By TONY CHERBY
BUENA VISTA — The Ocean City Tuesday Senior Golf League completed its eighth round of matches July 23. The weather was much improved over the previous hot, steamy week but Roger Probert continued his fiery assault on Old Man Par, bagging 10. That’s the most pars we’ve seen in a long time. And he did it on his way to the best gross score of the year, an 83.
If we factor in handicaps, Jack Hiner’s Low Net 67 in June was the year’s best. And this week, Captain Dave Carter’s net 71 took that prize for his second win in a row.
Probert’s 83 is the best “official” Low Grosser of 2024, but his 79 a few weeks ago stands in a League of its Own. He was not in a match. As a returning member, he shot that score in the middle of establishing his handicap. His sub-80, which is the Gold Standard for amateurs like us, doesn’t count except in our envious hearts and minds.
We’ll wrap up our 33rd season of play on Sept. 17 with our traditional scramble, followed by a glorious luncheon fit for kings of the Piney variety. We will honor our 2024 prize winners. With five matches to go, let’s look at some of our Races to September.
Those contests culminate in four major awards, crystal trophies recognizing season-long accomplishments such as Most Points Won and Low Average Net. We’ll also recognize six or seven single-day feats with smaller crystal trophies, for things such as Fewest Putts.
Ralph Delanzo chalked up another 4-0 sweep over our newest member, Tom Bowman.
The aforementioned Mr. Probert, and Bob “Back in the Saddle Again” VanZandt, had perhaps the most interesting match of the day. Bob is a solid, perennial sub-90 player, but this time he had the unusual benefit, for him, of being spotted a bunch of strokes. That’s what Roger has to put up with, given his low handicap. In the end, they fought to a 2-2 draw with Bob firing an enviable 87, highlighted by a birdie, to Roger’s 83. Yes, it’s tough to win with a low handicap but I’d be happy to have that problem.
Speaking of points, DeLanzo was 8 up on the field going into his round, and he emerged 11 up when he got back to The Bunker. He now has 32 points. Dane Mayson, our new runner-up, has 21 dings and Bill Gardner with 20 points dropped from second place to third.
Like DeLanzo, Mayson is also having a career year; if not for Ralph’s even better campaign, Mayson would be on top of the points leaderboard. He swept his match again, bagging a birdie along the way. But that was hardly the headline, as his more remarkable feat took place on the short grass where he expended a mere 26 strokes on the greens of the Vista they call Buena. Wow. I would not be venturing too far out on that proverbial limb if I predicted that Mayson’s 26 will be the best mark we’ll see this year. He almost tied George Curtis, who owns the record at Buena Vista with an astounding 25-putt masterpiece last year.
Rich Hawthorne came back from a one-week hiatus on the IR list with a bang – or at least with another Closest to the Pin pop. He continues to lead in that race, one that carries with it in prizes and cash – well, nothing. While some of us like to tease Rich about those rusty clubs he sports that date back to the time when Tonto and the Lone Ranger were cleaning up the Old West, they sure do work for him. He has six Pin Wins, with half of them coming on No. 17, which I now call the “Richard H. Hawthorne Memorial Golf Hole, LLC.”
Frank Coppenbarger is Rich’s nearest competitor for Most Pin Wins. He has three, which include a 2’1” effort on No. 8. No one has ever come that close on that hole in our history at BVCC, so Frank is looking solid for going home one with of those little crystals come September. DeLanzo has the best we’ve seen on 12, a 1’6” shot on opening day. And the best for the year, on any par-3, is Jeff Mitchell’s sterling strike on No. 17 that came to rest less than 2 feet from the cup a few weeks ago. Carter’s 8’1” win on No. 5 is holding up as the best on that nasty hole, where the only strategy I can imagine is to go right at one of the huge bunkers that guard the green – and then hope. That is, hope that the ball doesn’t go, for once, where you aim.
Here are all the match results: Rick Schultz 4, Dan Stang 0; Ralph DeLanzo 4, Tom Bowman 0; Jeff Mitchell 4, Bill Wright 0; Dane Mayson 4, Tony Cornell 0; Doug Baird 4, Stan Borucki 0; Dave Carter 4, Frank Coppenbarger 0; Tom Gahr 4, Bill Gardner 0; Jack Hiner 4, Ron Kelly 0; Rich Hawthorne 3, Mark Lapham 1; Roger Probert 2, Bob Van Zandt 2.
WEEKLY WINNERS
LOW GROSS Probert (83); BEST IN 2024!
LOW NET Carter (71)
FEWEST PUTTS Mayson (26); BEST IN 2024!!
BIRDIES Mayson, DeLanzo, VanZandt
MOST PARS Probert (10); MOST IN 2024!
CLOSEST TO THE PINS
No. 5 Coppenbarger 9’
No. 8 VanZandt 35’
No. 12 Schultz 6’2”
No. 17 Hawthorne 12’1”