Beachview men deprived of golf clubs during unusual outing
Thirty-eight eager Beachview golfers showed up on a beautiful Saturday morning, Jan. 15, to compete in a two-best balls-of-four tournament… only to have their golf clubs confiscated by head golf professional Scott Hatto!
Well, not confiscated exactly. Hatto let each golfer keep just four clubs of their own choosing — no more. This writer went with putter, wedge, five iron and hybrid. Some competitors went with all irons, others chose to tee-off and putt with their drivers. One stiff-backed golfer wanted to bring along a fifth club, his putter with a suction cup on the end, for the sole purpose of picking his ball out of the hole, but Hato’s strict rules prohibited it.
Golf club manufacturers and golf shops will not want to hear the surprising result: many golfers played as well or better with four clubs than they normally do with a full bag of 14! Maybe they had to choke up on a three wood to make a hundred yard approach shot, or tee off with a four iron. But a par’s a par, no matter how you get there. You just gotta be flexible.
When all the holes were played, the team of Rich Rompala, Gary Dobbie, Dave Bugby and Gholi Darehshori blew the field away by six strokes with a 27-under par score of 113. There was a lot of grumbling about the margin of victory after the results were announced: “Musta used all their clubs!” “Too much talent stacked on one team!” “Too many strokes!” “Rompala always wins!”
Finishing in second place with a score of 119 was Tony “Bricks” Baldino, Chuck “Sue ‘Em” Bye, Bill Fetherston and Commodore Rod Verblaauw. The team of Barry Humphries, Marty Gallagher, Bill Blankenship and Bill Sartoris finished third at 122.
Beachview members are gearing up for the Men’s Member-Member Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 29, a new major event conceived by incoming club president Jay Allen. Members will be paired randomly in two-man teams for an 18 hole, best-ball competition at full handicap. A cocktail reception with heavy hors’deourves will be held in che clubhouse after play at 5 p.m. for players, wives and S/O’s. Please sign up in advance.