Another two-course tournament for the Cape Region

The Rookery Golf Club is continuing with its new tournament schedule, taking advantage of the two-course playing option that made its recent first club championship so well received.

On Sept. 29-30, the club held its first Member-Member tournament, using the par-70 Rookery North at Shawnee Course and the par-71 Rookery South Course near Milton.

Tee times began Saturday morning for the 29 participating teams at Shawnee, and resumed Sunday afternoon for the players at the Milton layout. The format was better ball of partners, in both net and gross categories.

Rookery head golf pro Butch Holtzclaw may want to rethink those afternoon tee times for the next such competition. By the time the last few players finished on Sunday, it was well past sunset.

It was so dark, in fact, that the two teams that were tied for first place in the net category decided to just split the first-place and second-place winnings, rather than try their luck at a moonlit sudden-death playoff.

Bob Burd and Mike Cavanaugh shot a 62-61 net of 123 for the 36 holes, tied for first place with Timothy Dillon and John Eustis. Dillon and Eustis shot a combined 64 the first day, and ham-and-egged their way to a net 59 in their second round at Rookery South.

Ed Jackson and Dan Simmons finished in third place net by a single stroke, with their 124 finish.

Tim Freeh and Miguel Lopez won the gross category, with an 11-under par 130 total. They scored 65 both days.

Brian Lord and Rodney Wyatt tied with Terrence and Dale Jarrell for second best with their 140 totals.

Ryder Cup’s Miracle at Medinah

That headline, by the way, is by no means original to yours truly. I think I first heard it during last Sunday’s telecast of the last day final round, as the European squad tied the Americans 10-10, with several pairs still out on the course.

Whenever that phrase was first uttered, it was nonetheless appropriate. Taking a page from the 1999 American Ryder Cup triumph, this year’s European squad overcame a four-point deficit to win the cup.

Local club competition results

The Kings Creek Ladies 9- and 18-hole golf groups used the same format in their separate competitions Sept. 27. Called three clubs and a putter, as you can easily guess, this event allows the players to use any three golf clubs in their bag, but only three, along with their putter.

Limiting one’s club options can create some interesting dilemmas, based in part on the golfer’s views of the relative merits of each part of the full range, from driver through sand wedge. If that analysis is accompanied by a brutal self-assessment of the player’s relative abilities with each club, it can also be a fun event, with the eventual scores not that far off from the norm.

For some golfers, playing a round with this kind of limitation can also be a real eye-opener. After a few rounds like these, it can convince some players to no longer worry if their golf bag is not filled with the full regulation complement of 14 clubs. They’ll do fine with seven or eight clubs instead, for example.

For the 9-holers, Sally Horvath took first place, while Nancy Barlow came in second, and Kathy Nave finished third. Susie Shevock won the closest to the pin contest, with an approach to the 11th hole that finished six-feet-eight-inches from the pin.

For the 18-holers’ first flight, Anita Pettite came in first place, followed by Jennine Doane in second and Bernie Reid in third.

On Oct. 1, the 9-holers playing invited an 18-holer member to join them for a two-player scramble.

Rita Musi and Evelyn Vanderloo took first-place honors, with Kathy Nave and Cory Warther finishing in second place. Sally Horvath and Beth Magnus took third place overall.

Noreen Buzerak’s approach on the 16th hole, to nine-feet-seven-and-a-half-inches, won the closest to the pin contest for the day.