Hot weather has been a problem for our local golf courses. Will Stearns, Golf Superintendent at Southers Marsh will share with us the problems battling the heat.
“Normally turf can withstand 3-4 days of any kind of weather, but when we’re working on day 11 of hot weather, with no end really in sight, things start to get a little dicey,” Sterns said. The most concerning part is that we still have 6-8 weeks of summer to get through before we find relief in the form of short days and cool nights.
“There is really only so much you can do with irrigation, which is great as a supplement to natural rainfall, but weather like this, you will see deficiencies even with a perfectly laid out irrigation system. The worst thing you can do for turf in hot and humid weather is to over-water it. Burned turf (to a point) will come back when it gets water, sodden turf in this weather can be killed permanently. So how can you give a steep slope right next to a green enough water without over-watering the green? The only answer is to bring out a hose and water that spot on its own. We have been using our hose about 8-10 hours each day for the last 2 weeks. Unfortunately, it is inevitable that there will be some crispy spots here and there that get hit by the irrigation system, just not sufficiently.
“You have to be very careful with fertilizer and herbicides at times like this. If in doubt, avoid them. A product for crabgrass may be perfectly safe for turf when it is not stressed, but in weather like this might take out your desirable grass. Let the crabgrass be for now, at least it is green.
“So far, we are winning the war, but we have the benefit of a state of the art irrigation system, and a tireless grounds crew. If nothing else, this weather makes for some fast and true greens, to the point where we need to back off on mowing height and rolling just to keep them from getting out of control.”
White Cliffs Country Club
1 East Cliff Drive
508-888-2110
Don and Jane Ray teamed with Dave and Helga Lind to shoot 48 to win the Couples Association Scramble Sunday. James and Janet Zilinski playing with Peter and Doreen Evans finished second at 50. Jack Murphy, Maureen Bump combined with Lee and Audrey Phinney to finish third at 51.
David Gerrish captained a team of Kevin Faherty, Bob Cocco and Bob McCarthy to win the Blue Tee League ABCD Two Best Ball Tournament scoring 100 last Saturday. Michael Magliano, Robert Toner, Al Walker and Carmen Scarpa finished second at 109.
James Zilinski, Robert Lopes, Mike Coyle and Bill Pressley won the second flight at 109.Ernie Marsico, Dave Blout and Ed McCarthy finished second at 112.
Bill Presley (hole one), Stephen Doctoroff (hole two), Kevin Faherty (hole three), Paul Vaitkus (hole nine), Robert Tonner (hole 11), Bill Callahan (hole 17) and Ed Hildebrantd (hole 18) went home with skin prizes.
Pat Debiassi, Millicent Nigrosh and Silvana Deluca tied the team of Roy Zettlemoyer, Ruth Weiner and Ann Marie Doyle shooting a score of seven to share first place in the Red Tee Nine Holers Scramble Tournament Wednesday, July 21.
Plymouth Country Club
221 Warren Avenue
508-746-7800
Jack Bandera shot 73-71-69-213 over three days to win the Club Championship last weekend. His six over par shooting for three rounds put him on top by one stroke over Derek Schug at 214. Stephen Kuhn and Mike Butts tied for third at 218. Mike Willock and Paul Lacamera shared fifth place at 222.
Allen Tassinari continues to toy with the group of golfers bearing his name as he teamed with Joe Caruso, Ken Kupferberg and Randy Kupferberg winning the front nine at minus-6 and the Nassau at minus-6 in Tass League play Sunday with 18 players in the field. Fred Smith, Ned Taylor and Pete Muncey took the back side at minus-5.
Don Quenneville teamed with Joe Caruso, Dennis Boulay and Rick Rumble to win the back nine at minus-5 and tying the Nassau at minus-5 in Tass League action Saturday, July 24. Tom Tirlia always in the money playing with Rich Moscatelli, Mike Fagan and Greg McLaughlin shot minus-4 to win the front nine.
Walter Smith led a team of John O’Connor and Ron Pompeo to wins on the front nine (minus-3) and the Nassau (plus-3) in EDO play Sunday. Doug Cole, Joe Arsenault and Jack Curran won the back nine (even) with 12 players in action. Cole (minus-5), Curran (plus-1) and Arsenault and Bill Kelly (minus-5) went to the quota prize table.
Lou “The Wedge” Frascotti led his team of Paul Connell and Andrew Jeffrey to a near sweep of the board, sharing the front nine at minus-2 with John Doncaster, John Moody and Tony Murphy. The Wedge’s squad took the back at minus-4 and the Nassau at minus-6. A tough club championship course setup made for difficult playing conditions.
Bob Clifford, playing some of the best golf of his career, teamed with Patrick Sullivan and Neil Sullivan to win the front, back and total in Siever League play Wednesday, July 14. Sullivan at plus-3 and Clifford at minus-2 were the events quota winners.
Patrick Sullivan (hole five), Tom Sullivan (hole 13) and Neil Sullivan (hole 15) went home with birdie prizes.
Atlantic Country Club
450 Sandy Pond Road
508-759-6644
Commissioner Norm McLaughlin reports that with four weeks to go in the regular season the Tuesday PM Hackers League finds Charlie Sampson and Charlie Nolan leading by twelve points over Mark Nardone and Scott Dempster. Mike Witham and Tony Metrano sit in third place, 13.5 points behind the leaders. Nardone leads Nolan by 1.5 points in the individual races, with Sampson trailing by two points.
Tuesday, July 20 saw Bob Johnson win the weekly low gross prize posting a 40 for the second week in a row and now trails by 2.5 points behind Bill Hoey in the race for the super sub award. John “Iggy” Shannon won the net division at 32 and Tom O’Connor took second at 33.
Skin prizes went to Mike Tublin (hole seven), Eddy Pool (hole eight), Mark Nardone (hole 10), Tom Welgoss (hole three), Jamie Wood (hole four), Tom O’Connor (hole 15) and Jeff Schultz (hole 18).
Commissioner Norm announced that the playoffs are scheduled to begin Tuesday, August 24 and the annual outing will be Saturday, September 25.
Road trip golf
I was invited to play Poquoy Brook in Lakeville Wednesday, as The New England Golf Monthly held its annual media day hosted by its publisher, Tim Branco.
Found the Brook to be in excellent condition with large but very puttable greens. Each hole was unique to itself that required accurate tee shots. The fairways were open and in great shape.
Owner Charlie Dickow with a smile on his face was there to greet us and Head Professional Gary Cardoza and his staff were helpful and eager to make our day memorable. Course Superintendent, Mark Pendergast should be applauded for the condition of this fine golfing venue.
The frosting on the cake was that my team of Matt Manco, Jim Hammond and Bruce Armstrong finished first net. Plymouth golfers Lee and Vickey MacKay teamed with Pat Eastman and Tom Martin to capture first gross.
Looking for a nice place to play? Get a foursome and head over to Poquoy Brook.
Crosswinds Golf Club
424 Long Pond Road
508-830-1199
Allyn Sullivan, Wheedwhacker League Chairman, reports that the first half of the season has been put to bed and it has been a successful start to the year. David Vajcovec shot a 41 to win low gross honors on the Zaharias Nine with 37 players in the field Tuesday, July 20. Dick Costa and Mike King finished tied for second at 42. John Harrington took fourth place at 43. John Andosca, George Betts and David Thompson carded scores of 44 to share fifth place. Doug Johnson, Russ Parker and Tom Stefani at 45 tied for eighth.
Dick Costa at 33 won the net division. David Vajcovec finished second at 35. John Andosca and George Betts shared third place at 36. Tom Stefani, Mike King, Doug MacLeod, David Thompson, Doug Johnson and Anthony Cook split fourth place at 37.
John Leone (hole four), Jeff Spencer (hole nine), Vern Norman (hole seven), David Vajcovec (hole one) and Dick Costa (holes one and two) went home birdie winners.
The final standings look like this:
1. John Andosca 393
2. Tom Stefani 406
3. David Vajcovec 406
4. Brendan Drane 408
5. Ed Sayward 409
6. Jim Barr 411
7. Mike King 411
8. Doug MacLeod 411
Ace Place
Tim Carey stepped out from the pro shop to ace hole four with a wedge while playing in the Skins Game at Squirrel Run Friday, July 23. It was the eighth ace for this very affable and polite 19-year-old golfer.
Squirrel Run Golf Club
32 Elderberry Drive
508-746-5001
Phil Steele playing with Tim McLaughlin shot 51 gross to win the Players Club Member Guest Sunday, July 25. Steele playing good golf teamed with father Norm McLaughlin to finish second at 54. Bill and Sean Flaherty at 43 won the net division. Bill teamed with Kevin Flaherty to capture second place at 46.
Barbara Laneau shot a plus-10 to run away with the Players Club Quota Tournament Saturday, July 24. John Coveney at plus-6 finished second. Dana Blanchard took the third spot at plus-3.
Bryan Boozman (hole three), Tim Carey (hole four with an ace), Robin Papa (hole seven), Ron Fernandes (hole nine with an eagle) and Harry Harrington (hole 10) shared the prize pool in the Friday Skins Game July 23.
Phyllis Vass playing a great round posted a plus-10 to win the Ladies League Quota Tournament Thursday, July 22. Nancy MacDuffe and Mary Humberd at plus-8 shared second place. Marcia Tache, Joyce Nardella and Barbara Langdon carded scores of plus-7 to split fourth place. There were 66 players in the field.
Carol Diegoli (hole 10), Amy Carey (hole 11) and Kris Holmes (hole 12) went home with closest-to-the-pin awards.
Phil Micciche carded a plus-9 to win Moore’s Madness Quota Tournament Wednesday, July 21. Jim Donahue sat alone in second place at plus-8. Ed Finnochia finished third shooting a plus-7. Richard Villano, Steve Hallissey and Jerry Greene shared fourth place at plus-6.
Robin Papa (hole 16), Jim O’Neil (hole 17) and Lenny Vaz (hole 18) captured the closest-to-the-pin prizes. Winsor Gould hitting the ball solidly won a skin on hole three and Papa had one on hole three.
John Fay and James Walsh won the Caransi Two Player League at plus-5 Monday, July 19. Kevin Fahy playing with Neil Scanlon shared second place with the team of George Veglas and Jim McKay shooting scores of plus-2. Bryan Guenthner and Joe Pappalardo at plus-1 took fourth place.
Southers Marsh Golf Club
30 Southers Marsh Lane
508-830-3535
Mike Carbone set a new professional course record at The Marsh Tuesday, shooting an eight under par 53. He had eight birdies and no bogeys during this fine round. Carbone, a former URI golf star and an aspiring tour pro played in the Turning Stone Resort Championship last year on the PGA Tour. He played with Doug Black and Jim Damiano, caddies from the Old Sandwich Golf Course. He broke the previous record held by Josh Hillman by three strokes.
Southers Marsh will be hosting a Memorial Tournament for Cheri Allan Wednesday, August 4. Come for league play as usual and the committee is asking for a $10 donation to her grand-children’s scholarship fund.
Don Welinskey fired a plus-9 to win the Blue Tee League Quota Event Thursday, July 22 with 53 players in action. Paul Landon at plus-6 finished second. Mike Fopiano, Pat Torrence and John Chaffee tied for third at plus-5.
Fred Foster (holes one and seven), Gordon Leighton, Jr. (hole 14) and Tony Palma (hole 17) secured birdies in the Stearns Division. Steve Kelley (hole one), Fred Medeiros (hole 120 and Ron Mooney (hole 14) posted birdies in the Tavares Division.
Graciela Piccolo shot 35 playing the front nine and Candy Montiero shot 41 from the back nine off the green tees. Leah Franzen shot 38 playing the front nine and Rhonda Messier shot 45 from the back nine playing the yellow tees in the Women’s league Three Clubs and a Putter Tournament in Women’s league action Wednesday, July 21 with 33 players in action.
Graciela Piccolo with putts from the green tees and Leah Franzen with 14 putts from the yellow tees won the events low putts contest. Piccolo was overall low net winner from the green tees with Barbara Souza second and Candy Montiero third. Frazen was the low net winner from the yellow tees.
Ann Ladouceur (hole 7), Jackie Mooney (hole 18) and Nancy Wildman (hole 18) went home with birdie prizes. Ladouceur (hole seven) and Piccolo (hole seven) recorded chip ins.
Mike Smith fired a plus-10 to win the Black Tee League Quota Tournament Tuesday, July 20 with a field of 59 players. Paul Landon at plus-9 finished second. Pete Shedlock carded a plus-6 good for third place. Doug Vance and Fred Medeiros shared fourth place at plus-6.
Vance (hole one), Leigh MacKay (hole two), Landon (hole five) and Eric Fernandez (hole 13) shared the birdie pool.
Fred “The Hammer” Mederios playing some fantastic golf carded a plus-9 to win the Senior League Quota Tournament Monday, July 19 with a field of 26 players. Hank Magner at plus-6 finished second. Paul Landon posted a plus-5 to take third place.
Medeiros (hole one), Landon (hole three), Harvey Walker (hole 11) and John Silva (hole 15) shared the prizes on the birdie table.
Little Harbor Country Club
1 Little Harbor Road
508-295-2617
Wareham
Helen Simmons led a team of Anne Joerres, Judith Coughlin and Joan Indio shooting 38 net to win the Ladies Memorial Tournament played Wednesday, July 21. Peg Studley, Arlene Rachins, Joan Collins and Rosemary Meekin finished second at 39. Nancy Chase, Kay Conroy, Joy Clarkson and Chris Cabral shared third place with the team of Judy Miemi, Marilyn Burton and Andrea Matoes posting scores of 40. Nancy MacDuffee, Jean Connaughton, Nancy Moyer and Rita Scalzl finished fifth at 41.Sixty-nine ladies put the peg in the ground during the competition.
Marilyn Burton (hole one), Carol Foote (hole two), Ginny Anderson (hole three), Nancy Rose (hole 11) and Kay Conroy (hole 17) won the closest-to-the-pin prizes.
Kevin Donahue 11, Steve Saltz and Phil Claccio finished tied for first at 43 net in the Men’s League Best Ball Tournament Wednesday, July 21. Mark Marchant, Rick Grassi, Bob Rosendahl, John Quinlan, Norm Lewis and Chuck Ford all shared second place at 44 net. There were 27 players in the field.
Jim McCulloch can be reached at jimbomcculloch@comcast.net
