The fog was so thick, you couldn’t see your shoes. You couldn’t see your ball on the tee. If you were lucky enough to make contact at all, you had to guess where your ball would land, and you didn’t know if you were hitting into the group in front of you.

So why would 50 Beachview Golf & Tennis Club men tee it up in such adverse conditions on the first Saturday in February? A free lunch: the crispy fried chicken, delicious beef stroganoff, mashed potatoes and chocolate chip cookies they knew chef Mike Price would have hot and ready for them on the buffet table!

The format was a four-man scramble, and despite the foggy weather, the scores were the lowest this writer has ever seen. Midwesterners Jim Mulka, Jack Tukey, Dick Arnould and Chuck Bye surely thought they had won when they turned in a net score of 48.75, an excellent 21 strokes under par. And they came in last!

Handicap chair Tony “Bricks” Baldino, self-described putting phenom Rene Lohser, “Dandy” Don Rice and Al “Sandbagger” Krause knew they couldn’t lose with a score of 29 under par… but they finished third.

Northeasterners Dick Codair, Bob Cushman and Stan Sheft teamed with native Floridian Barry Humphries to achieve the same extraordinary score, and came in second on a match of cards. First place, just a quarter of a stroke less, went to FedEx Cup leader and avid Pittsburgh Steeler fan Rich Rompala, Tom Ware, Hunt Ethridge and Don Maurer.

“Everyone just delivered big shots when we needed them,” Ware explained over lunch. Gee, was it that easy?

FedEx Cup standings update: Rich Rompala and Dick Chocol are neck-in-neck at one and two, with last year’s winner Rene Lohser in third place 15 points behind. Members are honing their games for the Beachview Club Championship to be contested on Feb. 15 and 19.