As I wrote in the last blog entry, we'd been invited to Florida by our friends, George and Martha, so Glen could play with George in the Sugarmill Woods Country Club Member/Guest Golf Tournament. The club takes its name from the sugar mills which David Levy Yulee built to process the sugar cane he grew on his plantation in Citrus Country. Mr. Yulee was the first Jewish American to be elected to the US Senate (1845) and his mill produced sugar, syrup, and molasses (used to make rum).
The tournament was to be three days of golf and an incredible learning experience for Glen. First thing he discovered was there was money and a car on the line. Never has Glen played for such high stakes. Then he learned each golfing pair was ranked according to their handicaps. Glen's handicap was capped at 36 which meant he and George were in the final pairing of the last flight. Each flight grouped golfers of similar abilities so high handicap golfers weren't competing with low handicap players. There were 5 flights in this tournament. The winners of each flight would do a shoot-out for the top prize of $1300.00. A Cadillac SUV, Harley Davidson, and another vehicle were the prizes for a hole-in-one.
Round 1 started at 3:00 and Glen and George were paired with Paul and Todd, pretty serious golfers. But G & G had nothing to prove so they enjoyed their round. I was sitting by the pool drying off when I saw them putting on the nearby green. Martha and I cheered them on as they headed to the tee box behind the tall hedge that edged of the property. When the round ended, G & G were up by one point. This meant they had won one hole more than the opposing team. We did some celebrating that night with wine and beer.
There are three different nine hole courses at Sugarmill Woods, each named for trees. I played Cypress on Wednesday and Oak on Sunday. Honestly, their sand traps could swallow me whole. Of course, the tournament used all three courses and no one else could play so there were no worries about people coming up behind you. This held true during normal play as golfers are staggered 20 minutes apart unlike the 10 minutes apart for courses we usually play. G & G played the Oak course the first day.
On Friday, they played two 9 hole rounds on Cypress. Round 2 with Jim and Dan and round 3 with John and John Jr. Both these teams had low handicap golfers so George felt they would lose their lead but as it turned out, they beat the first one by one point and the second by 2. John Jr could hit drives of over 250 yards so to beat that team was a definite plus. Glen and George's smiles were a mile wide at the cocktail party as they toasted their new position on the flight--first! Now you see why I bet on them to win.
It couldn't last, of course, as old bones and muscles began to demand a rest but they were definitely in the game on Saturday. They were also up against some good players. Gary and Bob were their opponents in round 4. Gary worked for Chrysler and loved to talk. He'd actually done a presentation once in Red Deer and was amazed at the number of dealerships in the province. Round 5 was against Paul and another Gary. Paul's handicap was close to Glen's but George felt Gary's was better than what was recorded. He called him a sandbagger (someone who inflates his handicap so he has extra strokes on any given hole). Not sure if this was the case or just that the guy was just having a very good round.
Round 5 was the only time Glen and George lost and they did so by one putt. When all the scores were tallied, they came in second in their flight. Considering they began with no hope of winning anything, second place was fantastic. Glen was elated to win money and garner some prestige among George's friends. I also won money since I had bet on him. I got back my original $20 and won $1 on top of that. Sweet!
But, the day was not over. All the flights had to compete in a shoot-out. We watched as they teed off at the first hole on Cypress, then everyone who had a cart, followed the players down the fairway. It was an incredible sight and must have been unnerving for the players. Almost like having a gallery follow you in professional golf. The guys who had won the fifth flight were eliminated at the first hole since the rule was for alternate stokes so the better player couldn't dominate the team. The second hole was a three way tie which was solved by a chip off. Two teams were eliminated there. The final winner was from the fourth flight so even though the guys weren't the lowest handicap players in the field, they won all the money.
Everyone talked golf at the banquet. It was nice to see how so many people enjoy this game. Besides the prize money, Glen also came home with a lovely tournament shirt and a lob wedge (which I've since claimed).
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