May 8, 2014 Results
We finally made our way back to Lockhaven, just west of Alton and across the two largest rivers in the country. At least a lot of us have to cross the two rivers. Some can darn near walk there from their home on the Illinois side. The Mississippi is really quite a sight and the Missouri isn't far behind either. What's amazing is that the Missouri drainage basin is so much larger than the Mississippi yet the Mississippi appears much larger near their confluence. We have yet to make it to the confluence park, which I understand isn't all that grand, but it should be a big deal. Where else can you see the two largest rivers on a continent come together?
Lockhaven isn't quite the same as the confluence but it sure isn't bad. In a way it's kind of a confusing layout, not telling you exactly where you are at times, but it's a nice course to play and the fairways were the best we've seen so far. The greens were quite good too, although they nearly resembled painted concrete because of their firmness and for sure it seemed everyone of them was a domed affair, making putting a bit treacherous. It seemed like every initial putt we had was at least a 12 foot affair and the breaks were just subtle enough to force the ball one way or another, especially not toward the hole.
Our team witnessed something none of us had ever seen before; we virtually lost 2 balls in the sand traps. The first instance came on #13, the slightly downhill, over the pond par 3. With 8 guys on the tee, watching our every swing, I hit an eight iron with a slight pull and it landed in the greenside bunker on the left of the green. When we got there, none of us could find the $%^&*# ball!!! We all saw it land in the bunker, but we sure couldn't see/find it. The guys back on the tee yelled directions to us but to no avail. It was like quicksand evidently. No sign on the surface of the sand where the ball had entered. When the group behind us finally made it to the green, one of them dug around in the sand and eventually came up with the ball, which he said was buried a good 4 or 5 inches below the surface, unbelievable.
So, we're on #1 and making our approach and one of our members slightly fades (he's a leftie) his ball into the greenside trap on the left of the green. We all saw it go in the trap. We get there and NO BALL anywhere. More ^&*$ing quicksand. We never did see/find that ball. Beware of left side bunkers I guess.
Results:
Flight "A"
Taking First in A Flight and the low score for the day (-10, 62) was the Paul Pals, Bob Foeller, Dennis Swift, and Bob Haddad team. Letting Bob Foeller hit from the front tees, on some of these holes, might be considered close to criminal. He consistently hits down the middle and pretty far for his "advanced" years. More power to you Bob. And if he faltered I'm sure Paul helped out in the distance department. He can smack it pretty good.
Two teams tied for Second at -9 but the winner in this match was the Harry Trammel, Bob Edwards and John Boyd team. . Again, "straight down the middle" Har ry hitting from the fronts can be a dagger in the sides of his competitors. And again, if he faltered, Mr. Boyd can make most courses short. Congrats guys.
In Third Tied with them was the Steve Comfort, Brian Kennedy, Bill Howell, and Max Saunders team, who lost out on the playoff hole, #16 which was selected by a secret committee.
Two teams tied for fourth with a 64, the Bert Schott team and the Joe McDaniels team.
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Flight "B"
Several teams finished at -7 (65) but the top 3 were determined by the playoff hole InFirstwas the Ron Muse, Dave Gillett, and Ernie South team. with the low score -3 (68) in this flight.
In Second at 65 was the John Prather, Frank Vien, Jim Wa ugh and Stewart Pagenstecher team. Aha, another guy from the front tees who can hit pretty well; Mr. Vien. A pattern here guys.
In Third was the Don Moschenross, Harold Lindahl, Bob Day, and Art Soble team. Oops, another guy, a pretty good player, hitting from the fronts; Mr. Bob Day. A real pattern, eh?
The Paul Rivard team was nosed out of the top 3 by the playoff hole, not by their inability to hit a plethora of 12 foot putts.
After the Paul Rivard team came a gaggle of 5 teams tied at -6 (66). The Gary Turner squad, the Bill Houston team, the Larry Riedisser team, the Doug Torrie team and the Joe Jarvis team.
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Flight "C"
Two teams tied for first First but winning out on the playoff hole was the Tom Gill, Don Wulf, Sonny Javier, and Karson Kosowski team. Javier seems to be sneaky long because he was rolling that ball up to our heels all day long; hmmmm, from the front tees.
In Second at the same -5 score, was the Bill Heidbreder, Jerry Liberstein, Dave Buesse, and Ollie Sivcovich team. Bill is one very, very good player and he brought along a friend of his, Mr. Liberstein, whom the spies don't have any book on yet. But he's probably pretty decent if he plays with Bill.
In Third was the Dee Ridenhour, John O'toole, Charlie Riedisser, and Ken Swehla team with a -4. Dee took a week off to recover his game. Evidently it worked.
Two teams tied at -4 (68) but out of the running, the Dee Ridenhour team and the Randy Pratt team. Three teams tied at -3 (69), the Al Rosenberg team, the John Ross team, and the Bob Thibodeau x team.
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Flight "D"
In First Mr. Bob Franke's team of Harold Howard, Bob Gay and Roger Nikrant ran off with this flight covering the course in a -2. Franke and Howard hit from the front tees, yup.
Two teams finished with -1 scores
In Second with -1 scores but the Ron Smith, Dennis Meade and Lee Hanson team
In Third the Phil Helm Larry Willman and George Eickhoff team by virtue of the playoff hole. You might know Larry Willman would be in the money again. No wonder he drives fancy cars.
Three more teams posted -1 (71) scores but didn't pass muster of the playoff hole; the Joe Pfeifer team, the Ward Klocke team, and the Tom Wulf team.
Big score for the day belonged to the Earl Philips team with a 73. Evidently being a caddy on this course about 80 years ago didn't help much Earl.
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day:
#4 Bert Schott
#8 Bob Thibodeaux
#13 Bob Stephenson
#16 Pete Grouzos
Skins:#1 The McDaniels team with an eagle 2 on that baby.
#2 The Turner team with an eagle on that baby.
#3 The Schott with a measly eagle on that baby.
#6 The McDaniels team with another eagle on that baby.