On March 3rd was another event planned by our Director of Golf Ralph which is a two person Scramble and the 18 holes will only be set up as a Par 3 course. The normal tee boxes will be moved to give the men the white tees from 90 to 165 yards while the ladies will be the red tees of 60 to 125 yards. There were special tee times in late morning and early afternoon to give members a time that would agree with their schedule on Sunday.

There was a $20.00 per person entry fee and all winners would be gift certificates to the Golf Shop. In the pre-information about this Scramble that if an “unofficial” Ace was made during the event there would be a $100.00 gift certificate to the Golf Shop as well as great “fame” at the Mill Creek Golf Club.

My playing partner in this Scramble is a member who decided to take up golf two years ago. Barbara is dedicated to improving her game and at times gets so frustrated. She was a great tennis player previously and thought that playing golf would be easier. We have been encouraging her and helping her along. She has taken numerous golfing lessons but sometimes too much information can be a problem. She is delightful to play with as she has such a desire to improve her game. I explained to her that with tennis you were only playing on one court with one racket but in golf you have 18 holes and each one is different with the opportunity to use many different clubs in your bag. This is why learning to play golf takes time and practice, practice, practice.

Our tee time for this Scramble was 11:40 a.m. and I had to hurry as it was a Sunday and I went to church. The church services went a little long so rushed home to change and be on my way to the club. I had packed a little lunch earlier so I could eat as we played. I made it in time to pay my fees and we were off to find the first tee box. As we arrived near to where the first green is located the team ahead of us was teeing off. We noticed that they were using the white tee boxes so called to them that the ladies were to use the red tees. They had not noticed them located across the other side of the fairway.

Finally we teed off, I was on the green and Barbara hit and her shot was great just passed the pin. I wanted her to putt first and she made the putt for a birdie all by herself. She was so pleased and we were off to find the next tee box. We were doing fine until we reached the fourth hole and another team came up to join us. They wanted to play along with us as they had skipped hole #2 because they could not find the right tee box for that golf hole. They would have to go back and finish the hole after all 18 holes were played. This is what makes this type of event interesting as you never know what will happen.

On the seventh hole our Pro caught up to us and told us that the team ahead of us had a hole-in-one. This tee box on #5 was a blind shot between trees and over the sand trap she said after we talked to her that she just couldn’t believe her ball was not on the green until they looked in the hole. These are always such a surprise and fun to have happen in these events.

Our two teams were moving along very well, some good holes and some we had trouble. The Pro shop was very clever in where they placed the tee boxes as some were over trees, over sand traps or over water. Most were never more than 100 yards away from the green with a few at 125 on one we had to tee off from within a sand trap. On our last hole our tee box was from #17 fairway rough over water to the #18 green. It was just a wedge away and Shelley from the other team with us hit a great shot and Barbara said it went in the hole. Shelley could not believe it and we had to drive around the lake to get to the #18 green. I walked up and there was her ball was in the hole. I called to her and said it was up to her to pick it out of the hole. She was so excited. We know these types of hole-in-ones are not official but they sure were in this event as she got to share a $100.00 gift certificate with Sharon who had one earlier. Evidently the men were not as lucky as only these two ladies received this honor.

This was a fun type of event even through the wind and few sprinkles we felt later in the round did not hinder our play. My team was not one of the winners but we enjoyed the day and had a great time. These are great fun and we wished more would have come out to participate in an interesting event. There were just eight teams as four each for men and ladies. We have many more events on schedule through out this year so I hope more members will become involved.