By Rick Colvin
The week of May 30 perfectly illustrated the reasons why it’s good to be a member of the Landings Men’s Golf Association.
On Tuesday May 31, a roster of players from The Landings Club soundly defeated a team from the Hampton Hall club in Bluffton in an annual home-and-home competition known as the Talmadge Cup, named after the bridge connecting the two states. It was the fourth straight year that The Landings Club won on its home course, winning 13 of the 19 four-ball matches, losing three and tying three on the Palmetto course. With wins worth 2 points and ties 1 point, the final tally was 29 to 9.
The next match will be at Hampton Hall June 29. The winner there will keep the trophy until next year’s matches. Players don’t have to be members of the LMGA to play.
The following day, five teams, each captained by a Landings Club pro, competed in the first of the summer’s Wednesday evening 9-hole scrambles. The team of Deer Creek pro Spencer Bethel, Shawn Dyer, Doug Duncan and Mark Witbeck posted a 6-under 30 while the other four teams all posted 31s. Team Bethel also won two skins with birdies on holes 6 and 9.
On Thursday June 2, the LMGA tried out a different format for its weekly competition: a two-man scramble on the Oakridge course. Winning the 1st flight was the twosome of Tom Seipel and Bill Wolod with a 62. The team recorded 8 birdies and 1 bogey and had 3 handicap strokes. Second flight winners were James Headley and Bill Tomassini, who edged out Jon Bokina and Ted Bumsted in a cardoff. Tomassini sank a 20-foot putt on the short par 4 8th hole for a birdie to tie the match and, as it turned out, the win.
In the 3rd flight, Michael Allen and Mark Witbeck scored a 63 for a two-stroke win over second-place finishers Tom Stephens and Dave Resler. Atop the 4th flight was Larry Batanian and Jon Sweet with a 67.
The highlight of the day was the hole in one by Ed O’Donnell on the 12th hole. He knocked it in from 109 yards with a 48-degree wedge. It was his first.
The LMGA also used Golf Genius to record scores. No snafus reported and, continuing to honor a beloved tradition, the scores were also posted on paper.
Membership Notes
Kevin and Jodi Holmes moved to The Landings from Peachtree Corners, Georgia in June, 2021. Kevin was in the commercial insurance industry and Jodi was a programmer with Primerica bank, a financial services and insurance company.
Kevin says his most memorable round of golf was a 74, with a 33 on the front nine at the Bear’s Best course in Atlanta. Close second, he says, was shooting an 87 at Carnoustie.
