Orchard Valley Tourament shortened by Tornado Force Weather

Orchard Valley GC (Aurora, IL) provides a great test of one’s games with an equal number of holes to post a good score.   The tournament started out with great temperatures and lots of sunshine but by the time the last group reached the back nine, a severe storm hit the area.  The storm went from severe to dangerous when winds reached about 80+ mph uprooting trees and breaking several in half.

The competitor’s that made it back to the clubhouse were sitting on the patio when the wind in a matter of seconds snapped a tree in half and without warning swept through the patio area tossing heavy wooden tables in the air as if they were made of balsa wood.  When the group rushed inside the lobby area to seek shelter, the wind swept through blowing a player over a couch and anything not nailed down along with debris all over the lobby area.

Fortunately no one was hurt and those still out on the course sought shelter at the large rest area between holes 13 & 14.  It rained so hard that the putting green was submerged under water and those with Verizon Cellular service received a flash flood alert which has never occurred before.  The skies cleared a couple hours later to reveal the devastation throughout the course which shut the tournament down for the day.

The Sarazen Flight was the only flight to complete all 18 holes while the other flights were shortened to a 9 hole event.  The top story of the day was Carl Hill (Sr. Snead) took second in the overall Flight but was awarded first place for winning the Sr. Snead Flight.  The big man’s reaction; when he realized Dennis Rhodes nor the Tour Director John Downey was not pulling a prank on him, overshadowed the events that took place earlier.  Thanks to Dennis Rhodes in all the chaos the storm caused to remind Tour Director that Carl Hill had won the Sr. Snead Flight.

Championship Flight: Jon Escondo posted a nine hole score of 37 to tie Brooks Biggs.  It was decided to include the holes completed which Jon went on to win.  There was great concern because this was one of the groups stuck out on the course during the height of the storm.

Palmer Flight:  Don O’Neil won the Palmer Flight shooting a 39 and winning by one stroke over Kirk Blakney.  Kirk has been the strongest Palmer Player this season but Don managed to clip Kirk on the front nine.

Hogan Flight:  Eddie Stephens was promoted to the Sr. Hogan Flight after the Tour Index update on August 2^nd.  It was only a month ago that Eddie felt he lost his game and sought the help of a teaching professional.  Eddie held off Craig Gallagher from Honolulu, Hawaii winning by one stroke.

Sarazen Flight: Larry Schack dominated the Sarazen Flight on the back nine and only John Carrato was a couple strokes back when he made the turn.  John played in the Chicago North event the next day and disqualified himself because he realized he signed for the wrong score.  When the scores were read, he thought the hole was a par four when it was a par 55 thus he signed for a score lower than he actually had.  This makes the 2^nd time in as many weeks where someone signed an incorrect scorecard.

Jones Flight:  Ben Bevill recently got promoted to the Jones Flight and is proving a force to reckon with.  He held off Fabio Teso who posted a 41 on the front.  Ben won the nine hole event by one shooting a 40.

Snead Flight:  Brian Booker has battled hard to get to the winners circle and in the past few tournaments had to settle for second.  Carl Hill closed the front nine only a couple strokes back.  With the tournament ending after nine, Brian had a two stroke lead and the win at Orchard Valley.

Sr. Snead Flight:  The Sr. Snead Flight and Snead’s were combined when one player was promoted to Sr. Jones and another dropped out leaving only 4 Sr. Snead’s.  Carl Hill finally put together on of his best nines and finished two strokes back of Brian to take 2^nd place.  Thought the Snead and Sr. Snead’s were group together, there was a separate SR. Snead Trophy for the low round turned in from a Sr. Snead.

Carl would check in and always ask jokingly “Did you polish my Trophy.”  Carl was filled with emotion when he learned there was a trophy for Sr. Snead.  When Dennis Rhodes informed Carl, Carl thought Dennis was messing with him.  Carl came to the scoring table and it was confirmed by Tour Director John Downey which again Carl felt as if a joke was being played on him.  It wasn’t until he saw the plate on the trophy that he realized he had won and it was for real.  Carl has been on tour for 4-5 years  and finally won his first tournament.

TOP FINISHERS & PAYOUTS:

CHAMPIONSHIP

37* Jon Escondo ($80 Gift Card & Trophy)

37   Brooks Biggs (lost holes 10 through 14 which were used as a scorecard playoff)

PALMER

39 – Don O’Neil ($100 Gift Card & Trophy)

40 – Kirk Blakney ($40 Gift Card)

HOGAN

38 – Eddie Stephens ($130 Gift Card & Trophy)

39 – Craig Gallagher of Hawaii ($70 Gift Card)

40 – Terry Witte ($20 Gift Card)

SARAZEN

81 – Larry Schack ($120 Gift Card & Trophy)

90 – James Smith ($60 Gift Card)

91* - Tom Ward ($20 Gift Card)

*John Carrato Disqualified himself on Monday after he realized he signed for a lower score on a hole the following day

JONES

40 – Ben Bevill ($90 Gift Card & Trophy)

41 – Fabio Teso ($30 Gift Card

SNEAD

47 – Brian Booker ($110 Gift Card & Trophy)

49 – Carl Hill ($50 Gift Card)

52* - Thomas Martinez ($20 Gift Card)

*Thomas took 4^th winning a scorecard playoff against Devid levanthal of Ponte Vedra Beach Fl. And Marty Bevill.

50/50 Raffle Drawing 

$95 – Mark Titone

SKINS:

Championship/Palmer Flight:

$18 – Pat Polzin, Jon Escondo, Brooks Biggs, Mitch Waller, Don o’Neil

Hogan/Sarazen Flight:

$85 – Terry Witte and Jim Cannon

Jones/Snead Flight:

$92 – Mike Dyer

$46 – Mario Jaile

Closest to the Pin:

$97/ea - #2 Pat Polzin, #6 Ben Bevill (Tournament called at nine holes)

*Balance carried over to the Chicago Championship Pot)