Memorial Golf Outing Re-cap, A Must Read

Below is  Jack McBirney's write-up of the days highlights and low-lights. File under the Category of Historical Fiction. 

The rain let up and the overcast cloud cover provided almost ideal conditions for this year's tournament

TEAM 1      

John Cooke (Cookie)

Fran Corbett (Frannie)

Tony Donovan

Jerry Saluti *

TEAM 2

Paul McAuliffe

Jack McBirney *

Jon Peterson (Jon P)

John Walker (Walk)

TEAM 3

Rick Blasser

Kevin Conlon *(Kev)

Bob Pickett *

* Captain

Consultant Emeritus: Bill Carnes

Teams #1 and #2 got off to a slow start on the 1st hole with bogeys. Team #1 picked up another bogey on the 2nd even though Tony smashed a drive straight and long. Team #2 saved par on the 2nd thanks to a 3rd shot wedge by Walk from 50 yards to 5 feet from the hole. The putt was made. Team #3 avoided bogeys on the first and second thanks to pressure putts by Rick.

All 3 teams birdied the 3rd. Team #2 bogeyed the 4th. Bob slammed home a 15 foot birdie putt for Team #3 on the 5th. On the 6th hole, the downhill 150 yard par 3, Jack landed his tee shot 5 feet from the pin; Jon P rolled in the putt for a bird for Team #2.

On the short par 4 - next to the school - 7th hole, Jon P put his tee shot 15 feet left of the hole and Team #2 was able to pick up their 3rd birdie of the round. Team #3 matched with a birdie of their own. Frannie and Cookie pounded the ball straight on the 8th hole, and then Frannie sank a big putt to save par for Team #1. On the same hole, Paul sank a 12 footer to save par for Team #2. Team #3 also parred the 8th hole. All three teams parred the 9th, and at the turn the score was:

Team #3    -3

Team #2    -1

Team #1    +1.

On the 10th, Team #1 bogeyed; Team #2 parred; and Kevin sank a very long putt to save par for Team #3. All 3 teams parred the next 2 holes with Paul finessing (yes, that's right) a 3rd shot 60 yard wedge 2 feet from the hole allowing Team #2 to salvage par on 11. Paul and Walk repeatedly put in putts all day long relieving pressure from Jon P and Jack.

Team #1 bogeyed 13. Team #2 birdied 14 thanks to Jon P placing his 2nd shot 33" from the hole and winning the prize for Closest To The Pin On The 2nd Shot. Jon P also sank the putt. Team #3 narrowly escaped bogey on 14 as Bob sank a 30 footer to save par. The three teams all parred the par 3 15th.

There were only three holes to go (Team #3 at -3, Team #2 at -2, and Team #1 at +3) when the fireworks started.

Team #1 grabbed birdies on 16 and 17 to finish the round at +1. Cookie won the award for Most Interesting Shot Of The Day award on the 16th hole when he pushed (he's a leftie) his tee shot long and left where it headed for the elementary school which not only was in session, but the kids were running and yelling and frolicking on the playground. They all turned and stared with mouths agape at Cookie's incoming missile. Fortunately, the ball fell just short of the playground. When Cookie went looking for it, he was greeted by a great many cherubic faces pointing and giggling and laughing. Easily, the Shot Of The Day!

Alas, here is Cookie watching his birdie putt slide by the hole for par on the 18th. "IT'S IN THE HOLE......AW!"

Despite that incident, Cookie, Tony, and Frannie (in between discussions)

pounded the ball down the fairway repeatedly for Team #1 while Jerry, as usual, made shot after shot all day long to keep Team #1 in the hunt.

Team #2 parred 16. Then, Paul sank a 30 foot downhill left to right putt that was going 100 MPH (and would have wound up in downtown Quincy if it hadn't hit the flagstick squarely) on 17 to pick up a birdie. Jack chipped in a 20 foot birdie on 18 to put Team #2 at -4.

But it was Team #3, after birdieing 16 and 17, who decided to show off on 18. First, Bob ricocheted his tee ball off several trees near the tee box and picked up the day's Woodsman Award. Then, while he was searching for his ball, Rick's tee shot bounced a great times along the asphalt cart path and wound up in the middle of the fairway giving him the Asphalt Award. Bob was able to hit another tee shot because the Rules Committee gave Team #3 a special "4th shot" every time they hit or putted since they only had 3 players on their team versus 4 on the other two teams. Bob put his second tee shot long down the fairway, hit the next shot to 8 feet from the hole, and sank the birdie putt. (Pretty nice to have a "4th shot".)

While Team #2 tied team #3 with 6 birdies, Team #3 had no bogeys and won the match.

FINAL SCORE

Team #3   -6

Team #2   -4

Team #1  +1

The chicken parmesan luncheon was delightful and given 5 stars by the players. Here's Mary serving out take-home boxes to some of the hungry golfers. 

The event was brilliantly orchestrated, as usual, by Bill Carnes.

Finally, we cheerfully toasted our missing golfers - Bob Woods, Bob Bonner, and Barbara Blaikie Schott - who watched down on the proceedings with a smile, knowing that they would have easily beaten us.

  Respectfully submitted for your approval...