Better luck next year, Brooklyn boys

With three wins and the very real possibility of a victory in the Fed Ex Cup, Steve Stricker has suddenly become a legitimate candidate for the Jack Nicklaus trophy (player of the year). Stricker has been the model of consistency all year with 10 top 10 finishes including three wins, two seconds and one third. 


With the children going to school, Shelter Island will make a radical change this week. Following one of our busiest Labor Day weekends with superb weather, many families will be packing up and heading west. Always a funny time of year for me since I am looking for a little break but I would like the activity to return in a couple of weeks. As you know, that doesn’t happen.


Although the tournament committee anticipated a busy weekend and did not schedule any events over the weekend, the Ryder Cup boys did have their annual duel between the Brooklyn guys and the Shelter Island guys. The Brooklyn boys consisted of Frank Adipietro, Joe Taranto, Ken Nolan and Mike Stromberg playing Shelter Islanders Mike Gray, Jerry Jetter, Jack Gruber and Tom Hickey.


I did not have a chance to watch much of what turned out to be a great finish in this third meeting, but after 36 holes and all the different formats, the two teams were tied. A tie forces the boys into a sudden death playoff which they played in a better-ball-of-two format. The match ended up going four extra holes before giving us a winner. Michael Gray ended up as the final hero with his par on the difficult fourth hole.


Yes, like the boys from Brooklyn in the 50s, for the third time in a row it will be “wait till next year.” Although he ended up on the losing team, Mike Stromberg was hailed as playing the best and most consistent golf throughout the event. But seriously guys, two and a half million people and only one golf course in all of Brooklyn, I think you did pretty well.


In other action, in a best-two-of-five format, the last Friday night golf for this year was won by Caren Nederlander, Ed Mishkin, Ginny Brooks, Kevin Brooks and Paul Winum with four under par. In second place at even par were Pat Kett, Herb Kett, Barbara Mahoney, Charles Mahoney and Leila Pinto. 


Labor Day morning didn’t stop the Monday players from having their tournament. The men played the quota event again and Jerry Cohen was the man this week. Cohen finished an astonishing 10 points over his quota to easily take first place money in the individual segment of the tournament. Marty Ryan, with 7 points over his quota, finished all alone in second place with John Quigley, 6 over, finishing third.


The quota team winners were John Quigley with 6, Alain Roizen with 1, Chris Quigley with 1 and Sid Beckwith with minus 2. The four-man team was 6 over quota and good enough for first place.


The ladies played in their Last Chance tournament on Tuesday, or what some called the Last Gasp. Julie O’Connor took first place honors with a fine round of 69. Nancy Ivers took second place with her 71 and just 1 shot back at 72 was Jane Babinski. The chippie money was split up between Jean Pettibone for chipping in twice and Melina Wein for chipping in once.