WEEK 5 RESULTS

 1ST TEAM:                  BILL DOONAN            +6           $25
                                       TJ JAMES                      +4           $25

                                                                               +10

  2ND TEAM:                LARRY BARRY             +4          $15
                                       STEVE PETERSON       +1          $15

                                                                                  +5

  1ST IND:                      BILL DOONAN             +6          $25
  2ND IND:                     ED FINN                        +6          $15


  CTP - 2ND                   MIKE MCNEICE          15'3"       $25

  SKINS:                         ED LEACH                    4TH       $55
                                        PETER FRASCA           5TH       $55

  COVERED:                 3    8   9

  BACK NINE
  SKINS:                         BOB BOURNE              10TH     $95


  COVERED:                 11   13

 HIGHPOINTER:          ED FINN                        16 pts

  WEEK 6 CTP              4TH HOLE
           

  Hard to believe but we're already at the quarter pole of the season, and things are looking up. The course is in the best shape of the year, there's bounce and roll on the drier fairways, and scores have really come around. After four weeks of pretty pathetic play, everyone suddenly got a lot better, as we went from having only 19 players meet or exceed quota last week to only 16 golfers who didn't. 

  Leading the way was Bill Doonan, who gets better every week; this time turning in a very impressive +6, which was coupled with TJ James outstanding +4 for an unbeatable +10 and 1st Team honors. 

  This humble hacker turned in a good 15-point night, good for  +4, and along with partner Steve Peterson's +1 contribution, will snag the 2nd Team prize at +5. The team of Mike Nolan (+5) and Dan Svirsky (E) and the team of Mark Nolan (+4) and Steve DaSaro (+1) also produced outstanding +5 team results, but the card-off was not their friend. 

  Team winner Bill Doonan's +6 will also be good enough to take 1st Individual over Ed Finn's own stellar +6, after a look at the card gave the nod to Stretch. Ed Finn's second place cash will be put into the gas tank of his Road King as tomorrow he embarks on an adventurous two-week Harley road trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. 

 The always steady Mike McNeice again got results, this time with a fine approach on the 2nd hole to 15"3" to earn Closest to Pin accolades.  

  After four weeks of a severe drought in the birdie department, we are finally getting some putts to drop, as there were eight birdies on the front and five more on the back. Affable Ed Leach had a crisp two on the 4th hole (there's nothing wrong with slamming the ball
into the stick and into the hole when off the green) to get on the money board, and the red-hot Peter Frasca birdied the tough 5th to split the pot with Ed.  

  The third hole was smashed (Finn, Leonard), and was 8 (Peterson, McNeice, DaSaro, Doonan), and the 9th (James, Barry)

   There was $95 in the back-nine pool, and the whole pot will go to rookie Bob Bourne who birdied the 10th hole. Birdies on 11 (Frasca, Keating, Thompson) and 13 (McNeice, Svirsky) did not survive. (One note to back nine pool participants: It's not enough to write your name on the list, and drop your envelope into the box. See, putting $5 into the envelope before depositing it, is the most important part. Seinfeld flashback: Anyone can take a reservation; it's the holding of the reservation that matters.) 

  As noted, a lot of very good scores were produced this week. Notables who did not make the money list were Mike Nolan at +5. Mark Nolan at +4 and Pat Heffernan, Ed MacNeil, and Scott Silvia (+3).

  Highpointer for the night was Easy Rider Ed Finn with 16. 

  And a shout out to our good buddy Saul Payne who had a sudden health scare this week, but is now home resting up for a triumphant return to the links. Get well soon, Doc. 

  And finally hats off to Long Jim Lyons who impressively reached both the 2nd and 9th holes in two shots this week. But you can put your hats back on, as Short Jim Lyons proceeded to four putt and three putt the two holes, (although he had the line on all seven putts.) And Closest to Pin winner M. McNeice says thanks Short Jim for keeping your eagle putt outside of my 15'3" circle on 2. (Jimmy wasn't happy.)

  See you next Tuesday. 


        AND THAT'S THE LONG  ..........  
                     

        ........ AND SHORT OF IT 

                                  

  

   


  

                                                                 WEEK 4 RESULTS

 1ST TEAM:                                 JOHN FAY                         +5               $25
                                                      PAUL MCDERMOTT       +2               $25

                                                                                                    +7

 2ND TEAM:                                JOHN FAY (alt)                +5               $15
                                                       GARY RUSSELL                +1               $15

                                                                                                    +6

 1ST IND:                                      ERIC ARONSON              +5              $25
 2ND IND:                                     JOHN FAY                         +5              $15

 CTP - 9TH                                    JIM SHANNON             15'4"              $25

 SKINS:                                          RICK KEATING           2ND               $55
                                                        DAN SVIRSKY              3RD               $55

 COVERED:                                   6TH HOLE

 BACK NINE SKINS:                    TJ JAMES                   1OTH              $68
                                                         TJ JAMES                   12TH                $68
                                                        JOHN MACNEIL        18TH                $69

 COVERED:                                    NONE


   The weather gets a little better each week, and the course is shaping up, too. Mowers are getting to spots they couldn't before, and the grand opening of the 4th green has allowed Easton to reclaim its rightful place as southern New England's premier wedding and golf destination.

   That said, no one has told our golf games to shape up, and despite a liberal reduction in most quota requirements, we need to markedly improve just to reach mediocrity.

   Law of averages dictates that some will always buck the trend, and this week star of the day goes to genial Johnny Fay. John got the most out of his outstanding +5 by taking 1st Team with partner Paul McDermott's fine +2 (+7) and as an alternate, will earn 2nd Team honors with rookie Gary Russell who returned a solid +1 (+6)  

   Keeping pace with Mr. Fay was Eric Aronson, whose own +5 bested John in a card-off to take 1st Individual. After a shaky start Eric settled right down and ran off six pars in his final seven holes. His 14 points were a league high for the night. 

   Steve Danieli's early posting of 18' held up all day, but late in the game, Jim Shannon striped one in on 9 to 15'4" to snatch Closest to Pin. This humble hacker lofted one in to within 2' of the  Closest to the Pin marker and as luck would have it, wins the newly created Closest to Pin Marker prize of $100, although Scott Silvia thinks it should be at least $150. 

   We managed six birdies this week, and two will be rewarded with cash money.  Rick Keating will collect for his bird on 2, and Dan Svirsky for one on the 3rd. And amazingly, after having only 11 birdies on all holes in the first three weeks of the season, the difficult 6th hole was birdied four times (Musgrove, Russell, Leonard, J. MacNeil).

    In addition to this week's money winners, other notables include Mark Nolan and Wayne Musgrove at +3, and Mike Leonard and Steve Danieli at +4. And Len Lima, not wanting to appear greedy, made sure not to earn an envelope this week.  

    The back nine skins pool carried over $100 from Week 3 and so there was $205 on the table this week. A perfect time for TJ to sink a few putts, and he will be rewarded for his birdies on 10 and 12 with $68 each. And John MacNeil, denied a skin with his birdie on 6, finished with a fine flourish with a bird on the last hole to take the rest of the pool. 

   And finally, apologies for the missing porch postings this week, but it appears the the Boston Firefighters League, which plays on Tuesday mornings, may have scooped and disposed of our porch paperwork. (Hey BFD, unless it's on fire, leave your mitts off our stuff.) 
  
  See you next Tuesday. 

               WHAT YA DO WITH OUR STUFF?

                      

           



     


  

                                                                 WEEK 3 RESULTS


  1ST TEAM:                    MIKE MCNEICE             +5                   $25
                                          PETER FRASCA              +4                   $25

                                                                                    +9

  2ND TEAM:                   LEN LIMA                       +4                  $15
                                          STEVE LOZZI                 +1                  $15

                                                                                    +5

  1ST IND:                        STEVE DASARO            +6                  $25
  2ND IND:                       MIKE MCNEICE             +5                  $15

  CTP - 8TH:                     PETER FRASCA             6'8"                $25

  SKINS:                           MIKE MCNEICE              2                   $28
                                          RICK WALSH                   5                   $28
                                          PAUL MCDERMOTT       6                   $28
                                          SCOTT SILVIA                 9                   $28

  COVERED:                    3RD HOLE

  BACK NINE
  SKINS:                            NONE

  WEEK 4 CTP:                 9TH HOLE


     Week 3 brought some fine weather (for most of the time), crisply cut fairways, and smooth running greens, with the exception of the 4th green, which remains slow. For some reason, we had a very sparse attendance, with only 39 golfers teeing it up, but the good news is that scores are starting to gradually improve each week.

    It was nice to see Steve Dasaro get on the money board early, as Steve had the premier net quota score of +6 to take 1st. Individual.

     With the benefit of a silky swing and two recent golf trips south as warm-ups, Mike McNeice continues to shine. Mike turned in an impressive 38, good for 17 quota points and a +5. He also picked a good partner in Peter Frasca who contributed a robust +4, so Mike and Pete will be rewarded with 1st Team cas at +9.

     Scott Silvia turned in his own outstanding +5, but Mr. McNeice's +5 prevailed in a card-off for 2nd Individual.

     Lucky Lenny Lima continues his impressive streak by being in the money every week this year; this time with an exemplary +4. His playing partner Steve Lozzi was also scoring partner, and Steve turned in a solid +1 to take 2nd Team at +5. Bob Bourne and Dan McGarry had a good night together, but their +5 did not survive a card-off against Len and Steve.   

     Peter Frasca added to his 1st Team winning with Closest to Pin honors on 8 with a great approach to 6'8".

     We still had only a modest six birdies on the front, but four of those will pay. Mike McNeice will add to his 1st Team and 2nd Individual dough with a $28 birdie on 2. Rick Walsh got on the money list with one of the best putts you'll see for a bird on 5. Paul McDermott will take a fourth of the pool with a nice bird on 6, and Scott Silvia will collect for his four on the 9th.

   Although we had 20 golfers in the back nine pool, nary a bird was to be had, so we will have a carryover to next week. (You must be one of the 20 sign-ups this week to be eligible for the carryover portion of next week's pool. Don't worry, TJ has it all figured out.)

   Although scores improved a little this week, it is hard to believe that with almost 1,800 holes of golf played this year we have made only 11 birdies on the front and 3 on the back. The good news though is that 10 of 14 birds have paid cash. Time for all of us to get to the putting green and/or start hitting more greens.

   And finally, although the weather was great for most of the afternoon, a couple of the later groups didn't quite make it through unscathed. The Teddy Meyer Foursome (available for weddings and bar mitzvahs) got caught in the deluge, but being light in the loafers ..... I mean light on their feet, they were able to nimbly dodge the deadly lightning bolts. Although in their haste to avoid getting too wet or too killed, forgot to bring in the CTP marker.

   And while Ted and Company made it in safely to the 19th hole, unfortunately the same can't be said for the MacNeil Cartel. After deciding to play some extra holes, they were last seen driving off into the gloom, and like U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron 19 flying into the Bermuda Triangle in 1945, were never heard from again. Shame. Good guys, too.

   See you next Tuesday.


                                                       

 

                                                           WEEK 2 RESULTS

  1ST TEAM:                        SAUL PAYNE (alt)              +4            $25
                                              JOE CURTIS                        +2            $25

                                                                                            +6

  2ND TEAM:                       JAY CHAPMAN                  +3            $15
                                              CHRIS SULLIVAN               E             $15

  1ST IND:                            SAUL PAYNE                       +4           $25

  2ND IND:                           LEN LIMA                            +3           $15

  CTP - 6TH                          ED FINN                             14'5"         $25

  SKINS                                 JOE CURTIS                      4TH          $55
                                              STEVE LOZZI                   8TH          $55

  COVERED:                               NONE

  BACK NINE SKINS          ED MACNEIL                  13TH         $90

  COVERED:                               NONE

  WEEK 3 CTP:                         8TH HOLE


    Well, apparently it is going to take more than a couple of weeks to get our groove thing going. We really can't blame conditions, as the fairways were crisply cut, and the greens rolling smooth, although finding yourself in certain parts of the rough could be a problem.

     As in Week 1, results were well below the norm, with only 10 players exceeding quota. And what is probably an all-time record low, there were only two birdies in league play and one on the back.

     Bucking the trend this week though was Dr. Saul Payne, voted best dentist in all of SIGL by the ADA. Saul more than doubled his Week 1 output with a fine 13 points, good for a +4 and 1st Individual. And as an alternate Doc was paired up with badboy Joe Curtis, who contributed with a +2 for the 1st Team prize.

    Len Lima, voted best teeth in all of SIGL by the ADA, continued his winnings ways with a solid +3 to take 2nd Individual, winning a tie-breaker with Steve Lozzi and Jay Chapman.

    Closest to the Pin was changed to the 6th hole because the 4th green remains closed. But not to worry as Easton has assured us that it will be open in time for the Southeast Amateur. The 6th hole proved no problem though for Ed Finn, as he striped one in to 14'5" to beat out John Hrenko's fine approach to 18'.

    As noted, there were only two birdies on the night, and both lived. A bird by Joe Curtis on 4 survived the field, and again, the Easy 8th produced a skin, this week by Steve Lozzi. When including last year's tourney, this marks the third round in a row in which the 8th was a skins birdie, paying a total of $555 ($390 tourney skin), with Mr. Lozzi taking $455 of that. 

   The MacNeil group continues to clean up in the back nine birdie pool, and this week Ed will take the whole $90 pot with a birdie on 13. Like the front, there were no covered birdies.

    Other notables not mentioned above include Pat Heffernan, John MacNeil, and Mark Nolan all at +2. Highpointer for the night was Steve Lozzi with 14.

    Well, we're only into Week 2, and again SIGL has been summonsed to the principal's office. After Easton just sent out a memo about extra play and other issues, a rogue SIGL group finished 18 holes and then promptly jumped onto the 1st tee in front of a scheduled 5:05 non-SIGL group, prompting the golf pro to chase them down 1 and remove them from the hole. The group considered different defenses, including 1) We didn't read the memo, 2) We read the memo but forgot what it said, and 3) We're not good at memo-reading, before settling on the brilliant and convincing "Our dogs ate the memo."

   Anyone who wants to play more than 18 holes must pay an additional 9-hole cart fee, and must check with the starter before teeing off; you can't just commandeer the first tee.

   See you next Tuesday. 

 
       TO ENCOURAGE MORE BIRDIES AND BETTER SCORES

        EASTON HAS AGREED TO INSTALL SPECIAL SIGL-FRIENDLY

        HOLES ON TUESDAYS

                       

      

                                            WEEK 1 RESULTS

 1ST TEAM:              ERIC ARONSON          +4              $25
                                   LEN LIMA  (alt)             -1              $25

                                                                           +3       

  2ND TEAM:            LARRY BARRY            +3              $15
                                   JIM SHANNON              -1              $15

                                                                            -2

  1ST  IND:                ERIC ARONSON          +4             $25

  2ND IND:                LARRY BARRY           +3             $15

  CTP-2ND:               MIKE MCNEICE       16' 5"           $25

  SKINS:                    LARRY BARRY          8TH          $110
  COVERED:                     3 & 5

  BACK 9 SKINS:     ALEX TURCHETTE   10TH         $45
                                   JIM SHANNON           13TH         $45

  WEEK 2 CTP:               4TH HOLE                   
                       

   They should call it global wetting instead of global warming, at least around these parts. March and April were tough months for duffers anxious to start play, but here's hoping that we now get 20 straight beautiful Tuesdays, especially after what we went through last year.

   Rusty swings and sloppy grounds took their toll on scores, which were uniformly, ah.... bad. Out of the whole crowd, there were only eight players who exceeded quota, a few at even, and the large majority not meeting their quota. All it took to win team prizes this week were a mediocre +3 and +2.

   As always, there are exceptions, and Eric Aronson came out of the gate strong with a +4 performance, which was good enough for 1st Individual. Len Lima was doubly lucky this week by being picked first alternate and by being paired with Eric, so E & L will take the 1st Team prize, at +3.

   This humble hacker overcame a triple, double start to finish strong and secure 2nd Individual at +3, winning a tie-breaker with Dana Willard, and taking Highpointer honors. And that turned out to be enough to secure 2nd Team with partner Jim Shannon at +2.

   The 2nd hole proved to be an uncharacteristically difficult hole for Closest to Pin. At one point well into the proceedings, not one SIGLer had hit the green in regulation. But the eversteady Mike McNeice stepped up and took care of that with an approach to 16'5" to easily secure CTP honors.

   With the collectively poor performance, there were of course few birdies (6). As it turned out, the very inviting 8th hole was the only skins birdie, when this humble hacker drained a nifty sidewinder putt. The third hole was birdied by McNeice, Bourne, and Walsh, and the difficult 5th hole, Dan McGarry chipped in for a 3, but was later covered by Jim Shannon.

   There were only 2 birdies on the back nine, and both resulted in cash money. World traveller Alex Turchette sunk one on 10, and Jim Shannon this time would not be denied, and had a skins birdie on 13. A word from the back nine birdie pool administrator: You can't put five bucs in an envelope and not put your name on it. TJ is pretty smart, but he's not a mindreader.

    Welcome aboard to the easygoing Bobby Bourne (to be wild, ... I mean mild). Bob has now supplanted TJ for the coveted I Live Closest to the Course title, and has declared that all golf balls (except Pinnacles and Top-Flites) hit over the fence behind 18 are his to keep. Also, a hardy welcome to newcomer Gary Russell, freshly back from a winter at the senior citizen sex capital of the country, The Villages in Florida. 

    And finally, we are sorry to learn that long-time SIGLers Jim Egan and Dan Szczurko will not be returning this year, although they will be around here and there. Good luck to you both, and just let me know if you decide to return.

    See you next Tuesday.

                                               AFTER A TOUGH WINTER

                    CANADA GEESE ARE IN A PARTICULARLY FOWL MOOD

                 .