Golfers Shamble Under Sunny Skies
Neal Mulligan (far right) led all golfers last Tuesday night, firing a one-under par 34. He leads the league in average with a 37. One stroke back in average is his father, Joe Mulligan (second from left). Also pictured are John Hogan (left) and Patrick Mulligan (second from right).
GREENSBORO — There were three components that were utilized to help decide the two weekly champions last Tuesday night at Mountain View Country Club.
To start things off, the Tuesday night crowd, 48 golfers strong playing under sunny skies, all broke up into twosomes. They played a Shamble, and once all the scores were posted, a random draw was used to create the final teams. It all made for some incredible performances and some surprising finishes as both gross and net champions were crowned.
In a Shamble, both players drive, then they go to the best drive of the two and play their own ball in from there. Two chances for one good drive significantly helped the scoring totals. Once the final scores were all posted, they were divided into two hats, high scores in one and lower scores in the other, and were randomly drawn out from each to create foursomes.
What wasn’t all that surprising was the twosome of Joe and Neal Mulligan ending up in the winning gross foursome. Neal Mulligan leads the league with a 37 average, and with birdies on eight and nine, to go with just one bogey, he posted a one-under round of 34, the night’s low round Tuesday.
His father, Joe, shot his average, a round of three-over 38, with birdies on both two and seven. Together they posted a round of 72, which was the low round by five strokes. But what really helped them end up in first place was getting drawn with Aaron Molleur, who posted a 37, and Nick Crum.
Those two had the low score in the high hat, an 89, which made it an easy victory for this group. They had a combined score of 161 and won by six strokes in the gross category.
Right behind the Mulligans with a strong outing were Dan Miko and Darwin Thompson, who shot 38 and 39, respectively. They got lucky enough to get pulled with Jim Bellavance and Randy Bellavance. Jim Bellavance had himself a night. He shot a 44, a full nine strokes under his yearly average and Randy Bellavance posted a 46.
Going out and ready to do some damage recently is the foursome of (left to right) Bob Blake, Mike Clark, Mike Nixon and John Sperry. Sperry posted a one-over par 36 last Tuesday night.
Their foursome won second place in both the gross and net divisions, firing a gross 167 and netting a 121, just one stroke out of first place net. Jim Bellavance’s round enabled him to tie both Shayne Carr, with a 41, and Richard Coolbeth, firing a 44, for the night’s low net honors with a 26.
Third place gross, with a 173, went to the foursome of John Stone and Mark Wright, who combined for an 83, along with Karl Ferland and Richard Coolbeth, who posted a 90. Coolbeth’s sharp round knocked eight strokes off his normal average.
Two teams were just one stroke back in fourth place gross with a 174. John Fixx, firing a 37, and Adam Whitney (46) joined up with Slade Farnham (49) and George Gattone (42) as they tied the foursome of Shayne Carr, Pete DesChamps, Roger Boone and Carl Edwards for fourth place.
However, the Carr, DesChamps, Boone and Edwards group ended up winning first place in the net division. Carr was unstoppable Tuesday, he parred six holes, including the first four holes, in his round of 41. DesChamps was right behind with a 43 as they combined for an 84.
Boone carded a 48 and Edwards a 42 as they were one of the low teams in the high hat. With handicaps to spare, this team captured first place net by a stroke with a 120.
In third place net, with a score of 124, were Kip Doyon and Rowdy Doyon, as they got paired with Dean Rogers and Jeremy Kaufmann. Kip Doyon had a great round, firing a 40 as Rowdy Doyon posted a 49. Meanwhile, Dean Rogers was on fire, knocking 12 strokes off his average with a 46 while Kaufmann carded a 45.
One stroke back at 124 net was the foursome of Mike Clark, who posted a 39, Mike Nixon, Wyatt Bellavance and Cole Leroux. Nixon shot a 42 while Bellavance also had a hot evening with his 46.
Rowdy Doyon easily won closest to the pin on three by leaving his drive just 39 inches from the pin. Over on five, Joe Mulligan placed his drive nine feet, three inches from the pin to win closest there.
Up on eight, Nate Brown placed his approach just four feet from the pin to win closest in two shots. Then on nine, Miko left his approach 10 feet, one inch from the pin to win closest in two there. Two strokes back in second place for the low round, with a 36, was John Sperry. He had two birdies and three bogies, the last on the ninth hole, to go with his four pars.
