June 16, 2016 Results
Holy cow. Words can't describe what we all went through today. We have played in heat before, but this was something new. This was a new kind of heat - this was a hot heat. Damn hot. I think all of us, all 87 of us nuts, brought some kind of refreshment or cooling mechanism to keep us sane throughout the 18 holes that are Oak Brook. I began with a frozen Gatorade bottle full of ice and that thawed before we'd played 4 holes I'll wager. And my little plastic container full of trail mix became like a piece of metamorphic rock, only a lot softer. It came out of the container in just one piece, all melted together around the chocolate and butterscotch pieces. It didn't help at all that I'd put it in the freezer the night before just to give it a head start on the predicted hot weather. It tasted the way it should but had the consistency of a Baby Ruth (not you Harvey).
Most of us arrived on time, but we did have some stragglers that got caught up in Illinois' method of highway designation and missed the course by a few counties. Nevertheless they did arrive after we'd teed off and they set off as a newly formed threesome and with a reward for their perseverance they actually placed in one of the flights. Way to go guys. Your prize will be a new Garmin.
This course, long and semi-windy, was in pretty good shape. Some fairway bare spots but all-in-all not in bad shape. The greens were quite good and rolled quite true. They were ample in size, though not large and I'll bet you could fit at least three of Mystic Oaks greens onto one of them. It does boast several very long par 3's making closest-to-the-pin awards difficult to come by. Our foursome's only bogey came on our encounter with our first par 3, #11, a 702 yard tester that just happened to be uphill into the only gale of the day.
A fair amount of water on this course, at least in the open areas of the back nine. Unfortunately we played the back nine first so the water didn't look all that tempting at that time. Had it been later in the round for us, you might've seen the local gendarmes investigating some indecent exposure reports in the areas of those lakes.
Anyway, it appears all contestants survived the toaster oven for the day and reveled in the cooler climes of the clubhouse to rehash what putts should've dropped and which tee shots didn't go where coerced. Here are the condensed results:
BTW the playoff hole was #4, on which yours truly fashioned a CTP resulting in a birdie - but who's bragging, right? Again, I personally had absolutely nothing to do with the selection of this hole. Blame Randy, he pushed the randomizing button.
Results:
Flight "A"
In First pulling out an amazing -12(59) was the Dennis Terhaar, Ron Smith, Brian Kennedy and Tom Braun squad. Mr. Terhaar, when interviewed afterward, stated that all team members contributed fairly equally, but Mr. Braun is probably in the wrong league and might consider joining the Long Drive competition.
In Second was the John Prather team at -11(60).
In Third was the Calvin Britt group also at 60 and in third place because of the vagaries of the CTP and the infernal computer.
The Dan Pfleger team also fashioned a 60.
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Flight "B"
Three squads finished with -9(62) to place in the top 3 of this flight.
In First because of the tie breaker being hole #4 and the above story about yours truly birdying the hole, the Pierre Sans Souci team took honors for the flight.
In Second was was the Ron Muse team who had a chance to beat me out on that hole because they were right behind us. When mighty Ron came up to bat he came a few feet short of my miracle shot and because of that fell into second place in the flight. (Thanks computer)
In Third with the 62, was the Howard Freiner team.
Also in the B flight were the Edwards team and the Lamborn team at 63, while the Pfeifer team and the Rivard team shot 64's.
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Flight "C"
Three teams shot 65's to take the top 3 slots in this flight.
In First was the Max Saunders team won by virtue of the SCP.
In Second was the Bob Gay team .
In Third was the Mark Bryant team.
The Lee Readus team shot 66, the Bob Meinhardt team had a 67, and the Jack Panula and Art Soble teams had 68's.
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Flight "D"
Three teams shot 70's for the top 3 spots in this flight.
In First was Mr. Ed de la Pena's team via the SCP .
In Second was the Dave Buesse team with 70.
In Third was the Bob Checkley team finished with identical 70.
The Ernie South team had a 74 and the Commissioner Emeritus Larry Knopfel and his team had the WEOD award with a 77. Darn, not one team got to do some sister kissin'.
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day: #2 Gary Dyhouse #4 Doug Nolte (using the blind pig method) #7 Ron Muse #11 Dan Edmiston #14 Randy Pratt