. So they need more moisture in the ground? I'm guessing they had actually turned on the snow-making equipment by mistake in preparation for some downhill competition. Or just maybe, since it was the South Course, perhaps they were trying to recover from a drought and it was warm enough to water.

On a team personal note, we definitely played 9 too many holes. After finishing our first 9 (the back 9) we were at a comfortable -1 with prospects for respectability looming rather large. Then came #1, then came #2, and so on and so forth which led to a ballooning score of +6 total. A titanic failure on our part, but hey, we had fun and we all survived in spite of the seat heaters not working and the ankle deep muck on some of the fairways.

Results:

A Flight

First overall with a remarkable -6 was the Russ Wall, Bob Stephenson, Charley Wilson and Ed de la Pena team. You could see this coming, especially with the gargantuan tee placement advantage for the antiques in the crowd such as Ed de la Pena. We may have to amend the 75 and older rule to make it, say 89 and older can hit from the reds! Of course Ed is on the committee so it may be a difficult sell. Congrats to your team Ed. Well played.

Second overall at a -5 was the Ron Smith, Tom Murphy, Bob Fell (a newbie), and Lowell Barnes team, and in third by virtue of the playoff hole (#1) the Karson Kosowski, Roger Danielson, Ernie South and Harry Trammel team finished at a -3. Both these teams also benefitted from the generous tee box placements for the red tees since both were sprinkled with 75+ year olds who can still spank the ball pretty good. But, you know what, the method we use to group the outcomes, these teams end up battling themselves for a piece of the equally divided pie.

Also in the A flight but out of the top 3 were the Randy Pratt team and the Paul Villhard team who tied with 68's, or a -3.

B Flight

Three teams vied for first place in the B flight and all scored a tidy -1. But by virtue of the playoff system the team of Dee Ridenhour, Steve Comfort, Dan Snowden and John Prather came in first. Second was the Doug Torrie, Larry Riedisser, Bob Brewer, and Jerry White team. In third was the Tom Wulf , Jim Hawkes, and Joe Cernich threesome.

Three teams finished at even par (71) and because of the playoff system finished in this order; The Jack Eckhard team, the Dave Buesse team, and the Ron Krick team.

C Flight

Two teams tied at a +1 but by the playoff system the Tom Gill, Bruce Schnelle, Harold Howard and Lewis Rosenbaum team beat out the Lee Hanson, Brian Cox and Ted Isringhaus team. In third place at a +2 was the George Eickhoff, Bert Schott, and Vince Koehr team.

D Flight

Taking D flight with a +4 was the Chops Adams, John Boyd, Carlos Zuniga, and George Keil team. In second with a +5 was the Bill Wegge, Elmer Dill, Bob Meinhardt and Lea Readus team followed by the Jack Panula, Dennis Meade, Joe McDaniels, and Gene Erard team at a +6.

Also at a plus 6, but nosed out by the playoff system, was the Jerry Mullen team.

Finishing out the scoring with a +9 was the Bob Edwards team.

Oh yes, we had one team that decided to play 4 holes on the South Course instead of the North. Can't say as I blame them tho, this place is laid out very similar to the Forest Park maze and resembles a Mobius strip and a Kline Bottle combined at best. Not helping matters was the fact that some of the direction signs were down for some reason known only to the maintenance gods. So, Steve Dierker, your foursome is forgiven.

Individual Awards:

Closest to the pins: #3 Ernie South (on the North Course, of course) #6 Brian Cox #11 Steve Dierker #13 Bob Pankey #16 Pete San Souci

Skins: #2 the George Eickhoff team #7 The Ron Smith team #15 The Dan Fergus team #18 The Dave Buesse team

Next week we're at The Bluffs. Same time. Total fee will again be $46. See you there. And again thanks to all who showed up and escaped freezing (somehow).