By PETE DAVIS
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – The big story for play on Sept. 5 was day one of the championship playoffs in the Ocean City Thursday Senior Golf League. Eight players were facing off from both Flights A and B to battle for the trophy.
Jim Soukup stole the show as he dropped his sixth career hole-in-one on his opponent Drew Klein in a non-championship match.
After taking a lead on the front nine Jim watched as Drew made the turn and notched a birdie on the 10th followed by two pars on the 11th and 12th to even their match. Jim started to pull away again on the 13th and 14th, which brought them to the par-3 15th hole.
Playing to about 115 yards with a red flag tucked behind the front greenside bunker, Jim pulled an 8 iron and fired his dramatic stroke. Jim’s ace carried him to victory and 4 points. After the round all the league members present signed a flag donated by Harbor Pines and enjoyed a beverage on Jim’s account. Congratulations, Jim!
Phil Gaffney and Joe Dempsey (both 18s) went out in group 1. Joe, as the eighth seed, pulled off the upset with a net 70 and a four -hole advantage in match play holes. 4 points to Joe.
In group 2 Pete McInereny also pulled an upset in defeating No. 2 seed Glenn Giveans. While Glenn birdied hole 4, Pete proceeded to turn in a card with only one blemish. 17 holes of either par or bogey secured Pete a fabulous net 63 and he didn’t even need his handicap strokes to come into play. 4 points to Pete.
A Flight players in group 3 played a very tight match. Frank Mancini was able to edge Ron Venturi by 1 stroke net and one hole match play despite giving up 7 handicap shots. 4 points to Frank. In group 4 Mike Bogdash parleyed a stellar back nine into victory over Jay Ammon. 4 points to Mike.
In B Flight playoff action Rick Schultz continued to cruise as he fired a net 66 to win out over Mike Collins. Paul Sullivan, despite surrendering 5 handicap shots, topped Mike Janel by 2 handicap strokes to move on to the next round. 4 points to Rick and Paul.
Mike Coffman, earning 4 points, defeated Dom Scalfaro in a match which was tied at the turn. Mike held the edge on the back nine by 3 shots to secure his win. Finally, Tony D’Ottavio marched out to a big lead, (with a birdie on the second hole) on the front nine in his match with Tom Szkaradnik, never looking back as he won 4 points.
In other play Jim Guidotti outpaced Bob Pierce for 4 points due to a fine net 67. There was blood on 15 holes in this match but Jim’s strong front nine kept him well ahead. 4 points to Jim.
Ben Fong won five of his first six holes to pull well in front of John Rutter and secure 4 points.
Jim Hoagland birdied the fourth and 12th holes as he overcame Ron Gibson. Jim shot a net 65 to Ron’s net 68 so these two birdies played a prominent role in the match. 4 points to Jim. Russ Forrest defeated Tom Gahr, Brian Lefke topped Joe Szkaradnik and Paul Frederic overcame Joe Sheridan.