May 12, 2014 Results
One hundred and twenty-eight of us found our way to the plush confines of Eureka, Missouri and The Legends Country Club. For all of us that remembered, and it was all of us, this was a Monday outing, one of 5 scheduled for this season, a variation that was begun last year at Tapawingo. After all the cajoling and reminding everyone scheduled to play arrived on time, or close to it, and we even were blessed with one add-on who was not among the scheduled but happened to be in the area and thought he'd tag along. With his addition we filled out the attendance card with 32 perfect four man teams, a rarity in itself - not the 32 teams but all four man teams.
This is rather a plush venue so our proletariat group got to see how the other half lives, and plays golf. This course is kind of in a different world. You can glimpse it from I-44 when the trees are more or less leaveless, but what you see are the long, wide fairway holes and not the tweeners that have more than their share of twists and turns and mogully types of fairways. It certainly gives you a different look than the fleeting glance from a busy interstate. The layout is quite interesting and in a word, or two, extremely challenging. The only issue I would have is the club's method of measuring distances. What the scorecard said and what the course plays like are just about polar opposites. It makes one think that their "yard" is more like 5 feet than the standard 3. Our team had innumerable 180+ yard shots into greens when the yardage on the card would reflect a relatively short hole like 340+ yards and we all knew our best drive would be close to, if not more than, 200+ yards. Unless, of course, we were playing with heavy balls.
And many of those greens were uphill and worst of all guarded by half of Saudi Arabia which seemingly encircled the green completely. Why can't they just put those bunkers real close to the tee boxes instead of close to the greens? Hey, many of us just barely get off the tee box on occasion so why not put bunkers there instead of foolish places like in front of your target?
Anyway, this is a wonderful course and it reminds us of what a golf course should look like. The fairways were excellent, the greens gorgeous and the tee boxes could be putted upon. Outside the fairways the conditions were a bit rugged in spots but overall the course was in quite good shape. At the end we asked for a show of hands of those that would like to come back next year. The majority raised their hands. The rest were probably worn out from trying to reach the greens in regulation. Speaking of that, our team had two 75+ year old bangers so I was kind of licking my chops knowing we'd have some kind of advantage. And then I saw the tee placements. I think there were all of 3 tees with a distinct advantage for the elder statesmen. Such is golf.
One more comment and then the results; interestingly enough, as challenging as this course was/is the range of scores was relatively small compared to other courses. The low score for the day was -6 while the high score was +2. Either that means the teams were quite well balanced or some guys had exceptional days while others didn't. Our team may have fallen into the latter category.
Results:
Flight "A"
Two teams battled it out for low score (-6, 66) and coming out on top in First was the Dan Ottoline, Bill Howell, Bill Heidbreder, and Paul Kinser team by virtue of scoring best in the playoff scenario with a 4 on number 9, the playoff hole.
In Second the Tom Wulf, Lee Hanson, Ron Ruffin and Karson Kosowski team.
In Third with the only -5 for the day, was the Bob Thibodeaux, Randy Pratt, Dan Snowden, and George Blaney team.
Two teams shot -4, the Art Soble team and the John Prather team. Four teams finished at -3; the George Keil team, the Ernie South team, the Bob Day team and the Tom Braun team.
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Flight "B"
Four teams shot -2 (70) for the day First the SCP (score card playoff winner) was the Ron Muse, Pat Reed, Joe Jarvis, and Steve Comfort team (yeah, that Steve Comfort the one who always win s the 50-50 lottery).
In Second was the Larry Riedisser, Dennis Terhaar, Ralph Buettner, and Dan Fergus team
In Third was the Paul Villhard, Bob Checkly, John Boyd, and Dennis O'Connor team
Also shooting a 70 but losing in the SCP for a top 3 spot was the Ted Isringhaus team.
Five teams tied at -1 (71); the Charley Wilson team, the Ted Schuessler team, the Bob Meinhardt team, the Phil Hess team, and the Lowell Barnes team.
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Flight "C"
Everyone of these teams met their sisters in the parking lot after the round and got a big kiss. They all shot even par 72's for the day. But the good old SCP separated the men from the boys and in First was the venerable Charlie Fischer and his squad of Doug Torrie, Bob Edwards, and Don Moschenross.
In Second was the Wayne Warneke, Harold Lindahl, Paul Pals, and Gary Turner team.
In Third was the Steve Dierker, Bill Clark, Glenn Morgan, and Bill Houston team.
The other four teams with the even par score were the Don Bartoni team, the Pete Grouzos team, the Alan Schaeffer team and the Paul Scheffer team.
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Flight "D"
Five of these teams shot a +1 (73) for the day. But winning in the SCP in First and it should be no surprise to anyone, was the Larry Willman, Dave Kunz, Jerry Liberstein, and Sonny Javier team. I don't think Larry has ever entered a money-based outing and finished out of the money in some form or fashion. He'll probably cite one example but he'd really have to take some serious memory pills to come up with that instance. I dread the day when the computer matches him up with Steve Comfort. These two guys would take home all the hard-earned money the rest of us lay out in these events.
In Second was the Dave Gillett, Dale Crittenden, Bert Schott, and Joe Cernich team.
In Third was the Earl Philips, Roger Nikrant, Joe Pfeifer, and Joe Goines team.
Also shooting the 73 were the Tim McCullen and Steve Wallach teams.
Two teams posted +2(74's) for the day; the Stew Pagenstecher team and the Del Lohmann teams.
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day: #5 Joe Cernich, #8 Ron Ruffin, #12 Dan Ottoline, #15 Charley Wilson
Skins: #4 Lowell Barnes team with a birdie 3, #17 Wayne Warneke team with an eagle 3, #18 Paul Villhard team with a birdie 3