April 13, 2017 Results
At last count 122 of us teed off at this nugget just after 0730 local time and we endured what came to be a very, very nice day in April. For those of you interested there appeared to be a misunderstanding between the course operations and our agreement with them. We were under the impression that our start time would be 0800 and not the 0730 time that they pushed us out the door. A few members of the committee were still at the sign in table awaiting some stragglers to sign in when we noticed a string of carts heading out on the course. The course management had not even checked with us to find out if all had arrived on time so that we could have a coordinated start. Not good. This is something the committee will have to discuss.
Anyway, as noted, this turned into a very fine day as April days go. Luckily there was no rain and no rain had occurred in the past couple of days to prohibit driving in the fairways of most holes. However, the signs posted at the first and 10th holes could've been easily mistaken for warnings about cart path only conditions but if one read what they really said it was for winter conditions and as we all know we're knee deep into spring so the signs should've been dutifully ignored, as they properly were. Not quite sure why course management left them in plain view, perhaps to confuse.
The course presented itself in pretty good shape. The fairways were what one could expect for this time of year and the greens quite good. Fortunately for us they'd not been aerated/sanded yet so at least we enjoyed a relatively true roll of the ball, in most instances.
This year yours truly has reached that age where we can move up to the forward set of tees. I believe there are at least three other folks who've reached that age and tested that capability on this challenging course. Yours truly didn't pass the test. Oh sure there were some holes that proved a bonus with the tees well forward, but distance isn't everything in this game, as you all know. It's a game/skill of accuracy and just being able to be closer to your intended goal at the beginning doesn't always prove helpful. I was living proof of that at The Bluffs.
Anyway, the purpose is to have fun at these outings and had that I did. I just hope the guys playing with me felt the same way.
Results: Playoff hole was #5., the 12,000 yard par 5 that just happens to be the #1 handicap hole on the course and if your best drive among your foursome happens to be maybe 100 yards, managing par can be difficult. However, one of our group managed to place his tee shot perfectly on the #7 green and had we been able to use it two holes later we'd have been in good shape for a birdie!
Flight "A"
A Flight (the first four places received some grand amount of remuneration)
In First place overall and winning via the SCP (Score card playoff) was the team of Bob Foeller, Jerry White, Paul Kinser, and Tom Braun. (Easy to see why they came in first!) Their score was a -9 (62)
In Second was the Larry Amen team.
In Third was Ted Schuessler team.
In Fourth was Bill Heidbreder team.
also with a score of -9(62) was Tom Fichter team.
Coming in with 65's were the Mark Gordon and Ralph Buettner teams. Following them was a whole gaggle of teams at -5(66). The John O'Toole team, the Joe McDaniels team, the Dan Snowden team, the Doug Torrie team, and the John Balog team.
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Flight "B"
The same for these guys, the first four received money along with an IRS form for reporting exorbitant income.
Three teams tied at -4(67) but because of the fantastically fair score card playoff system
In Firstwas John Boyd, Lon Schwake, Wayne Lamborn, and Ernie South squad wrested the top honors.
In Second was the Paul Pals team.
In Third was the Ron Muse team.
In Fourth was the Joe Cernich foursome at -3(68).
Also at 68's, but cruelly nosed out by the SCP factor, were the Lee Readus team, the Howard Freiner team and the Tom Wulf team. Bringing in the rear in the flight with a 69 was the Dennis Meade team. It ain't that bad Dennis, look at it this way, yours was the only team to shoot that unique number.
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Flight "C"
Five teams finished with identical -1(70's) but finagling its way to First was the Darryl Rue, Don Zugmaier, Jerry Kent, and Tom Murphy team. Not sure how they did this because Rue just had eye surgery and claims he can't see a %^&*ing thing. And come to find out Mr. Murphy feels that he just can't play this wonderful game anymore and has to give it up, forever. Tom, we'll miss you, take care of yourself.
In Second was the Bert Schott team.
In Third was the Randy Pratt team.
In Fourth was the Bill Gust team.
Also shooting 70 but missing out of the top 4 because of the SCP was the Jack Panula team.
Finishing out the flight were the Dan Edmiston squad and the Larry Knopfel team at even par 71 and as a special treat a waiting kiss from their sisters at the finish line.
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Flight "D"
Even this flight gets money, is that good or what?
Two teams vied for first at +1(72). In First was the Larry Willman and his small group of Dave Gillett and Larry Riedisser took it all in the SCP.
Tied with them. In Second wasthe Ed de la Pena team.
In Third was the the Joe Pfeifer team with 73.
In Fourth was the Dave Buesse team with 73.
The Roger Hennen team and the Doug Nolte team also shot 73's but were out of the big bucks. In my team's defense, if Jerry Mullen's second shot on #11 had just rolled another half inch into the cup we'd have made an eagle putting us in the money...
And finishing out the day and the scoring was the Del Lohmann team at +3(74). Now they made some big money for that effort.
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day: #2 Jon Meyer #6 Del Lohmann #8 Lee Readus #14 Mike Sommerville #17 Bill Heidbreder