After climbing to the top of the league, Art Czachorowski dropped back to 6th place when gallivanting in Florida became a higher priority. The old guard at the Polish American Tavern was distraught. Their very existence was intricately intertwined with Czach’s performance on the OCAGA Tour. Indeed, the OCAGA Tour would no longer exist without him and that was discussion as the June Tournament drew near.
Art is the oldest living active player, who was involved with the creation of the Tour back in the “old days of folklore” (1968-1969), before Sanctuary Publications began to tell the story on the internet via OCAGA News and now the OCAGA News Blog.* Just when it looked like the Tour would falter (1990), Art won his first championship. He would collect four titles during the Decade of Czachorowski. As legend has it, Mike O’Obrien , in a state of languor, dripping with lassitude and lethargy, in an alcohol induced torpor, in a back booth in the Irish Pub, was inspired by Czach’s exploits. OB joined the tour. While never achieving near the fame on the Links, O’Brien charisma and innate Joie De Livre, lead to the attraction of the majority of the current OCAGA players and their contacts, either directly connected to O’Brien or a person who came into the league because of O’Brien.
When the Emerald Links Tournament began there was considerable relief when Art Showed driving his Miata, undoubtedly the old guard surmised, directly from all night carousing. Out of the gate, Art was strong, in a tie with Marc Bohan after 3 holes and ahead in raw score after 4. The 2016 winner Mike Lazarchick opened with a snowman and played the par threes on the front , 8 over par, appearing to be a non factor. Tour Champion Rob Juliano was finally having a competitive day and Two Time Tour Champion Phil Stocker was close to his groove and he is very dangerous when he is on!
“Artski Sixski” chants, intermixed with slugs of Warka Beer, preferred by the old guard from one of Poland’s Oldest Breweries. They got more frequent and louder through the first 5 holes. Art was magnificent. The jubilation fell abruptly and slithered into a deep swirling chasm of inexplicable ineptitude, on six, then seven and again on eight. Czak placed three straight 7s on the Scorecard! Bohan and the Doctor each picked up 7 strokes. The runaway was now a dogfight. On nine, the old guard jumped to their feet when Art stuck the ball tight on the par three. Bohan would struggle to a 5 and Lazarchick who hit his ball on the left side of the green and took a 90 degree bounce into the water, settled for a dismal 6. Czak , with the sweetest precision dropped his Birdie in the center of the cup.
Bohan would traverse the back taking 41 strokes. The wind was howling on the last two holes, into their faces. Marc Birdied 17, but bogeyed 18. The Doctor too, had put up an impressive charge, until faltering to double bogey(7) on seventeen and bogey on eighteen for a final of 42 strokes. Rob Juliano finished 7, 6. Both Phil Stocker and Glen Hamm finished 8,7. And Art Czachorowski? Bogey, Bogey, yeah, good enough to Win the Tournament. Art finished net 70, ahead of Bohan net 71. Lazarchick took 3rd over Juliano and Stocker by low handicap, all finishing with a net 72. It was an incredibly exciting match for the fans and a clear example of why the OCAGA Tour is so successful in the marketplace.
The Victory lifted Art back into the top 4. Lazarchick took over the point lead with Marc Bohan and Charlie Ranucci close behind. Glen Hamm, Current Champion Rob Juliano and President Scotty Shaw are within striking distance, despite not yet having reached their potential this season.
At the English Pub the crowd was quite subdued. There was heavy early betting in Vegas on Young Roger Read to fair well at Emerald Links. He is a full weekday member and often in the summer evenings is walking the course and hitting the ball. Playing since childhood, there is a reason why his handicap is so low and of course when most of the scores are from a place where there is course knowledge, the handicap index is further reduced. The pub fans were shocked when he did not play in the OCAGA EL Outing and the odds makers in Vegas smiled.
POINTS AFTER FOUR
PTS Tour Player
- 77 Lazarchick, Mike
- 75 Bohan, Marc
- 73 Ranucci, Charlie
- 69 Czachorowski, A
- 64 Hamm, Glenn
- 51 Juliano, Rob
- 48 Shaw, Scott
- 47 Read, Roger
- 42 St George, Don
- 36 Buechner, John
- 36 Swanson, Andy
- 29 O’Brien, Mike
- 21 Borillo, Ed
- 17 Stocker, Phil
BREAKING NEWS: Don St George is missing? After climbing to the top with Art
Has anybody seen this guy?
Czachorowski, in second place behind after Pinelands, Don did not show for Running Deer and Emerald Links. Numerous e-mails have not garnered a response. The St George Medical Centre Free Health Plan for Life has not heard from Don. An offer of a Retreat in St George Bermuda for Don, purportedly got no response. He did not respond to the recent “Date for the Next Tournament” poll. Any information that will lead to Don’s return to the OCAGA Tour or a substantial clue to his whereabouts**will be handsomely rewarded by an anonymous supporter.
LATE DATE CHANGE MAY HURT JOHN BUECHNER’S RACE TO THE FINAL FOUR
When the date was changed for the Golden Pheasant Tournament, “supposedly” because it was on a holiday weekend, John Buechner was directly affected. Since remarrying and beginning the “move” from Jersey via Pennsylvania en route to South Carolina, John has “summer” weekends booked in a tight schedule and cannot make the new date on the 9th. With a new swing, displaying significant potential, along with his high high handicap, John would be a serious threat if he made the finals. A cadre of loyal fans suggested a possible ploy to keep John out of the race. The Investigative reported is on the case. It is not known if Rob Juliano had anything to do with the change, which apparently also keeps Marc and Mia from attending on the 9th. With Marc out of the picture, Rob would be a giant step closer to being able to climb into the race and defend his title. OCAGA President Scotty Shaw was overheard in a conversation at Running Deer saying that Obama was not a good US President. As most know, there are some who say race relations deteriorated during his 8 years in office. You be the judge. The Investigative Reporter will keep you updated as new information becomes apparent.
Marc Bohan continues to take in the big bucks in Scratch. Art Czachorowski got the lion’s share in Handicapped.
* Exclusive Interview with the OCAGA Historical Reporter allowed the publication of this article, which unfortunately cannot be considered as accurate as today’s news because it occurred during the “old days of folklore,” however in current time, many media sources are often castigated as Fake News. For the record, no one has ever accused the OCAGA News Blog to be Fake News. Logically, since this is an OCAGA News Blog, you may consider everything printed to be factually more probable than anything reported in any other media sources on the planet. Yes, to the savvy reader, this is clearly a Bootstrap Paradox.
** Yes, “Whereabouts” is actually a real word, not slang. Occasionally the OCAGA News Blog uses big words when they are appropriate for elucidation.
Ocean City Amateur Golf Association 