By Rick Colvin
Team Palmetto crushed team Marshwood 15-6 on Feb. 25 in singles matches while team Oakridge eked out a close 12-10 victory over team Deer Creek in the second event of the yearlong Bouchillon-Ambrose Cup competition on the Oakridge course; Palmetto now has two points and Marshwood, Oakridge, and Deer Creek each have one.
Palmetto won 13 its matches, tied three and lost five; the team also won a ½ point from the overflow matches.
One of the most exciting matches, a back-and-forth battle that exemplified the fun and the frustration of match play, resulted in a tie between Palmetto’s Peter Altman and Marshwood’s Keith Krueger.
Starting out on the back nine, Altman was up by four over Krueger after six holes. But Krueger came back strong on the front nine, birdieing the 6th and 7th holes to get to even. On the short par-4 8th, Krueger put his approach in the bunker in front of the green but blasted out to one foot and saved his par, going one up after Altman missed his par putt. On the 9th Altman made par, and Krueger three-putted for a bogey and the tie.
For the Oakridge team, Kevin Brandon came back from a two-hole deficit to beat Deer Creek’s Doug Duncan. Both players did well on the front—39 for Duncan and 40 for Brandon—and were tied going into the back. Duncan parred the 10th and 11th to take the lead but after that it was all Brandon, who parred the 13th and 14th, birdied the 15th, and parred the 16th and 17th to close Duncan out 3 and 1.
Oakridge’s Gary Hobbs supplied another of his team’s victories, shooting a 78 to soundly defeat Deer Creek captain Bruce Decker. Hobbs put his drive in the trees on the difficult par-4 1st hole and had to hit back out into the fairway. In a sign of things to come, Hobbs put his third to eight inches and made par. He then parred the next five holes and birdied the 9th for a 38. Decker came started out strong on the back, parring the long par 4 10th and saving a par on the par 5 13th with a putt from in front of the green. But Hobbs also parred 13, halving the hole and closing out Decker 6 and 5. Decker birdied the par-4 14th and par-5 15th, but it was in vain.
Membership Notes
New member Brian Ray and his wife, Patty, moved from Norfolk, Mass., where they lived close enough to walk to New England Patriots games at Gillette Stadium where they had season tickets for 34 years. Ray, who recently retired from the construction supply business, started playing golf at a 9-hole course across the street from where he lived as a child in Rhode Island. Ray’s lowest round was a 67 at Walpole Country Club in Walpole, Mass. He also won the Senior Club Championship at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, R.I. five times but said he’s no longer consistent due to operations to replace his left knee and right hip. “Now I have many good and bad moments out on the course, sometimes on the same hole!” he said.
The LMGA welcomed back Don Hollinger Feb. 25 after an absence.
Don’t forget to put together a team for the April 20 Together for a Cure tournament! Sign up deadline is April 13. You can find the registration on The Landings Club app or website.