Saturday, April 9, dawned mostly clear, cool and with the promise of the first annual VaHGA Hickory NUT competition. Local players Skip Platt, Jerry Wells, George Belbey, Eric “Hickory Hokie” Johnson and Jim Clawson were joined by out-of-towners Mike “Bagger” Hobson (Florida), Tom Mehigan (NOVA) and Rob Gilbert (Lynchburg). Festivities began when Siri sent Tom to the McIntyre Frisbee Golf Course instead of the Meadowcreek Municipal Golf Course. A little reshuffling on the first tee and off we went. We had one foursome (younger, stronger, longer) playing a white/yellow combination (5365) while the older, weaker and shorter foursome played from the red (4682) tees. The course was recovering from recent rains and storms, so we played lift, clean and place. Then the breeze/wind came up causing shivers and more layers.
George Belbey reported rappelling down one slope and belaying himself to hit a miracle shot without falling into the adjacent river. Amidst the jokes, laughter, cries of “Turkey Ball!,” and “Good Shot!”, the two foursomes motored on. The only birdies on the blustery day were recorded by Hobson (#2), Mehigan (#11) and Clawson (#16). Two players hit their handicaps exactly for net 71’s, and two had good days shooting 65s. “Any quadruple bogeys?” at the post-round lunch table saw several hands go up! Honoring the Masters, the local snack bar had cheese and pimento sandwiches and sumptuous maple cookies — roundly enjoyed by the group.
When the last putt went in, we had ties for both gross and net divisions. Bagger Hobson and Skip Platt tied for low gross at 84, while Tom Mehigan and Bagger tied for low net at 65. Scorecard ‘playoffs’ left Hobson and Mehigan as the two winners.
