By TONY CHERBY
BUENA VISTA — Sixteen intrepid souls ventured forth in, on and around the turf and sand at Buena Vista Country Club on the hottest day of the year so far in play last week in the Ocean City Tuesday Senior Golf League. At the end of the day, everyone made it back, mostly intact, to Buena Vista’s cozy bar and grill, “The Bunker.”
They tell me it was a grueling round of golf. (I wasn’t in attendance.)
The round was highlighted by Jeff Mitchell’s twin pin wins, one of which might go down as the best we’ll see in our Race to September. He steered, maneuvered and generally cajoled his ball to less that 2 feet from the cup on hole 17, a place where the golfer’s journey forces one to navigate air, land and water, with a ricochet or three thrown in at times, for some laughs and giggles, off that ring of pretty stones that define the pond in front of the green. (For my money, I think 17 is the signature hole at BVCC; especially when they turn on the fountain).
The closest anyone came to the cup there in all of 2023 was Ed Lyons’ 3-footer. Jeff wasn’t done; he went on to post another win on hole 5 on his homeward nine. (Our rounds start on the back at BVCC.) This time his was a more pedestrian effort; he ended up a bit less than 20 feet from the hole.
Ralph DeLanzo continued where he left off two weeks ago with another match play win, a 4-zip sweep. And that allowed him to widen his points gap from 6 to 8. Tony Cornell was in second place then, but he didn’t make an appearance this week. I’m told, however, that his absence had less to do with the heat and humidity than with a joint or two that came a bit undone. Anyway, DeLanzo’s win coupled with Cornell’s no-show allowed Bill Gardner to slide into the runner-up slot second place in the points race, after his 4-0 match play sweep of his own over Bill Brandreth. The tally is now Ralph 28, Bill 20. Tony slipped from second to third place, still with 18 marks. Dane Mayson is next with 17, followed by Dave Carter and Stan Borucki at 15. DeLanzo has never been dislodged from that lofty perch since our opener in May. He is making me look like a soothsayer when I called him “Steady Ralph” years ago. His solid assault on the rest of us is starting to morph into a landslide.
Rich Hawthorne also came up with a twisted tendon or rotator thingy or something like that this week, so he sat the steamer out as well. That means he didn’t get another of his patented “Pin Wins,” which we have come to expect every time he leaves the barn. But Hawthorne still maintains a comfortable lead in that unofficial but absolutely prize-less race; Deadeye Rich has collected five wins this season on the par-3s. And as he is with the points contest, Bill Gardner is the runner-up here as well, with three victories on the short holes. Too many to mention have two wins after seven matches; speaking of which, last year, come September, when we put the season to bed, we had logged a grand total of 12 matches. So, by that metric, our season is more half over.
Here are all the match play results: Dave Carter 4, Ed Lyons 0; Bill Wright 4, Doug Baird 0; Ralph DeLanzo 4, Roger Probert 0; Charlie Smyth 4, Rick Schultz 0; Bill Gardner 4, Bill Brandreth 0; Dane Mayson 3, Jeff Mitchell 1; Stan Borucki 2, Dan Stang 2.
You can check out more data and statistics about us and our standings than you would ever care to know about if you go to our website: ocstgl.golfleague3.net/
WEEKLY WINNERS
LOW GROSS Roger Probert (86)
LOW NET Dave Carter (70)
FEWEST PUTTS Stan Borucki (30)
BIRDIES Roger Probert & Doug Baird
MOST PARS Dan Stang (6)
CLOSEST TO THE PINS
No. 5 Jeff Mitchell 19’ 8”
No. 8 Bill Gardner 20’ 6”
No. 12 Doug Baird 5’ 11”
No. 17 Jeff Mitchell 23” (Best so far in 2024 and for all of 2023)