It was the 2009 Steeplechase.
A backyard golf major.
Championship golf with a championship field.
A beautiful summer day.
A day that, on two occasions, the skies opened up in a glorious visual and powerful display, and then minutes later cleared as if to say "Hey I want to play too.
Those who were able to play took a part in a championship golf tournament that was of the highest caliber.
Gary Simpson-winner of the last two SVCC tourneys was there;
06 champ Derek Schulz was on hand;
Course architect and greens keeper Bill Auld -check;
The two top ranked players still fighting to lose the title of "best to not win a major" TD D'anna and Robbie Auld were present and accounted for;
The BCC superheroes Jeff Dreitlein and Pete "The Eagle" threw their hats in;
Making a return to championship golf, George Portner was in;
"the Darkhorse" Troy Schulz was ready to lay claim;
Justin and Neil Van der horn needed no practice and entered only minutes before tee time;
and finally Uncle Vic "Pennsylvania's favorite son" with golfing buddy Ron .
Oh I wonder what would and what could happen with such a cast of characters!
Would we see an Announcer boldly introduce the contestants? Yep, we would as Alexander Portner read from the teleprompter with his usual bombastic aplomb.
Would we see crazy fans play theme music for one of their favorites? Yes, perhaps much to his chagrin, Derek was serenaded with the musical styling's of "Someone dial 911-'Shorty fire' burning on the dance floor."
Would we see a zero total carded in the preliminary rounds? Yes we would and it was Justin who couldn't find his way in round one. His father Neil would be infinitely better scoring 1pt in the round. (maybe they did need the practice round.)
Would we really see George Portner on the golf course? Yes, I told you we would!
Would Jeff Dreitlein call a penalty on himself? Oh yes he would, Mr. Sportsmanship acknowledged a hoop induced double hit that denied him a point on #8 (everything happens on #8 for Jeff).
Would we see a huge sandwich? Well yes we would, with the clubhouse staff of Karen and Barbara filling out the menu in classic alliterative theming serving the delicious "Subs, Salad and Sushi menu".
Would we see SVCC's first ever Cinderella Story playoff to get into the finals? Yes we would as newcomer Ron fell to course owner Bill on the first playoff hole. Not a very gracious host but this is tournament golf.
Would Pete" The Eagle" be a force to be reckoned with? Yes he would, himself narrowly missing out on the Cinderella playoff.
Would we actually see a woman ride up in a Harley with a dog in the sidecar? Ok, now you're just playing with me? Oh no I'm not-we certainly would see a dog in a sidecar when Fritz and her sweet dog Daisy showed up to cheer on Ron.
Would the Schulz brothers, Derek and Troy, beat up on Rober' in round two denying him sure entrance into the finals after nobly battling the G-man in round one? Well, unfortunately for Robbie they would when at least one of the Schulz's pointed on each hole in round two.
Would we see a near hoop in one in the finals that might have changed everything if it stayed in? Yes we would as Tony's chance to alter the path of the finals and his title fortunes bounce out on #7.
Would we see an actual final round hoop in one for the second year in a row? Yes we would with Derek Schulz hooping #3 "the Chipmunk" in the final round.
Would we see a final round group that cumulatively went -9? Yes we would as all 5 finalists- Derek, Tony, Gary, Troy and Bill all had birdies to go with Derek's eagle.
Would we see a player gain only 4 points while scoring 4 birdies in the finals? Yes we would with Gary splitting points on every hole he deuced.
Would Troy hang out in the weeds, go pointless in the first 8 holes in the finals, only to attack on hole #9 to protect his brother's victory with a shot to within 2 feet of the hoop? Gary and Tony can attest that, yes, in fact we would.
And would we see Gary extend his winning streak to three at the SVCC? Well, no we wouldn't because . . .
. . . .apparently, Derek Schulz came to play. And according to his theme song someone needed to call 911-"cause Schulzy was burning up the golf course."
Congratulations to our Champion Derek, our finalists Tony, Gary, Troy and Bill, all of our golfers and the great friends and family who came to the event.
Great to have you at the SVCC.
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