Aug 10, 2017 Results
Gents, this report will be very, very short and I can't guarantee the sweetness either. I've got a compressed schedule because early tomorrow AM we leave for s/w Minnesota to hook up with my 98.8604651 year old father-in-law who's moved into an assisted living facility. We have to make sure he treating the staff correctly and they're giving him his money's worth. He can be quite particular.
Anyway, we're leaving early as I said, and we're travelling in a rental vehicle that's got all kinds of electronic wizardry that we're not real familiar with so it'll take some time to dial in just what we want on the profoundly confusing radio system. We normally listen to "books on tape", or more modernly, books on thumb drive, that we've downloaded from the county library. It seems we can get half the books in the Library of Congress on a drive the size of one's little finger. We like mysteries, so right now I've got about 20 of them loaded on the drive with plenty, plenty of room to spare.
The reason for the rental car is that my normal car just went through a failed attempt to shorten it on Hiway 141 last Friday by some guy who forgot to watch the traffic in front of him. My rear end (the car's, not mine) was barely dented but the front end was severely modified by contacting the vehicle in front of me. Over 10 grand in repairs and maybe I'll be able to drive it again (hope, hope).
My problem, not yours. Now, onto the day at The Bluffs; Good weather and good course conditions led to a good day by most standards. But still, these courses manage to put the holes in the places we don't hit to. And in some instances the hole positions were questionable to say the least. I don't think we could've hit the pins with a laser, let alone a stupid golf ball propelled by clubs managed by rank amateurs.
However, however, and here's one for the books. One of our team, on a 75 yard approach to #9 decided to use one of his lofted clubs as a putter and managed to hit a perfectly executed worm burner directly at the flag whereupon the ball struck the pin a mighty blow and stopped 3-4" from the cup for an easy kick-in birdie. One #$^&*@ of an artistic golf shot. Unfortunately he couldn't repeat that feat on every hole else we'd have destroyed the rest of the field.
I'd have to say the course was in very good shape with the exception of the old fart's tee on their signature hole, #15. Very little grass was on the tee box and in fact it appeared they had stolen some of the grass for implanting somewhere else.
The fairways were quite good not being shaved to within a micron of their life, a feature some courses can't seem to grasp. The course played long, as it usually does, so the scores were not outlandishly low, although -10 is nothing to sneeze at.
Results: Oh yeah, the playoff hole was #1, that purely down hill par 5 that should easily be reachable in 3, if you're a normal group. Of course some gorilla-laden teams were probably on in 2 with a chance for an eagle.
Flight "A"
In First with a low score for the day (-10; 61) was carded by the Pick Williams team of Tom Wulf, Paul Pals, and Jon Meyer. Word is that Pick was up to his old tricks of manufacturing a wonderful game on a challenging course.
In Second with 62 (-9) was the Paul Rivard team
In Third also with 62 (-9)was the Harry Vellines team.
In Fourth was Bob Foeller team with a 64.
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Flight "B "
The top 4 teams all shot 66(-5)
In First was the Bob Pankey, Gary Dyhouse, Tom Fichter, and Dennis Terhaar team taking first overall because of the playoff structure.
In Second was the Ralph Buettner squad
In Third was the Steve Smith team
In Fourth was the George Keil team.
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Flight "C"
The top 4 teams in this flight all carded 68(-3)
In First was the Dale Crittenden, Ron Ruffin, Dan Edmiston, and Don Moschenross team who obviously crafted some magic on the playoff hole, or the ensuing holes, to capture the lofty #1 spot in this flight.
In Second was the Don Schmidt team
In Third was the Don Giarraffa team
In Fourth was the Stew Pagenstecher team.
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Flight "D"
In First with a Low score in this flight was the Howard Freiner, Mark Bryant, Joe Pfeifer, and Harvey Ruth team who managed a -1(70)
In Second at 72(+1) was the Larry Knopfel team
In Third was the Larry Willman team at +2(73)
In Fourth was the Gene Erard team also at 73.
Worthy effort of the day goes to the Bert Schott squad who got in more practice than anyone else at a +4(75).
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day: #2 Curt Opperman #6 John Boyd #8 Bob Thibodeaux #14 Ron Muse #17 Ken Knarr