By Rick Colvin
The mighty Magnolia course lived up to its growing reputation as the hardest at The Landings Dec. 9, producing the lowest scores in a LMGA Team Stableford event over the past year.
The average winning score in such events over the past 12 months was 138, with a range of 149 to 128.
In this event, the team of Pat Beringer, David Brown, Scott Stockslager, and Jon Sweet scored 135 Stableford points to win the overall prize in the 2nd Flight. That score was the highest of the day, beating the 127 points scored by Charlie Bradford, Bud Equi, Steve Heacox, and Don Snyder, the winners of the 1st Flight overall.
More revealing, however, is the range of scores in the two flights. The range in the 1st Flight was 98 to 135 while the range in the 2nd Flight was 95 to 127. The average total for both flights was 116.
Although the overall scores were low, the winning 9-hole scores were comparatively better. This mattered because prizes were also awarded to the team that won each side, with no team eligible to win more than once.
In the 1st Flight, the team of Randy Choat, Tom Kunce, Rich Matos, and Tom Stephens racked up 63 points to win the front nine; Jay Carey, David Foley, Randy Gladden, and Jeff Lamson took the back nine with 66 points.
In the 2nd Flight, the team of Larry Batanian, Gary Poleynard, Rich Hartbrodt, and Brian Ray tallied 71 points to take front nine honors; back nine winners, with 64 points, were Rick Colvin, Vic Bell, John Bellucci, and Tom Kelly.
Teams averaged 58 points on each nine, showing that both sides are challenging.
Skins Winners: Matt Amman, Gef Fleming, Rich Hartbrodt, Mike Stamen, and Jon Sweet. Rich Hartbrodt played with LMGA for the first time.
Highlight Reel
John Bellucci chipped in from 30 yards for a birdie on No. 15…Don Snyder hit a 140-yard second shot on No. 12 to six inches…Jon Sweet hit a 90-yard shot over the tree protecting the par 5 6th green to 12 feet and sank it for a birdie which, with his two handicap strokes on the hole, produced a net-albatross, worth five points…Jeff Lamson scored a net eagle on the par 5 11th, chipping in from the right of the green.
Lamson, by the way, turned 80 Dec. 7, on the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, and he shot his age, 80!