Once again, Buena Vista proved to be a challenge for the OCAGA Tour and everybody showed! Weather beaten fairways called for rolling the ball but high rough everywhere caught a lot of clubs, forcing errant shots. The sand traps for those making trips to the beach, ran the gamut from hard pan to thick sand.  Almost half the field scored over 100 and only  Marc Bohan was able to break 90, delivering a  low gross score of 82, taking 3^rd place.  The real battle was between two veterans who used the experience of years and a lot of nice, easy swings to compensate for the lack of distance they enjoyed in earlier years.

The Godfather’s body guard asked if Valerio was Italian. The Godfather after a puff of his Tuscanello Anise cigar responded,  Valerio is a male given name in several languages,derived from the  Roman surname  Valerius, which itself is derived from the  Latin verb valere – “to be strong.”

Val Fransel’s Sweet Swing was on Fire!

Don St George Goes to Long Putter

Valario Fransel, once known for Booming drives from a body that in his heavy days barely tipped the scale at 100, played a very nice game. His net 90, second low gross on the day, was just enough to squeak by Don St George who is having a remarkable comeback season after missing all of 2012 on the disabled list.  Giving Don a stroke, Val came out of the gate weak and was promptly four strokes behind Don. By the third hole it was 5 strokes!  Pulling himself back into the game, Val began to chip away at the leader and by the 8^th hole he pulled even. After 9 he was 1 up and after 10 took his greatest lead at 2. Don hung in with beautiful straight shots, putts that dropped, and tied the match again at 13. From then on it continued to be very tight to the end. Val was able to take and put a one stroke victory on the Scorecard, his first since the 2010 season.

Andy Swanson , John Buechner  and Paul Ruth finished 4^th, 5^th  and 6^th  delivering nice games and keeping their final four hopes alive. Andy moved up nicely into 7^th place overall, however 14 point out of fourth place. He needs to win a tournament.   Paul farther down the point list really needs to score well in the final two tournaments and John has a big hill to climb.

Who Hit that Booming Ball?

Jeff Spickler shares a moment of glory with his many fans. He is well known for strutting his stuff on the Dance Floor.

Scotty Shaw played well enough to move closer to the top. Both Don St George and Marc Bohan are in position to displace him with two to go. Charlie Ranucci and Glenn Hamm faltered at Buena, but still lead the pack by comfortable margins so late in the season. White Oaks will be a big one for all those in contention.

Glove exudes corruption!

Shaw. “I always have time for the little people.”

Mike Lazarchick will not be there. Once a factor in league play, rumor has it he has fallen upon hard times. On numerous occasions he has been asked why he drives with a two wood. Perhaps he cannot afford a Driver? Since retirement he has had to deal with a fixed income.   OCAGA President Scotty Shaw is rumored to be introducing an OCAGA Foundation to offer those in need, clearly in an effort to dispel any rumors of corruption in his administration.  We found no evidence that Shaw purportedly is being advised by a PR Firm on ways he might improve his image.  The OCAGA News Blog Star Photographer was able to capture a photo of Lazarchick’s glove (above) adding substance to the possibility of insufficient funds?   If asked, it is possible that Eddie Borillo would suggest taking money from the SCATS competition to fund the foundation.

Marc Bohan was the big winner in Buena SCATS      SCATMAN 2013

Top 9 with Two to Play:

1. 109 Ranucci
2. 99  Hamm, G
3. 88  Shaw
4. 86  St George
5. 84  Bohan
6. 77  Hamm, D
7. 72  Swanson
8. 70  Spickler
9. 70  Ruth