| July 13th, 2008 - Hinckley Hills Anyone not familiar with our intrepid Smitty Tour amateurs, milling around in a downpour waiting for the start of our annual 4-Man Scramble, may well have asked, “Who are those MO-rons, anway?”. But most of you know by now that not only are most of us not long on golfing prowess, we’re also not long on common sense. We were vindicated, though, as one-by-one the foursomes ahead of us turned in their greens fees for rain checks and as we waltzed out to the first tee the downpour became more of a steady drizzle, and – lo and behold – by the second tee the rain stopped and we finished in glorious sunshine. Hinckley Hills can be challenging on a dry day, so the soggy fairways and spongy greens definitely tested our games. At least one of our teams was more than up to the challenge, though, as the team of Andy Liedel, Mark Loan and Rob Smith rode a front nine 31 to a minus 6, 65 finish to take home first-place honors. It was, to hear the Drewmeister tell it anyway, a thing of beauty. A tip of the Smitty Tour tam o’ shanter goes to our winning threesome. Second-place honors went to the team of Jeff Liedel, Greg Smith and those Willbonds, Gordie and Matt. They posted a nice 34+34=68, to finish at minus 3. Finishing third was the team of Rob Cooperider, Ray Pucko, Ken Smith and Chris Ohlemacher, with a 37+35=72, for a plus 1 total. Bringing up the rear was the threesome of Jay Liedel, John Wieck – who traveled from Toledo to play in the rain once again – and Doug Smith. Unable to buy a putt, the hapless trio carded a 36+37=73, and a plus 2 finish. At the halfway point of the season, we didn’t see a whole lot of movement in the standings, as Mark Loan maintains his 6-point lead over Andy Liedel, trailed by Rob Cooperider and Ken Smith, who are 11 and 14 points back respectively. Using our “drop-one” factor, things tighten up a bit and a few more players enter the mix, but The Kid and The Drewmeister are sitting on a pretty comfortable lead at this point. Smitty Tour veterans and observers also know, though, that the final event at Brentwood usually tells the tale. Next up is our annual visit to Forest Hills, scene of last year’s washout, on Sunday, August 17th. Come to think of it, I need to call out there and make sure they have our tee times !!!
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