League, tourney competition gets rolling

Contributed Story Posted 23 May 2014 at 12:00 am

This Week at Shelridge

Contributed photo – Former Shelridge bag boy and Roy Hart cager Connor Callaghan warms up to compete in the recent Roy Hart basketball alumni golf outing which is one of the events Shelridge is hosting.

As our area sees a bit more sun and slightly warmer days it’s safe to say that Shelridge is “making a brave but cautious start of the 2014 season.” All leagues are in full play and special events are taking the spotlight one by one.

Between 30 and 40 players are already signed up for the Spring Member-Member Tournament on June 7-8. Scores are being accepted for the President’s Cup (match play) tourney. And Roy-Hart engaged in the first non-club event last Saturday in support of its basketball program.

About 15 non-club outings are slated this season, all on Saturdays. Major names among these tourneys are the YMCA event, the Pat Botsford and Trevor Cook Memorials, Medina Lanes, the Special Olympics outing, The Challenger Sports outing, the Stedman Open and the Larry Schrader Memorial.

Match play, being a different kind of golf, does not dominate the Shelridge schedule, but the Women’s Association continues to hold the Ridgeway and Shelby Cup battles. Signed up so far are Kathryn Brooks, Sharon Zacher, Val Peters, Maggie Hagenbach, Tina Dennis, Delia Tee and Melinda Whiting.

On Thursday of this week Head Pro Dave Green stepped in front of a Buffalo TV camera for the second time to promote Shelridge, and he has one more appearance slated. Popular Anchor Linda Pellegrino did the interview and it also included references to the SCC Junior Golf Program set in July and August.

Shelridge has been distinguished by the fact that a member who is just a young teen ager, Ian Wagner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Dave Wagner of Barker, is the reigning junior club champ and has won the WNY Junior Tour in his age group four times.

The TV connection for the Medina golf club comes through the fact that Channel 7 chose eight WNY golf courses to help promote a golf tour card and they are doing “favors”. A film crew authorized by the channel will come to Shelridge in June to create a video of the entire local course.

Short Shots

Work on the total rebuilding of sand bunkers on nine of the 18 holes is due to start in June and will be done by turf contractors who are experts in that type of work.

“We’re thrilled and so is our club maintenance crew,” commented Dave Green. “They have worked hard year by year to improve drainage.

Sometimes one of Shelridge’s special needs is addressed by volunteers who are willing to break out the tool kit and go to work. Steve Barnes and Doug Beltz did some fancy carpentry recently and have provided the club with a formal “bag drop” at one end of the parking lot. Arriving golfers can swing left, leave their clubs at the drop and expect them to be loaded by one of the bag-room boys. It will help especially on league nights.