Tee Tattler

Hello and greetings from a very hot Illinois Valley Country Club golf course!
This weekend we had the annual lllinois Valley High School Alumni Golf Tournament. We had 13 four person teams play for a total of 52 players. Players came from as far away as Utah, Washington and Northern Oregon. A total of $6,000 was brought in and cash prizes paid out of that. Pappy T’s cooked up a nice ribeye steak dinner complete with fruity dump cake. The band played under the wedding tents in the 113 degree afternoon and many reunion folks came and chatted, danced, ran through the sprinkler on the driving range and sipped fizzy drinks until after 10 p.m.. We split the golfers into 8 players on each tee box and let the sparks fly from the hazing and horseplay. The format is scramble, in which all players hit a ball and then only the best shot is chosen and then each player hits from that location. We also offered Mulligans and a “toss”, the toss being a free throw by one player that is not counted as a stroke. As a result of these very generous rules, the winning team of Roger and Fred Hults with Tyler and Chaise Robbins came in with only 2s and 3s on the front nine for a total score of only 51 for the entire 18 holes. This is pretty amazing as the front nine scores consisted of all birdies and three Eagles. Not only did they play very well but they also managed their choices of shots very well. This is a result of years of playing the game from a very young age such that the strategy has become part of the approach to solving how to get the ball from the teebox, avoiding obstacles, having the ball land in places that will allow a clear and flat roll to the cup and then sinking the putt itself. These kids have ability and poise to accomplish these feats, not only that, but they take their skills all over the area and repeat this on a number of courses. Second place gross score were D’Lynn and Troy Roach with Graham Osburn and Jesse Cross. First net were David and Josh Scott with Brett Bassett and Todd Johan. Ladies’ Long Drive and KPs were won by Jaime Drake, Emily Nichols and Megan Taormino. Men’s were Johnny Nichols, Paul Miller and Roger Hults. We had 11 ladies play, some on mixed teams and some on their own ladies’ team. We also set out some nice signs with a “Thank-you to Frankie Pinios” for some wonderful donations of late model golf carts and some items for our driving range, he was pleased and took one of the signs home to hang in his garage.
The leaderboard for Men’s twilight league was not updated at press time so you will have to wait until next week to have those numbers.
**Next tournament is Joel Dierkes’ birthday scramble and horse race on July 20.
**And remember, kids 17 and under always play for free.