Taking the League by Storm

GREENSBORO — Two brothers took the Tuesday night golf league by storm last week at Mountain View Country Club and went home with a healthy share of the winnings.

With an overflow crowd of 52 golfers competing on a humid evening and chasing down the biggest purse in Tuesday night league history, both Karl and Brad Ferland put themselves at the front of the line for the record payout. Together they took home 15 percent of the total winnings on a night when the purse hit three digits for the first time.

The league played putts last week, rewarding the teams and individuals who could post the lowest putting totals during their rounds. Brad Ferland’s foursome won the team title and Karl Ferland won the individual crown in a record performance.

A memorable day for the Ferland brothers began that morning when Brad Ferland joined Mike Clark for a practice round. Ferland would shoot a 40, the lowest round of his life, needing only 12 putts. He just missed a putt for 39 on the ninth hole.

Brad Ferland wouldn’t fare as well Tuesday evening, but his team was there to pick him up. Ferland swelled to a 49 that evening, but kept his putts at a reasonable level, needing 17. Meanwhile, teammates Clark, Dave Bellavance and John Sperry were all putting like Ferland did that morning.

Clark shot a 40 and led the team by putting just 13 times, including five one-putt greens. Bellavance came out on fire, sinking long putt after long putt over his first three holes, one-putting each of them. Bellavance one-putted five holes and ended with 14. Sperry shot a 42 and needed just 15 putts. He had four one-putt greens.

They were the only team in the crowded field to average less than 15 putts per player, ending with 59 total for a 14.75 average and first place.

So what are the odds that two brothers would post the lowest score of their golfing lives on the same day? And post the same score as well. That’s what happened Tuesday evening when Karl Ferland matched his brother with his round of 40, a personal best for himself as well.

But Karl Ferland did Brad Ferland one better. He ended up as the individual putting champion Tuesday, needing just nine putts during his round. The nine putts was the lowest ever putting total posted for the league.

Ferland had three zero-putt greens, three one-putt greens and three two-putt greens. He chipped in from 10 feet out on one for a birdie to start his night, then drained an eight-footer from the fringe on three for his second zero-putt green. Over on five, he was 20-feet out from the pin on the front fringe when he drained that attempt for his third zero-putt green.

On six, he nearly chipped in again, hitting the flag with his approach. But the ball bounded away and he two-putted from there. Double bogies on six and seven foiled a sub 40 round, but Ferland birdied one and nine, sinking a 23-foot putt there. “It was like my putter had a laser on it,” joked Ferland. He parred both three and five.

Karl Ferland left as the night’s leading money winner along with Dale Rowell. He won the individual putting title and his 40 gave him the low net round of 25. Ferland averages a 50, so it was quite a round for himself. He just missed winning the gross title by two strokes. Neal Mulligan posted the night’s low gross round, a 38.

Less than a third of a putt separated the next three teams in order. The fivesome of Matt Kiley, Carl Edwards, Dale Rowell, Rowdy Doyon and Pat Hussey just squeezed into second place with 76 putts, a 15.2 average. Kiley chipped in on one and led the team with 13 putts. Rowell and Edwards had 15, Hussey 16 and Doyon 17.

Just a thin hair back in third place was the foursome of Neal Mulligan, Joe Mulligan, Dan Miko and Darwin Thompson. Both Mulligans and Miko needed 15 putts while Thompson had 16 for a 15.25 average. Joe Mulligan and Miko posted rounds of 39.

Narrowly behind them in fourth place were Nate Brown, Ryan Hall, Dan Judkins and Tim Bellavance. Judkins and Brown used 15 putts as Hall and Bellavance needed 16 for a 15.5 average.

Andy Hunt, with his 41, ended up in second place putts individually with 11 and Dan Gauthier was third with 12 putts, including two zero-putts on two and nine when he birdied both in a round of 42.

Dan Hudson won closest to the pin on three, leaving his drive 15 feet, two inches from the pin. Dale Rowell, tying for the individual money title, added to his ample nightly winnings by firing a laser to within three feet, four inches of the pin on five to win closest.

Up on eight, it was Tim Bellavance getting closest in two, putting his approach to 23 feet, seven inches from the pin. Then on nine, Slade Farnham dropped a dart to within 23 inches of the pin to win closest there.

Next Tuesday marks the start of the league’s annual FIFA-+inspired tournament.