DEUCES ON THE HILL REPORT
By Jeffrey Hubbard
Well, it all started with a muggy and stormy morning around 5am when I left in Dover to head up to the Hill. The whole entire time I was worried about the weather and how it would affect the turnout. When Amy and I arrived at Iron Hill County Park at 7am the park was empty and the rain was still pouring as if it was getting dumped off the top of Niagra Falls. Amy looks at me and says “I don’t think anyone will be showing up today, we drove up this morning for no reason!” Right after that comment, bam two cars come rolling in with golfers. Yes we have a tourney going on today and the weather is going to hold off. Shortly after that, the out of state cars started rolling in, and teams were registering and grabbing their rain gear to head out for some warm ups. The Players Packages were donated by Amy, a nice selection of Walgreens sports bottles and Coffee mugs.
All together everyone came in for the players meeting and the skies opened up, and the clouds started to part and the sun just popped out and the humidity began to climb. All 16 teams headed out to their holes to beat the weather and withstand the beating that Iron Hill was planning on handing out. Then three hours later, the groups start to come in, and you began to see that the Hill did hand out some beatings.
The hottest scores of the first round were pretty hot! The Clowns with Bags decided to light the course up with an amazing 59 from the longest layout that the Hill could offer. The Crusaders were in second place with a very nice 66. Third place was held by a tie between Our Chins are Hairy Cause We’re Bald, and The Sandbagging Southpaws with 67’s a piece. The Gorilla Boys were bringing up the rear and charging hard with a 69.
In the division for the old guys, or at least the ones who say they are over the hill. The first place Master team, Team Ironworkers shot a respectable 65. They were being chased by Team Tree Love who was only 4 strokes of the lead with a 69. The final team, The Skytoppers was topping the sky with a 73 and still in the hunt. This promised to be a very tough fight all the way to the finish.
In our mixed division the battle seemed to be a runaway after the first round. We had Team David and Sarah from Pa. leading the way with a very respectful 77, and chasing them was our own Anniversary Team Boobies and Boogies with an 84.
Then there was the Non-Pro division which really gave us all the entertainment for the day. We had Team Michael Victory leading the way with a hot score of 72. Chasing them, and only one stroke off the lead with a 73, was the ONEDERS. Tied for second, was also the Fairways team with a 73. Our Deuces Don’t Stink was holding down third with a 75. Team Barely Legal was tied for second, but was unable to complete the second round.
So we all ate some lunch and recharged a little, before I decided to bring it in, and set everyone out to battle the second round. The sun was shinning and the temp was up. The clouds moved out and the weather was fantastic for the rest of the day. All you could hear were teams complaining about how they had to carry rain gear all day and not use it. That is right! they didn’t have to use rain gear all day! The second round took a little longer, but still went smoothly. All the groups as they rounded from hole 18 to hole 10 seemed to be moving at the same pace. I was thinking to myself that the first tournament I ran has gone this smoothly. No waiting on tees, and no backups.
The end was near and I could see the groups beginning to return and the smiles of completion on their faces. The day was finishing and it was time to get ready to do the payouts.
The open division was a pure runaway. Clowns with Bags carded another 59 for a total of 118 for the day. AMAZING! Shooting a very hot round (literally), the Lancaster boys Our Chins are Hairy Cause we’re Bald with a 62 and a total of 129 for the day. Team Crusaders, did finish strong with a 64, and a 130 for the day. Team Sandbagging Southpaws put up a nice 65, for the total of 132 on the day. The Gorilla Boys shot another 69 to finish the day with a 138.
In the Over the Hill division, Team Ironworkers carded a 61, and finished the day with a 126. They were able to hold off the charge of Team Tree Love who carded a 66, and a total of 135 for the day. The Skytoppers were out in the sky topping things off with a 75, and recorded a 148 for the day.
The mixed division, which started off as a runaway in the second round really turned into a nice battle by the end. The Pa team of David and Sarah took the win by shooting a 78 the second round, while Team Boobies and Boogies shot 10 strokes better, but they were unable to make up all the ground recorded a hot 74, finished with 158 on the day.
The best story of the day, and by far the best battle for positioning was the Non-Pro Division. Team Michael Victory, shot a 74 in the second round, which was one worse than the first. Team ONDERS carded a nice 73 which was the identical to the first round. Team Fairways cards a 77, and Our Deuces Don’t Stink cards a 76. Team Selley Kaufman carded an 82. The hot rounds in this group left us with a two way tie for first. Team Michael Victory and the ONDERS, with an amazing 146 for the day at the Hill in the long layout. So Play it off fellows, go play holes 1 and 10 till a team wins. At the end of just one hole, who comes out of the valley victorious? The one and only Team Michael Victory, pumping their fists and walking their fighting dogs barking. It was a sight to see. The ONEDERS finished the day with a 146 but second place; and The Fairways took third place with a 150 on the day. Followed by Our Deuces Don’t Stink with a 151 followed up by Team Selley Kaufman with a 161.
I want to thank everyone for coming out to my very first event, and hope to see everyone at the next tournament Back to School on the Hill in September. I hope that everyone enjoyed the tournament. I am sorry that those who were not there missed seeing and enjoying some of the best golf that our state had to offer today.
