From Mark Harper, Sr.–Captain
I can’t say it loud enough………..EVERY POINT COUNTS!!!!!
Our senior interclub team had an away match May 8th at Colonial Country club in Thomasville. CCC has always been our senior interclub team’s kryptonite! I verified that last night with former captain Mark Robson. We have never beaten CCC at their place before.
Usually CCC uses mostly lower handicap players, but yesterday our teams were giving shots in every match. As a captain, I have always preferred to get shots rather than chase shots, but Team Tanglewood proved yesterday that the cream rises to the top. The old guys will know what that means. By the time our teams had made the turn, it looked as if we were headed for another away beat down, but to see how I guys played down the stretch, it was obvious that saying is true.
Gregor Howard and co-captain Glenn Levine was our first team out, it was obvious on the 1st hole it would be a tough match. All 4 players birdied the 1 hole, game on!!! Gregor had the hot hand, but they had a player who was keeping up with him, and the guy who was getting shots was only 1 shot behind them at the turn. Our guys were down 2 at the turn, and when they made the turn CCC guys turned it up a notch, and took a 4 up lead with 1 hole to play. Every point counts. Gregor birdied 18 to get us what proved to be a crucial point.
Gregor shot 68 on his own ball, which was the low round of the day. This foursome had 16 birdies between them. CCC 12.5-Twood 7.5
In the second match Earl blink and Chris Martin found themselves in a pillow fight through the first 9 holes. They made the turn even. Earl wins 10 with a birdie, then Chris Martin took over and fired a -4 on the back with 4 birdies to go up 2 with 2 holes to play. CCC birdied 17 to get it back to 1 up with 1 to play. Both Chris and Earl made par on 18 and CCC both bogeyed for a 2 up win. CCC 8 & Tanglewood 12. We were only down by a half point at this point.
The 3rd match had the Long Gang, Tom and Del were down early in their match, and down by 5 at the turn. Tom and Del were giving the CCC guys 3 shots, yet both of their players shot better than our guys. Every point counts!!! With 3 holes to play Tom and Del were down by points, but they won 16, 17, & 18 to bring it back to within 5 points. With the 2 points for winning the match, CCC 13.5 & Tanglewood 6.5. We were down by 8 points at this point in the match.
Enter Glenn Makitka and Kyle Smith. They were the anchor match and as they had done in regular interclub a couple of years ago for me and BJ, they put our team on their shoulders and showed what they were made of. They made the turn only up by 2 points, but they made a combined 5 natural birdies on the back 9, and a total of 8 natural birdies in their match. They had a 4 up lead with 3 holes to play, and Team Tanglewood was still down at this point. The probability was low that we were going to win, but as we say in interclub all the time, EVERY POINT COUNTS! Glenn birdied 16 and 18 and Kyle won 17 with a par. Glenn & Kyle won the last 3 holes to win the match by 7, and with the 2 match points going to Tanglewood, Team Tanglewood wins 40.5 to 39.5.
According to former captain Mark Robson, this is the first time we have ever beaten CCC on their home course. I have never been so proud of a group of guys as yesterday. They never quit, even when it looked like they were down by too much, and they fought for every point. Make sure you tell these guys–Great Job when you see them.
Special thanks to co-captain Glenn Levine who helped with this match. Also, thanks to Earl Blink for stepping in at the last minute to take over for Patrick Hynes. Patrick had an emergency and could not play. Right before the 24 hour deadline, Earl agreed to step in.
We are now 1-1 with 4 matches to go, and 3 of them are home matches. Our next match is a home match against Colonial on Friday May 23rd at 10:00. If you are available for this date and would be willing to play. Please let me know. I prefer text, because the filter on my company computer sometimes pushes emails to my junk folder. You can also call me. Once I hear from everyone, I will start working on a lineup for this match.
Remember……….EVERY POINT COUNTS!!!!! Go Tanglewood