Brothers can bail each other out of the stickiest jams.
Club member John Kanellitsas of Hailey and his guest teammate Jim Kanellitsas did just that with their golf clubs Saturday at The Valley Club in Hailey.
They were on center stage in the culminating “Moose Rut” shootout of the club’s 19th annual Men’s Member/Guest tournament called “Moose Madness” that was staged July 9-12 at the private golf club.
As raindrops fell, Valley Club golf director Stoney Brown said an exceptionally large gallery watched the Kanellitsas brothers and defending Moose Madness champs Hanley Dawson III and guest Albert “Bud” Furman.
Moving up the deciding North Course par-4 ninth hole, the Kanellitsas brothers and Dawson-Furman were the only surviving twosomes in the field of 72 teams and 144 players taking part in the tournament.
Each team had battled through the 12-team alternate-shot format shootout to determine the overall champions.
And they treated spectators to an exciting finish. The team with the best score on the 409-yard final hole would emerge as the overall champions. But the brothers nearly played their way out of contention.
Furman and John Kanellitsas drove first on the final hole that features water on the right and behind the green. Furman was straight down the middle. Kanellitsas’ drive pushed right and rolled to the edge of a sand trap, safe.
Dawson was the next shooter. He placed his iron shot safely to the high side of the green, just off the putting surface, pin high. Jim Kanellitsas lofted his iron shot right at the pin, but it had a little too much elbow grease and rolled over the green and down into the lake.
John Kanellitsas, after the one-stroke penalty drop, peered up the hill and toward the flagstick and lifted a marvelous recovery shot to 10 feet from the pin. There was some question whether the stunning shot would roll into the hole.
His shot was so cleverly executed that it put more pressure on the Furman-Dawson team. Its subsequent chip from off the back of the green resulted in an unfortunate double-chip for a one-stroke penalty that evened up things quite a bit.
It boiled down to putts, with a tiebreaker chip-off definitely within the realm of possibility.
Dawson’s 15-foot putt for a bogey five barely missed on the right. Faced with a 10-footer for a bogey that would clinch the title, Jim Kanellitsas pulled his weight and poured the clincher dead-center into the cup, maintaining balance in the family.
Third place in the shootout went to member Lou Mace and his son Sid Mace.
On the par-4, 411-yard eighth hole of the North Course—fourth of five shootout holes—they found the going a little rough. Despite a clutch 15-foot downhill putt made by Lou Mace, they were eliminated by fine pars from the Kanellitsas brothers and Dawson-Furman.
Other flight winners qualifying for the shootout were:
Phil O’Reilly and Tony Daffer; Tift Mann and Dan Rizzo; Mike O’Neil and Paul Hazelrig; Jeffrey Mansoor and Mike Butler; Peter Challman and Greg Goldfinch; Richard Brown and Barrett Linburg; Robert Reniers and Toby Maitland-Lewis; last year’s second place Richard Shelton and Tom Pestotnik; and Jamie Will and Steve Boone.
The format was round robin featuring 12 flights of six two-member teams. Each team in the flight played a nine-hole match play format 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) made the Moose Madness shootout.
Moose Madness games, and an tournament ace
Moose Madness included a Par-3 Challenge for 40 twosomes. Tying for first place with scores of 22 were Doug Hickey-Jim Green and Tom Tierney-Tom Tierney.
Three teams tied for third at 24. They were William Potter-Brad Forrester, David Rose-Jack Dell and Chris Stephens-Ken Herich.
And four teams tied for sixth place at 25. They were Ron Fairfax-Mike Beck, John Kanellitsas-Jim Kanellitsas, Lou Mace-Sid Mace and Rob Reeves-Fritz Peters.
Wednesday’s practice round had a turnout of 48 twosomes.
Capturing first place among 23 teams in Moose Flights 1-5 were William Potter and Brad Forrester with 62. Second place at 63 went to Phil O’Reilly-Tony Daffer, while third place winners at 64 were Jamie Everitt-David Cundey.
Shooting the best practice round among 25 teams in Moose Flights 6-10 were Chris Stephens-Ken Herich with 59, followed by a three-way tie at 61 featuring Erik Boe-Mark Miller, Harry Hagey-Bud Austin and Lou Mace-Sid Mace.
Jack Ross won the prize for “Longest, Straighter Drive.” Tony Daffer had the “Straighter Drive.”
A highlight of the Moose Madness meet was a hole-in-one recorded by Bud Austin during the first tournament round Thursday, July 10.
Austin, guest of member Harry Hagey, aced the seventh hole of the North Course. He used a 9-iron from Blue Tees (130 yards). Witnesses were his partner, Hagey, along with Ron Fairfax and Mike Beck.
Here are results of the 12 flights in best ball, listed in first through sixth places, for round-robin play Thursday through Saturday (Valley Club member listed first):
Wade Hampton (North Carolina): 1—Phil O’Reilly and Tony Daffer 27 points. 2—Jim Blandford and T.J. Blandford 25. 3 (tie)—Latham Williams and Mark Meisenbach 24, Curtis Gardner and Eli Gage 24. 5—Doug Bryan and Stewart Karstens 23.5. 6—John Martinson and Jack Ross 11.5.
Shadow Creek (Nevada): 1—Tift Mann and Dan Rizzo 24.5 points. 2 (tie)—Sean Terry and Buz Franklin 24, Dick Toomey and Jim Toomey 24. 4 (tie)—William Potter and Brad Forrester 22, Cooper Minnis and Mike Abaid 22. 6—Jack Dies and Bob Dunn 18.5.
Victoria National (Indiana): 1—Mike O’Neil and Paul Hazelrig 27.5 points. 2—Todd Peebler and Jimmy Crumpacker 24. 3—John Wolcott and Bruce Albertson 22.5. 4—Gary Crowe and Gerry Riggs 22. 5—Jamie Everitt and David Cundey 20. 6—Scott MacGuffie and Clark French 19.
Butler National (Illinois): 1—Jeffrey Mansoor and Mike Butler 27 points. 2—Jim Somers and Dick Fyke 26.5. 3—Dennis Kavanagh and Roger Anderson 24. 4—Doug Hickey and Jim Green 21. 5—Robert Walsh and Allan Conant 20.5. 6—Steve Rose and Craig Benben 16.
Flint Hills (Kansas): 1 (tie)—Peter Challman and Greg Goldfinch 26.5 points (won flight tiebreaker), Ray Knowles and Jon “Butch” Seal 26.5. 3—Michael Ochsman and Billy Burak 24.5. 4—John Ashton and Harry Burn III 22. 5—Kurt Funkhouser and Ralph Penny 20.5. 6—John Shoemaker and Billy Rosato 15.
Sand Ridge (Ohio): 1—Richard Brown and Barrett Linburg 30 points. 2—Jeffrey Batt and Gary Morgan 24. 3—Roger Miller and Louie D’Ambrosio 22. 4—Rick Benners and Bill Sachs 20.5. 5—Sam Armacost and Haigh Cundey 20. 6—Tom Tierney and Tom Tierney 18.5.
Quarry (California): 1—Robert Reniers and Toby Maitland-Lewis 27 points. 2—Mike Quinn and Lynn Rose 26. 3—Peter Gaasland and Phil Greenman 23.5. 4—Chris Stephens and Ken Herich 20.5. 5 (tie)—Dave Wilson and Joe Robson 19, David Rose and Jack Dell 19.
Dallas National (Texas): 1—Richard Shelton and Tom Pestotnik 29.5 points. 2 (tie)—Ron Fairfax and Mike Beck 23, Harry Hagey and Bud Austin 23. 4—Jeff Jeffery and Stephen Jeffery 22. 5—David Brown and Doug Walburg 19. 6—Tullio Celano and Richard Chodroff 18.5.
Estancia (Arizona): 1 (tie)—Hanley Dawson III and Albert “Bud” Furman 26.5 points (won flight tiebreaker), Erik Boe and Mark Miller 26.5. 3—Ken McCain and Larry Hodge 22.5. 4—James Daniels and Terry Daniels 21. 5—Tom Lenze and Eric Lenze 20.5. 6—Dick Wetherell and Jim Lathrop 18.
SageValley (South Carolina): 1—John Kanellitsas and Jim Kanellitsas 26 points. 2—Blair Hull and Jim Lodas 25.5. 3—David Squier and Michael Kaluza 25. 4—Jon Verhaeghe and Perry Chappell 24.5. 5—Peter Stott and Greg McCoy 19.5. 6—Ross Jannotta and Ned Jannotta 14.5.
Preserve (California): 1—Lou Mace and Sid Mace 29.5 points. 2—Dick St. Clair and Steve Tracy 25.5. 3—Jay Cassell and David Brown 24.5. 4—Anthony Moiso and Joe Cannon 22. 5—Al Shoemaker and Peter Shoemaker 17. 6—Jeff Rust and Lyman Rust 16.5.
Hudson National (New York): 1—Jamie Will and Steve Boone 26.5 points. 2—Ed Sinnott and Matt Colesworthy 26. 3—Rob Reeves and Fritz Peters 24. 4—Dean Hovencamp and David Kempken 20.5. 5—Brad Rosenberg and Bob Jacobs 20. 6—Bob Cook and Joe Kruger 18.
Holding their Moose Madness trophies after Saturday’s dra-matic final hole victory are, from left, John Kanellitsas and Jim Kanellitsas. Jim made the putt to win the tournament, and John’s recovery chip placed him in position to do so. Photo by Jeff Cordes
