A beautiful Carolina morning and afternoon greeted the players on Wednesday afternoon. The humidity was up, but the scores were not. The Course was in the best condition I've ever seen it and the greens were the best Bent Grass greens we have ever played in the heat of the summer. Kudos to the entire staff at Pine Island for hosting us and having the course available for us to enjoy.
In the Champ Flight, local knowledge and experience was the key on this day. Scott Patnode claims victory with the only sub-par round on the afternoon. Scott's 2 under par 69 was 3 better than Brian Swenson and Larry Griffin Jr who both shot 1 over Par 72's on the day. Brian wins tie breaker after going to the scorecards to determine the playoff winner. Fourth place goes to Tim Smith shooting 75 (+4) and rounding out the top 5 was Dan Anthony (Central Carolina Tour) shooting 76 (+5).
In the A Flight, it was yours truly (Phil VanGeersdaelen) who claimed victory for the first time in 2019. Phil shot a 3 over par round of 74 to claim a 2-shot victory over Phil Seaman who shot 76 (+5). A Double bogie on the par 4, 1st hole was the deciding factor as there were 3 golfers tied with 3 holes to play. Billy Poteat claims third with a score of 77 (+6) beating Tim Woodward, fourth place, in a scorecard playoff. Tim's triple bogie on the par 3, 4th hole (his last hole) was costly as it moved him from a tie for 1st to 4th place. Billy Cauthen claims solo fifth with a score of 79 (+8).
In the B Flight, Sly Stevens who has been battling back issues for the early part of the year, comes back very strong with a 3 over par score of 74. Randall Gaston takes second with a score of 76 (+5), Bernie Loehr (Central Carolina Tour) takes third and winning a scorecard playoff with Howard Lofton, both players shooting 77 (+6). Ken White (Central Carolina Tour), take home the 5th and final paying spot shooting 78 (+7).
In the C Flight, Mike Bouchon claims victory shooting 81 (+10) to win by 1 over Chuck Snider and Rondal Gibson, both players shooting 82 (+11). Chuck wins the scorecard playoff to claim second. Tommy Stokes (Myrtle Beach-Wilmington Tour) claims 4th by winning a scorecard playoff with Guy Woodlief (fifth place), both players shooting 84 (+13).
A little excitement was also seen on the course as Larry Griffin Jr ACED the par 3 8th hole. Congratulations Larry.
Our next event takes us to Firethorne CC on the 8th of July and we will quickly follow that up with the rescheduled event at Lancaster Golf Club on the 17th of July. Please register/pay online as soon as you can. I'd love to post pairings sooner than the day before the event, but due to late entries it is very difficult. You guys have done a really good job of getting to the course well before our start time which makes our job getting started on-time a lot easier, so THANK YOU. Yesterday we did announcements at 9:50 and were on our way to our starting holes well before 10:00 a.m.
Guys, Thanks for all the support
See you in a couple of weeks.
Phil