19th annual Black and Gold Tournament a success

The Rehoboth Beach Country Club Ladies 18-Hole Golf Association held its 19th annual Black and Gold Tournament June 30, with charity once again the real winner. The two-team contest finished with the Gold team winning 11-7. The players also raised $1,800 in cash and collected 141 pounds of foodstuffs for the Food Bank of Delaware.

The winning Gold members included Suzanne Moore, Barbara Collins, Sally Fogarty, Gina Bergin, Peggy Roca, Eileen Davey, Beth Forbes, Arlene Simms, Jullie Burton, Patricia Beebe, Kerry Lockwood and Carol Wetherhold.

Nice problems to have

The post-pandemic golf boom is going strong. The impact of increased play and practice demands is evident in different ways, creating issues golf pros and superintendents must address.

At one Cape Region public course, the range is running full tilt. One staffer told me they often run the range ball picker three times a day instead of the normal once-a-day routine they previously followed. Another staffer said the ball dispenser ran out as early as 11 a.m., adding urgency to the pickup routine.

This range’s artificial turf mat locations are normally only in use during the off-season or after torrential rains. With so many people pounding away making hundreds of divots, the natural grass areas are under stress.

The superintendent resorted to posting Mats Only days twice a week to save the real turf. The natural grass areas were recently reseeded and top-dressed with sand.

Baywood Greens head golf pro Anthony Hollerback described his equipment and merchandise sales as awesome. He also noted that their club demo days have been filled. Hollerback said his club’s current challenge is maintaining inventory, with grips and shafts hard to obtain.

Golf clubs typically keep a ready stock of golf carts available for daily play. When it’s busy, those carts can see 36 holes a day, making it imperative that the cart operation is staffed up to handle cleaning, fueling, recharging and resetting the carts for the next use.

Each club makes its own estimate of how many carts to have on hand, but when it’s unexpectedly busy, the inventory might not be up to the demand.

Golf pro Austin Ebersole said American Classic Golf near Midway is experiencing the same high volume of play and lessons as other clubs, but they have a limited quantity of riding carts. “To accommodate those who don’t get to rent one at their tee time if we are out, we offer them free pull cart usage,” he said.

I also hear golfers grousing about difficulties with obtaining tee times at both public and private clubs in the Cape Region. The boost in demand puts a premium on planning ahead and making reservations well in advance.

One encouraging sign for Delaware golf is the increasing number of juniors participating in the Youth On Course/Delaware State Golf Association initiative. DSGA Executive Director Laura Heien said a “Delaware-appropriate” 302 YOC juniors are playing subsidized rounds at seven participating courses, paying $5 or less per round.

The courses receive a subsidy payment from the initiative as a partial reimbursement for making their layouts available to the program. Downstate participating clubs include Mulligan’s Pointe in Georgetown and Jonathan’s Landing in Magnolia.

The current boom is good for golf in the long term, especially when compared to the alternative. Patience should be eventually rewarded.

Local club competition results

The Mulligan’s Pointe Ladies 18-hole group played a team lowest putts game July 20, won by Carol Love, Pam Pichola, Pat Short and Linda Townsend. Barbara Willin, Carmela Boyle, Brenda Lewis and Mary Louise York finished second.

The Kings Creek CC Ladies 18-hole group played a 1, 1, 2 game July 15, using one best score from the par 3s and 4s, and two best scores from the par 5s.

Lisa Dillon, Jean Chlastawa, Sharon Denny and Carolyn Ortwein won first place, with Gale DiBona, Diane Knizer, Linda Eicher and Carol Loewen in second. Cory Warther, Kelly Brown, Debbie Grant and blind draw Barbara Hines took third on a match of cards.

The Rehoboth Beach Country Club Ladies 9-hole group played a team scramble July 13, won by Jane Humphries, Maura Lindsey, Julie Lewis and Joan O’Toole.

Susan Rogers, Rosemary Farley, Chris McEvilly and Lynn Runsten finished in second place, with Bev Billingsley, Lynn Kokjohn, Bardell Offutt and Mary Enzler in third. Carol Smith, Christine Moore, Ginger Rettig and Joyce McCoy tied for fourth place with Bee Hessick, Sharon Covington, Jeremy Fitzgerald and Karen Schneiderman.

The Rehoboth Beach Country Club Ladies 18-hole group played their version of the Solheim Cup July 14. The format combined a six-hole scramble, a six-hole alternate shot, and six-hole best ball.

The winning Heron team included Suzanne Moore, Nan Bender, Becki Hertrich, Tina Brinsfield, Elise Coar, Gina Bergin, Sheila Halfpenny, Pauline Porter, Bee Ekdahl, JoJo Barrows, Arlene Simms, Marcy Saliba and Lora Drewer, with assistance from RBCC assistant pro Nick Confer.

RBCC assistant pro Alli Weaver helped the losing Osprey team in second place, including Dale Lipnick, Genine Fidler, Jeanne Allan, Jullie Burton, Barbara Collins, Sally Fogarty, Carole Ann Medd, Cyndy Simeone, Beth Forbes, Sharon Emerson, Kerry Lockwood, Carol Wetherhold and Lisa Krausz.