April 23, 2015 Results
This turned out to be a very fine day for golf at the oldest private course west of the Mississippi. It didn't start out balmy but it sure ended nicely. The last count we had was 117 players. Our limit, defined by the number of carts the course could supply, was 120 but over the several weeks since we first started counting we lost 12 folks, who were replaced by people on a waiting list. Then, within the past 3 days before the event we lost another 3 players resulting in one of those prime numbers; 117.
And just a reminder, if you have to cancel before the day of the outing, please let me know (nolted@att.net) because I'm the person that makes up the sign-in sheets. You can let Larry (lknopfel@aol.com) and Randy (rdpratt@att.net) know but I'm the one that really has to know for bookkeeping purposes. Thanks.
This is the first time we've ever played this course. Some folks have played it before and knew what to expect but the vast majority had never set foot, or cart, on the fairways. What an experience! I'm not a big fan of Normandie, as many have heard me say, but this course is Normandie on steroids! One hole was labeled "Alps". How fitting, the whole $%^&# course could be called the Alps. I had no idea this part of the St. Louis area had so many rolling hills. I can't think of any of these par 4's that didn't finish going up hill. And at the top of the hill was a green with a square footage that would rival the size of one of my bathrooms. Fortunately my bathrooms have flat floors. These greens at least were not undulating but they were fast, very fast, and they all had some demonic slope to them. They did run true, we'll give them that, but wow were they slopey fast.
The course conditions were ok, not exquisite by any means but they were ok. Some fairways were a bit sparse in spots, and the rough was not too difficult to manage. And then there were the greens, oh those greens. Well kept but again very, very small and usually located on the top of a dome, hundreds of feet above the fairway
I'd heard some folks that had played here previously thought the course to be tight. I didn't necessarily find that to be true in the horizontal sense, but in the vertical sense it was out of this world. If tight vertically can be imagined. I once played a course in Baguio, Philippines and the slope up to a par 3 green was so steep they'd installed a rope tow to help players get up to the green. Glen Echo could take a lesson from that course.
As told by our host this course was actually used during the 1904 Olympics when golf was an event. Somehow I have difficulty imagining those Olympians mastering this beast. The equipment back then would not have given them any imaginable advantage. I wonder what the scores were.
Bottom line, what do you folks think of playing here? You don't have to send me an email but we're curious in what direction your thumb would point if you had to give a thumbs up/down as to playing here again. If you think of it, show us at the next outing. I know in the threesome that I was part of one guy liked it, the other guy said he did not like the course. And then there was me - the jury is out
I suppose one thing you should take into account was the lack of food at the end. They did have food but not at the prices we're accustomed to.Results:
Flight "A"
In First somehow managing a -4 (67) and taking low score honors on this challenging layout was the team of Ed de la Pena, Stew Pagenstecher, Darryl Rue, and Max Saunders. But you have to realize that Ed gets to hit from the red tees and on this course that is a tremendous advantage on some holes, about 3000 yards I believe, right Ed?
In Second with a highly respectable 68 was the Art Soble, Frank Vien, Calvin Britt, and Bill Gust team. Secret weapon here has to be Frank Vien hitting from the up fronts.
In Third, with a 69 was the Bill Howell, Rich Graeff, Don Wulf, and Bill Heidbreder team. Secret weapon here I would imagine would be Mr. Heidbreder, as close as this group can come to a semi-pro.
In Fourth, also tied with Howell's team, but losing in the scorecard playoff was the John O'Toole, John Ross, Gene Erard, and Dan Edmiston team.
Also rans in this group were the Ron Ruffin team (69), the Ron Muse team (70), and the Randy Pratt team (70).
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Flight "B"
The first 4 places in this flight all shot +1(72)
In First surviving the SCP cut was the Bob Foeller, Ken Swehla, Bob Fell, and Jack Panula team.
In Second was the Dan Ottoline, Ron Martens, and Joe Jarvis threesome.
In Third was the Doug Nolte threesome of Doug Torrie and Harvey Ruth.
In Fourth was the Pete Grouzos, Harold Lindahl, Jon Meyer, and Jerry Mullen team.
5 teams managed a +2(73) for the day. The Dan Snowden team, the Paul Villhard team, the Pierre Sans Souci team, the Don Giarraffa team, and the Larry Riedisser team.
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Flight "C"
Four teams were at the top of this flight with the same score, +3(74) In First was the Ernie South, Wayne Warneke, Don Congleton, and Lowell Barnes team won the SCP sweepstakes.
In Second was the Paul Pals, Dennis O'Connor, Roger Hennen, and Mark Bryant team.
In Third was the John Tipton, Jim Hawkes, Charley Wilson, and Pat Hudson team.
In Fourth was the Ted Isringhaus, Brian KIennedy, and Bob Stephenson threesome.
Also with a 74, but out of the SCP runoff was the Earl Phillips team.
Four teams managed +4(75) scores. The Ron Smith team, the Larry Willman team, the Jim Zweifel team, and the Steve Comfort team.
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Flight "D"
In First was the Jack Eckhard, Bruce Schnelle, Tim McCullen, and Dave Gillett team with a +5(76).
In Second with a +6(77) was the Tom Braun, Harold Howard, Bob Day, and Harry Trammel team.
In Third with a +7(78) was the Lou Pessoni, Don Schmidt, Bob Edwards, and Joe Pfeifer team.
In Fourth with a +8(79) was the Bob Gay, Gibby Wilborn, Gary Dyhouse, and Gary Turner team.
Finishing with a lot of practice on this challenging course was the Paul Rivard team who managed a nice round 80 for the day.
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day: #6 Doug Nolte #9 Steve Dierker #11 Frank Vien #14 John Boyd