May 11, 2017 Results
Oh man, where do we begin. I guess first off would be the number of attendees at the course. Originally we were supposed to have 114 players but then the rains came. Thoughtful, night before early cancellations brought that number down somewhat but then the onslaught came the morning of the event. Some folks called in to the course (the proper thing to do), some told their fellow car poolers that they wouldn't be making the trip, and some just flat didn't show up. We finally ended up with 98 players for the day. All this makes for a frantic group of last minute adjustments to the pairings list so those of us that show up can get off on time. This Herculean effort all falls on Randy Pratt's shoulders and let me tell you he does a tremendous job of making all these adjustments. We can't thank him enough. I just wish all of you could witness this effort. But then you'd be getting in his hair (what's left of it) and that would only delay the operation further. Kudos to you Randy, unfortunately the effort probably shortens your life span a tad and for that we're ultimately sorry.
On to the day at hand. We all knew it was going to rain, we just didn't know when. For us it came as we began our 10th hole (ironically #10). Of course fortunately it didn't last forever yet teased us occasionally with either a mist or a few drops that had us holding our breath knowing that another downpour was inevitable. But that didn't happen.
The real miracle for the day, and the one that had everyone shaking their heads, was the decision by the course management to allow us to drive, carefully, on the fairways. We could not believe it. But, we actually did not leave "deep" ruts on the fairways, only a little hydroplaning on occasion. Lack of the ruts was a reminder that these are zoysia fairways and quite tough and resilient. But again, many, many thanks to the course for that permission. We might still be there if it were cart path only. Probably air boats would've worked a bit better, but still we managed with normal carts and careful driving.
The course was in great condition even given the sogginess of the fairways. And the greens were quite good. They were very kind to us I know that. Our foursome sank some putts that normal golfers are not supposed to sink. But some days are like that, eh?
Results: The scorecard playoff hole (SCP) was chosen by the random number generator on the computer to be #7 (dammit). That's a par 6 masquerading as a par 4 and it proved to be our team's downfall when we registered a bogey knocking us out of the really big bucks.
Flight "A"
Two teams manufactured a -7(65) to tie for the lead in this flight but the stupid computer screwed up
First was the John Dierker, Larry Willman, Bob Foeller, and Del Lohmann team.
In Second was he Doug Nolte, Ed de la Pena, Joe Cernich, and George Eickhoff team by virtue of the SCP. Note; Mr. Willman is again in the winners column - unbelieveable. Additional note; our shot of the day was accomplished by that all around athlete Joe Cernich who delicately lofted a bunker shot out of the backside bunker on #18 down the sloping green toward the cup where the ball came to rest for an easy par. Thanks Joe, you saved our bacon, and for sure did a much better job than that stupid computer.
In Third was the Bob Checkley team recorded at 66
In Fourth was the Tom Braun team a 67(-5) to round out the four teams in this flight.
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Flight "B"
Four teams shot identical -4(68)
In First was the Jim Hawkes, Steve Comfort, Jerry Kent, and Paul Kinser team. At least I think this was Jim's team, if not I apologize to those listed. For those of you who can read a .jpg file I'm attaching an image of the corrected pairings sheet so you can see the mass confusion that occurs when there are so many cancellations.
In Second was the Ron Ruffin team
In Third was the Sonny Javier team
In Fourth was the Art Soble team
And then there was a huge gaggle of teams at -3(69). In order; the Tom Fichter team, the John Prather team, the Jack Panula team, the Dan Snowden team, the Bill Parrish team, and the Kerry Rockwell team.
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Flight "C"
Four teams tied at -1(71)
in First was the Pete Grouzos, Mike Deveraux, Ernie South, and Erle Craig team came out on top thanks to the #$#%&# computer.
In Second was the Bert Schott team
In Third the Joe McDaniels team
In Fourth was the Dee Ridenhour team.
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Flight "D"
The winner of this flight also shot -1(71)
In First was the Skip Knopf, George Keil, Lou Pessoni, and Joe Mullins team.
In Second was, with a sister-kissin' even par 72, the Mark Gordon team
In Third was the Ralph Buettner team at 73
In Fourth was the Dan Fergus team at a +3(75).
Real kudos for the day go to what remained of the Dave Gillett team who managed a +10(82) using only 2 members when the other two members dropped out presumably when the rains came about half way through the round. Dave and his surviving partner, Bob Pankey, trudged on to garner the big Effort of the Day award. You guys are real troopers - congrats.
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day: #5 Larry Riedisser #8 John Boyd (probably the only human being in our group that can reach that green with any accuracy) #12 Ken Knarr #16 Bill Parrish