Sept 20,2018
On what we all hope was the last of the toaster oven outings, 108 of us went to our starting holes on this course that winds its way thru an upscale neighborhood on the outskirts of Wentzville.
Ironically, at least for me, part of the course parallels Pointe Prairie Road (hole #7) which years ago led to a sports car road course called MAR (Mid America Raceway). Back in the 70's I was part of a pit crew working on a British sports car (MG Midget by name) for a friend who was crazy enough to drive as fast as he could around this narrow 2.89 mile layout. Some pretty famous folks came to MAR to test their skills against the challenging course. Even Paul Newman was there to run against the clock and other competitors. The layout also included a dragstrip which featured some of the beasts of the day. It really was quite the place in the racing world until the road course was shut down in the mid 80's and the dragstrip turned into a subdivision in 2005. Many memories for me in my earlier car-crazy days.
But, now to the golf. How many of you noticed the sign off the corner of the clubhouse urging patrons to visit Bear Creek's sister course 25 miles to the north? The sister course is Sun Valley and it boasts a 720 yard par 6 hole to test your abilities. 720 yards!!! Actually, that's only about 50 yards longer than #2 at Bear Creek, isn't it?
Or #10 at Bear Creek from the whites. Number 10 was our first hole and I couldn't believe the view from the whites. It took the light from the white 150 yard marker at least 2 seconds to reach the tee box, it was that far down the fairway! Luckily, my tees (the advantage of being an old fart) were a considerable distance down the fairway so at least I could give our beleaguered lesser-aged players a chance at reaching the green in two. I gave it my best shot and would you believe my ball ended up a good 4 inches directly behind that 150 stake, and I mean directly behind it. That set up a tricky second shot by the way, trying to hit a shot over/around that #$&!! stake (we cheated and moved the ball out from behind the impediment).
Anyway, the previous paragraph only serves to illustrate the length the Bear Creek management had set us up for the day. The course played quite long with the whites being almost too much for the average less-than-75er. If the old farts couldn't carry the day from the "front" tees the team(s) struggled. And the pin placements were not exactly friendly either. Bitch, bitch, bitch, right?
In spite of the conditions, and much of the course was in very good shape, not the greatest, but quite good, we all had a great, sweaty time. Hopefully the last of the sweaty times, right?
One last tidbit, and this is about the road hole, #17. I'm not going to mention any names but this is a classic. It's a dangerous tee shot for those cars driving by. It's very easy to pull, or push if you're a lefty, a shot towards the street that parallels the fairway. Well, the group behind us, at least one of the unnamed behind us, did in fact pull his shot onto the street. My attention was drawn to this fact because I heard the all-too-familiar click of the ball contacting concrete. Glancing over I saw this ball continue one click after another as it worked its way down (or in this case up) the street towards who knows where. The ball, for all I know, might be in Wentzville by now, or at least a record drive distance by this crew. Surely it surpassed the 400 yard mark on one of its concrete clicks.
Enough of the memories of Bear Creek. Here are the results as best we know them;
Results: Playoff hole was #18, that uphill, over the water par 4 that ends even further up hill.
Flight "A"
Five of the teams in this flight tied at -7(65)
In First was the Kerry Rockwell, George Keil, and Ron Smith threesome.
In Second was the Ron Ruffin, Dave Hitt, David Hall, and Bill Heidbreder foursome
In Third was the Bill Gust, Ron Muse, George Eickhoff, and Don Zugmaier team
In Fourth was the Dee Ridenhour, Ken Knarr, Kevin Walsh, and Tom Braun team.
Also with the 65 but out of the huge money payoff, was the Joe Cernich crew. Four teams followed with 66's(-6) but were left high and dry on the financial side; the Art Soble team, the Rick Hartmann team, the Mike Owens team, and the John Prather team.
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Flight "B"
The top money winners all shot -5(67)
In First was the Calvin Britt, Gary Dyhouse, George Mosinski, and Larry Edwards team.
In Second was the John Dierker, Jerry White, Rick Hastings, and Dave Page team
In Third was the Dan Snowden, John Shetterly, Bob Thibodeaux, and Russ Wall team
In Fourth was the Skip Knopf, Dennis Hoffman, Randy Pratt, and Ed Boyer team came in at -4(68).
Also in B flight but out of the money were:
The Ralph Buettner and Don Bratcher teams finished out this flight with -4(68's)
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Flight "C"
In First was the Jim Frost, Larry Riedisser, Steve Dierker, and Bill Clark team with -3(69)
the next three slots were all filled by teams shooting -2(70).
In Second was John Balog, Eric Erkinnen, Ted Schuessler, and Ron Martens team
In Third was the John O'Toole, Bob Bischoff, Pierre Sans Souci, and Harvey Ruth team
In Fourth was the Tony Marietta, Paul Sawchak, Dale Crittenden, and Wayne Lamborn team.
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Flight "D"
The first four teams in this flight all shot -1
In First was he Dave Buesse, Bob Braun, Tom Wulf, and Lee Readus squad.
In Second was the Jerry Kent, Tom Benedum, Erle Craig, and Paul Villhard team
In Third was the Joe McDaniels, John Hofmeister, Norbert Loebs, and Tom Prinzi team
In Fourth was the Steve Venker, Mike Sommerville, and Max Saunders.
Also with the 71 score, but out of the money, was the Doug Torrie team.
The Steve Smith team got the sister-kissin' award for shooting even par while the Jack Eckhard team was a +1, the Mike Deveraux team a +2, and the Paul Kinser team took home the pink ball set with a wonderful +3(75).
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Awards:
Closest to the pins for the day: #3 Jack Eckard #6 Ed Boyer #12 Joe Cernich #16 Bill Park