We all seem to be competitive and we hate to lose. Some days we play well and some days we play like crap. We all have our excuses, especially me. This week I was matched up with Bill Wilson and Wilson calls me his nemesis, which I take as a compliment. I would say Steve King is my nemesis. With King you can’t make a mistake or he’ll keep that smooth swing a rocking and put the throttle down and not let up.

On the first hole Wilson was confident I was going down and had no problem letting me know. Well, it seemed to work as my tee ball landed on a patch of dirt and my approach shot landed short and to the right of the green in a hollow. I sculled my 3rd  shot over the green and down towards the cart path. This led to an embarrassing 9 on the first hole. Wilson bogeyed and now I am 1 down and 4 down. On two we both par and then on three Wilson’s tee ball ends up in the hazard and is plugged. I jut felt it was early in the season and I allowed Wilson to remove the plugged ball with no penalty and to play on. He was perplexed by this and then of course I was second guessing myself but felt it was the right decision. Wilson and I made bogey and off to 4 we went. ( I think deep down I thought I would win the hole no matter what)

On 4 I bogeyed and Wilson doubled so the match was all tied and I am down three strokes. On 5 Wilson lost his tee ball because Norm Comeau and I thought it hit the tree on the edge of the water hazard on the right side of the hazard and we all didn’t see a splash so who knows where it went. We both bogeyed and on 6 I topped my approach shot and found the crap near the cart path and as I was walking in the hazard to retrieve my ball Wilson said I could take a free drop as one good deed deserves another. I still lost the hole so it worked in Wilson’s favor. We both halved 7 and on 8 I 3 putted and Wilson over shot the green on his drive and on his chip bladed it and ended up on the other side of the green. We both bogeyed. As we go to 9 I need a win on this hole to at least make it close for the team.

Here is where the fun begins. Wilson tees off and mis-hits it but it looked like it was a low draw that may run. My tee shot looked like a bomb which was a little high but sounded decent. We drive up the cart path and make a 90 degree turn to check out the balls and I lean over and look at the ball furthest away and I said to Wilson, “It looks like a Titleist”, we stop and Wilson get out and takes a preferred lie which is fine and proceeds to hit his approach shot. I’m 114 yds out and I pull a wedge and hit it a little fat and it drifts left of the pin and short. As we drive to the green I automatically assume Wilson is long and proceed to tell him he is long. He walks up to his ball and Norm Comeau is confused as he is in front of the green and notices his ball is not there and tells us Wilson is in the wrong area. (or words to that effect). Wilson looks at me as if to say, “you knuckle head”, he proceeds to chip up and I then take my set-up and look down and see a Titleist golf ball. Wilson is in shock and within the next five minutes we try and sort things out. Bottom line is, when Wilson hit his approach shot he should have looked to make sure it was his ball he was hitting, therefore he succumbed to a two stroke penalty and loss of hole. That is how I was able to grab two points. Footnote: The last time Wilson hit the wrong ball he was playing against me. What does that tell you?

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More stories to follow….

Well the 2013 season is under way as we held our annual meeting at Park Place Lanes in Salem on Wednesday March 6th.

Setting up the Teams

President Trottier welcomed the members and and it was voted to use the same method of forming teams as we did in 2012. The number one seed in the A flight is assigned the lowest handicapped player in the B flight and then the rest of the A flight is assigned the next B player on up the line until all A and B players have been selected. Next the C players are selected and the number one A seed is assigned the number 1 C player. Then everyone else in the A flight is assigned the the next C player until all are selected. The number one seed in the A flight is assigned the lowest handicapped player in the D flight and then the rest of the A flight is assigned the next D player on up the line until all D players have been selected. As the handicaps were tallied the differential was only 4.2 strokes from top to bottom.

A new rules change has been approved.

If your tee ball or any other shot has been hit out of bounds you may play a provisional or you may go to where the ball crossed out of bounds and you may take a drop of two club lengths in line with the pin or go as far back as you can from the point of entry no closer to the hole and drop there. In other words you may play as a lateral hazard. Reasoning behind this is to speed up play.

If you have any questions or feel this rules change is in error please comment on this site so all can see and comment. Remember this is your league and all are welcome to speak even subs. All spammers will be deleted.

See you all April 3rd weather permitting.

Saturday August 25th was our grand finale and oh boy what a finale. We saw record breaking play on both ends of the spectrum.

We had near perfect weather and almost everyone showed up. We were missing the following players Skip Gray, Dennis Croteau, Eric La Francis, and Erkan Duzenli who were all missed and I hope they had a great day on their own. Thanks to the following players who subbed and filled in for the above players Justin McGillicuddy (Jay’s son), Butch Hembree, Bob Sasso, and Ed Miele.

Congratulations to Team 2 Bob Trottier, Mike Berry, George Duffield, and Alan Imlach who tripped up Team 5 George Vigneault, Jim Waterman, Tom Hale, and Mike Landry. 87-73.

In the featured match of the day we saw President Bob Trottier take on George Vigneault and this match was much closer than the final score showed as both players actually shot career rounds.

On the first hole both marksmen parred, even though they had to wait for the McGillicuddy’s as both Justin and Jay struggled on their second shots as they both bombed their drives with the elder out driving the young gun but they both sculled their approach shots. On 2 both made easy pars again and on 3 Trottier went one up with a bogey and Vigneault doubled. On 4 both made easy pars again and Trottier had to give him a shot and Vigneault halved the match. The fifth hole saw two great 3rd shots by both players as Vigneault and Trottier stuck their shots within birdie range. Sure enough both made tricky putts to make birdies and with Vigneault stroking again Vigneault goes one up. The tricky sixth saw that both players needed to get up and down to make par and sure enough their short game came through as both parred. On 7 Vigneault’s chip shot allowed him to scramble and make par, Vigneault still one up. The uphill 8th hole which is drive able by Trottier was playing a little into the wind and Trottier’s drive was right in the slot and Vigneault’s was a little further back. Vigneault’s approach was chunk-ed and his third shot was not close enough as his par putt slid by.  Trottier who is a chipping machine chipped to within birdie range and as well as Trottier putts he made it look easy. Trottier squares the match with his birdie putt. On 9 Trottier closes out the front nine with a great par and Trottier shoots an impressive one under par 35 and Vigneault scores a great 3 over par 39.

As they make the turn Trottier is one up and two strokes up to net.

On 10 both make par and on 11 Trottier captures the hole as Vigneault trips up and 3 putts for the first time today. The par 4 12th which is playing long today as the pin is way back and in the bowl. This is one of the prize holes and the person who makes his second shot closest to the pin wins a prize. Trottier’s second shot hit the middle of the green and scooted over the knoll protecting the view of the cup and rested about 9 feet from the stick. Of course, Trottier never letting a birdie putt go to waste drained it to go 2 under par and 3 up in the match. On 13 both make par and on 14 they halve as Vigneault is stroking and Trottier makes par. The easiest hole on the course is the par 3 15th and with the pin cut up front and the markers way up this hole was playing about 104 yards to the pin. Trottier led off and probably made the worst shot of this round for him and the ball was drifting left and caromed off the left side of the green and trickled into the hazard. A great out by Trottier left him about 25 feet above the pin and a 3 putt allowed Vigneault to get back into this match with a par. The bad part about this double bogey by Trottier backed him up to even par. With two of the three holes left very birdie able Trottier played the 16th hole safe as McGill tried to drive the green and made it easily with a pop up to the front of the apron. Trottier makes par and Vigneault falters big time with a three putt and Trottier wins the match play portion of the match 3-2. The 17th saw great drives and Trottier’s approach shot left him about 40′ below the hole and with a great putt Trottier came up a few inches short and this left him with the par 5 18th hole left to birdie. Vigneault on 17 made a great birdie but it was still too little too late. On 18 with the pin in the back right position Trottier’s second shot landed on the front of the green and Trottier’s eagle putt came up short and his birdie putt found the center of the cup and a fantastic round of 1 under par 70 made this foursomes day, along with an equally impressive round by George Vigneault who also carded a career round 76. Trottier wins 25 -15.

In other Championship Team Matches!

George Duffield took on MVP Jim Waterman and on this day Duffield took it to Waterman in which was a close match up until the 11th hole where Duffield took over and captured 4 of the next 6 holes. Duffield was one of only three players to shoot in the 70’s. Waterman led by two strokes thru nine but collapsed on 13 with a triple bogey. Triples will kill you. Duffield 23 Waterman 17. Waterman shoots 81 Duffield 79.

Mike Berry teed it up against MVP Tom Hale and Berry walked away with this match with a decisive 26 – 14 victory. Hale stumbled out of the gate with a 49 on the front 9 and down by 6. Hale bounced back on the back nine and fired a 43 but Berry cruised to a two over 37.  Hale shoots 92 and Berry shoots 80.

Alan Imlach who had been away from the regular weekly play for a few weeks seemed a little rusty as he took on Mike Landry and Landry crushed Imlach 27-13. Landry wins big 95 to Imlach’s 122.

In the MVP match between first half MVP Tom Hale and second half MVP Jim Waterman, Jim Waterman raced out to a 5 up lead thru 6 holes and then Hale grabbed 7 & 8 with Waterman winning the 9th. Waterman 4 up through 9. On the back nine Waterman won 10 to go 5 up and then Hale grabbed 11 & 13 to close the gap to 3 down. Waterman wins 15 and closes the match 4-3. Waterman wins the front nine 13-5 and on the back nine Waterman adds 8 points and Hale cards 10. Waterman wins 25-15.

Closest to the pin winners are as follows.

#3 Jim Waterman 18’4″

#5 Bob Sasso – Longest Drive

#7 Steve King 17’3″

#11 Mike Berry 19’9 1/2″

#12 Closest too on the 2nd shot Bob Trottier (he made the putt)

#15 George Vigneault 11’10 1/2″

Other notable scores.

Jay McGillicuddy 80

Jim Marnie 80

Norm Pelletier 80

Steve King 82

Bill Wilson 83

Glenn Acciard 84

Bob Sasso 87

Norm Comeau 88

Paul Comeau 92

Rich Juknavorian 93

Rick Maloney 93

Butch Hembree 93

Ed Miele 95

Dominick D’ Orio 102

Vinny Serafino 116

Afterwards most of us went to Juke’s house for a great BBQ and a big thanks to Juke for allowing us the use of his yard and home. Another thank you to Tom Hale for doing a fine job at the grill. Thanks to everyone for bringing items to the cookout as well.

Have a great end to summer and an awesome fall and winter and we will see you all in April.

If you plan on playing again next year please let us know in the comments below.

With one match left in the season and final field day less than a week away we can pretty much assume Team 5 consisting of George “the Player” Vigneault, “Dollar” Jim Waterman, Tom ” Comeback kid ” Hale and Mike “I love knee surgeries” Landry will clinch the second half championship this Wednesday.

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Congratulations to Skip Gray and his stellar play of last Wednesday. He not only shot a “career round” he also defeated the A player in his foursome Jay McGillicuddy. He also finished 13th out of the 24 total golfers for low gross.

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All you need to do is ask Erkan Duzenli who this past Wednesday became the second player this season to capture both closest to the pin contests. Glenn Acciard did it on week two of the second half of this season but Glenn birdied and parred and Erkan I think needs a putting lesson as he three putted not just one but both par 3’s. He must have taken a lesson from Paul Comeau. Well, anyways congrats Erkan on winning both par three contests. [Read more…]

Those are words you might expect to hear from Bill Wilson’s opponent this week Jay McGillicuddy but NO they were from his own teammate Norm Comeau. Let’s put it in perspective as I believe we are all very competitive but Norm is very very competitive and we had to chuckle as Bill and I had honors most of the round and when Bill would hit a Wilson patented bomb Norm would then tee it up swing and yell “Beat Bill, Beat Bill” cracked us up. Too bad as I don’t think Norm out drove Bill once. I could be wrong… LOL. [Read more…]

This type of story never gets old. Not often do we see someone shoot one under par but when you shoot one under par and only win 6 points out of 20 you can only shake your head and say …?

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This time it was Bob Trottier pitching another perfect game against the tough right-hander from Myrtle Beach, George Vigneault.  Trottier and Vigneault shared pars and then Trottier parred the 2nd hole as Vigneault made his first mistake by bogeying. On 3 both walked away with pars. On 4 both parred but Vigneault was stoking and Vigneault tied the match up. The par 5 fifth saw Trottier birdie but Vigneault was stroking again and they halved this hole. The 6th saw Vigneault bogey and Trottier par and then on 7 both bogeyed and Trottier was back to even par. Trottier usually birdies 8 but both parred out and Trottier slips by an honest Vigneault as Vigneault called a penalty on himself which may have cost him the match. I guess Vigneault inadvertently moved his ball and a one stroke penalty was assessed by Vigneault. Well done George. Trottier 12 Vigneault 8.  Trottier 36 Vigneault 39. Great match. [Read more…]

Congratulations to Mike Berry for firing a perfect 36 on the front nine Wednesday as he had a birdie and a bogey. His opponent was Norm Comeau and Comeau came in with a 9 over par 45. Berry started off with a nice par and Comeau turned it around and made a sweet birdie on the 2nd hole to even the match. With pars on 3 and 4 and and a nice birdie on 5 Berry was on a roll and jumped out to a 3 up lead. Comeau fought back hard and could only halve the next two holes with Berry and then Berry kept pouring it on with pars on 8 and 9 and Comeau could only muster a couple of bogeys on his way in. Berry 16 Comeau 4 [Read more…]