April 23, 2015 Results
When all the dust settled and everyone had arrived in spite of traffic and/or GPS issues, we had a total of 109 golfers attend our first outing of the season at the Whitmoor complex. As always, the management treated us like some kind of royalty, carrying our bags to their appointed carts, etc. We must be important because even the pro was lugging our clubs at one point. Unfortunately for those guys they had to make separate trips because as is our wont, we had some last minute changes due to late cancellations. But everyone was settled in by at least 7:45 and we headed off to our respective starting holes.
Many of us came dressed in our mid-summer shorts, topped off with some kind of wind breaker and/or several layers of a variety of shirts, with the idea of later in the round when things warmed up we could shed those layers and play comfortably. Yeah right! I don't think I've shivered as much as I did for the first 2-3 holes of this endeavor. It was downright chilly and the breeze that picked up almost on our first hole was nasty. Luckily I had the excuse of the cold shakes for some of my early shots because they certainly looked shaky. Eventually it did warm up enough to start shedding but not until we were perhaps half way through the round. But you know what, we were playing the North course and naturally the weather would be cooler, right?
The course looked to be in its usual good shape. The fairways were just right, not cut to within a sixteenth of an inch of their lives, but just right so that the ball could sit up a bit to allow a club to slide nicely under (well, most of the time). The greens were good albeit a bit like a pachinko board with the aeration indentations still playing a bit of havoc with the true putting strokes we're all so used to. The pin locations were challenging in that they really revealed some of the undulations and slope that these greens can show. I just don't remember them being that difficult. But at least the greens were large enough so you didn't need any optical help finding them, ala Glen Echo. We're coming back to Whitmoor in August, the 20th to be exact, and by that time the dimples will have subsided and the greens will no doubt be rocket fast. Prepare.
Results: Scorecard playoff hole was #12, a par 5. Don't blame Randy, the computer did it.
Flight "A"
Two teams vied for the lead in this flight with a -7(64) tally. In First With the SCP the Ed de la Pena, Bob Gay, Erle Craig, and Ken Knarr team
In Second was the Mark Gordon, Bert Schott, Larry Willman, and Lou Pessoni team. Mr. de la Pena is formidable when he hits from the front tees, but he needed all the cunning he could muster when he defeated a team with Larry Willman as a member. Larry wins just about every time he even comes near a golf course and to overcome that karma took all of Ed's ability and some serious guessing as to which hole would be the scorecard playoff hole. Congrats Ed, and team.
In Third using one more stroke (a -6; 65) were two more teams; the Doug Torrie, Mark Bryant, Joe Jarvis, and Dave Gillett team
and in Fourth the Bob Foeller, Don Schmidt, Frank Vien, and Bill Howell team.
Also in at 65 but losing out in the SCP was the Dennis Meade team. Behind them at 66's were the Ed Bronczyk and Joe McDaniels team.
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Flight "B"
Two teams tied atop this flight with -4(67's). In First winning via the SCP was the John Dierker, Karson Kosowski, Bill Gust, and Charlie Fischer team.
In Second was the Bruce Schnelle, Stew Pagenstecher, Livingston Sykes, and Joe Pfeifer team.
In Third at 68 was the Larry Knopfel, Lowell Barnes, Bob Thibodeaux, and Calvin Britt team
Also at 68,in Fourth was Calvin Britt team and the Darryl Rue, Paul Kinser , and Paul Rivard team.
Also at 68, but nosed out by the SCP were the Larry Riedisser and Bob Checkley teams.
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Flight "C"
5 teams tied for the top in this flight but of course only the top 4 were in the money.
In First was the Jack Panula, Bob Brewer, Ernie South, and Russ Wall team
In Second was the Lon Schwake, Pete Grouzos, Steve Dierker, and Jon Meyer team
In Third was the Rich Graeff, Jack Eckhard, Ron Ruffin, and Don Congleton team
In Fourth was last of the first four was the John Tipton, Bill Parrish, Charley Wilson, and Doug Nolte team.
Also at 69, but out of the money, was the Don Giarraffa team.
And then there were 5 teams at -1(70). The Jerry Mullen team, the Lee Hanson team, the Pierre Sans Souci team, the Art Soble team, and the Jim Hawkes team.
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Flight "D"
Two teams tied for first at even par (good for sister kissing). In First coming out on top via the SCP was the Roger Nikrant, Dee Ridenhour, Dan Edmiston, and Earl Phillips team.
In Second was the Max Saunders, Bob Meinhardt, Ralph Buettner, and Tom Braun team.
In Third at +1(72) was the Gene Erard, Harold Howard, Al Rosenberg, and Paul Villhard team.
In Fourth at +2(73) was the Tom Gill, Jim Dwyer, Sonny Javier, and Don Wulf team.
Also at 73, and winning the high score for the day via the SCP was the Bill Wegge team.
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day: #3 Charley Wilson #8 John Boyd #11 Harold Howard #13 Tim McCullen #16 Larry Knopfel