Large Tie for August Championship
Pat Robb laughs at how close his ball divot was to a hole-in-one on the 150-yard third hole at Mountain View Country Club recently. Robb, of Rocky Hill, Conn., had his drive land two feet left of the cup, then bounce away, but he drained the putt for a birdie two.
GREENSBORO — A simple game of points and a random draw of teams resulted in the largest tie for the August Championship in Tuesday night golf history at Mountain View Country Club last week.
No less than half the field of 40 golfers were randomly drawn onto five completely different foursomes and they all ended up tying for the monthly championship with rounds of plus 10 points. To say most of the golfers in the field were on their games last week wouldn’t be overstating things. It was a warm night for golf with temps near 80 degrees until rain moved in later on.
Of the 40 golfers, 35 were at even points or better. Each golfer has a quota of points to meet based on their handicap and only five players didn’t meet their goal. Golfers score one point for a bogey, two points for a par and three points for a birdie.
Dale Rowell, Mike Cloutier and Joe Mulligan were all in the running for the most impressive rounds of the evening. Rowell ended up as the night’s top points producer, scoring a total 10 points to end up plus eight, best of the field.
Rowell parred his first two holes to secure all the points he would need and he scored points on seven of his nine holes. Rowell would card three pars and four bogies in his round of 45, which left him as the night’s top money winner.
He lost by one stroke to Cloutier in the battle for the low net round. Cloutier won that title with a round of 44 and a net 28. Cloutier had pars on the second and the tough sixth hole, but a 27-foot birdie putt on nine secured his low net title and a round of plus seven points.
Mulligan may have exceeded both their accomplishments. Sporting the league’s second best scoring average behind his son Neal, Joe Mulligan always faces a tough task in a game of points. He has to score 15 points just to break even.
Well, he did that and more Tuesday. Mulligan posted the night’s best round, an even par 35. The round was highlighted with birdies on the second hole and the sixth hole, the toughest on the course. He coupled those two birdies with five pars and two bogies while scoring 18 points and ended up at plus three points.
When all was said and done, a total of nine players shot plus four points or better. Another nine players shot rounds of plus three points and yet another nine players shot rounds of plus two points. With all the scores being so even, it’s no wonder the final draw of teams ended so closely. Brian Niemi and Aaron Molleur both posted rounds of 38 and Mike Clark carded a 39.
Five players shot rounds of plus five points. George Gattone was one of them. He posted an eight on his first hole, but then parred holes two, three and four consecutively as well as holes seven, eight and nine. Dan Mencucci used a birdie on two and four bogies and a par on his last five holes to get to plus five. His playing partner Roger Boone had two pars and three bogies to also get to plus five.
Joining them at plus five were Jeremy Kaufmann and Dale Hall. Kaufmann’s scorecard included two four’s, six five’s and one six in a round of 44. He had two pars and four bogies. Hall had a par on two to go with five bogies in his round of 49.
Right behind them at plus four points were Mike Nixon and Andy Lemieux. Nixon posted a 42, bogeying his first three holes, then securing pars on four of his last six holes. Lemieux ended with five bogies and a par in a round of 48.
So the field was divided into four groups, the best points producers, the second best, third best and fourth best. Then they were randomly picked from each of the four hats to form 10 teams. As luck would have it, five teams tied for first place at plus 10 points.
The first group chosen included Roger Boone, Rob Montgomery, Nick Crum and Pat Hussey. Next was George Gattone, Brad Ferland, Adam Whitney and Nate Brown. After them came Dale Rowell, Wyatt Bellavance, Jim Bellavance and Andy Hunt. Then it was Dan Mencucci, Ian Drown, Bill Richardson, Shayne Carr. The final group included Dale Hall, Joe Mulligan, Dan Rogers and Kip Doyon.
Ian Drown added to his winning by leaving his drive 10 feet, five inches from the cup on the third hole. Over on five, John Sperry landed a dart to four feet, eight to win closest there.
Up on eight, Dale Rowell added to his winnings by leaving his approach 22 feet, four inches from the pin to win closest in two shots. Then on nine, Pat Hussey hit a pitch to three feet, two inches to win closest there.
