By TONY CHERBY
BUENA VISTA — The Ocean City Senior Tuesdy Golf League had its second scramble of the season on July 9, and the results weren’t nearly as good as our first one a month ago.
The league gets its scramble sticks out after every three match play rounds.
The one in June featured a winning score of -4, a great 68. That was our best finish since we moved down the Harding Highway to Buena Vista Country Club in 2022. This time, scores were much rockier, and folks moved much slower; or should I say much soggier. A 1-under 71 took home the honors, with the runners-up coming home at even par 72. Two groups shot +2, and the other 3 finished at +3, +4, and +5. The main difference between the two scrambles, however, was 20 or more degrees in temperature and twice as much humidity. It was our first steamer of ’24, and Cicely Tynan says we ain’t seen nothing yet.
Anyway, scientists tell us that golf balls travel farther in high heat, and as counter intuitive as it sounds, elevated moisture in the air has the same effect. But most of us would trade a 15-degree drop in temperature, and lower humidity, for less carry. In any case, according to Trackman data, a change from 10 percent to 90 percent humidity translates into less than a yard’s distance with a 6-iron. For me that means 120 yards on a hot day, as opposed to a bit over 119 in October. And, yes, we’re talking a 6-iron here. Isn’t that pathetic?
One thing did stay the same when we compare the June and July scrambles: Roger Probert was on the winning team in both events. And given the way he hits his drives, it’s a good thing for the other squads that our rules require each golfer to hit four drives in four-player best ball scrambles, and five drives in three-player.
Seven three-man scramble teams competed, and for my money getting 21 old-timers to show up given the challenging atmospheric conditions was impressive. No wonder all those cotton tops only hatched a dozen birdies.
Probert was joined by Bill Brandreth and Ed Lyons on the winning squad. We start on the back nine these days, and they bogied the dreaded 10th. The best that one of our not-to-be-named team could muster there was a double bogey 7. What a scramble slayer that was. The other five groups did manage to par that monster. As for 13, our toughest hole, only three teams recorded a par; the other four got BBBs (Best Ball Bogies).
On 18, seven holes after their blemish and right before their turn, our eventual winners erased their bogey by bagging a feathery fellow. At that point, my impeccable and unreliable sources tell me that the stalwart crew concluded they were not going to win anything.
A birdie came to roost on their next hole, No. 1, and it, too, was erased out by another bogey a few holes later. A third and last birdie came two greens later, giving them a final score of -1. That relatively high count (for a scramble) was good enough to capture the win. Bill, Ed and Roger prevailed over six other teams, but most of all over Mother Nature, who was in a particularly nasty mood.
Coming in second at even par were Rick Schultz, Dan Stang and Tony Cornell. They racked up birdies on 7, 17 and 18 but bogied 8, 12 and 16. Theirs was even more of an up-and-down journey than our winners took. Two teams tied for third place at +2: Bruce Goldberg, Mark Lapham and Charles Smyth; and Dave Carter, Dane Mayson and Bob Van Zandt. Ralph DeLanzo, Tom Gahr and Jeff Mitchell were next at +3. Stan Borucki, George Curtis and Rich Hawthorne shot a +4. Finally, Tom Bowman, Jim Hurston and Frank Coppenbarger came back to “The Bunker” (and some cold beverages) with a +5. Call the whole affair a survival contest. Let’s just hope that no one ended up on the IR for next week’s seventh match play round, as the backstretch of our 33rd consecutive Race to September is just a long par-5 away, believe it or not.