Locked and Loaded for the Low Round

GREENSBORO – A beautiful marriage between three players with lofty handicaps and a sharp shooting sniper resulted in an easy win last Tuesday evening at Mountain View Country Club.

John Sperry was locked and loaded on Tuesday, firing his second straight round of one-over par 36, the night’s low round. Meanwhile, his teammates, Dave Burnham, Marty Renaud and Bob Blake, provided him with all the handicap they would need to lock up the weekly championship.

It was a best ball event with handicaps as 39 golfers dodged some early rain and eventually played under sunny skies with warm temperatures. It was ideal golf weather and the winning foursome netted out a 21.25, winning by over a stroke.

Sperry got the low score, or tied for it, on every hole for his foursome. He only bogeyed two holes, the fourth and sixth, and he birdied the par-five seventh hole. He helped make Dave Burnham a winner on his first night out this year. Burnham is just getting back on the links after recovering from his second hip replacement surgery.

Also winning on his first night out in the league was Marty Renaud, who grew up in East Hardwick. Renaud flew in for a vacation from his home in Houston, Texas. It was a vacation delayed two years because of the COVID pandemic, but he returned home a champion. Blake, meanwhile, just seems to keep showing up in the winner’s circle.

Hot on the winning foursome’s heels, just over a stroke back, was the group that included Karl Ferland, Dan Mencucci, Richard Coolbeth and Dave Campbell. They got off to a great start as Ferland parred one, Mencucci parred two and Campbell carded a nifty birdie two on the third hole.

They would bogey their next four consecutive holes, but Ferland parred eight and Coolbeth nine as they carded a nice round of three-over par 38. They netted out at 22.5 to place second.

Back in third place was the foursome that included Rob Montgomery, Ivan Menard, Nate Brown and Tim Bellavance. They shot a two-over par 37 and netted a 24. Bellavance got them started with his birdie on one and then a par on two. Brown, who posted a 40, took over from there and helped post the low score over the team’s final seven holes.

Montgomery matched Brown with a par on the third hole as he won closest to the pin there, dropping his drive just 10 feet, two inches from the pin. Brown got the team a par on eight after leaving his approach 17 feet, three inches from the pin. That pitch shot won him closest in two shots on the hole.

Rowdy Doyon looked to have closest to the pin locked up on the fifth hole when he put his drive just 45 inches from the pin. But in a threesome behind him, just as Doyon walked off the green, Aaron Molleur hit a gem to the back of the green. The ball rolled to the upslope of the green, but gravity took over and it then rolled slowly backwards, coming to a stop just two feet, two inches from the pin to steal the closest prize.

In addition to his low round of 36, Sperry also won closest in two shots on nine. He put his approach shot six feet, two inches from the pin.

The low gross round of 36 was posted by the foursome of Joe Mulligan, Neal Mulligan, Patrick Mulligan and Darwin Thompson. Neal Mulligan fired a two-over 37 and Joe Mulligan had a 39.

With a solid 43, Jeremy Kaufmann posted the best net round of the evening, carding a six-under 29. He just nosed out Rob Montgomery and Roger Boone, who each netted a five-under par 30. Kaufmann teamed with Dan Rogers, Dave Rogers and Doug Allen and they placed fourth with a net round of 25.75.

Next up for the MVCC Tuesday nighters is the August Championship. The annual league championship tournament will be played on Sunday, Sept. 25.