DGA a NJ Golf Club
April
2023
April 30, 2023 (Cliffs Valley (SC))
We played Des' home course (Cliffs Valley) for our final day of the trip. The forecast was for rain until noon so we pushed or 8:30 tee time to 9:30 and then 11:00am (definitely a benefit for a Country Club). We had no rain after 10am! All told, we played 1 hole in the rain during the trip which was much better than expected. In fact, we played the back 9 in sun and 70 degree weather. It was the Ron Emma show again. Mike Jeffries did win the Back 9 and tie him for overall but Ron won everything else. It was a GREAT trip....too bad more guys couldn't make it. The only downside to the trip was that the NJ guys hadn their return flight cancelled due to the horrendous weather in Newark Sunday night. Doug was lucky that his flights were OK...although he arrived in Portland, Maine at midnight to torrential rain and 30 MPH winds.
April 29, 2023 (Cliffs Keowee Springs (SC))
It was a beautiful day…sunny and 75. The Springs course was another excellent track. Greens were a little slower than Vineyards but still difficult to read. Ron Emma and Mike Jeffries tied with Net 74's and either won or split every pot.
April 28, 2023 (Cliffs Keowee Vineyards (SC))
The SUN arrived and so did the 70 degree temperatures. Ron Emma celebrated his 52nd birthday by winning the round. Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards was in fabulous shape with VERY fast Greens. The 2 teams played a Stableford format against each other…and finished in a tie.
April 27, 2023 (Greenwood Country Club (SC))
Thanks to the Weather Channel training from George Nolan many years ago, we got to play golf without getting soaked. We were supposed to play Cliffs at Mountain Park but the forecast was for 100% steady, cold rain. Using the Weather Channel predictive radar and Golf Now, we found Greenwood Country Club (90 minutes south). It rained all the way there and finally stopped as we got to the 1st tee. It didn't rain again until we were loading the car to return to Travelers Rest. During the round, it was the ALL Des Sinclair show on the Par 3's. He had 4 Greenies and a Birdie (on the 16th hole, he hit it to 1 inch). Mike Jeffries finished 1st overall by playing the steadiest all day.
A rather tough day at Green Knoll. Rick Newport with the only sub par round in the group shooting a Net 71 and back to back weeks as the winner. Won the front with a Net 32 and was only in the Net Eagles pot with Ed Korleski with 1.
Ron Ceglia Jr finished second with a Net 74 and won the back with a Net 37. The only other notable is Rich Fitzgerald wins Sandies again in back to back weeks after never winning it before.
Beer Line was Net 81
April 15, 2023 (Neshanic Valley R/L)
A pleasant day at Neshanic and with some fancy deception from the first group everyone played the same nines. Rick didn't have 4 birdies this week but his Net 68 was low enough to get him the win over Bob Babetski by 1 stroke. Rick won the back with a Net 33.
Ron Ceglia Jr had a strong day won the front with a Net 30, Birdies with 2 and tied Net Eagles with 2 and Sandies with 1. Reese Evans had 3 Greenies.
Jim wins by 2 over Rick and the typically tough Suburban couse. It was made more difficult by aerated greens and quite a hot day.
April 8, 2023 (World Series Qualifier #1 - Spooky Brook)
It was a good turnout for the World Series Qualifier #1. Many high scores in the group. Jim Petronchak kept it low and shot Net 34 on the front and went lower on the back with a Net 33 to win World Series #1. It will be his 8th appearance in 11 years in World Series.
On the front 9 it looked like Bob Babetski and Ander Keller, who were in the first group, were going to be battling it out for World Series with a Net 30 and Net 32 but they weren't able to keep it going on the back. Rick Newport was the big money winner despite finishing 3rd with 4 Birdies, 2 Net Eagles and winning the back, Net 31. Charlie Connors although finishing 17th ends up winning $15 with 4 Greenies and Gross 12 and winning Gross Par 3's.
Rich Fitzgerald may have upstaged Jim today with all the things he accomplished. Finished 5th, won money, tied for Net Birdies, tied for Net Par 3's (no surprise there) but was the sole win of the Sandy's pot for the first time ever. That Alien rescue club was must have been working well. But the biggest moment was when the Hall of Fame Committee announced his induction into the Hall of Fame. He has been in the league 35 years and it was well deserved. Congratulations Rich.
Opening day had a false start as 10 of 11 guys scheduled showed for the early times and decided not to fight the nasty forecast. Tee times around noon were made and 7 guys returned 2 1/2 hours later. Day turned out warm and sunny and windy with only a brief shower. Jim Petronchak plays fairly steady despite hitting 8 bunkers to win by 3 over George Canfield.