This past week saw a number of champions crowned during the conclusions of both our Thursday night Men’s League and our Club Championships.
Thursday Night Men’s League
On Thursday July 31, our Men’s League concluded with its flight championship and third place matches. All but 4 matches were played and champions in 6 of the 9 flights were crowned. To date, all but one final match has yet to be played in order to conclude a very successful and record participating 2014 season.
Below is a list of all the flight winners:
Flight 1 Stan Festa / Steve Greco
Flight 2 Larry Maglione / Carl Simone
Flight 3 Mitch Cohen / Michael Kerper
Flight 4 TBD
Flight 5 Eddie Davis / Robert Kelly
Flight 6 Michael Druckman / John Esposito
Flight 7 Robert Castiglia / Ray Cornell
Flight 8 Ed Umanoff / Hank Weinstein
Flight 9 Leo Bauman / Robert Mittleman
We are waiting on a select few who have yet to pay their entry fee. As soon as we can collect from these individuals (and you know who you are), we will post all credit book winnings immediately. Congratulations to all our flight champions.
2014 Hamlet Club Championship
What a weekend at The Hamlet! A few minor weather delays couldn’t dampen the excitement of our semi-final and finals matches held on August 2nd and 3rd. Ultimately, great weather, a terrific conditioned golf course, great golf and a championship flight match for the ages made this past weekend one to remember at The Hamlet.
In the end, seven champions were crowned in hard fought matches including a fantastic men’s championship flight match that more than lived up to the hype. It was the match that we all were waiting for…and it did not disappoint. Steve Greco, our defending champion and winner of 7 of the past 9 club championships, faced off against newcomer to the club, Rob Rusche. Both men left little doubt during the preliminary matches that they would advance to the finals.
During morning play, Steve took a surprising 5 up lead at the turn that was quickly extended to 6 up after a win on the 10th hole. But after a halve on the 11th, Rob won the 12th and then proceeded to make 3 birdies in a row on holes 13, 14 & 15 cutting the lead to 2 up. A win on 17 and another birdie on 18 by Rob drew the match even after morning play.
The afternoon started with a similar run of play as in the morning match, Steve quickly won 4 of the first 6 holes to take a 4up lead. But not being a stranger to this position, Rob persevered and rolled in a great birdie on hole #9. With a win on Hole #10, Rob cut the lead to 2up in Steve’s favor as play entered the final 9 holes.
After a fantastic par save on the 12th to halve the hole, Rob proceeded to win the next 4 holes in a row to take a 2 up lead going into 17. With Rob in for a par, Steve had a birdie attempt to extend the match that barely rolled by the cup to end the match 2 & 1 in Rob’s favor. A crowd over 70 members followed the pair during the closing 9 holes and were treated to a fantastic hard fought match. Congratulations to Steve who fought hard every step of the way as a true champion would and congratulations to Rob as our new club champion. What a warm welcome to the club and well deserved.
Our ladies championship flight was a rematch of last year’s finalists. Our 4 time defending champion and winner of 5 of the last 7 club championships Alice Tong, squared up against and her opponent and rival, Liz Greco. Confident and steady play from Liz in the early stages of the match allowed her to gain a 2 up advantage during play on the final 9. But in the end, Alice’s consistency turned the match around as she went on to a 2 & 1 victory and her 5th consecutive club championship win. Spirited play by Liz served notice to all, that next year may be different. Congratulations to both Alice and Liz for a terrific match.
Our Men’s A flight champion was Craig Perlman, who defeated Alan Pfeffer 1 up in a battle between two close friends. Craig, the "cardiac kid", didn’t disappoint by allowing his third match in a row to come down to the final putt on the 18th hole after holding the lead throughout much of the back 9. I’m sure Craig would tell you that none of the matches was ever in doubt… Who said it would be easy eh Craig?
In the Men’s B flight, Joe Saccente defended his title as club champion by defeating Richard Tull in the only match on the final day to go extra holes. After a back and forth match between the two finalists, extra holes were needed to decide the winner. Joe eventually outlasted Richard on the second playoff hole to win the match. Congratulations to Joe on defense of his title. Hey Joe, next year it’s the A flight so start practicing!
The women’s B flight had two spirited semi-final matches that both went to the final hole. Fran Alesia and Janet Scheiner proved victorious in each of the semi-final matches and engaged in a terrific final match that provided for some great golf. These two close friends each played very well and in the end, it was Fran who came out on top with a 3 & 2 win over Janet to win the title. Thank you to all the women who played in this year’s event.
Dennis Mahoney took the B1 flight against Eric Glickstein in impressive fashion 6 & 5. Eric, who is no stranger to championship matches (albeit in tennis), played extremely well in his quarterfinal and semi-final match wins but fell short in the finals to the steady play from Dennis. On the day, Dennis’ "forehand" proved to be a bit too powerful to defend. Congratulations to Dennis on his return to the club and to the winner’s circle. Great to have you back.
Our men’s C flight champion is Al Levy who proved to be a bit too strong for Ed Umanoff in the this flight's final match. Being the only flight that was handicapped, Al had to give many shots to his opponents as the number one seed in his flight. Al fought off his competitors throughout the event and ultimately proved too strong for Ed with his 4 & 3 win in the final match. Great job Al, way to hang in there!
A special thanks goes out to our Superintendent Craig Kight and his staff for a wonderful job getting the course in fantastic condition and thank you to all of our members who participated in this year’s event and came out to watch and support our champions!
No comments:
Post a Comment