Big Dog 2019 Final Round

The fourth round will be played on Tuesday afternoon at the Ross Bridge golf course situated in the rolling terrain of Shannon Valley in Hoover, Alabama. Who will make a run at the leader Joe Hirsch  in the final round? The final group has Joe Hirsch leading at -6 points, with Bruce Grau a distant second at -14 points, Greg Sadowski at -16 points, and Tommy Stewart at -21 points. Who could make the proper adjustments in the final round?

Greg Sadowski took advantage of a demo sale inside the pro shop and replaced his “broken” driver he cracked at the Judge course with a G410 Ping driver so he could get more forgiveness on his booming drives. Joe Hirsch contended that his handicap should be a 15 but after calculation of the course slope of 128, the exact calculation of Joe’s handicap was 14.499 thus falling short by .001 to get his usual handicap of 15.  Not the type of adjustment one would like to make prior to the final round.

Ross Bridge’s starter Joe was eager to inform everyone about the nuances of the course and insisted to give each person a description of the course hole-by-hole. As he noticed Bob Ingram’s Washington Nationals hat he asked Bob if he had seen the Nats playoff game that night. Bob replied yes and stated that he was amazed that Dodger pitcher Kershaw gave up back to back home runs. Joe was enthusiastic to discuss more about the baseball game and then asked Bob did you watch the Dodgers play. Bob replied “No I only watched the Nats”.

Greg Sadowski started off like a rocket with birdie birdie on the first two holes to begin the squeeze on the leaders.  Do you think they tightened up? Lets check. On the downhill second hole playing about 395 yards, Joe Hirsch ducked hook his tee shot through the adjoining trees on the left and almost hit the cart girl resting near the first green about 70 yards from the tee box and about 50 yards to the left of the second hole fairway. But there was still a lot of golf to play.

In the first group, Gary Boukis was dialing in with his irons on all of the par 3’s and placing his mark for eligible CTP (closest to the pin). This only offered motivation for the other groups following him to get inside his CTP mark. Attached is a photo where Bob’s ball trickeled just inside Gary’s mark on the 4th hole a 146 yard par 3. Unfortunately at the end all of Gary’s CTPs were vanquished; Bob Ingram on hole #4, Alan Burke on hole #6, and Greg Sadowski on holes #11 and #14.

Bruce Grau was attempting to make a final surge but encountered difficulty on the downhill par 3 number 14 hole 163 yards.  After taking a drop from the pond Bruce had difficulty navigating the four inch curb. Check out Tommy Stewart’s video of Bruce on this hole and pay close attention to Tommy’s direction where his ball ended up.

As the rain started to drizzle on the back nine holes, players were finding it difficult to finish off the round. Gill Nichols had 165 yards out on the 17th hole a 362 yard par 4. Gill’s approach shot got caught up in the crosswind and drifted towards the right-hand side of the green. His ball hit the side of the green and just rolled down in to the edge of the lake. The golf ball did stay out of the water but as his fortune was all week, the golf ball rolled under the biggest rock of the lake thus make any recovery shot impossible. Thus he had to take a drop. Early favorite Brian Duffy wanted to show that he still had game. He was able to master the tight fairway on the final 18th hole 358 yard par 4. After hitting his drive between the two fairway bunkers he hit his approach within birdie range on the green. He drained the putt for a birdie and claimed the final clear of the tournament. But it was too little too late.

Greg Sadowski kept firing at the pins on the back nine holes and birdied holes #11, #12, and #14 to finally seal the coffin and grab the Big Dog trophy. Greg shot a sizzling 69 3-under par to accomplish his goal coming from 3rd place to win the tournament. Here is a photo of Greg with his arms raised up high on the 18th green. At the end the top three were Greg Sadowski at -8 to capture $300 first place prize, Joe Hirsch at -13 to get $200 for second place, and Bruce Grau at -18 to get $100 for third place.

All the guys reconvened over at the Saltgrass restaurant for the tournament banquet and award ceremonies. We were greeted by the ever enthusiastic barmaid named Stephanie who would often show off her dancing skills. On the web is a video of Bruce Grau emceeing the award ceremonies. Definitely worth the viewing.

The accommodations in Alabama were fantastic. All the players felt comfortable and relaxed in the adjoining game room suite. Most guys were able to watch the Nationals march to the World Series, others reminisced about great football games such as the 1958 Colts Giants championship game, and others were able to keep up their competitive spirit by playing 9-ball on the pool table. But every now and then we will hear someone running up and down the hall yelling “Where’s my Captain?”

Final standings;

Greg Sadowski -8 points

Joe Hirsch   -13  points

Bruce Grau   -18  points

Alan Burke  -19 points

Bob Ingram    -21  points

Tom Stewart  -24 points

Gary  Boukis   -24 points

Pete Blauvelt  -26 points

Brian Duffy  -27  points

Gill  Nichols  -41 points