Ruffled Feathers Yielded High Scores

Ruffled Feathers CC (Lemont, IL) the home course for DePaul University provided an excellent day for tournament golf.  Ruffled Feathers offered competitors opportunities to score but had its’ share of daunting holes that served up some big numbers.  The shot of the day was turned in by Rob Merritt (Championship Flight) hitting a driver on hole number 16 which is narrow with OB left and large hazard area right.  Rob chipped in from short yardage for an Eagle.  In the Jones Flight John Gerba posted an Eagle on  the Par 5 sixth hole.  The average score proved that Ruffled Feathers provided a true test of ones game.

Championship Flight: Bradley Belcaster of LaGrange took early control of the flight posted a front nine score of 39 and a 5 stroke lead headed to the inward nine.  With the back nine playing tough, Rob Merritt and Jason Nielsen were unable to make any charge at the lead Bradley had built.

Palmer Flight:  John Mauck had competed the day before in  Chicago North/Milw. Combined event at Erin Hills played in some very tough conditions on a course that will host the 2017 US Open.  There was a different feel to Sundays round on the Chicago South Tour.  John took the early lead by one stroke over Dan Steinman and 2 stroke lead over several others.  With the back nine playing tough, there would be opportunity to make a run at John’s lead.  He managed to hold on posting an inward score of 42 for a total 81 and a 3 stroke lead over Dan Steinman.

Hogan Flight:  Top Hogan Flight player Pete Kaufman took the early lead shooting a 39 and a one stroke lead over Mike Mullikin.  As it had been in other flights the back nine proved to be the most difficult and not many were able to improve on their front nine scores unless they struggled on the outward nine.  Mike Mullikin managed to stay steady posting a 42 to close with a score of 82 to win by 4 strokes.

Sarazen Flight:  Eddie Stephens turned his score believing that a 92 would not hold up but as players came in, he found himself still in the lead and fearing a possible tie.  When the final Sarazen Player turned in their score , it was Eddie Stephens who held on to win with a 92 which proved that great weather was not able to improve the difficulty Ruffled Feathers presented.

Jones Flight:  John Mudrock and Uzair Syed had the outward lead after nine with John Gerba only one stroke back.  Once again the back nine separated the pursuers from the winner and even though John scored five strokes higher, his inward nine 46 was the lowest of the Jones flight.  Uzair struggled on the inward nine to fall out of contention.  John Gerba also fell but manage to hold on to 2^nd place.

Snead Flight: (No Photo)  Don Casey was the first in the clubhouse with a 97 and left shortly after turning in his card.  He didn’t believe that a 97 would hold up but it was enough to hold off Jason Ray and David Small of the St. Louis tour. 

TOP FINISHERS & PAYOUTS:

CHAMPIONSHIP

81 – Bradley Belcaster ($60 & Trophy)

PALMER

81 – John Mauck ($120 & Trophy)

84 – Dan Steinman ($60)

86 – Jim Cannon ($20)

HOGAN

82 – Mike Mullikin  ($120 & Trophy)

83 – Trevor Peck ($60)

83 – DeRell Durr ($20)

SARAZEN

92 – Eddie Stephens ($120 & Trophy)

93 – Bob Fletcher ($65)

93 – Tom Ward ($30)

JONES

87 – John Mudrock ($100 & Trophy)

91 – John Gerba ($40)

SNEAD

97 – Don Casey ($100 & Trophy)

98 – David Small ($40)

50/50 Raffle Drawing  ($216 Total; $108 to the Winner)

Larry Schack ($82)

SKINS:

Championship/Palmer Flight:

$39 – Jim Cannon (3 Skins)

$13 – Jason Nielsen, Rob Merritt, Mike Anderson, Jason Truncale, Tom Joy, Chad Casey

Hogan/Sarazen Flight:

$68 – DeRell Durr, Rick Wilson (2 Skins)

$34 – Gary Peck

Jones/Snead Flight:

$24 – Jason Ray (2 Skins)

$12 – John Gerba, Joe Coffey, Gigi Leonard, John Pacheco, Martin Yoemans

Closest to the Pin:

$85 - #3 – Mike Mullikin; #8 – Jason Nielsen; #11 – Andrew ONeil; #17 – Tom Joy