May 25, 2017 Results
Well, Randy obviously accidentally picked just a perfect day to play. Thursdays aren't supposed to be this nice but this one surely turned out that way. A little chilly to begin with but by the time we finished there was some sweat involved.
The Union Hills course proved its usual challenging self as 105 of us attempted to remember the rather confusing layout as we headed to our respective starting holes. Being Randy's post-round dictation device the guys stuck with me as a teammate had to endure playing the course starting at hole #1 and working our way forward to the logical #18 at the end. It was worth it, right guys?
The course was in decent shape although I found I'm not a big fan of Bermuda grass that tends to lie extremely flat on the ground making it difficult for someone such as I who tend to like a cushy layer of grass to help lift the ball slightly off the ground. I don't often hit the ball first as the club passes through the bottom of the swing arc. I usually contact the big ball first and then the dimpled variety. Such is the life of the hacker. Luckily, our foursome was blessed with one knowledgeable player who adroitly manages the aforementioned capability and manages to strike the golf ball first and as a result we came through with flying colors, albeit not first in our flight (because of the accursed playoff hole gymnastics) but still in some financial reward.
And here we have to mention the greens. They were ok, a tad fast for heavy handed putters but they did run true and on occasion the ball miraculously dropped into the intended hole, so the adjectives used to describe said putting were not too wildly colored - most of the time.
At this point I'll have to apologize for the agonizing delay at the end of the round when it seemed we waited just shy of eternity for the final results to be announced. I personally was hiding one of the scorecards that we were waiting on, thus the delay. Well, in actuality I was not purposely hiding it, the $%^*ing thing was hiding in the pile I was so carefully stacking - sorry about that. But at least the throng was not surely, perhaps because of the size of the room and fortunately we avoided the three-ring circus atmosphere witnessed the previous week in the claustrophobic room at Eagle Springs.
Speaking of circuses, and I'm about to digress for a while here, probably quite a few of us had been to a circus sometime during our lives and wondered in amazement at the sites these traveling shows put on for "children of all ages". As many of you are aware, the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus put on its very last performance several days ago. The institution will be missed by all who were fortunate enough to see the "marvels" these shows put on.
But not everyone knows of the origin of the Ringling Brothers portion of the Greatest Show on Earth. The Ringling Brothers spent their formative years in a small Wisconsin town and established their version of the circus there and the rest is history. That small town goes by the improbable name of Baraboo and in present terms is home to over 12 thousand folks. Today there is a wonderful museum there along the banks of the lazy Baraboo River dedicated to the circus, its origins and life.
You might ask, why in the heck is he digressing to a topic about the passing of one of our great cultural jewels instead of discussing golf? Well, yours truly grew up in this small town in Wisconsin and as many of us do in our latter years we start to reminisce over our early years and where we grew up. Ironically, I once had a paper route that carried me past the old circus barns that overlooked the river where elephants once splashed and cavorted. My paper route pre-dated the museum so I witnessed this part of history before it was turned into a commercial, yet very worthy, endeavor.
Baraboo has at least two more claims to fame. Someone most of you've never heard of grew up in Baraboo, just like yours truly. This person was Bradbury Robinson. Who the %^&?? is that you might ask. Well, anyone who follows football should know that name. He threw the first forward pass in football history on September 5th, 1906 against Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin. And what school did Robinson play for at the time of the pass - none other than St. Louis University!!
Baraboo's other claim to fame is/was a government installation perhaps 3-4 miles south of town, just on the southern edge of the geologically significant Baraboo Range (a massive pre-Cambrian syncline of pure quartzite amongst which sits the extremely scenic Wisconsin's version of Devil's Lake). The government installation was known as the Badger Ordinance Works and at the time (WWII) of its reason for existence became the world's largest ammunition plant in support of WWII and later the Korean conflict. The plant is gone now but at the time of its heyday it provided employment for at least one special person, my father. He was a quality control expert for the government and to this day he must've done his work to perfection because the place never blew up!!
Enough of the history/cultural information. You're probably eagerly awaiting the results of the golf outing at Union Hills.
Results: The playoff hole was #10, a not too memorable par 4 that successfully managed to elude a birdie attempt by our group.
Flight "A"
In First with the low score for the day, was manufactured by the Tom Braun, Paul Villhard, Charley Wilson, and John Prather team who shot a very nice -10(62).
In Second with a 63 was the John Strebeck team
In Third was the Ed de la Pena team at 65
In Fourth was the Larry Riedisser team at 66.
Also at 66, but out of the money as dictated by the playoff hole process was the Ron Ruffin team.
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Flight "B"
Four teams tied at 67(-5) for top spot
in First was the Jack Eckhard, John Dierker, Bill Gust, and Lewis Rosenbaum team.
In Second was the Mark Bryant team
In Third was the Brian Kennedy team
In Fourth was the Paul Kinser team.
The Dave Buesse team and the Don Schneider team each shot 68's to fill out the flight.
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Flight "C"
The top four squads in this flight all shot 69's(-3)
In First was the Pete Grouzos, Don Moschenross, Dennis Terhaar, and Mike Sommerville team.
In Second was the Don Giarraffa team
In Third was the Erle Craig team
In Fourth was the Stew Pagenstecher team.
After them came a slew of teams at the -2(70) score. The Roger Hennen team, the John Boyd team, the Jim Frost team, the Jerry White team, and the Steve Dierker team.
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Flight "D"
Two teams vied for first in this flight at -1(71).
In First was the Curt Opperman, Mark Gordon, Ralph Buettner, and Bob Eubank team.
In Second was the Larry Knopfel team.
Two teams eagerly awaited the finishing line smooch with their sisters sporting their even par 72's.
In Third was the Art Soble team
In Fourth was the Bob Braun team.
The Bill Houston team and the Randy Pratt team came in at a +1(73).
And the worthy effort for the day went to the Sonny Javier team at a +9(81).
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day: #4 Dennis Meade #9 Steve Haase #12 Ed de la Pena #16 Jim Hawkes