Valley Club golf director Stoney Brown carries a talent for writing verse in his proverbial golf bag. The club’s Moose Madness golf tournament always sparks his creativity.
Brown ended his “Moose Madness” poem for 2013 by painting the popular club tournament in these colors:
“Have a laugh here and there! That’s a pretty good aim. And quit caring so much! Enjoy the damned game! If you’ve followed my drift, then I think you’ll admit—you might make the Moose Rut if you don’t give a ‘WHIT’!”
Combining casual with competitiveness is always a challenge on the golf course.
The Moose Rut is the 12-team shootout ending three days of competition in the club’s 18th annual Men’s Member/Guest tournament. This year’s finale was well attended, with a gallery of 75 interested onlookers, Brown said. It happened Saturday afternoon on a gorgeous Sun Valley day.
Winning the shootout and emerging as overall champions of the 60-team, 120-player meet were club member Hanley Dawson III and his guest Albert “Bud” Furman. Runners-up were Richard Shelton and Tom Pestotnik. In third place were Ray Knowles and Ed Austin.
The format was round robin featuring 10 flights of six two-member teams. Each team in the flight played a nine-hole match with the other five teams in their flight.
Points were awarded for each hole won. Points leaders after five rounds were declared flight winners. Each team played 18 holes Thursday, 18 Friday and nine Saturday.
After the final nine-hole match Saturday, flight winners (total points leaders) and the two wild-card winners (the 2 teams with the best totals not winning their flights) met in the 12-team alternate-shot format shootout to determine the overall champions for the 2013 Moose Madness.
Moose Madness also included a Par-3 Challenge contest in two flights.
Capturing first place among 22 teams in Moose Flights 1-5 was the twosome of James Holman and Jack Frazee with 27. Second-place teams at 28 were Kurt Funkhouser-Billy Neal, Steve Rose-Scott Ehlen and Scott Rogers-John Beckert.
Deadlocked for first place among 16 teams in Moose Flights 6-10 were Tom Tierney-Tom Tierney and Erik Boe-Mark Miller.
Wednesday’s practice round top results featured a four-way tie for first place at 64 among 18 teams in Moose Flights 1-5 with Doug Bryan-Stewart Karstens, Jim Cannavino-Matthew Oakes, Ken McCain-Chris Bitterlin and Paul Willis-Dennis Gonzales.
Shooting the best practice round among 19 teams in Moose Flights 6-10 were Erik Boe-Mark Miller (58), followed by 60s by Steve Kearns-David Bratton-Kearns and Tom Lenze-Eric Lenze.
Jack Bariteau won the prize for “Longer, Straighter Drive,” while Rich Logan had the “Straighter Drive.”
A highlight of the Moose Madness tournament was a hole-in-one recorded by Gerry Riggs on Wednesday, July 10. He aced the second hole of the South Nine, using a 7-iron from 166 yards. Witnesses were Gary Crowe, Todd Peebler and Jimmy Crumpacker.
Here are results of the 10 flights in best ball, listed in first through sixth places, for round-robin play Thursday through Saturday (Valley Club member listed first in the twosomes):
Wade Hampton (North Carolina): 1—Ray Knowles and Ed Austin 25 points. 2—Doug Bryan and Stewart Karstens 24.5. 3—Kurt Funkhouser and Billy Neal 22. 4 (tie)—Jeffrey Mansoor and Jack Bariteau 21.5, James Holman and Jack Frazee 21.5. 6—Dick Toomey and Jim Toomey 20.5.
Shadow Creek (Nevada): 1—Walter Teagle III and Philip Pool Jr. 27 points. 2—Richard Davis and Matt Davis 24. 3—Scott Rogers and John Beckert 22.5. 4—Papa Manchester and Rich Logan 21. 5—David Rognlien and Buddy Pepp 20.5. 6—Jack Dies and Ernie Rosato 20.
Victoria National (Indiana): 1—William Potter and Charles Athill 24.5 points. 2—Gary Crowe and Gerry Riggs 23.5. 3 (tie)—Todd Peebler and Jimmy Crumpacker 22.5, Paul Willis and Dennis Gonzales 22.5. 5—Jeffrey Batt and Gary Morgan 21.5. 6—Jim Cannavino and Matthew Oakes 20.5.
Butler National (Illinois): 1—Gerald Boas and Bob Phillips 30.5 points. 2—David Rose and Jack Dell 25. 3—Jim Somers and Dick Fyke 21.5. 4—John Shoemaker and Billy Rosato 21. 5 (tie)—Dennis Kavanagh and Roger Anderson 18.5, Tullio Celano and Richard Chodroff 18.5.
Flint Hills (Kansas): 1 (tie)—Hanley Dawson III and Albert “Bud” Furman 25.5 points (won flight tiebreaker), John Wolcott and Bruce Stone 25.5. 3—Ken McCain and Chris Bitterlin 25. 4—John Ashton and Harry Burn III 23. 5—Chris Stephens and Brian Ballard 20. 6—Steve Rose and Scott Ehlen 16.
Sand Ridge (Ohio): 1—Mike Quinn and John Suydam 24.5 points. 2—Roger Miller and Louie D’Ambrosio 24. 3—Steve Kearns and David Bratton-Kearns 23.5. 4—Michael Ochsman and Billy Burak 22. 5—Peter Gaasland and Phil Greenman 21.5. 6—Tom Tierney and Tom Tierney 19.5.
Quarry (California): 1—Richard Shelton and Tom Pestotnik 26.5 points. 2—Robert Reniers and Toby Maitland-Lewis 24.5. 3—Mitch Milias and Jim Harrington 22.5. 4—David Brown and Mike Glynn 21. 5—James Daniels and Terry Daniels 20.5. 6—Ron Fairfax and Mike Beck 20.
Dallas National (Texas): 1—Slim Sommerville and Bob Schwartz 29 points. 2—Phillip Lynch and Mike McDonald 27 (qualified for Moose Race as wild card). 3—Erik Boe and Mark Miller 23.5. 4—Ed Sinnott and Matt Colesworthy 23. 5—Steve Malkmus and William Campbell 17.5. 6—David Almond and Charles Yates 15.
Estancia (Arizona): 1—Jeff Lohmann and Armand Poole 30.5 points. 2—Robert Allen and Lori Goetz 25. 3 (tie)—Tom Lenze and Eric Lenze 22, James Schultz and Don Young 22. 5—Jay Cassell and David Brown 20.5. 6—Jon Verhaeghe and Jerry Mooty 14.5.
Sage Valley (South Carolina): 1 (tie)—Lou Mace and Sid Mace 27 points (won flight tiebreaker), Anthony Moiso and Joe Cannon 27 (qualified for Moose Race as wild card). 3—Kip Ingham and Steve Berrey 22.5. 4—Dean Hovencamp and David Kempken 21.5. 5—Jeff Rust and Lyman Rust 21. 6—John Morris and Jim Welch 16.
