Uno de Mayo 2014 Results
We had 92 players at this event. When the pairings were first published we had 112 players scheduled that means 20 folks dropped out before we teed off. That's almost 18 percent of us that decided, for some reason or another, to not play. That's quite a few guys and it puts extra burdens on the organizers thus some of the slowdown at checkin and tabulating the final results. If you know you might cancel for the week, please notify us before the pairings are sent out.
Driving to the course Thursday morning we were encouraged by the sight of the sun, albeit dead in our faces, since the previous day was a cold windy affair and at least with the sun we would have some warmth to help limber up our swings. Those of us that were there for tee time know full well that the sun just managed to disappear right as we left the clubhouse to find our starting holes. The sun threatened us on a few occasions but never was successful in providing our aging bones with the proper amount of heat. One of our most advanced warriors had to call it quits when his team came by the clubhouse with still six or seven holes to play. We should applaud his decision because trying to endure the constant wind and its accompanying chill is not what one would call enjoyment. He made the right choice.
We've not played this course since September 2003 and it has undergone some serious changes, not the least of which is the change of its name. When last we played it was called Clinton Hills. What this tells me is that the hiatus has been so long that geologic erosion processes have taken over and what were the hills are now only singular. Folks asked me the other day how I would describe the course and my recollections were that it was a relatively flat course. Even though it's relegated to a singular hill I would have to say it's a lot more "hilly" than I remember. Of course it would be a pool table compared to the likes of Wolf Hollow, but it does have a gently rolling terrain and can cause the casual golfer (we certainly qualify) to think several times about club selection for various shots up the slopes.
Now, as to the condition of the course. What can we say? The greens were exquisite, but atrociously slow and hampered by a not too recent aeration job and a proliferation of what appeared to be more weeds than grass. Of course they were cut short but not very short. Uphill putts of any distance took more than a normal putting stroke and probably would've accomplished more with a 3 iron. We just couldn't seem to learn how much uphill and how slow these greens really were. We were embarrassed several times on how far short our putts fell.
And then there were the fairways. Granted the full heat of the summer is not upon us yet and the zoysia has not had time to fill in, but when it does it's got a ton of filling in to do. A big ton!! Golf is known in some circles as "pasture pool" and that's exactly what it looked like out there. Had we seen some cattle on the fairways they wouldn't have looked out of place. I believe in 2003 this course was in quite good shape but evidently the years have taken their toll. One of the players commented that the owners of some of the quite palatial homes surrounding the course must be livid with the management/owners of the course for letting it fall into such disrepair. The layout is good but it certainly is lacking in finish.
Results:
Flight "A"
Four teams finished with identical -5 (66) scores. In First thanks to the playoff hole (#11) was the Tom Braun, John Dierker, Bert Schott, and Gene Erard team. They cobbled together 6 birdies to overcome the lone bogey on #5 to post the winning score. Congrats guys.
In Second was the Bill Heidbreder, Ron Martens, Joe Jarvis, and Ernie South squad with the identical 66. Bill must've felt all alone being the only one if this foursome hitting off the white tees.
In Third,with the 66 was the Karson Kosowski, Livingston Sykes, Don Schmidt and Ralph Buettner team.
Also with the 66 but out of the top 3 by virtue of the playoff hole was the Bob Foeller team. Finishing out the A Flight with a fine -3 (68) was the Ed de la Pena team.
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Flight "B"
First in B Flight with a -2 (69) was the Randy Pratt, Jack Panula, Darryl Rue and Mark Bryant team.
In Second with a really nice, almost great, score of -1 (70) was the Dan Fergus, Tom Gill, Jack Eckhard, and Doug Nolte team who couldn't putt uphill to save their you-know-whats.
In Third was the Ron Muse, Harold Lindahl, and Don Bratcher team with an even par 71. There sisters were eagerly awaiting their arrival at the clubhouse.
The Steve Dierker team had a 72 and the Bruce Schnelle team had a 73.
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Flight "C"
Two teams vied for First in C Flight at a +3 (74). The Bill Clark, Lee Hanson, George Keil, and Ron Ruffin team wrested the top spot away from the Bill Howell, Jim Akers, Bob Kriss, and Dennis Swift team thanks to the playoff hole.
Coming in Third with a +4 (75) was the Dave Buesse, Ted Isringhaus, Larry Knopfel and Charley Wilson team.
Also in this flight was the Vince Koehr team (75), the Bob Stephenson team (76) and a gaggle of teams at +6 (77); the Brian Cox team, the Bob Edwards team, the Bill Wegge team and the Lou Pessoni team.
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Flight "D"
Topping out this flight with a +8 (79) was the Bob Haddad, Earl Phillips, Bob Checkley and John Ross team.
Two teams tied at a +10 (81) but finishing In Second was the Dennis Meade, Bob Gay and Dave Gillett team who nudged out the Dale Crittenden, Paul Kinser, and Pierre Sans Souci team.
The Rich Graeff team shot a +11 (82) and the Tim McCullen team shot an 83 in spite of Tim claiming a duck swam off with the scorecard and used it for nesting material.
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day: 2 Ron Ruffin (great shot Ron) #5 Ralph Buettner #7 John Prather #12 Ron Muse #15 John Dierker
Skins:#1 The Heidbreder team with a birdie 3 (naturally, with 3 of the team hitting from 100 yards ahead of everyone else!) #2 The Bill Clark team with a birdie