Yes, the sun came out and Bill Wilson returned to duty. It was a grand day at the golf course. Rusty Gill will be missed but hopefully we will see him in the not too distant future. We all hope he is doing well in India spanking the crap out of the golf ball over there.

Wilson dusted off his sticks and made his way to the first tee and with out a hitch drove the ball down the middle of the fairway leaving his combatant Norm Pelletier in awe. Wilson dropped the first two holes as he tried to get the rust off that pure swing of his. A draw is usually in order. An extremely well played tee shot on the par three 3rd nearly went in the cup in a fly but it was a tad long. It held up closest too until Bob “I’ll write Mike Landry’s name down” Trottier stole it away and shattered Wilson’s comeback.
Pelletier parred 4 and then let Wilson get back into to the game by double bogeying the par 5 fifth and that was all Wilson needed as he went 1 under par the rest of the way in. A job well done from the King of the Wilderness League. He faces off against his nemesis McGill next week on the back nine.

McGill faced his nemesis this week as Steve King stung McGill again and racked up 14 points this time to go along with his 16 in their first meeting. McGill took their May 25th meeting 11-9.
King’s layoff of not being able to play in the downpour must have helped his game tonight as he was pretty smooth as usual and jumped out to a quick 3 up lead after 4 holes. McGill tried to bounce back but King stroked on the par 5 fifth and McGill quickly went downhill after that with a snowman on 6 and bogeys on 7 and 9. King played like his name this week.

Marnie vs. Duffield turned out to be the slug-fest of the week as they matched stroke for stroke for the first 4 holes and then Marnie drew first blood on the 5th hole but Duffield countered back with a nice par on 6 and then they exchanged 4 and 5’s on 7 and 8 to only split the 9th with bogeys. Marnie 10 Duffield 10. This is Marnie’s 3rd time he has battled to a 10 10 tie. He is one tough competitor even when he is in the woods fishing for golf balls. He is sure to find one you will like, he is very generous.

Duzenli vs. Croteau was another close match as Duzenli staved off Croteau’s middle of the round charge on holes 4-5. Croteau found himself 2 down thru 3 but crawled back into it with wins on 4 and 5 but only to falter on the 6th and that was all Duzenli needed as he matched stroke for stoke on the way in and took this match 12-8. Duzenli leads the league in Bogeys with 54 which is 9 ahead of Marnie. Duzenli looks like he is coming around and playing like he finished last year. Croteau needs to come back from vacation.

In the match to see who could get the highest score Imlach took the honors this day as his 61 won by 3. The last time Imlach shot in the 60’s was back in 2009. Imlach started off with an 11 on hole number one which in it’s own right is pretty difficult to do. He must have been amazed at knowing Wilson was back and just wanted to sip a cold one with him after the round because he surely didn’t want to play golf.
Serafino held his own winning the first 3 out of 4 holes then he let Imlach slip one in on the 8th as Serafino’s 10 didn’t really hurt him as he was getting 4 strokes and with Imlach’s par that still wasn’t enough for Imlach to catch up. Chalk this match up for the archives, let it go…

Ok, so we also saw a few massacres out on the course this past week as Acciard throttled newcomer D’Orio. D’Orio is thanful he is on vacation this week as Acciard scored a point on every hole for the 2nd week in a row, acciard is 36-4 the past two weeks. Who will shut him down? Keep it up Glenn…

Juknavorian pummeled Tom ” I think I forgot how to play golf” Hale 17-3 as Hale was heard muttering around the course I wish it would rain. Tom’s game is no where to be found. So, if you happen to see it please let Tommy know for goodness sakes. Tom was one of the top players in this league just a few years ago. Tom will bounce back as we all are cheering for him. (cough) (cough)

In the 3rd of this weeks slaughter rounds we saw Mr. “I am so glad I got my golf clubs adjusted” Trottier put a whole lot of hurt on Waternman as Waterman just wasn’t himself. Waterman never won a hole and when you shoot 13 over and your opponent shoots 3 over there tells the story.

Vigneault vs. La Francis was a close match if you were looking at it on paper but this week Vigneault showed the long ball hitter that distance isn’t everything. Being long is great but hitting fairways and greens in regulation will keep your scores down as Vigneault fired a 4 over par 40 to trip up La Francis 13-7. What impresses me is that this round was played on the front nine which ordinarily would favor La Francis. Great job George.

Ricky Maloney always threatening for MVP showed us again why he does so well under pressure. Maloney survived Berry’s comeback bid by crushing Berry on the way in as he clobbered Berry on holes 6, 8 and 9. No stopping Maloney this week as he faced the wrath of Acciard last week and handled Berry with ease this week winning 14-6.

In the battle of the Comeau’s it was Norm Comeau winning this one 12-8 as Paul started off strong but seemed to peter out down the home stretch letting Norm win 3 of the last 5 holes to capture the win.
I think Paul’s two snowmen on 5 and 6 let Norm back in this match and Norm’s par on 8 closed the deal as they both halved the 9th with bogey’s.

Lefty Steve Maddox and Skip Gray battled tooth and nail through the first 5 holes with neither one really giving up any ground but on the 6th hole Maddox’s 6 far surpassed Grays 8 and Gray found himself bogeying the 7th to find himself 2 down with 2 to play. Gray’s win on the 8th got him to one down and with both players bogeying the 9th Maddox was victorious.

Forecast for tomorrow is more golf. Hopefully the late day thunder showers will hold. See you at the course and always remember to bring your A game.

Well, we just finished our first rain out make up round and teams and individual mvp is still up for grabs.
President and low handicapper Bob Trottier leads the way over Norm Pelletier by 5 points and they will meet next Wednesday to hopefully decide MVP for the first half. Pelletier will need to win by at least a score of 13-7 to overtake Trottier. Nipping at their heels is Rick Maloney who is just 6 points behind and he will need to win by at least 16-4 if Pelletier wins 13-7. Ten points behind are Jim Marnie and Norm Comeau. Both of them have tough matches next week. So, in the final analysis if Trottier gets 15 points no one can catch him.

Team wise Trottier, Marnie, Duzenli and Landry/Serafino are 20 points ahead and it will be tough to catch them but you can bet your bottom dollar Pelletier, LaFrancis, Berry and Hale will give them a run. Pelletier’s team needs to win by 51 to 29 in order to over take Trottier’s team.

McGill, N. Comeau, Acciard and Gray need a miracle along with Gill, Vigneault, Maloney and Juknavorian

In this weeks matches we saw some great play by Trottier, McGill and Marnie who all shot in the 30’s with Trottier and McGill carding 37’s and in their beer match Trottier won 1 up. Jim Marnie got back to his Scottish roots and fired a three over par 39 while halving his match with George Vigneault who came in with a well respected 40.

Steve King and Norm Pelletier seesawed back and forth as they marched around the front nine with 42 and 41 respectfully and with Pelletier up 2 with 2 to play let King right back into it by bogeying and double bogeying the last two holes. Pelletier’s excuse? The Wilson effect. I am sure you are thinking what is the Wilson effect? It is when you birdie the first hole and then not play the next 8 holes like you did the first hole. The Wilson effect… you end up losing.

Dennis Croteau’s 7 over 43 was way too much for Glenn Acciard’s 49. Acciard in the hunt for MVP pretty much gave it away on the 4th hole with a quadruple bogey and wasn’t able to muster another win after that hole. Croteau pounded Acciard 14-6.

Newlywed Eric LaFrancis took full advantage of his distance and crushed Paul Comeau 16-4. Comeau didn’t get on track until the 5th hole where he birdied but gave it right back on the 6th with the dreaded Post Birdie mess up. Comeau never recovered from that point on.

Mike Berry feeling a little lost in the C flight showed why he should be in the B flight as he took full advantage of Steve Maddox by drubbing him 17-3. Berry had 2 triple’s and finished with a 9 over 45.

Rusty Gill ran into a buzz saw as he faced Trottier and Gill just couldn’t get the bomber to work for him as kept duck hooking his drives and with a snowman on 2 he couldn’t shovel his way out. Gill left everything in the bag as Trottier defeated Gill 13-7.

George Duffield and Norm Comeau battled it out and Comeau on the 9th hole with a par took the match 11-9. Comeau’s strong finish leaves him 10 points behind Trottier for MVP.

Duzenli and Maloney had their typical classic match as Duzenli jumped out to a 3 up lead and Maloney battled back but fell short when Duzenli made an uphill birdie putt on the 8th hole and Maloney Bogeyed.
Maloney is still in the hunt for MVP and is only 6 points out.

In the last three matches Juke up-ended sub Ed Miele 12-8 as Miele’s 9 on the 2nd hole and 7’s on the 5th and 9th was his downfall.

Tom Hale showed some shining moments after he found himself 3 down after 3 and then went on a tear as D’Orio kept slipping out of his stance and started playing Military golf. Left right Left right etc.. Hale wins 14-6 13-7.

Skip Gray and Alan Imlach played like neither one of them wanted to win. Imlach and Gray swapped wins until the 5th and then Gray won the 6th and Imlach took the 7th and 8th and then Gray bounced back to win the 9th. Gray was getting 3 strokes and needed everyone of them Gray 11 Imlach 9

McGill was challenged by the course and playing in the last group he was able to take the closest to the pin on the 3rd hole away from Duzenli. McGill landed his shot about 4 ft. away and made his 2. As McGill’s three some walked to the 8th tee they were asked to hit up to the green with Gill, Trottier, Maloney and Duzenli. McGill teeing off last put his drive on the edge of the green and had about a ten footer for eagle. The put was downhill right to left but McGill left it below the hole and tapped in for Birdie. This was McGill’s first week in the 30’s on the front. Long time coming.

Well the weather wasn’t raining so that’s a perfect ten, it was awful hot and humid on a scale of 1-10 it was a ten.
The Foursome of McGill vs. Pelletier and Duffield vs Vigneault final score was 10 to 10.

Vigneault (39) vs Duffield (39)

Vigneault jumped out to a one up lead on hole number 10 then Duffield battled back to take a one up lead after 12. They halved 13 and Vigneault with his smooth swing captured wins on 14 and 15. After they both parred 16 Duffield took 17 to halve the match. Duffield on 18 had a great 3rd shot off the 17th tee box onto the green and he made his two putts to halve the match with Vigneault who in his own right made a great second shot on 18 with his Hybrid out of the tall grass on the dunes and both players battled tooth and nail to split.

McGill (37) vs Pelletier (36)

McGill and Pelletier were only hoping they could play 10x better than they played the first time around and what a battle they had.
McGill’s tee shot on ten with his 3 wood hooked high into the trees out of bounds and dropped down in fair territory just right of the cart path in the woods chips under the tree. McGill took a 9 iron and with a smooth swing put the ball about 5-6 feet to the right of the pin and missed the birdie putt. Pelletier skulled a sand wedge over the green and made 5. On 11 Pelletier made a nice tee shot into the back of the green pin high and about 12 feet from the hole which was tucked back right and he drained the putt for a nice birdie. McGill was 35 feet away and the ball just slid to to left leaving a gimmee putt for par.
They halved 12 with pars and Pelletier’s booming drive on 13 bounced it’s way merrily down the cart path leaving him a nice easy shot and a simple 2 putt which won him the hole.
The rest of the match was dead even until they walked to the 18th tee and Pelletier’s drive drew a little more than he wanted and left him about 225 out. McGill hit a decent drive but he caught the right rough on the inside of the cart path just 167 yards out. McGill had a buried lie and with a 5 iron was able to chop it out and lo and behold he found his ball pin high about 50 feet left of the pin. McGill practices long putts and he lagged it to within 3ft. Pelletier couldn’t give him the putt because McGill messed up a few easy putts earlier. McGill drained it. Final score 10-10.

LaFrancis (43) vs N. Comeau (40)

This was billed as youth vs veteran match. The veteran took it this time but it could have been by more if Comeau hadn’t hit the wrong ball on 18. It happens to the best of us, Lord knows I have had my share of it. Never again I hope. Comeau started strong by going three up after 3 and then the middle three were halved but La Francis came back on 16 only to falter on 17 and then the dreaded 18th for Comeau. Comeau takes this first meeting 13-7.

Berry (41) vs Acciard (44)

Looks like Berry finally got things going as he finished strong with pars on 17 and 18 as Acciard double bogeyed 16,17 and bogeyed 18. This match was still for the taking for Acciard but the double on 17 deflated the balloon Acciard was riding on. Big League Tournament Saturday and can Acciard bounce back? Berry says no way.

Hale (53) vs Gray (59)

I wonder if the postponement of last weeks play hurt their scores this week. Gray jumped out to a 3 up lead thru 15 but Hale bounced back to win the last 3 holes to win strokes and the extra 2 team points. Gray’s 8’s on the par 3 11th, 16th and 17th were the crushing blow. Hale wins 11-9.

Trottier (42) vs King (41)

What the heck happened here? El Presidento was human like as King coming off a back injury stormed back after going one down early to win 12 and 13. Trottier’s triple on 12 may have rattled him and may just have sent him back to the drawing board to fix the problem. King’s par on 15 put King two up with 3 to play. Trottier wins 16 but King bounces back to halve 17 and 18 to win 12-8. This Saturday Trottier will need to play a lot better than this if he wants to win the big bucks.

Marnie (43) vs Comeau (53)

When you shoot 20 for two holes it’s tough to win but Paul Comeau fought hard and if it wasn’t for the 8 on 10 and 12 on 12 he just may have salvaged a split. Tough loss as Comeau fought hard.

Duzenli (43) vs Maddox (47)

Duzenli had to give 5 strokes but Maddox bounced back strong after going three down right off the bat. Maddox stormed back to win the next 3 holes only to watch Duzenli win 16 but Maddox came back to win 17 and a halve on 18 gave Maddox the extra 2 points. Maddox wins 11-9.

Serafino (46) vs D’Orio (55)
Serafino jumped all over D’Orio as he went 3 up only to lose one on 16 and then finished up nicely by winning the last two holes. D’Orio also might have found the same fate as Hale and Gray as the one week layoff proved costly. Serafino will miss the rain make up but will have Ed Meile subbing for him and will have a tough match against Juknavorian.

Gill (38) vs Waterman (41)
Rusty “the Hammer” Gill poured it on and trounced Waterman, last years most improved player, by winning the first 3 holes and and then halving the next 3 and finishing Waterman off on 16. It looked like Gill was swinging out of his shoes on 12 when I saw him but he is the longest hitter this league has ever seen.
Gill wins easily 15 to 5.

Maloney (40) vs Croteau (46)
You could hear “the Voice” all the way from the 17 Green to the 18th Green, yes, Maloney must have missed a birdie on 17. It really didn’t matter as Maloney jumped out to a quick 2 up lead and watched it slip away on the next two holes. They both halved 14 but then Maloney went on a tear and won the last 4 holes and gathered himself a nice 15-5 win.

Juknavorian (46) vs Imlach (48)

Imlach started off ok as Juke struggled off the tee on 10. Juke bounced back on 11 and 12 but gave one back on 15 to let Imlach back in the match. With pars on 16 Juke was able to slip past Imlach with a win on 17 and held Imlach off with a par on 18 to win this match 12-8.

It started off nice and warm close to 80 degrees but by the time the last group walked up the ninth fairway it was nice and dark and headlights didn’t help much at all. We wished the course would let the first league start a half hour earlier and our last foursome  could have made it in in the light.

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Well we have one more field day left and then we look forward to 2011. This year we saw some fantastic weather and some great play by some unsuspected players. The overall consensus this year is that Jim Waterman was the most improved player from last year. Congrats Jim on your honor. A 2 under par 33 on the back nine matched Bob Trottier’s 33 on June 16th for this years lowest rounds. Waterman’s drive on 17 led to a devastating bogey as he pulled it left into the tall grass. The 18th didn’t yield him a much deserved birdie as a 32 would have broken the league record also shared by Tom Hale who posted a 33 against Jay McGillicuddy at Pine Valley in Pelham back in the early ’90’s.

This year also saw Bob Trottier carve out 28 birdies and an over all point total of 62 points to lead his team to the championship followed by Waterman’s 57 points.

Norm Pelletier led all players with a grand total of 98 pars this year which is pretty impressive as well.

Some other notable players were new comer’s Dennis Croteau, Erkan Duzenli and Jim Zaherius who all made great contributions for their new teams.

Steve King on June 30th is the only player ever to card 4 birdies in one 9 hole round. A 10 on the 14th prevented him from carding a possible 33 also.

A BIG Congratulations to Bob Trottier, Jim Waterman, Jim Zaherious and Alan Imlach as they trounced the team of Jay McGillicuddy, Steve King, Paul Comeau and Mike Landry for this years CHAMPIONSHIP.

A big congratulations to Rick Maloney for securing the first half MVP honors. In a re-match of two weeks ago Maloney squared off against Mike Landry. Maloney needed all 4 points to wrap things up and Bob Trottier was chomping at his heels. Trottier’s perfect round of a 2 under par 33 was not enough to over take Maloney. Trottier needed help from Mike Landry and Landry’s mistakes on 16 sealed the deal for Maloney.  Jim Waterman was also in the hunt but Mike Berry stood in his way as Berry finished Waterman off on the final 3 holes to split his match with Waterman.

Congratulations to Team 1 Bob Trottier, Jim Waterman, Jim Zaherious and Al Imlach as they are the winners of the first half of the season. Having totaled 140 points is close to a record for this league.

In other action Norm Pelletier went out and shot a two over 37 only to lose to the red hot Trottier. Nice round Norm

Bill Wilson playing in a foursome along with Steve King, Rich Juknavorian and Skip Gray were on the 18th tee box when Juke reached in his pocket to pull out a colorful ball Wilson gave him earlier in the day and decided to tee it up. While on the putting surface Juke marked the ball and decided to putt with a different ball. Juke parred the hole and finished with his best round ever.

After finishing the hole  Wilson walked up to him and told him he had breached the rules by playing the substituted ball on the putting surface.

I believe he broke the rule by playing the colorful ball to begin with back on the tee without getting approval from Gray. See rule 15-1. Poor Juke.

I wonder if anyone can guess which tee box this is and which golf course this photo was taken at. It is a par 4 slight dogleg to the right.

(hint) not in New England.

This was another spectacular day as temps were in the low 80’s and a little humid but not bad. We were scheduled to go off the back but due to a light crowd on the course they let us go off the front. It’s been a while since we saw the front.

Steve King matched up with Bill Wilson this week for the first time this year and it looks like King’s game has finally come around. His sweet 39 was enough to trip up Wilson and King came in with a much needed 4 points for the team. Wilson jumped out to a one up lead after 2 with a nice birdie but King came storming back on the 4th hole with a great par and par on 5 to take the lead and then go two up on 6 with three to play. Both players bogeyed 7 and Kings par on 8 sealed the deal.  Wilson’s 4 over is nothing to sneeze at. Nice round.

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The Oaks Golf Course Hole #10

Another beautiful day at the golf course Wednesday and we had all 24 guys present for the first time this year.

In a match that featured Erkan Duzenli and  Jack Goulet neither player halved a hole. It was Duzenli that jumped out to a quick 3 up lead only to see it evaporate on the next three holes as Goulet battled back to halve the match on 15. Sixteen and Seventeen proved too much for Goulet as he double bogeyed them and Duzenli parred to close Goulet out on 17. Goulet didn’t quit as he parred 18 and took the final hole but it wasn’t enough. Duzenli had to give 6 shots and he won by 6 shots. Handicaps sometimes work.

Vigneault squared off against Berry for the first time this year in what was billed as a classic duel of two titans.  Vigneault’s smooth swing and plenty of practice this past week led him to a perfect round of even par. Berry didn’t start off too well as he found himself on the 13^th hole side of things while playing the opening hole 10^th.  Then a missed approach shot found Berry punching out of the woods, Berry doubled the opening hole to go one down. [Read more…]