By MICHAEL COLLINS
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – Last Thursday, under grey skies with somewhat windy conditions, the final round of playoffs for the Ocean City Thursday Senior Golf League was completed at the Harbor Pines Golf Club. The course was described as moist, as was the air with prevailing high humidity. The matches were close with some exciting finishes.
In the Division A Championship round, Pete McInerney squared off against Mike Bogdash. McInerney was the 2023 Division A Champion while Bogdash was playing in his first championship round since joining the league this season.
On the front nine, McInerney went out to an early two-stroke lead, then increased his lead to a three-stroke advantage on hole No. 5, where Bogdash turned in a triple bogey. On hole No. 6, it was McInerney’s turn to blunder as he scored a triple bogey to bring the score to even. Bogdash then found some game and finished the front nine with a solid 46 and a two-stroke lead. However, McInerney won four holes to three in match play.
On the back nine, McInerney turned up the heat scoring three pars and limiting his miscues to one double bogey on No. 11 to finish strong with a 44 for a total of 92 for the round. Bogdash, who was under the weather, struggled on the back nine, turning in a 52 to end the round at 98, giving McInerney his second consecutive championship in A Division. McInerney also took away 4 points in the match after beating Bogdash nine holes to give in match play.
In the B Division round, Rick Schultz took on Paul Sullivan.
Schultz shredded Division B this season with strong play and will most certainly move up to Division A next season. On the front nine, Schultz went out to an early four-stroke lead which was reduced to two strokes with a double bogey on No. 6. Meanwhile Sullivan started with a triple bogey on hole No. 1 then settled down with a par on No. 6 and matching strokes with Schultz on holes No. 7, 8 and 9 to finish the round with a 48, two strokes behind. Schultz was playing above his handicap and finished with a very good 46 while leading in match play 3 holes to 2.
On the back nine, it was Schultz’s turn to triple bogey on the par-5 hole No. 10, but Sullivan missed an opportunity to even the score shooting a double bogey which left him one back. For the next six holes, both players played steady golf. With the score even at 16, Sullivan stumbled with an 8 on the par-4 hole No. 16, giving Schultz a two-stroke lead that held up to the end of the round. Schultz turned in a 93 for the round net 70 after adjusting for his handicap while Sullivan finished with a 97 net 70 after adjusting for a 27 handicap. A tie after stroke play, how exciting! Match play would prove to be the tiebreaker with Schultz winning by only one hole, six to five, to take the B Division Championship. It should be noted Schultz also took away three points in the match.
While the championship matches were being played, other members of the league were still playing for points. In another closely played match with ranking implications, Phil Gaffney won his match against Glenn Giveans by one point with an 88 net 68 to Giveans’ 88 net 69. Gaffney also won in match play eight holes to six to take four points in the match and the top position in A Division with 43 points for the season. Giveans came in second with 41 total points.
In the B Division, Schultz finished on top with 57 total points. He was followed by Mike Janel, who was at or near the top of the point rankings all season with 40 points.
This will be the last article of the season so some thoughts as well as final stats.
There was a good number of new members who joined the league this season and left their mark on the league. Some of those members are highlighted with an asterisk in the final stats. We had only one ace this year which was scored by Jim Soukup on hole No. 15 late in the season. It was a very competitive season with new members setting the bar for winning a bit higher which kept things interesting through the season. Congratulations to Pete McInerney and Rick Schultz on winning the championship.
Lastly, I would like to send out a thank you from all the members to Pete Davis for the work he did throughout the seasons writing the articles for the Sentinel. Thank you, Pete! Also, a thank you to David Nahan and the staff at the Ocean City Sentinel for their support and providing us the space to talk about the league.
Low Gross
A Flight: John Blady 74
B Flight: Russ Forrest 82* Low Net
A Flight: Jim Guidotti 58 *
B Flight: John Rutter 56*
Total Points
A Flight
Phil Gaffney 43
Glenn Givens 41 *
Frank Mancini 38 *
Mike Bogdash 37 *
Pete McInerney 37
B Flight
Rick Schultz 52
Mike Janel 40
Mike Coffman 32
Tony D’Ottavio 29
Paul Sullivan 29
Closest to the Pin
Hole No. 3 Paul Fredric 2’-2”
Hole No. 8 Frank Mancini 6’-10” *
Hole No. 11 Ben Fong 3’-8”
Hole No. 15 Jim Soukup ACE