Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Inman

Dave Inman, the reigning Gainey Ranch diving champion, continued his comeback Wednesday with a great round sprinkled with mini-disasters.  Dave opened with a double-bogey, followed it with another double-bogey on the usually easy seventh hole and added another double-bogey on the fifteenth (#6 Lakes). However, he added birdies on holes number two, six, eight and nine. Despite two double-bogeys on the front side, he still fired and even par 36. He finished the day with 74 to take low gross honors. His net 66 gave him a sweep with low net honors as well. Dave Kopp was right on his heels with a gross 75 and Jim Stamatis stayed hot with a 78.

Low Gross

1. Dave Inman – 74
2. Dave Kopp – 75
3. Jim Stamatis – 78

Low Net

1. Dave Inman – 66
2. Pat Collins and Jim Stamatis – 67

Dave Inman’s team (Dave, Bruce Partridge, Mike Hickey and Ken Vlah) won the team game. Three teams tied for second place. Jim Gabriel, Jim Stamatis and Ken Vlah each won a net skin while Dave Inman won two of them. If there had been a gross skins game (we were asleep at the switch), one each would have gone to Jim Gabriel, Jim Stamatis and Howard Jones. Dave Inman would have won four of them.

Click HERE for complete score results.

Biology and the Kildare Group – August 24th

Many people are surprised to learn that nature’s great carnivores hunt in cycles or circles. Packs of coyotes, for example, tend to roam large areas and revisit small sections with great regularity. Not coincidentally, the hunting cycle tends to parallel the gestation period of rabbits. About the time the rabbit population pushes nature’s limits to sustain it, the coyote shows up to put populations back where they belong.

So it is with some golfers. Jim Woods, a.k.a. Woodsy, has taken some time off. He hasn’t played golf in months so injuries can have time to heal (or so he claims). I’m more inclined to believe he has just been laying low so other Gainey golfers could save enough bet money to make Woodsy’s return more profitable. Friday’s match seems to be proof of the theory.

Rainy Gainey – Kildare Group August 22nd

Another rough week for the Kildare group. Lots of rain has greened up the courses and filled the arroyos with running water. Wednesday night brought more than an inch of rain to the Gainey Ranch area. Scott Thompson skipped the Wednesday round. Word on the street is he’s suffering from a shoulder injury. I’m more inclined to believe he’s building an ark.

Wednesday, the group returned to Horror Hollow, a.k.a. Grayhawk Golf Course, this time to take on the Talon course. Final score – Talon 1 – Gainey golfers 0. Even though we played the short tees (golf’s answer to the “short bus”), the course demanded an average of nearly 88 strokes per golfer. Admittedly, the wind was blowing hard and as usual, it was directly into the face of golfers on most holes. On those holes where it would have been at our backs, the wind briefly stopped.

Kildare Group’s Criminal Element – Wednesday, August 15th

Alright, throw down the box! In the grand tradition of the Wild West, Dave Kopp held up the field at Grayhawk Wednesday. Like Jesse James, Billy the Kid and others of his ilk, Kopp rode off with nearly all the money shooting a 77 to take low gross and winning one net skin and four out of six gross skins. Kopp won so much money, course officials wouldn’t let him take it to his car without an escort.

But the question arises, “Who was the real bandit?” Was it Kopp for pistol whipping the competition? Hardly. The real culprits were Bruce Partridge, Jim Stamatis, Pat Collins and Mike Wentrup. These are the guys that timidly avoided entry into the gross skins pot. For the paltry sum of $20, they hide behind their empty scorecards. But when the numbers had been filled in, Kopp was smiling and the non-participants were chagrined.

If Partridge, Stamatis, Collins and Wentrup would have shared the same levels of bravery as golfers like Richard Martin and Jim Gabriel, Partridge would have won a gross skin. Collins would have won a gross skin. Wentrup would have won a gross skin. Jim Stamatis would have won three gross skins. And Kopp would have been borrowing cab-fair to get home.

Low Gross

1. Dave Kopp – 77
2. Pat Collins – 82
3. Jim Stamatis – 83

Low Net

1. Pat Collins – 68
2. Dave Kopp – 70
3. Jim Stamatis – 71

Grayhawk plays tough. The average score was just shy of 90! More than 25% of the holes were played at double-bogey or worse. The course slaughtered most golfers. So what’s the group going to do? Play it again next Wednesday. That’s like marrying your ex-wife after she’s released from prison for carving you up with a butcher knife. For my money (which Kopp now has), they ruined a hellava nuclear test sight when they built Grayhawk.

Tough Day for Kildare Group – Friday, August 10th

The dog days of summer are upon us and scores seem to be reflecting the heat. Average score was high again at 88.8. This was still 20° less than the temperature on the course. Howard Jones and Harold Hoeg were the owners of the course on this day. Both shot 77 to share low gross honors. Jones edged out Hoeg by one stroke (68) for the low net spot. The course played so tough that one golfer (who shall remain unnamed) chased the temperature into the triple digits.

Kildare Group – Wednesday the 8th – Some Survived

It was a cauldron out there. A mere 111° (44° Celsius), but it felt hotter. I suspect the epicenter of global warming is somewhere around the eighth hole of the Arroyo course. There can be no question about it – the heat took its toll.

In the last 200 rounds, the average score has been 83.9. The average score Wednesday was just shy of 88, the highest average since this database has been active. Of the fifteen golfers braving the heat, only one, Joel Temple, scored below net par.

Low Net

1. Joel Temple – 68
2. Steve King and Dave Inman – 72

Logjam at the Top – Kildare Group Friday, August 3rd

It was crowded at the top Friday, August 3^rd. No fewer than four golfers, Howard Jones, Scott Thompson, Dave Kopp and Cris Caruso, turned in a gross 76 for the day. Gary Anzalone was one shot back at 77. Low net honors went to Howard Jones, that’s right, me! And there couldn’t have been a more deserving victor and nice guy. I need to pat myself on the back. After all, there wasn’t a single birdie on the card which means I won no gross skins and no net skins. My team lost second place in a scorecard play-off. The upshot of all this is I won low gross and low net and didn’t go home with a penny in winnings. I guess I should be grateful that Jim Gabriel wasn’t playing in my group; the last time he did, I marked my ball with a quarter and when I went to replace the ball, the quarter had been replaced with a dime and a nickel. Gabriel was the only one nearby.

Wednesday August 1st – Kildare Group

There was a good turnout Wednesday the 1^st of August and there was some good golf. Joel Temple continued his assault on Gainey Ranch with another low gross win. He fired a gross 74 (net 65) to beat Scott Thompson by three strokes. Raoul Encinas took low net with a 64. Ron Dobkin and Joel Temple were right on his heels with 65.

Low Gross

1. Joel Temple – 74
2. Scott Thompson – 77
3. Raoul Encinas and Ron Dobkin – 80

Low Net

1. Raoul Encinas – 64
2. Joel Temple and Ron Dobkin – 65