The way Jack Dies sees it, he and partner Bob Dunn were fortunate to be alive and still fighting for the championship on the final hole of The Valley Club's 15th annual Moose Madness Men's Member-Guest golf tournament Saturday.
Dies hooked his drive out-of-bounds on the second hole of the five-hole alternating shot Moose Chase that matched the 10 winning twosomes of the three-day round-robin matches. It appeared that Dunn and Dies would be eliminated, but they got a little lucky and survived.
"I hit it out-of-bounds on #10, but Bob put his provisional drive in play. Other teams had trouble and we survived and made it through with a double-bogey 7," said Dies.
Dies and Dunn emerged as one of the two finalist teams along with Jeffrey Batt and Gary Morgan on the 386-yard par-4 18th hole. Three of the 10 shootout twosomes were eliminated on the #9 hole, two more on #10 and #11, and one on #17.
Under overcast skies on a cool day, a flotilla of golf carts swept down the fairway to secure the best vantage spots near the green for the decisive shots. They saw a beauty delivered by Dies, Valley Club golf chairman and board member.
Having calmed down after his hiccup on #10, Dies lifted a lovely 162-yard approach shot with a 9-iron from the short fairway rough. The ball flew the lake in front of the green, landed safely on the green and rolled up to within 12 feet.
"I just tried to hit it on the green," said Dies.
Dies said he wanted to hit an 8-iron, indeed, he had the club in his hand with the idea of putting the ball safely over the water. But partner Dunn talked him out of it, suggesting that Dies might be so pumped up at taking the pivotal shot that an 8-iron might be too much.
"Bob was right," said Dies.
Dunn and Dies putted up and down for a par from the 12 feet and captured the 2010 Moose Madness title, the second for Dies. Runner-up team Batt and Morgan had some trouble with the water on #18 and couldn't come close to a par in the match play situation.
Celebrating their victory, Dies and Dunn took the traditional Moose Madness winning plunge into a "cold" lake.
Dies, a former University of Pennsylvania college soccer player and father of two, became the first-ever golfer to win both the Moose Madness crown and Member-Member tournament in the same year.
In third place were Chris Stephens and Ken Herich. Tying for fourth were the teams of John Morris and Doug Shurtleff, and Jeffrey Lohmann and Chuck Leimbach.
Here are results of the 10 flights in best ball, round-robin play Thursday through Saturday, and also the results of the special competitions:
Wade Hampton (North Carolina): 1—Jack Dies and Bob Dunn 25 points. 2—Richard Toomey and Jim Toomey 24.5. 3—Mark Meisenbach and Capp Raisin 23. 4—Sean Terry and Buz Franklin 22.5. 5—Scott Lucas and Jack Bariteau 21. 6—Doug Rhymes and Rick Filkins 19.
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Shadow Creek (Nevada): 1—Jim Cannavino and Matthew Oakes 27 points. 2—Papa Doug Manchester and Rich Logan 25.5. 3—Kurt Funkhouser and Billy Neal 22.5. 4—Richard Shelton and Mike Hughes 21.5. 5—John Martinson and Jeff Rawson 19.5. 6—Scott Rogers and David Armstrong 19.
Quarry (California): 1—Chris Stephens and Ken Herich 29.5 points. 2—Jim Sedin and Dave Sniff 28.5. 3—Peter Gaasland and Phil Greenman 22.5. 4—Richard Emery and John Hutchinson 19. 5—Dick Wetherell and Joe Kruger 18. 6—Ken McCain and Irv Pfister 17.5.
Victoria National (Indiana): 1—Jeffrey Batt and Gary Morgan 28.5 points. 2—Jim Gallaugher and Brad Thoreson 23.5. 3—Mitch Milias and Rick Newell 23. 4—Steve Rose and John Pyle 21. 5—Gerald Boas and Bob Phillips 20.5. 6—Thomas Schriber and Watts Humphrey 18.5.
Butler National (Illinois): 1—Richard Elliott and Brandon Elliott 25.5 points. 2—Todd Peebler and James Crumpacker 25. 3—David Squier and Jim Daverman 24.5. 4—Mike Quinn and Jeff Clark 22. 5—Gary Crowe and Gerry Riggs 19.5. 6—John Leonardo and Ed McCreedy 18.5.
Flint Hills (Kansas): 1—Hanley Dawson and Albert "Bud" Furman 26 points. 2—Phil O'Reilly and Steve Daffer 24. 3—Roger Miller and Louie D'Ambrosio 23.5. 4—James Daniels and Terry Daniels 21.5; Larry Stevens and Fred Rench 21.5. 6—Michael Ochsman and Billy Burak 18.5.
Sand Ridge (Ohio): 1—Lou Mace and Sid Mace 26.5 points. 2—David Rose and Jack Dell 23.5. 3—Tom Whipple and Ken Gardiner 22.5. 4—David Almond and Peter Almond 22. 5—Joe Castle and Jack Hoffman 20.5. 6—Steve Malkmus and William Campbell 20.
Dallas National (Texas): 1—John Morris and Doug Shurtleff 27.5 points. 2—Ron Fairfax and Mike Beck 25. 3—Larry Helzel and Raymond Marino 23. 4—Bob Cook and George Hubman 20; Allan Snyder and Bill Bohrer 20. 6—Dale Jones and Ross Williams 19.5.
Estancia (Arizona): 1—Jeffrey Lohmann and Chuck Leimbach 28.5 points. 2—William Hill and Richard Brown 27. 3—Tom Lenze and Eric Lenze 23.5. 4—Robert Reniers and John L. Murphy 20.5. 5—Roger O'Connell and Gary Schulze 19. 6—Steve Snyder and Marlowe Goble 16.5.
Sage Valley (South Carolina): 1—Jeff Rust and Lyman Rust 28 points. 2—James Britt and Murray Campbell 26.5. 3—William Pierpoint and Don Lundquist 26. 4—Anthony Moiso and Joe Cannon 21. 5—Thomas Mistick and Allan Lucchini 17. 6—John Ashton and Edward Fuller 16.5.
SPECIAL CONTESTS
Here are results of special contests during Moose Madness:
Chipping contest: 1—Mike Beck 2-1. 2—Jim Toomey 2-6.5. 3—Jack Dies 3-0.5. 4—Kurt Funkhouser 3-4.
Simulator closest-to-the-hole: 1—Jack Dies 1.84 feet. 2—Ron Fairfax 4.88 feet. 3—John Hutchinson 5.43 feet. 4—Jim Toomey 6.79 feet.
Putting champion: 1—Ken Gardiner.
Straightest drive: 1—John Hutchinson.
Most Prodigious Drive: 1—Phil O'Reilly.
July 7 practice round: 1—Anthony Moiso/Joe Cannon and Brandon Elliott/Richard Elliott 125. 2 (tie)—Jack Dies/Bob Dunn and Ken Herich/Chris Stephens 127; Todd Peebler/James Crumpacker and Matthew Oakes/Jim Cannavino 127; Stephen Malkmus/William Campbell and Dick Shelton/Mike Hughes 127.
Moose Madness winners, from left, Bob Dunn and Jack Dies emerge from their post-victory dip in the lake by the North Course #18 hole Saturday. Photo by Jeff Cordes
