Weather playing tricks on golfers
This Week at Shelridge
Contributed Photo – WELCOME TO THE CLUB—-A new bag drop at Shelridge will create efficiency on busy league and tourney days. Shown with the new stand is Nick DiNardo, one of the eight members of the bag room staff.
A certain schizophrenia has spread over golf courses around Western New York as weather played strange tricks this spring.
“One day nice, the next cold and rainy, we just haven’t created the normal pattern yet for good steady golf,” said Shelridge Country Club Assistant Pro Dave Rose as he gazed out the shop window Wednesday.
But pattern or not, golf leagues at the club are full this year and four separate groups see action weekly. The teachers league, the women’s league, the Thursday men’s league and the Friday night couples league are stubbornly trying to get off the starting mark.
Thursday League
With a completely full membership of 72 players the men’s league is featuring some close races at the start. In Group One the leaders as of the May 22nd posting were Steve Hicks and Tim Armstrong with 38.5 points, but with Brad Zacher and Steve Dutcher hot on their tails with 37.5 points. In third spot were Dave and Ian Wagner (34.5), then Steve Brooks and Steve Seamans in fourth (32) and Marc March and Frank Tozcak in fifth.
Group Two was led on that date by Greg and Ryan Smith with 36.5 points, followed by Rob Dennis and Ray Neuman with 32.5 points. Tied for third place with 31.5 points were Dave Stahl and Jerry Allen and also Jim Hagenbach and Karl Griffin. Fifth place was a traffic jam with three teams tied with 30 points each. Included were Bob Casler and Jeff Panza Jr., David Colonna and Tom Hungerford, Bruce Seefeldt and Mike Southcott.
Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8, stand out on the club calendar as red letter dates and nearly 40 golfers are already signed up for the Spring Member-Member Tourney.
The new format for this major event calls for arranging teams into “flights” after the opening day. Nobody is eliminated and the second day’s competition is better balanced. Finishing off the tourney will be a sudden -death playoff among the flight winners. A social hour late on Sunday will pull all this action together with prize awards.
Also making news these days at Shelridge is the posting of scores to qualify for the season-long President’s Cup Tourney (match play). Last year’s winner of the cup, Gary Murphy, has immunity in the qualifying period and will be the target. All qualifying scores must be in by tomorrow night and then 16 players will be chosen for the opening brackets. The event carries full handicap.
One recent list of qualifying scores showed the following: Matt Bush 68, Ken Ireland 70, Butch Stupnick 71, Dave Bellucci 72, Tom Pegelow 72, Joe Brezinski 73, Chuck Neumann 74, Alex Misiti 75, Steve Barnes 76, Dave Wagner 76, Tom Morien 77, Bruce Foley 77, Dave Stupnick 78, Rich Mesi 78, Kyle Monti 81, Jim Scapelliti 81, Steve Brooks 99.