May 10, 2018 Results
Today we had 112 folks show up at this Arnold Palmer course on the outskirts of Alton. The weather really, really cooperated and we may have finished a bit on the warm side, but it was on the dry side and that's good. Randy didn't have to waste an email cancelling the game for the day as he did last week. BTW (By The Way for those of you who need some cyber talk training) it was the first time we've alerted anyone about cancelling an outing via email and for the most part it worked ok. Some went to the course in spite of the email that obviously wasn't perused only to find out that the day was cancelled, so perhaps in the future they'll check that way of communicating before heading out on a questionable weather day. I'm sure it will happen again sometime so make sure you check your emails early on the day of golf if the weather is iffy. Naturally you can always check with the course but now you'll have two sources to verify the go-no-go situation.
On to the day at Spencer T. Olin. The name Olin kind of rings a bell with me so I became curious as to its source. The course is named after Spencer T. Olin (obviously) an executive with the Olin Corporation which became the Olin Mathieson Corporation at one time.
In my younger years I can remember my father referencing this corporation and saying he had to travel to Alton to have meetings with Olin Mathieson officials. My father was a government official at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant outside my hometown in Wisconsin. For those of you not aware of it, this plant was the world's largest ammunition plant during WWII - quite something for a small town in the Midwest but probably a good place for it, tucked away in the hinterlands so the enemy would have trouble infiltrating for nefarious reasons. Why that specific area was chosen I've never heard, but it makes for an interesting bit of trivia, eh? That's my connection to this golf course and I'm sticking to it.
As to the course itself, in my impression the fairways were quite good and by the end of the month should be in full bloom and rather plush. The rough was outstanding although not the easiest thing to hit from. The greens were so-so. Fast enough but a bit on the rough side and for sure pock marked from all the unrepaired ball marks. All in all, the course was quite good and certainly ready for more intensive play. And the food was good enough for our lot.
Results:The playoff hole was #10, the not too long, not too memorable par 5.
Flight "A"
First, Evidently if Bill Heidbreder had lost his game he's found it again as he no doubt led his squad to a very respectable -11(61). Joining Bill in this fun was Mike Sommerville and Stewart Pagenstecher.
Three teams couldn't quite match Bill's team's output but gave it a valiant effort at -9(63).
In Second was the Bill Wegge, Ward Klocke, Don Giarraffa, and Ron Muse team
In Third was the John Ross, Jack Panula, Steve Venker, and John Shetterly team
In Fourth was the Jerry White, Calvin Britt, Ken Knarr, and Bob Eubank team.
Three teams finished out this flight at -7(65); the Dennis Terhaar team, the Livingston Sykes team, and the George Blaney team.
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Flight "B"
One team came out on top in this flight with a 66(-6).
In First was the Rich Graeff, Kerry Rockwell, and Erle Craig team
three teams with 67's
In Second was the Gary Turner, Randy Pratt, Rick Hastings and Ron Ruffin team
In Third was the Dee Ridenhour, Tom Braun, Karson Kosowski (welcome back Karson), and Art Soble team
In Fourth was the Ed Boyer, Steve Comfort, John Boyd, and Jon Meyer team.
The Pierre Sans Souci team shot a 68(-4) while the Max Saunders and Doug Nolte teams carded 69's.
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Flight "C"
All the teams in this flight shot a -2(70)
in First was the George Keil, Jim Mead, Bill Park, and Jim Hawkes team.
In Second was the Lee Readus, Bob Braun, Curt Opperman, and Bill Gust team
In Third was the Bob Pahmeier, Dan Winter, John O'toole, and Doug Torrie team
In Fourth was the Norb Loebs, Paul Rivard, and Larry Willman team.
Also with 70's, but out of the big dollars were the Lou Pessoni team and the Joe Goines team.
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Flight "D"
Two teams vied for the lead in this flight with -1(71)
In First was the Larry Riedisser, Frank Vien, John Balog, and Roger Nikrant team.
In Second was the Ted Schuessler, David Erker, Ralph Buettner, and Dave Buesse team.
In Third at even par were the sister-kissin' team of Ed de la Pena, Ernie South, Frank Greening, and Dale Crittenden team.
In Fourth was the Del Lohmann, Don Schmidt, Bob Meinhardt, and Mark Bryant team at par.
The Larry Knopfel team, the Bob Hickey, and the Bob Foeller teams also had 72's while the Bob Pankey team shot 73. Having the most fun of the day and getting in a lot of practice was the Sonny Javier team with a 77.
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Closest to the pins for the day: #5 Bob Eubank (anywhere inside of my shot was a good shot - congrats Bob) #8 Paul Rivard #12 Paul Sawchak #16 Joe Cernich