BY TONY CHERBY/For the Sentinel
BUENA VISTA — Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat. Whilst waiting to tee off on No. 10, I did lean my driver on the front of my cart so I could eat my lunch, which after 11 holes in the heat had morphed into a scruffy PB&J sandwich, and a brown and squishy banana. When it was my turn to hit, I put what was left of my food in my pocket so I could get my Big Dog out. And, yes, I forgot where I left the thing. Boy, did I panic. Upon finally finding it, I said, “If that had happened to anyone else, I’d write about it in the funny papers.” After the others heard that, I had to.
All seriousness aside, I blame my senior moment on the high temps the Ocean City Tuesday Senior Golf League faced on July 14. The heat penetrated our brains with gusto, but while bad, those “hazy, hot and humids” were not horrible thanks to a bit of a breeze. Even so, the weather may also have caused one of our Tonys to flip his 3-wood into the brush out of utter frustration. (Salty language usually suffices for him.) I was told that his mighty heave may have gone farther than one of his shots on that monstrous piece of real estate. So, when I found out he’d lost his cookies on Beelzebub’s own par-5, it was easy to understand.
Notably, Greg Harlan bagged a birdie on 13. That may have been more impressive than his ace on No. 2 weeks ago. After all, holes in one do require a bit of luck, but luck has zero to do with a 4 on that hole. New member Kevin Greene, while sweeping his match in his maiden voyage on our Ship of Fools, recorded the league’s only par on 13. This, on a day when three 8s and three 9s were carded there.
Lou Salgado, in only his fourth round with us, also had a great day. He swept his match after caging his first feathery fellow in league play. It was on No. 12 after a 5’11” putt. Lou had a pin win on 12 and five holes later manufactured a second one on the rocky and watery 17th.
Harlan continued his great streak with, as usual, a Low Gross win (78), highlighted by birdies on 3, 7, 13 and 15. Harlan, who joined us a few months ago, leads the league with 16 birdies after just five matches. Wow.
Long-hitting Chris Ramsay almost matched Greg’s daily count, with flutteries on 3, 6 and 18. He and Mark Franks have 6 after 7 rounds. That’s an impressive mark, but it’s one that still has them a distant second in the birdie hunt. Bill Gardner is next with 4.
Ramsay does lead in Total Pars (53). DeLanzo is next with 49 and, while Harlan “only” has 40, again, that’s after many more birdies than the others, and with two fewer events (five) than them. Sir Richard of Osprey follows with 38 pars after seven trips around the track.
We also keep track of Total Bogeys. After all, they are the new pars for us; 18 of them equals 90, and 90 is great for 80-somethings. If you aren’t one of us yet, you’ll see. Ed the Lyon King leads with 61, followed by Captain Carter (58), then Steady Ralph DeLanzo (55) and Bill Wright (54).
DeLanzo had a perfect record going into the day, having swept six matches. Ramsay spotted him a snap this time, and he fired a fine 83. But Ralph didn’t need any help, coming home with a great 82. That gave him the 2 points for Low Net. But Chris won 8 holes to Ralph’s 7 (3 birdies will do that), so he pocketed both Medal Points. Theirs was as close a match as it gets. A tie not being a loss means Ralph is still undefeated at 6-0-1, and still leads for Most Points (26). Tony Cherby has 20, Dane Mayson 19, Ramsay 17, then Carter and Harlan with 16.
In other highlights, Ralph also took the Low Net and Fewest Putts prizes, and on No. 8 Tom Gahr came 3’3” from the Promised Land. Da Coach had the day’s closest pin win, but only by 1” over Carter’s effort on No. 5. (Bill Gardner still owns the best shot we’ve seen this year all on No. 8, albeit by only 5 inches over Tom’s strike.) As for Carter’s great effort on No. 5, Tony Cornell’s 7 ¼” shot there two weeks ago there will not be matched this year, if ever; my offer of 100-1 odds on that one still stands.
Here are all the match results: Mayson 3, Wright 1; Franks 3, Lyons 1; Hawthorne 4, Hurston 0; Baird 3, Cornell 1; Salgado 4, Curtis 0; Ghost 4, Schultz 0; Ramsey 2, DeLanzo 2; Cherby 2, Gardner 2; Borucki 4, Gahr 0; Harlan 4, Lapham 0; Greene 4, England 0; Dave Carter 4, Chestnut 0.
WEEKLY WINNERS
Low Gross (78): Harlan
Low Net (71): DeLanzo, Carter
Fewest Putts (28): DeLanzo
Birdies: Harlan (4), Ramsay (3), Carter, Salgado, Cherby, Gahr
Most Pars (9): DeLanzo
Most Bogeys (11): Lyons
Closest to the pins
No. 5 Carter 3’3”
No. 8 Gahr 3’2”
No. 12 Salgado 15’11”
No. 17 Salgado 10’4”
