By PETE DAVIS
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – Last Thursday started with a beautiful morning but turned hot and humid by midday, leading to some fatigued finishes in the Ocean City Thursday Senior Golf League. The league fired 21 birdies in that heat which resulted in some terrific scores.
Let’s talk birdies! Of our 21 birdies, 15 came from the A Flight, 6 from B Flight. Eleven different holes surrendered birdies, with four coming on the par-5 first hole. The 12th and 15th each gave up three. The par 5s and Par 4s allowed 8 birdies apiece, with five coming on the par 3s. The lower handicap players clearly hold an advantage with their distance and finely tuned games and their birdies clearly correlate with points won in competition.
Jim Guidotti (17) and Joe Dempsey (18) played the match of the day. They combined for four birdies (Jim on 1st, 10th, 17th) and Joe on the 12th. Jim shot a gross 75, net 58, with a 38-37 split. Joe shot an 83, net 65. Pretty rare to see a net 65 come up short. Jim just returned from a couple weeks off too. Asked how he managed such a fine comeback round, Jim stated he
“tried to slow it down and concentrate on good contact. And by looking at the front of the ball instead of the back, in an effort to not shallow out too soon.” Interesting tip. 4 points to Jim.
Glenn Giveans (17) and Bob Pierce (18) squared off in a match which was very tight through the front nine, but Glenn was inspired on the back with a gross 38 which broke the match open. Glenn birdied the 12th and had an unusually hot start too, parring the first six holes. Very unusual to see 6 consecutive pars. 4 points to Glenn.
Rich Kaskus (24) and Jay Ammon (21) are two good buddies who have the most league seniority. They played a spirited match with Jay winning the front nine and Rich winning the back. In the end the handicap strokes were key for Rich as he halved the match with a strong finish despite Jay chipping in from 30 yards on the 15th hole. 2 points each to Rich and Jay.
Pete McInerney (19) and A Flight co-leader Phil Gaffney (18) fought to a split decision with 3 points going to Phil, 1 point to Pete. Phil shot a 40 across the front to take the strokes lead which he never relinquished. Pete salvaged a point in match play with a win on the 18th hole to tie holes won at 6 apiece. Pete birdied the difficult 3 handicap fifth hole while Phil birdied the par-5- first and seventh holes.
Ben Fong (24) went out as the underdog against Jack Mahon (19) and was down at the turn by two strokes and one hole but he played a very solid back nine scoring 43 with a par run on holes 11 through 13. That helped propel him to net 66 and 4 points.
Ron Venturi (22) was an underdog in his match with Mike Bogdash (19). Ron was in the lead at the turn however and a burst of wins on 4 of the 5 holes in the 10th-14th stretch led to victory. Ron also birdied the first and sixth holes. 4 points to Ron. Ron is knocking on the playoff door.
Frank Mancini (14) was a strong favorite against Ron Gibson (23). 9 strokes however, is a lot to cede to an opponent as dangerous as the long hitting Ron. Frank prevailed with a sparkling gross of 37 on the front with consecutive birdies on the seventh and eighth holes resulting in a net 67. Ron did birdie the third. 4 points to Frank.
In other A matches Guy Hackney (20) and Ed Lyons (25) finished with a split decision as Guy won the stroke match by two net shots. Ed halved Guy in the match play format with the help of a birdie on the first hole. 3 points to Guy, 1 point to Ed. Jim Hoagland won his contest in a match of cards and pocketed a birdie on the par-5 10th hole.
Over in B Flight Tony D’Ottavio (26) and Flight leader Rick Schultz had a real seesaw battle! Blood on 14 holes, with three birdies between them (Tony on the 15th, Rick on the sixth and 14th) and a final margin of one stroke gross, two strokes net. In match play they finished even with 7 holes each. These guys had net scores in the low sixties! Rick net 61, Tony net 63. What a great match. 3 points to Rick, 1 point to Tony.
Mike Coffman (27) and John Rutter (26) also played a close match. Mike squeezed by the favorite John in stroke play but closed up the competition with a strong finish as he won six match play holes over the back nine, highlighted by birdies on the 12th and 15th holes. 4 points to Mike.
Russ Forest (25) took on Dom Scalfaro (28) upon Dom’s return from a few weeks off. Russ was on his game and Dom appeared to be rusty as Russ led the whole way and secured 4 points.
Our favorite brothers Tom (35) and Joe (34) Szkaranik held another one of their fratricidal affairs and true to form played a super close match going to the last hole. Tom came out on top with a net 60 over Joe’s net 63. Match play holes halved so 3 points to Tom, 1 point to Joe. Tom seems to be rounding into playoff form: last year he made a run to the B flight finals.
Mike Collins picked up 4 points in a match that didn’t make it to the finish and Mike Janel (net 66) picked up 4 points in a pairing based on a match of cards.
Two weeks remain in the regular season before the playoffs begin. Handicaps will again be updated by Golf Director Al Malatesta before the playoffs begin. Similar to the Fedex Cup we have several players lurking under the cut line hoping to climb into contention for the big prize. See the standings below. The top 8 in each fight will advance.
A FLIGHT POINTS
Phil Gaffney 33
Glenn Giveans 33
Mike Bogdash 28
Guy Hackney 28
Frank Mancini 27
Pete McInerney 25
Joe Dempsey 24
Jay Ammon 24
Jack Mahon 22
Ron Venturi 21
Ron Gibson 20
B FLIGHT
Rick Schultz 38
Mike Coffman 28
Mike Janel 28
Paul Sullivan 24
Mike Collins 24
Tom Gahr 21
Tony D’Ottavio 21
Tom Szkaradnik 21
Garth Moyle 18
Dom Scalfaro 17