Cape Region golfers headed to National Senior Games

Thousands of amateur athletes will converge on Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, July 24 through Monday, Aug. 4, to participate in the 2025 National Senior Games. The competitions are offered in more than 30 sports in three broad categories – individual, team and non-ambulatory.

A large group of Cape Region athletes is heading to the Midwest along with more than 100 other Delawareans. Most of the Cape group are golfers, but several are challenging themselves in other sports.

For many years, the Senior Games went by the colloquial term of Senior Olympics, but the actual U.S. Olympic Committee folks had a problem with that – hence the name change.

The biennial competition for men and women 50 and over remains the largest-qualified multi-sport event in the world created for seniors.

The golf competition uses handicapped sections in five-year age division increments from 50 through 90+ for both men and women. Depending on the brackets, golfers play one of three courses for three days. Those below 90 years old play 18 holes per day, and the 90-plus age golfers play nine holes per day. 

Sandy Oropel told a July 15 group meeting at Iron Hill Brewery that to help maintain pace of play, two-over par will be the maximum score per hole for any golfer.

In addition to the 54-hole tournament, there is a separate men’s/women/all-ages golf scramble to finish the golf segment set for Thursday, July 31, at a fourth Iowa course.

Cape football fundraiser

The Cape Henlopen Football Booster Club is hosting a fundraiser golf tournament Friday, Aug. 15, at Mulligan’s Pointe Golf Club near Georgetown.

The scramble format event raises funds for Cape’s football program for gear, travel, training equipment, meals and recruiting tools. The proceeds support the Vikings’ varsity, JV and freshman teams.

The entry fee of $125 per player ($500 per team) covers the round of golf with a shotgun start at 9 a.m., as well as lunch. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. 

Tournament contests and extras include a 50/50 raffle, silent auction, long drive and closest-to-the-pin challenges. Up to four mulligans per team are also available at $20 each.

Sponsorship opportunities remain available at $1,000, $625 or $150, with equally varying benefits.

For more information, go to www.capevikingsfootball.com/golf-event/.

Flag & Anthem

I met Willy Williams of Flag & Anthem at the company’s busy PGA Show booth last January. While we talked, more than two dozen club pros and others meandered through the apparel maker’s selections, especially the items marking their connection to this fall’s Ryder Cup competition at Bethpage Black in New York.

American Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley is one of Flag & Anthem’s PGA ambassadors, along with Tom Hoge, who’s trying to make the team. 

The company’s MadeFlex golf apparel uses technical performance fabrics, typically a blend of nearly all polyester with a dash of spandex and with an athletic build profile. The three-button front placket is standard, and the heathered look adds visual appeal. 

The Flag & Anthem circular logo is kept small and located on the back of the shirt just below the neckline. The shirt length is designed to accommodate those who want a choice of wearing it tucked or untucked. I like having this option even if I don’t often go untucked.

The retail pricing is aimed at the mid-market, at $59.50 or $69.50. The Ryder Cup line includes several choices for women as well as men. 

The company’s offerings go well beyond this one event, of course, with a variety of tops, bottoms, dresses, and accessories such as hats, belts, socks and shoes.

Fix your ball marks

I played an early Monday round at The Rookery recently and was dismayed by the startling number of unrepaired ball marks on most of the greens. 

It looked a bit like no-man’s land in a World War I documentary – and I am only slightly exaggerating.

Hardworking grounds crews can’t always keep up with the unthinking golfers who left these marks over the weekend. 

I fixed five marks per green on most holes. The least-marked greens were also the holes most golfers don’t hit in regulation, such as the 14th, a long par three.

Please do your part and the parts that others should have done by repairing your ball marks and a few others you see while playing. 

Local club competition results

The Mulligan’s Pointe Ladies group played a two-person team event July 15. 

L. York and Lisa Wooditch won first place. Kay Monack and Rita McConnell took second, and Kathy Ragolia and Tammy Bresnahan finished third.

The Kings Creek CC Nine-Holers played a team one gross plus one net game July 10, in two flights.

Christine Emery, Kim Kavchok, Sally Chamberlain and Tracy Gordon won the first flight, with Darci Whitehead, Kathy Andrus, Polly Donaldson and Donna Romer taking second.

Lisa Travis, Kati Green, Leslie Ludwig (blind draw) and Brenda Schilli won the second flight. Linda Outlaw, Carolyn Ortwein, Farah Englert and Christine Coffin finished second.