By TONY CHERBY/For the Sentinel
BUENA VISTA — On June 23, the Ocean City Tuesday Senior Golf League (well, most of us) assembled at Buena Vista Country Club with trepidation under what the TV weather bunnies like to call “threatening skies.”
We found ourselves checking those radar cartoons every 2 minutes, the ones that magically appear on our schmart phones. (That’s what the Amish would call those gizmos if they used them.)
Things did not look good. Five or six squeamish members had already decided to stay in bed. When they resurface, I’ll bet the wives and such will be blamed.
Jack Nicklaus loved adverse conditions, feeling that harsh rain and such eliminated at least half the competition who were not mentally resilient. Heck, the only things you have to keep dry are your grips and gloves, and that’s hardly rocket science. Thing is, golf is played outdoors and sometimes, it rains. Deal with it. Oh sure, that TGL silliness, where they hit balls off polyester grass into a big screen, is played inside. But that hi-tech glitz isn’t real golf. Know anyone who watches it? I’m predicting a merger with LIV Golf. The two would be perfect together.
Anyway, after we checked the rules about what happens when it rains and getting 11 interpretations from nine people, Captain Carter called for a vote (it happens) to see how many wanted to play. “Give it a Shot” won so, out we went, and son of a gun, the weather turned out fine. We had a great morning whilst those Nervous Nellies (names noted) were having a banana with their cornflakes. Ma Nature did hit us with a bit of spritz early, but that killed the humidity, conjured up a refreshing breeze and gifted us with great playing conditions.
Greg Harlan grabbed the headlines again. He finished with an astonishing round of level par, as John Bulls put it, which ciphers to a 72 in these parts. I’m looking at his card as we speak, and I see a 35 (-1) on his outward nine, featuring 3 birdies; this, despite a 3-putt double on No. 9. Wow. Had not that single glitch reared its ugly head, well, you can do the mach. But just like Scotty on TV, a bounce-back birdie on the very difficult 10th took some of the pain away. Then came 7 pars and a bogey, for a 37 on his trek home. He had 9 1-putts, earning him the Fewest Putts prize, and he also tacked on a Low Net win. Ed Lyons also had a great day on the short grass, finishing with 29 short stickers. Greg’s final tally was the best we’ve ever seen since we went west to the wilds of Buena Vista. As Bobby Jones said after Jack Nicklaus won the 1965 Masters, “He plays a game with which I am not familiar.”
Mark Lapham, another low handicapper, has finally made his way north from Pedro’s South of the Border. And Scheduler Stan threw him to the wolves right off the bat, pitting him against Steady Ralph DeLanzo. When all the traps were raked and some of the divots replaced, both posted a stellar 85 in a great back-and-forth match. But Mark had to spot Ralph a few. That, coupled with 3 fewer putts by RD made the difference as our points leader notched his fifth win against 0 losses. And for a few laughs and giggles, DeLanzo also tossed in 2 Pin Wins.
We welcomed two new members to our gang of misfits and merry makers. Pat Chestnut and Bill Mackey posted the first of their three test runs with us. Richie the Handicapper needs those scores so he and his infamous computer can parse how many strokes they will give and get when they qualify to play for all the marbles, such as they are. Welcome aboard, Pat and Bill. It’s great to have you with us.
Here are all the match results. DeLanzo 4, Lapham 0; Lyons 2, Borucki 2; Cornell 4, Carter 0; Mayson 4 ,Baird 0; Van Zandt 3, Ramsay 1; Wright 4, Hawthorne 0; Harlan 4, Ghost 0; Cherby 2, Marks 2.
WEEKLY WINNERS
Low Gross (71): Greg Harlan
Low Net (66): Greg Harlan
Fewest Putts (28): Greg Harlan
Birdies: Greg Harlan (4), Dave Carter, Mark Lapham
Most Pars (11): Greg Harlan
Bogies (12): Tony Cherby
Closest to the Pins:
No. 5 Stan Borucki 16’7.5”
No. 8 Ralph DeLanzo 9’7”
No. 12 DeLanzo 11’2”
No. 17 Dave Carter 4’9”
