Sept. 8, 2018
Hosted by Bill Reed of the Hickory Golf Association whose report follows:
It was a beautiful day at Hyperion Field Club in Des Moines, Iowa. Blue skies, white fluffy clouds, little or no breeze, and green expanse everywhere to look. However the previous 10 days had been nothing but drenching rain and although the old saying is that Hyperion drains like a bathtub, when the bathroom floor is knee deep in water…there’s no where for the tub to drain. I realized three days earlier that I needed to arrange for caddies as the availability of carts were Slim to None, and Slim was out of town. I knew that I needed about 50 caddies and tried every high school and youth golf program in the area. This was to no avail. I received a possibility of about 5 to 6 maybe’s but failed miserably for any guarantees of yes.
Sixty-one registered hickory players from a multitude of time zones did enjoy the Friday evening Scottish Dinner, Reception and TradeShow even though the Friday Preview round of hickory golf had been washed out.
I ditched the scheduled Shot Gun Start and reverted to assigned tee times, running the medal play rounds off of number 1 tee and routed the team and scramble play off of number 10. Everyone played on the soggiest conditions I have observed at Hyperion in over the 60 years of my history at Hyperion. Three scramble teams finished the designated 18 holes. Two teams finished 9 holes and one team reached the clubhouse first after declaring that was enough…It was the wise thing to do as that team may have needed medical assistance if they had tried to even complete the last two holes for a 9 hole score. ( this was my team …wise decision )..
The Winning Scramble team didn’t let the conditions bother them. Duane Baylor and Barry Glanzer of Omaha teamed up with the Father/Son duo of John McKenzie and T.J. McKenzie of Des Moines to craft a 4 under par 68 to claim the Gold. An all Indianola, Iowa Team of John Piffer, Chuck Collins, John Overton, and Ray Walton claimed the Silver. Brad Baird and Linda Baird of Chicago joined with Russ Fisher of Davenport, Iowa and Spike Abernethy of South Bend, Indiana to claim the Bronze. Retired Hyperion Superintendent John Ausen joined in that effort. The other three Teams that played achieved “atta boy” status.
Playing from the Gold Hickory Tees of a stated yardage of 5902 the Open Division had to feel like it played like 7402 yards, but played like the Champions they are with Jeremy Wright of Louisville, Ky. claiming the Gold with a 79 medal score.Chris Palar of Ankeny, Iowa grabbed Silver one stroke back with an 80, and Ted Brodzik also from the Louisville, Ky. area took home the Bronze with an 83
The Open Division Reserve winners were Gold: Larry Krebsbach of Lincoln, Nebraska with a net 71.
Gary Swenson of Kelley, Iowa took home the Silver with a 78 and Kelly Scott Gay of the Des Moines area grabbed the Bronze with an 80.
The Senior Open Division ( over 60 ) Medal winners were: Gold…Jim Fisher of Boone, Iowa with an 82.
The Silver and Bronze Medals went to Omaha brothers…Kevin Cawley 87, and Scott Cawley with an 88.
The Senior Reserve Division saw the Gold traveling west to Walter Johnson of Hinton, Iowa netting a 76.
The Silver crossed the Mighty Mississippi and landed at Port Byron, Illinois, crafted by Chris Hardy’s 78.
Gary Hull claimed the Bronze with a net 82. Good shooting for a part time and fairly new hickory player.
The Statesman Division ( 70 and older ) was no less competitive than the younger divisions and was fun to observe in tough playing conditions. A score of 91 from the Gold Tees by Bob Nowaczyk of Omaha, Nebraska claimed the Gold Medal in front of two previous Elder Champions. John Hutton of Denver, Colorado shot a 92 and Hyperion’s own Bobby Jones shot 96 to claim the Silver and Bronze respectively.
The Statesman Reserve Division had Des Moines’ David Rasey netting a 76 to win the Gold. Kelly Kirk Gay of the Des Moines area netted an 84 to win Silver and Ray Gustafson also of the Des Moines area claimed the Bronze with the piano key board score of 88.
In addition to the states and areas named above I want to thank those who came from Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Thanks to all and…”Always Honor the Game.”