TOM

By Tom Bedell

The first charity tournament of the year at the Brattleboro Country Club also happens to be the best. I say this not because I’m the chair of the tournament, nor because the proceeds of the event go to the non-profit organization directed by my wife. Okay, they’re contributing factors.

But the other factors are more important for those who play in the tournament–it’s fun, we do have a bunch of good prizes, and we’re still a lean and relatively inexpensive tournament. It makes for a tasty combo–good golf, a modest investment, and the refreshing feeling that you’ve contributed to a well worthy cause.

The golf is different, too, not just the usual scramble playing at almost every other charity tournament, which never really feels much like golf to me. We still take the pressure off pure beginners by playing a Texas scramble–choosing the best drive on each hole, and then playing out one’s individual shots from there.

Then more fun kicks in with the Stableford format, scoring points for how the team does on the hole. Choosing the best ball score, the team racks up one point for a bogey, two for a par, three for a birdie and four for an eagle. (Score a double eagle and we’ll look at you funny.) Best scores win, gross and net.

We do have the usual bonuses–closet to the pin, longest drive, and other fun games along the way (putting for big bucks, hitting the green to win sleeves of balls). And then after the tournament we get down to some good eating and awarding of the lavish prizes and raffles.

The tournament is Friday, May 16, a noon shotgun start, so there’s still time to sign up. Call me at 802-348-7992 for more information, Lynn Bedell at The Gathering Place, 802-254-6559. ext. 11.

I’ll include an updated list of prizes to be raffled, given or auctioned away in the next day or so. Hope to see you May 16!

Meanwhile, here are some of the other charity tournaments coming up at BCC:

The 33rd Annual Brattleboro Rotary Charity Golf Tournament is Wednesday, June 4, with registration and a bag lunch at 11, the shotgun start at noon. A silent auction and raffle will begin at 6:00 p.m. The cost is $125 per player, all proceeds to benefit youth sports and educational scholarships. Call Cathy Coonan (who’s doing another stint as BCC president this year as well) at 251-3782.

The 9th Annual Austine School/VCDHH Golf Tournament is on Friday, June 27, the shotgun start bright and early at 8 a.m., the play followed by lunch. It’s $125 to play ($425 for a foursome), $175 to sponsor a hole. Call 258-9501 for more information.

The Youth Services Annual Golf Tournament is approaching the quarter-century mark; this is its 23rd incarnation, beginning with lunch at noon on Wednesday, July 30, with a 1 p.m. shotgun start and a scramble format. To register ($125 per player or $480 for a foursome), call Nancy, Gail or Allyson at Youth Services, 257-0361.

The Third Annual Retreat Healthcare Golf Tournament will kick off Wednesday, August 6, with lunch at noon and 1 pm shotgun start. A dinner buffet follows play, with the concomitant awards and raffle prizes. Contact Cathy Potter for more information about playing ($95) or sponsoring ($250 a hole), 258-3759.

The Chesterfield Lions Club Annual Tournament returns to BCC again, on Tuesday, July 15, with an 8:30 am shotgun start. The cost is $100 per player, and chair John Schlichting will happily entertain offers for sponsors. Call him at 603-363-4759 for information or to sign up.

There may be others to come, and we’ll update them here as we hear about them.

One extraordinary out of town event needs to be mentioned: Vermont golf writer Bob Labbance–and few have Bob’s depth of historical knowledge about the game–has sadly been diagnosed with ALS. A golf and auction benefit for Bob and his family will be held Monday, June 23 at the Ekwanok Golf Club in Manchester, registration beginning at 9:30 and play to begin at 11 a.m.

Aside from the golf, brunch and barbecue buffet, the auction will include rounds at some of the most exclusive clubs in the country–such as the National Golf Links of America, to name just one. Space is limited to 100 players. Checks ($500 per person), or donations can be mailed to: Labbance Family Fund; PO Box 53; Bloomfield CT 06002.

By Tom Bedell

It wasn’t a good way to start the season, taking a ten on a short par-4, an eight on a par-5, and a triple on a par-3. Notching four pars in the next five holes couldn’t really mitigate the damage.

But at least I was out in the brisk fresh air with three-quarters of the MOTO Research Team, and we were, aside from our diligent investigative work, having fun as usual.

We played at Bretwood (see post below), and the course was pretty much as Fish described it in his April 13 post—a few mounds of snow floating like icebergs on the fairways, or nestled in the bunkers, but plenty of room to play.

I managed the ten on the first hole in crisp fashion: a drive way right, a hybrid right into a raging brook, another into a greenside bunker, four shots pounding sand, two putts, ten.

I called my fine bunker work a “double Fuehrer,” alluding to the golf terms that have been going around in e-mails everywhere, the “Adolph Hitler” referring to two shots in the bunker.

I have no idea as to the origin of the terms, many refreshingly tasteless, but if already well-traveled, they’re worth repeating here as a new season begins. From the looks of things, we may all need some laughs:

A Paris Hilton - one expensive hole

A Salman Rushdie - an impossible read

A Rock Hudson - looked straight, but wasn’t

A Cuban - needed one more revolution

An Elton John - a big bender that lips the rim

An Adolf Hitler - two shots in the bunker

A Saddam Hussein - from one bunker straight into another

A Yasser Arafat - ugly and in the sand

A Kate Winslett - a little bit fat, but otherwise perfect

A Glenn Miller - didn’t make it over the water

A Rodney King - over-clubbed

An O.J. Simpson - got away with it

A Princess Grace - should have taken a driver

A Princess Di - shouldn’t have taken a driver

A Michael Jackson - gradually fading

A Ladyboy - looks like an easy hole but all is not what it seems

A condom - safe but didn’t feel real good

A circus tent - a big top

An Anna Kournikova - looks great, but unlikely to get a result

A Brazilian - shaves both sides of the hole

A Jeb Bush - too far to the right and out of play

By Tom Bedell

Sure enough, it’s April, the sun is shining, the temperature is rising, and golf is imminent. So why did this feel like the winter from Hell? It was all that snow piling endlessly up. Would it even melt by May? was the dreadful thought going through some desperate golfers’ minds.

The par-5 seventh hole at Brattleboro Country Club

I took to driving by the Brattleboro Country Club (802-257-7380) to check on the progress of the receding glaciers, and wandered forlornly into the abandoned parking lot a few times. Finally, on Wednesday, I went to the maintenance shed and was pleased to see superintendent Phil Rollins putting flagsticks together and speculating on a possible opening on April 19. Whether the full 18 will be ready to go is still anyone’s guess; the ninth fairway in particular was still half rivulets on Wednesday.

Players will have an entirely new sensation when they finish a round at Brattleboro this year, Phil said, and I went out to have a look. Sure enough, about ten of the large pine trees encircling the back of the eighteenth hole were cut down.

The “Before” shot at the eighteenth hole

It was done mostly to give the green more light and air. There’s still a copse of trees further behind the green, but aesthetically the hole now looks wide open, and the forward pitch of the green more striking.

Pro Eric Sandstrum is settling in for his second full year at Brattleboro, which will follow its success with the Vermont Amateur last year with the Vermont Senior Amateur Tournament this September 3 and 4. The club is offering a variety of membership specials and junior memberships, all noted on the website.

Vermont

Elsewhere in Vermont, pro Michael Santa Maria at the Okemo Valley Golf Club (800-786-5366) said, “We’re hoping to be open by the weekend of April 26, and we’ll then be one of 70 clubs in the U.S. with the Nike 360° fitting cart and launch monitor.”

Under the same ownership is the Tater Hill Golf Club (875-2517) which usually opens seven to ten days after Okemo.

The Haystack Golf Club (802-464-8301) is under new ownership and will welcome new pro and general manager Jack Tosone when the course opens in mid-May. Competitive rates have swelled the membership over last year, and midweek rates (Monday-Friday) will be $49.

The Mount Snow Golf Club (464-4254) has a tentative opening date of May 12, but definitely by May 17, when The Original Golf School (800-240-2555) begins its bargain two-day dress rehearsals (May 17-18, 20-21, 22-23) for $349.

The Stratton Mountain Country Club (297-4114) will also officially open its 27 holes on May 16, but weather permitting the Stratton Golf University will hold two-day spring training classes beginning May 3 for the bargain rate of $399.

They’re not yet manning the phones at some courses, so keep checking at Bellows Falls Country Club (463-9809), Crown Point (885-1010) and Sitzmark (464-3384).

New Hampshire

Bridge to fifteenth hole at Bretwood South

Head pro Matt Barrett at the 36-hole Bretwood Golf Course (603-352-7626) wasn’t about to guarantee it, but he said they hoped to open today. Rates are still reasonable at Bretwood, and the weekday golf-till-you-drop $70 all-day pass (including cart) remains tempting. I wrote a piece on Bretwood a few years back and, hey, whaddaya know, it’s still up on the web. Clearly, I wasn’t paid enough for that one.

Pam and Jay Clace at the nine-hole Hooper Golf Club in Walpole (603-756-4080) were being a little more guarded. “We’re hoping by the end of next week,” said Pam. “But the course is in good shape, considering the winter we just had.” Amen to that.

The nine-hole Pine Grove Springs Country Club in Spofford (603-363-4433) was set to open yesterday, with a members’ work day scheduled for tomorrow.

Callers to the Keene Country Club (603-352-9722) should ask pro Charlie Kamel how he liked his trip to Ireland, along with Brattleboro pro Eric Sandstrum.

Massachusetts

“We’re expecting to open tomorrow, although they’re predicting rain at the moment,” said James ‘Bucky’ O’Brien, heading into his 40thth year at the Country Club of Greenfield (413-773-7530).

The eighth at Crumpin-Fox

The old nine (the back nine) at the Crumpin-Fox Club in Bernardston (800-943-1901) was still pretty damp this week, but there are hopes of opening at least nine (the front) nine by late next week.

The nine-hole Oak Ridge Golf Club in Gill (413-863-9693) is hoping to open next Wednesday but, as with all the courses, call to doublecheck.

And a little further on down the road is the always ingratiating nine-hole Northfield Golf Club (413-498-2432).