Foursome Runs Away with Winnings
Tuesday night golf league statistician Dave Burnham hasn’t been able to play all season due to hip replacement surgery, his second on the same hip, but he got in a practice round at Copley Country Club last week and is hopeful to return to action next week.
GREENSBORO – In an evening of best ball performances, the foursome of John Sperry, Brad Ferland, Dan Gauthier and Bob Blake ran away with a good share of the night’s winnings by placing high in both the gross and net categories.
In a best ball event, teams post the best score of the four players on each hole. On a night when 43 golfers showed up under partly cloudy and cooler conditions, this particular group showed up well in both divisions.
Sperry tied both Joe and Neal Mulligan for the night’s low round, shooting a three-over par 38. His performance helped the team secure a second place finish in the gross category with a one-over par 36. Sperry had the best, or tied for the best score, on seven of the team’s nine holes.
He got the only help he needed on the second hole when Brad Ferland gave the team a par, and again on the third hole when Gauthier also parred. The team bogeyed one and eight, but Sperry birdied the seventh hole.
The foursome of Joe and Neal Mulligan, Dan Miko and Darwin Thompson captured first place in the gross category. The two Mulligans, Joe and his son Neal, lead the league in scoring average with a 38, which is exactly what they both shot on Tuesday. Their foursome posted a two-under 33 to win the gross score championship.
Neal rebounded from a six he posted on the first hole, giving the team one of its two birdies on the fifth hole. His father Joe had landed his drive just 11 feet, four inches from the flag, which won closest to the pin on that hole. Neal then drained the putt.
Up on eight, it was Thompson who hit a perfect approach shot to within three feet, nine inches of the cup. That set up an easy birdie putt. Thompson’s dart on eight won him the closest in two on that hole.
The threesome of Bill Richardson, Pete DesChamps and Shayne Carr relax with a free beer donated by Richard Brochu after a recent round. Carr won closest to the pin on three last week.
Tying for second place in the gross category were Tim Bellavance, Nate Brown, Rob Montgomery, Slade Farnham and Ivan Menard. With Bellavance leading the charge with his 39, the team also shot a one-over 36. Bellavance birdied the second hole and the team settled for bogies on both the fourth and sixth holes.
In third place gross with a two-over 37 was the foursome of Rowdy Doyon, Kip Doyon, Dale Rowell and Pat Hussey. Doyon had a career best night, carrying the team with his 40, a full nine strokes below his yearly average and his best score ever. Doyon easily won low net honors with a nine-under par 26. The team bogeyed four and five, but parred every other hole.
The Sperry, Ferland, Gauthier and Blake group ending up tying for first place in the net category with a 24.25 score. Pulling off the big surprise of the night was the foursome of Nat Fixx, Ian Drown, Dale Hall and Tyson Davison, who was playing for the first time this season. Davison was the second baseman for Hazen Union’s state runner-up baseball team.
Their group posted a round of three-over 38 and also netted a 24.25. The two holes that shot these guys to the top of the heap were fourth and eighth. On the fourth, Fixx, who struggled most of the evening, struck for a rare birdie on the course’s second toughest hole. Drown then gave the team its second birdie with a three on the eighth hole.
Second place net at 24.5 was the foursome of Doyon, Doyon, Rowell and Hussey. Just behind them in third place net was the Brown, Bellavance, Montgomery, Menard and Farnham group at 24.75. It was a tight battle in the net division.
Shayne Carr hit his drive to within eight feet of the pin on three to win closest there. Over on nine, it was Sperry winning closest in two by leaving his tight approach to within four feet, nine inches of the pin.
