Oct 4, 2018 Results
On a misty/cloudy/sunny/windy morning north of Alton 105 of us gathered to attack this jewel designed at the behest, or approval, of one of the true icons of golf; Arnold Palmer. Don't know if he ever visited this course but I think he would've been fairly proud of the challenges it offers. It's a pleasure to play this course and take advantage of the special offers the management gives to the players. The complimentary meal is really something great.
Generally speaking the course was in decent shape. Some fairways were a bit thin but good for the most part. The greens were a horse of a different color. Too chewed up, scuffed up, and dinged up for my liking. Lots and lots of spike marks, even from the "spikeless" shoes. And far too many poorly repaired ball marks for me. And they were fast, no doubt. Some of the pin placements defied description, especially on #'s 9 and 10. On 9 the hole was in the middle of a definite slope and on 10 the hole was apparently in the middle of a ridge. I know, bitch, bitch, bitch, but something has to explain our ineptitude on the more challenging greens. Now the Heidbreders and Muses of our world could probably place their approaches within 2 or three feet of the hallowed cup so as to take out any semblance of a treacherous break, but us hacks have to put up with lousy approaches and just hope luck has its day!
WRT putting, our foursome had many adventures/misadventures with the grand total leaning heavily towards the miss adventure. I've heard some folks say there's a conspiracy involved if your score is an even under par because you will fall in the non-financial-reward crack at the end of the day. I don't really buy into that superstition but there is one superstition that has its claws into me; don't birdie the first hole you play because you'll expect to have an exceptional round after that only to be sorely disappointed from then on.
Well, it happened. We started on #1 and from about 70 yards out Paul Kinser hit a shot that landed short of the pin, rolled toward the hole and promptly hit the stick and settled well within 1 1/2 feet of the cup. We dispatched him to the green and he picked up the gimme to which we gleefully recorded our first birdie of the day. Mistake. We should've practiced with that gimme. The next hole, the semi-long par 5 should've been the old piece of cake following our confidence brimming attitude, right? Well, our par putt was of a nominal 4 feet, perhaps even less. Guess what; 4 grown men missed that $%^*&*$er!!! So, from then on wouldn't you know it but we had far too many 4 footers for either birdies or pars, but too late, the hex was on. It took us a good 12 or 13 holes to break that hex, but even that hex breaker didn't inspire us - we still played so-so and finished a meager -2. Paul could be the goat for our round but that wouldn't be fair - we each had our good and bad moments and managed to walk away with the minimum amount of payoff for scoring as we did. It's all in fun anyway, isn't it? If not, you're playing with the wrong crowd.
Results:The playoff hole was #12, the relatively short par 3 with the pin tucked conveniently behind about 17 traps. And into the devishly designed wind, it proved to be a chore to make the green for some of us.
Flight "A"
The top 3 teams in this flight all shot a very respectable -9(63)
First was the Ron Ruffin, Howard Freiner, and Larry Riedisser threesome
In Second was the Joe Cernich, Mike Devereaux, Charley Wilson, and John Dierker team
In Third was the John Shetterly, Dan Fergus, Max Saunders, and Ken Knarr team
In Fourth was the Bill Clark, Jack Eckhard, George Keil, and Dan Snowden team at -8(64).
Also at 64, but out of the prize money, were the Dennis Hoffman team and the Paul Sawchak team.
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Flight "B"
The top 3 teams in this flight all recorded -7(65)
In First was the Dave Erker, Eric Erkinnen, Curt Opperman, and Tom Benedum team
In Second was the Rick Hartmann, Ron Muse, Pick Williams, and Gary Dyhouse team
In Third was the Lou Pessoni, Bill Heidbreder, Kevin Walsh, and Ernie Ahle team
In Fourth with a -6(66) was the Rick Bonnot, Jerry White, Dan Edmiston, and Steve Comfort team.
The Tom Braun team shot a -5(67) to round out this flight.
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Flight "C"
Once again, the top 3 teams in this flight all recorded the same score; a -4(68).
in First was the Tom Prinzi, Bob Foeller, David Hall, and George Mosinski team
In Second was the Art Soble, Tom Fichter, and Harvey Ruth threesome
In Third was the Dennis Meade, Jon Meyer, Wayne Lamborn, and Ed de la Pena team
In Fourth was the other Mead (Jim) team comprised of Ralph Buettner, Joe Goines, and Gary Turner who managed a -3(69).
The John Hofmeister, Dave Gillett, and Calvin Britt teams also shot the 69 score.
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Flight "D"
Five teams in this flight tied at -2(70)
In First was the Larry Edwards, Bill Park, Mark Gordon, and Skip Knopf team.
In Second was the Dan Rademeyer, Bob Eubank, Dee Ridenhour, and Russ Wall team
In Third was the Jim Hawkes, Don Moschenross, Tom Wulf, and Mike Sommerville team
In Fourth was the Tony Marietta, Doug Nolte, Paul Kinser, and Bob Braun team.
Also at 70, but out the money, was the Brian Kennedy team. With -1(71s) were the Steve Smith squad, the Jim Frost team, and the John O'Toole team. All alone in the plus column was the Lee Hanson team at a pink ball winning +4(76).
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Closest to the pins for the day:
#5 John Dierker (that's quite enough John who do you think you are Sonny Javier?) #8 Dan Fergus #12 Joe Goines #16 Mike Owens