Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win

This week was the start of the second half and it was an overcast day with rain showers ending just before we teed off and the temps were hovering in the high 60’s. We were hoping for no rain and we lucked out.

In the feature match this week we saw Paul Comeau teeing it up against Rick Maloney. Maloney wearing a rain jacket seemed to have slowed his  swing down and is starting to play like the MVP player he has been in the past. Maloney started off with a great par from the left rough on one and Comeau struggled off the tee and on his way to a double bogey. Maloney pars the par 5 2nd and goes two up. On the third Maloney comes up short and bogeys and still is able to go three up as Comeau cards his third straight double bogey. On the difficult 4th Maloney bogeys and Comeau triples and now Maloney is on a roll and is 4 up. Comeau needs to stop the bleeding and turns in an impressive par on the par 5 5th as Maloney stumbles and doubles. 3 Up. On 6 Maloney bounces back to close out Comeau and cruises on in to a smashing 16-4 victory. Maloney 44 Comeau 54.

Norm Pelletier vs George Vigneault today and Pelletier was so un-Pelletier especially on the first tee as Pelletier topped his drive and barely made it to the ladies tee box. Vigneault bogeys and goes one up. Pelletier returns to form and pars 2 and 3 to go one up. They both halve 4 and 5 as Vigneault strokes and then Vigneault halves the match on 6 with a great par as Pelletier cards a very rare 9. On 7 Pelletier pars to go one up and on 8 Vigneault cards his second birdie of the season to square this mach and a par on 9 for Vigneault allows him to trip up Pelletier 12-8. Pelletier 45 Vigneault 43.

Glenn Acciard took on Jim Waterman and Waterman scooted out to a two up lead as he went par par. Acciard started to turn it around with a nice par of his own on the par three 3rd. Waterman one up. On 4 they halve with bogeys and Waterman pars the par 5 5th to go two up. On 6 Acciard scores a 3 and closes the gap on Waterman. Waterman’s bogey on 7 allows him to go dormie and a par on 8 finishes off Acciard and they halve 9 with bogeys and Waterman cruises to a 14-6 victory. Acciard 46 Waterman 40.

Dennis Croteau and Mike Landry squared off this week and Croteau jumped out to a one up lead with a par on one and then Landry turned it around with a win on 2, match all even. On the par 3 third Croteau pars and then on 4 Landry and Croteau bogey but Landry strokes there and ties this match up. Croteau wins big on the par 5 5th and starts to sneak away on 6 with back to back wins. Landry punches back with a win on 7 to go one down with two to play. They halve and Croteau wins 9 and slips by Landry in a fairy close match 13-7. Croteau 43 Landry 50

Skip Gray and Tom Hale matched up this week and MVP Hale started off the second half by trouncing Gray 15-5. Hale starting to turn his game around halved one with Gray and with both Players carding 9’s on the par 5 2nd and Gray stroking leads Gray to a one up lead. Hale bogeys 3 and the match is halved. Gray reels off three straight 6’s as the sign of the beast takes Gray down as he finds himself 3 down as he walks to the 7th tee box where his bogey wins the hole and Gray is now 2 down with two to play. Hale pars 8 and 9 and cruises to victory Hale 48 Gray 57.

Bob Trottier taking on his nemesis this year Steve King and King didn’t disappoint as Trottier jumped out to a one up lead as he parred 1 and then both players bogeyed 2 and then King with his classic sweet swing on 3 grabs closest to the pin and Trottier pulls his tee ball and falters with a double bogey. The third hole this year to Trottier is like it was for Wilson last year. (Trouble) Some holes just grab you and and don’t let go. On 4 Trottier pars but King strokes and they halve and then on 5 King strokes again and they both par but King now goes one up. King pars 6 and i snow up two. They halve 7 and with two holes to play Trottier scratches back with a par to go one down with one to play and then on 9 King pars and Trottier bogeys and King reigns supreme over Trottier as King wins 13-7. Trottier 41 King 40.

Mike Berry and Eric La Francis teed it up and La Francis jumped out to a one up lead on Berry with a par on one. They halved 2 with pars and halved 3 with bogeys. Berry halved the match with a par on 4 and La Francis triple bogeyed the par 5 fifth and Berry is one up. They halved 6 and Berry parred 7 and took a 2 up lead with 2 to play. La Francis wins the uphill 8th and they both bogeyed 9 and Berry wins 12-8. Berry 41 La Francis 43.

George Duffield and Erkan Duzenli matched up again and Duffield looked to continue his dominance over Duzenli this season. Duzenli played Duffield tough on 1 & 2 as they halved and then all of a sudden Duzenli came out of hibernation after a long mild winter and a cool spring to reel off three straight wins on 3 of the tougher holes on the front nine. With a 3 up lead Duzenli let Duffield back in as Duffield wins the tricky par 4 6th and both players halve 7 with pars and then Duffield roars back with pars on 8 and 9 but those two victories are not enough as Duzenli stops Duffield’s dominance this season with a sweet 11-9 victory. Duffield & Duzenli both card 43’s.

Alan Imlach took on Dominick D’ Orio and D’Orio after a week off looked none for the worse as he jumped out to a quick 2 up lead and they both halved the par 3 third.  All of  a sudden Imlach woke up and started to play like he did when he helped his team to a first place victory last week against Team 6. Imlach reeled off 4 straight wins to take a two up lead with two to play. D’ Orio captures number 8 and  then needing a win on the uphill 9th allows Imlach to halve the hole and Imlach wins 12-8. Imlach 51 D’ Orio 54.

Jay McGillicuddy teed it up against Bill Wilson and McGill the day before visited his chiropractor and grabbed some new spikes for his shoes only needing help from Waterman and Acciard to install them. McGill feeling pretty good again after some back issues was looking for a great duel against Wilson. McGill storms out to a quick two up lead as he pars one and two. With 3’s on 3 McGill and Wilson meander across the street and both players split the fairway on 4 and poor approach shots by both players lead to a McGill victory. A decent chip shot leads to a McGill par and a bogey 5 by Wilson leaves Wilson in disgust. Wilson bombs a high drive on 5  and McGill is a little left and both players find themselves short of the green in two and McGill’s chip on 5 comes up short but rests about 60-65′ on the green from the pin. Wilson’s chip rests gently behind the pin but a little long. Maloney lags his putt and McGill can see how Maloney’s putt traveled and McGill took a deep breath just trying to get it close and as the ball jumped off the straight stick it roared down the slope and made it’s way up the hill as it neared the pin in blazing speed with a blink of an eye the ball disappeared and McGill roared as his birdie putt deflated Wilson. Wilson parred. McGill double bogeys the dogleg 6th and as Trottier would say “Post birdie F-up”.  Wilson tries to get back into the match. On 7 McGill finds the bunker on the left and Wilson comes up short on the right. Wilson plays first and his chip shot hits the down slope and his ball scoots across the green and his lag putt comes up short and Wilson settles for a bogey 5. McGill gets a sandy and closes out Wilson 4 and 2. On 8 Wilson gets handcuffed behind a large weed and forgets he can lift clean and place and McGill 3 putts and they halve. On 9 both bomb there drives and McGill’s approach shot is pin high and Wilson makes a nice par and then concedes McGill’s par putt and McGill wins big 15-5. McGill shoots a two over 38 and Wilson shoots 42.

Vinny Serafino and Rich Juknavorian teed off together and Serafino came to play as he was humiliated last time they squared off as Juke won 15-5. This week they halved one and then Juke took a one up lead on two and then Serafino carded his first birdie this season by scoring a nice deuce on 3. With wins on 4 and 5 Serafino found himself 2 up but Juke fought back and won 6 and Serafino captured 7 and Juke made a valiant effort not to give up and Juke wins 8 & 9 to grab 4 more crucial points for his team. Serafino squeaks by 11-9. Serafino 55 Juke 53. Close match.

Norm Comeau and Jim Marnie matched up today and Marnie pars the first hole and Comeau with a decent drive down the middle struggles to make a triple bogey and they halve the par 5 2nd. As they play the 3rd Marnie flubs up and double bogeys but what is disturbing is Comeau’s ball crosses the hazard and is found and Comeau drops to play his third shot only to chip it back into the hazard. Out of frustration Comeau decides enough is enough and heads back to the clubhouse and calls it a day. Marnie continues in amazement to Comeau’s reaction and racks up 15 points to Comeau’s one point for the halve on 2.

We changed our scoring system as Comeau pleaded for years to change it. The main reason for the change is if a player has a real bad hole he isn’t penalized as much as the old scoring system allowed for and with 6 holes to play Comeau could have halved a hole or two and possibly won one or two as well. This type of display of sportsmanship is not good for a team who is battling to win every match. Every stroke counts and by walking off you leave a bad taste in the mouths of your team mates. It has been said others have walked off the course before and that is true but weather conditions played a big part in those decisions and the points they lost were not as detrimental to the team as they are now. We have rules in place if you are injured but if you are injured don’t you think the injured player would mention he was injured to his playing partners? Marnie wins big and shoots a 42. Comeau gets a big DNF, did not finish.

Wednesday’s forecast is for HHH – Hazy, Hot and Humid with temps reaching the high to mid 90’s. Remember to pack a cooler with ice and water as th eheat will play havoc with those walking. Stay hydrated.