April 20,2017 Results
After some rearranging due to last minute cancellations, etc. we came up with 96 players for Thursday's event at the Golf Club of Wentzville.
And in spite of the dire predictions by radar and all the weather experts (aka forecasters) those of us who did show up found that the rain did not spoil our parade and we made it through the day without having to open a single umbrella. We could even drive to our hearts content on the fairways of this none too difficult course on the south side of I-70 just outside Wentzville.
However, we did not absolutely completely escape the predicted deluge. When our foursome reached our third green (ironically hole #3 for those of you interested) and yours truly was lining up another missed putt we were hit by, at last count, a total of 8 drops of rain. That figures out to 2 drops per man, in case higher math has eluded some of you. Naturally we all exercised our right to be discouraged as our collective eyes met with that feeling of doom, just knowing that the rest of the day was lost and we'd soon be heading back to the clubhouse with stories of what should've/could've been on the course.
But then, and without any parting of the clouds and all that good stuff in the movies, the "rain" quit just as quick as it had started, almost like a false alarm experienced by those of us who have some issues with the prostate. All urge and limited result - right?
Anyway, as we all experienced, it was a very enjoyable day on the course even with the wind that did pick up occasionally and divert our perfect shots/putts.
I was blessed with a very good team who managed to drag me around the course in almost record time (we all finished in good time, something we need to practice more often). These guys, who shall remain anonymous because I wouldn't want to put any hopes in your hearts if/when you're fortunate to be paired with at least one of them, were a pleasure to play with and were very, very good to boot. It's just that we couldn't put together the 3 phases of the game when it counted the most. Those phases being the DAP factors - Drive, Approach, Putting. Our D was very good, but our A's and P's left a lot to be desired. But thanks anyway guys, it was a pleasure - and we even got paid a little. Before I go any further I want to say a bit about the trip home. I believe there was a sign on I-70 that said an accident had occurred at the Olive/40-61 interchange and to be aware of a traffic slow down. It was more like a traffic stoppage. By the time I got to the Boone's Crossing interchange the 3 lanes were almost dead stopped so I got off and wended my way through the shopping complex to finally get on Baxter road behind the expansive mall. Once onto Baxter it was clear sailing to my destination. But that took an extra half hour (closer to eternity) and gave me time to think; were any of our golfers possibly involved in the accident. I certainly hope not.
Now, on to comments about the course. This one plays pretty easy actually, as witnessed by the low score attained by one team. The fairways were good and the greens were acceptable, although still reeling from the aeration process which I'm convinced forced us to miss far too many putts. But all in all the course was good to us, and so were the rain gods.
Results: Oh yeah, the playoff hole was #16, that dead up hill par 3 guarded by the abandoned silo that's the sentinel for the subdivision. Obviously it wasn't a problem for Ron Ruffin who stiffed one - nice shot Ron. In case you're wondering, the playoff hole is selected by the computer, which of course is operated by Randy (I'll say no more).
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Flight "A"
In First Running away with low score of the day (-13) was the Joe Cernich, Bob Chinnici, Mike Devereaux, and Bill Heidbreder team. No surprise here what with a former professional baseball player plus a guy who could've gone into pro golf but chose government service instead leading the way I'm sure Mr. Chinnici and Mr. Devereaux enjoyed the day. I'm sure they added some timely shots too though. Congrats guys.
In Second was the Calvin Britt team at -11 (60).
In Third was the Jerry Mullen team at -9(62).
In Fourth was the John Boyd team at -8(63).
Also with a 63 but out of the millions because of the SCP was the Dan Fergus team.
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Flight "B"
Four teams vied for first in this flight, all teams shooting a tidy -7(64)
In First the eventual winner by the SCP was the Bob Bischoff, Doug Torrie, Paul Villhard, and Lee Readus team.
In Second was the Pete Grouzos team.
In Third was the Steve Dierker team.
In Fourth was the Livingston Sykes team.
Also in the flight, but shooting a 65, was the Tom Braun team.
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Flight "C"
Three teams tied atop this flight with -5(66)
In First via the SCP was the Mike Sommerville, Ken Knarr, Larry Willman, and Joe Goines team. Aha, you all probably thought that Mr. Willman did not cash on this go around but the team managed to disguise him as just one of their players and in fact he was on the winning team and once again came away with a lot of dough. Keep it up Larry, just make sure you share some Powerball numbers with your friends.
In Second was the Bert Schott squad at 66.
In Third was the Dale Crittenden team 66 .
In Fourth was the Bob Eubank team at -4(67).
Tom Wulf's team also shot 67 but screwed up somewhere along the way because the SCP didn't do them any favors.
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Flight "D"
Four teams managed a -3(68)
In First was the Larry Amen, George Blaney, Pat Reed and Skip Knopf team.
In Second was the Dan Snowden team.
In Third was the Jim Zweifel team.
In Fourth was the Del Lohmann team.
Finishing out the flight were a couple of 69's (Bob Pankey team and the John O'Toole team), a couple of 70's (the Lowell Barnes team and the Roger Hennen team) and the Pierre Sans Souci team, who at 76 finished out the day with the Worthy Effort trophy.
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day: #2 Jerry White #6 Bill Heidbreder #8 Kevin Walsh #12 Dave Page #16 Ron Ruffin