Eberhart Newsletter - August 2011
Wow, has it been HOT! We started off July with a really nice couple of weeks with mostly seasonal temperatures in the low 80’s that had the course packed every day with over 200 players, but once the 15th hit the thermometer and the humidity both skyrocketed, resulting in lots of 90 degree weather and nearly the same humidity level. We experienced an abnormally high 12 days of over 90 for the month, and another 6 where it was either 88 or 89 for the high, which is not exactly conducive to getting out and spending time playing golf. It looks like we are going to get back to some more seasonal weather to start off August, and I hope it will stick around and that the heat wave of 2011 won’t return.
In spite of the heat we had a very busy month at the course, with two of our big events taking place. The Mishawaka Metro was held on a gorgeous weekend July 9th and 10th with a field of 54 participants. It was a very exciting event in several of the flights, including the Championship flight where we had a three way tie and a sudden death playoff. After taking the first day lead with an age matching score of 68, Stan Gebo stumbled a little on Sunday with a score of 74, which enabled Doug Fedore and Colin Van Es to match his 142, 2 over par, total. The three headed to #10 to start the playoff, and while Van Es and Fedore both had good looks at birdie neither one made, keeping Gebo in the game. After all three players missed the green on #11, it was Gebo who managed to get the ball closest with his chip, and his 8 foot par putt was true after both Van Es and Fedore missed their attempts at par. Loren Crosbie was fourth with a 145 total, and Tony Polizzotto was fifth with a score of 146. Bill Miles won the Senior Championship with a score of 153, Brent Dennison took the A Flight with 154, Tim Erickson was another playoff winner in the B Flight with a score of 163, and Chris Niedbalski had a 173 to take the C Flight.
We hosted the Garbage Open on July 20th, with 60 kids coming out to play in our event where we allow all the children in the area to come out and play for free and feed them afterwards. Thanks to a generous donation from our friends at Hahn Funeral Home, we were able to also provide each participant with a sleeve of balls and a bag of tees. It was one of the most sweltering days of the month so most of the kids didn’t play too many holes, but it was still nice to have them out.
We had over 100 kids at the course for the St. Joseph County Junior Tour on July 11th, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us as we experienced early morning rain which delayed the start of play, then an intense lighting storm with heavy winds that caused the cancellation of the event. Fortunately, we saw it coming and were able to get the kids off the course, because it was really nasty with tree snapping winds that reached over 70 miles an hour.
I also hosted another Junior Golf School the week of July 18th. It was another good session with some eager to learn students who did really well in developing their golfing skills. Hopefully they will continue to develop as players and become life long participants in the great game of golf.
We hosted the Marine Corps League outing on the final day of the month with a nice turnout of over 80 players. That was the start of what will be a really busy month for us with some good sized outings taking place throughout August. We have an event every Saturday, and a couple on Sunday, so there will be periods where the course is not open for outside play. Rest assured that there will be opportunities to play every day, just not during the periods where we are busy with events. As always, it is a good idea to call and make a tee time any time that you are planning on playing.
The end of the month will mark the unofficial end of summer as kids and teachers head back to school and we celebrate Labor Day to start September. In this year of extremes, maybe we’ll have an extremely nice and warm fall to be able to extend the season, but with the luck we’ve had with Mother Nature so far in 2011, I’m not going to hold my breath! Hope you have a great August, and that you will get to spend lots of time on the course. If I can help you with anything, please give me a call or write me an e-mail.
