The Miracle at Brandywine

The Miracle at Brandywine on the Back 9 From Hell on the Z hole (named for its shape).

Sank 125-yard iron shot for a birdie 4. Rolled straight to the cup, like a 35-foot putt.

My daughter LaQuita and I could hear the ball hit the pin and didn't see the ball so we suspected it went in and LaQuita started taking photos of me at this momentous event.

After a 57 at Sunny Hill in Kent on Friday, I shot a 45 at Brookledge in Cuyahoga Falls on Monday, a 41 at Sycamore in Akron on Tuesday and a 43 at Brandywine in Peninsula on The Back Nine From Hell on Wednesday.

LaQuita was treating me to a belated Fathers Day gift (Paula and I were on our riverboat cruise out of Peoria on the Illinois River on Fathers Day), followed by lunch at the Winking Lizard in Peninsula.

 

L-R: Ray Stone, John Olesky, Tom Stone

Family links -- literally

You just can’t beat being with family.

In this photo, brothers Ray Stone (left) and Tom Stone (right) and John Olesky (who lives with their sister, Paula Stone Tucker) at Sunny Hill Country Club near Kent in the Goodyear Retirees Golf League, which has more barbershop singers than Goodyear retirees nowadays.

Tom and John, Class of 1950, are partners in the league. Ray's partner is Gregg Ray, who took the photo.

So brothers squared off today. You'll have to ask them about the scores.

Great day to play golf. Great company.

And Paula’s son, Patrick, flew in from New York City, where he’s a jazz musician, for six days. There’ll be plenty of Irish family gatherings for almost a week. Plus one Polish guy whose mother was born in Italy.

Nico “Nick” Ilich, husband of Rose Matthews Illich, Class of 1960, made SIX holes-in-one at the Green Hills Country Club in Everson. SIX!!!

I’ve been playing golf for seven decades and the closest I came was hitting the pin that holds the flag and the ball rolling 6 inches from the cup. But I did watch Bob Kasper, Class of 1950, make his only hole-in-one at Rogers City Country Club in Michigan.

Golf Digest, which has been tracking aces for 60 years, puts the odds for an individual doing it once at 12,500 to 1. But six times? My crude math puts those odds at 9 million to 1!!

 

And Green Hills isn’t a par-3 course where every hole is a possible hole-in-one. Just reaching some of its greens is an achievement.

 

Twelve of the 18 holes are more than 350 yards long, well beyond the drives of normal golfers.

 

There are only six par-3’s, where aces are most likely. And the shortest one, from the closest tee box for that hole, is 148 yards away. Hardly a chip shot for the ace of a lifetime for most of us.

Rose’s brother is Simon Matthews Jr., Class of 1956, whose widow is Shirley Smith Matthews, Class of 1957. Simon and Shirley were the owners of The Den, which recently closed in Monongah. 

Their parents were Simon Matthews and Marguerite Tropea Mathews, Class of 1926. Marguerite was part of the Tony Tropea family that had the grocery store on Camden Avenue (U.S. 19) next to the building that housed Carlot’s Grill.

Simon Paul was on the 1955 Monongah High state champions football team, a teacher/coach for 28 years at Monongah and Farmington high schools and a former Monongah mayor.

Marguerite “Muggy” Matthews Stalnaker, Class of 1966, is Rose and Simon's sister.