September 28,2017
Another great day for golf!! A bit on the chilly side at the start as 109 of us teed it up at this overly flat venue, but for those of us who'd come off a day at Wolf Hollow on Wednesday, this was a welcome relief. And we've never seen such level greens either.
The course was in very good shape. The fairways were fair, not scalped, and the greens were quite good even tho the holes were evasive for us. I believe the grounds crew cut them just a shade longer than normal but still they rolled quite true and were quite receptive to approach shots that occasionally found their surfaces.
Speaking of approach shots, you're all aware that this course has 3 of each par 3's, 4's and 5's on the back nine, right? Kind of a different setup but I guess it's the way the designer(s) intended. The one issue I have with the course is the fact that holes 9 and 10 are in the next county (darn near) and those teams starting on those holes had to drive a looooong way to begin their day, and then a looooong way back at the end. Not sure why it was designed this way but perhaps the lay of the land available dictated such a setup.
My team was fortunate to start on #1, mainly because Randy uses me as his Dictaphone at the end of the day to read him the scores from each team. Had I started on #9 or 10 someone else would have to read those scores cause I wouldn't have been back for another half day at best.
Speaking of the team that I was blessed to be a member of, and at this time I must apologize to them for my sporadic play, we had ample opportunities to decrease our score but of course it all comes down to putting and we didn't have enough of those miracles. As mentioned before, this course has 3 par 5's on the back, and of course 2 on the front 9, a total of 5 par 5's, not really normal for a golf course. Because of one prodigious wood player from the fairways, one Ralph Buettner, we were putting for eagle on 4 of those par 5's. Nary a one, however, could we convert. The 5th par 5 is the number 1 handicap hole on the course, #8, which is a horseshoe shaped fairway to a slightly elevated green. Ralph did try to go over the grove of trees to the green but in one of his very few miss hits for the day, he put one into those trees. We survived.
On the very next hole, perhaps one of the hardest, if not the most hard, holes on the course, #9, I finally showed my frustration with the skill of golf. My tee shot went a total of 1 yard. Surprisingly I made contact with the ball, albeit probably the top micron of the surface. I do have a variety of explanations for this, however. Having an education as a geologist from one of the finest Big Ten colleges I detected a subsidence in the earth between my stance and the ball 2/3rds of the way through my downswing, thus putting the ball inadvertently just outside my perfect swing arc resulting in the very slight topping of that #$^&*#ing little sphere. Couple that with a sudden growth spurt in both my legs and you've got a pretty good explanation for the embarrassing display on the tee box. But, I know a golfing sage, one Ron Muse to be exact, who has the more precise explanation that can be summed up in one acronym; LOFT. (Lack Of F%%^*#ing Talent). My story and I'm sticking to it.
Anyway, I believe most had fun for the day as can be attested by the hum of activity post round. And that hum can get pretty loud at times, so loud that I have to shout the scores into Randy's ear. I think I've become too familiar with Randy's ear.Anyway, I believe most had fun for the day as can be attested by the hum of activity post round. And that hum can get pretty loud at times, so loud that I have to shout the scores into Randy's ear. I think I've become too familiar with Randy's ear.
Results: The playoff hole was number 9 - the sight of the geologic/growth spurt/LOFT episode.
Flight "A"
In First was the Bob Pankey, Mark Gordon, Jack Eckhard, Doug Torrie foursome took honors here with a sparkling -11(61). Pankey should score good here, he can crawl to the course in about 5 minutes.
In Second at 62, was the Tom Wulf squad
In Third was the Jerry White team at 63
In Fourth was the Sonny Javier team also at 63.
The Don Schmidt and the Doug Nolte teams were at -8(64).The Don Schmidt and the Doug Nolte teams were at -8(64).
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Flight "B"
Two teams shot identical 65's(-7)
In First was the Bob Foeller, Ed de la Pena, Bob Braun, and Larry Edwards team came out on top because of what they did on #9, or some ensuing hole.
In Second was he Gene Erard team also shot 65.
in Third was the Ernie South at 66.
In Fourth was George Blaney team also at 66.
The Frank Vien team had 67, as did the Rich Graeff team and the Paul Rivard team, while the Jack Reiner team posted a 68(-4).
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Flight "C"
Four teams shot 69's(-3)
In First was the Gary Dyhouse, Lou Pessoni, and Roger Nikrant team.
In Second was the Jim Hawkes team.
In Third was the Harold Lindahl team.
In Fourth was the John Dierker team
The Bert Schott and Jerry Mullen teams turned in identical 70's(-2).
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Fight "D"
Three teams shot 71's(-1)
In First was the Dee Ridenhour, Pick Williams, Pete Grouzos, and Calvin Britt squad.
In Second was the Bob Hickey team
In Third was the Don Schneider team
In Fourth at 71 was the Bob Stephenson team was awarded a big schmoochie at the end from their sisters because of their even par score.
The Ted Schuessler team, the Harvey Ruth team, and the Pierre Sans Souci team all shot +1(73) while the Dean Brandon team got in a lot of practice with an 81 and the Effort of the Day award which includes a growing baggie of pink balls and a new addition, a pink tee!
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Awards;
Closest to the pins for the day: #3 Tom Braun #7 Stew Pagenstecher #11 Bob Foeller (oh so close) #13 Stew "Again" Pagenstecher #17 Pete Grouzos