from Mark Harper, Captain
On June 18th, Team Tanglewood played a senior interclub match against Sapona at Tanglewood. The playing conditions were tough because of the firm course, bumpy greens and the wind. Sapona had beaten us at their place the week before and we lost in a tight match but, our home matches usually are worth writing about and this was no exception.
Our 1st match had John Kennedy and Kent Shelton paired against one of their competitive teams. JK and Kent got up early with a birdie by Kent on hole 1 and had as much as a 3up lead at one time. Sapona did manage a tie twice, but each time team Tanglewood answered with a birdie to gain the lead again. JK and Kent shot a net 64 as a team and won the match 2up. Ken shot 67 on his own ball in the wind, which was quite impressive. Tanglewood guys 12, Sapona guys 8.
Our 2nd match had myself and Chris Martin paired together. The guys from Sapona, were good players, but I believe they brought their rabbit’s foot with them. They came out hot and birdied 1. After being the only person to hit the green on 3, I 3-putted for a bogey and they got up and down from some odd places.We were down 2 early. Myself and Chris got down by 4 at one point on the front, but a birdie by Chris on 8, pars by us on 9, we made the turn only down 2. I birdied 10 and we were only down by 1. We halved the next 3 holes, and a birdie by me on 13 had us tied. The only hole that Chris and I both took off at the same time was 14 and with Sapona getting shots on 14, my par was not good enough. Sapona chipped one in from 40 yards out on 15 and we were once again down by 2 holes. We ended up losing by 2, so Tanglewood guys 20 and Sapona guys 20.
Our 3rd match had Terry Payne and Charlie Fisher paired together. This was the second time they have played together in Senior Interclub this year. Suffice it to say, they have become the “go to pairing” this year. If anyone remembers what they did to Statesville CC earlier this season, they did the same thing to Sapona. They got up early, and by the turn they were up by 3 on Sapona. They had a 6 up lead after 15 and Sapona won 2 holes coming in, but the Tanglewood guys were back where they should be, leading the overall match.
Our 4th match had Judge Fine and interclub newcomer Keith Lester paired together. Judge and Keith played well together the entire day. Keith was getting a lot of shots and had a couple of timely par/net birdies midway through the match. Tanglewood got up by 3 through 10 holes, but solid play from Tanglewood kept the Sapona team looking for answers. Sapona birdied 16 to get the lead to within 1, but Judge said he wasn’t having that and ran a 25 footer in on 17 to close out the match. Both teams halved 18 and The Tanglewood Guys walked away with a big win. Tanglewood finished with a 45-35 win over our arch enemy Sapona.
Our final regular season match will be this Thursday with an away match at Statesville CC. Right now we lead our pod with a 3-2 record. With a win this week, we will guarantee a spot in the playoffs. 3-3 usually gets you in but it comes down to points. So it is not a sure thing. A solid win this week will put us in a great spot for the playoffs. We will have a roster of almost 30 eligible players for the playoffs.