By TONY CHERBY
BUENA – Andy Reid told me I should start with an injury report on the Ocean City Tuesday Senior Golf League.
Hawthorne’s out with a messed-up shoulder. It got old much faster than the rest of him. And Borucki’s back rebelled at the thought of bending over a putt, so he was a no-show. Mayson also had some issues, but he bravely put up with the misery (no sympathy around these parts) for 18 holes. Hope he’s not on the I.R. for our final match on Sept. 10. And someone hurt my feelings; no good can come of that. Then there was Cornell’s injury, sustained when he defied ticks and other critters and tromped into weeds to help his opponent, Doug Baird, find his ball. “Big Tone” said he ended up tearing up his calf somehow. Upon hoisting his leg on the table for all to see whilst giving his unsolicited version of the story, Cornell claimed that he was going to need 15 to 18 stitches. Baird said a Band-aid will more than suffice. And they never did find his ball.
As for the rest of the story, “Two Ton Tommy” Gahr and “Philly Frank” Coppenbarger had what I’m calling the Match of the Day. They started on 16 and managed to end on 15, playing every hole in the correct order. That doesn’t always happen. Along the way, they had a nail-biter of a contest. Frank took the early lead, but Coach Tom battled back valiantly. You know, he only carries two clubs: a driver and a putter. Well, wait. In the name of responsible journalism, which is my forte, it’s more like he only uses those two clubs. So, Tommy was 1 up coming down the final fairway when Frank unleashed a terrific drive, followed by a 140-yard shot to 2’ from the cup. Gahr claims it was 4’ out, so I went to the video tape. It looked to my trained eyes like a 24-incher, which rounds down to 2 feet. The Shot of the Day! And Coppenbarger nailed the birdie. He needed it, as Gahr made a great par. So Big Frankie snatched a dramatic walk-off tie from the jaws of da’ feet.
In other highlights, I didn’t bother telling Mayson to mark his ball. Why? It was nowhere near my line of putt. Ha. I hit it flush; the ball that is, not my line. Add 2 penalty strokes and get on with what’s left of one’s life, I say. BTW, a golfer is not obligated to mark his ball; it’s up to another putter to ask him to do so. Interestingly, I have googled this at length and can’t find anything about what happens if a player throws a hissy fit and refuses to mark. If anyone discover what the Rules of Golf say about that, I’d love to hear from you.
Roger Probert emerged again as our low scorer with a sparkling 83, featuring a 39 on the back, the tougher nine. He and Carter were the only golfers who turned in sub-90 cards, and for the second time Roger came home with 10 pars. That’s the most we’ve seen for a single round. Perhaps as notable were his pars on 10, 13 and 14, which are three of our four toughest holes. And Rick Schultz bagged a pin win and 2 birdies on his way to winning his match.
Finally, Dave Carter had a career day, taking Low Net and Fewest Putts for about the fourth time in both categories. He also won his match after a fine 86, highlighted by a birdie on No. 7. He’s runner-up for the year, behind Ralph DeLanzo, for Most Points. And Dave’s also a sure thing for Low Average Putts and/or Low Average Net, for the season. (We play for four “Season’s Best” awards, but a multiple winner can only take home one of those crystals.)
Match results were as follows: Probert 4, Wright 0; Baird 4, Cornell 0; Schultz 4, DeLanzo 0; Carter 4, Bowman 0; Hurston 4, Mayson 0; Kelly 4, Gardner 0; Brandreth 4, Friendly Ghost 0; Goldberg 3, Hiner 1; Cherby 2, Lyons 2; Coppenbarger 2, Gahr 2.
WEEKLY WINNERS
LOW GROSS Roger Probert (83)
LOW NET Dave Carter (67)
FEWEST PUTTS Dave Carter (28)
BIRDIES Rick Schultz (2), Coppenbarger, Carter
MOST PARS Roger Probert (10); best of 2024 for the second time
CLOSEST TO THE PIN’S
No. 5 Bill Wright 12’3.5”
No. 8 Rick Schultz 5’6”
No. 12 Bruce Goldberg 21’10”
No. 17 Tom Bowman 9’1”