The city of Sorrento Italy gifted The Godfather several cases of  Dolceterra Lemoncello, highly regarded as one of the best drinks in the world. He gave everyone a taste when Ed Borillo was two strokes behind Marc Bohan in Gross Score at the turn  They held their glasses high and toasted to the Shrine in the entrance of the Italian Bistro,  “A Faint Glimmer of Hope,” honoring Ed’s incredible 2002 Championship Season. And here he was on this day, the eldest player on the tour, with the highest handicap, leading the field by a significant margin.

 At Le Petite Café,  Pierre was grumbling once again that Marc Bohan’s Handicap was too low. When the initial final scores were posted Pierre immediately shifted to outrage and made formal protest when he saw that  Marc, Andy and Bill were under review for probable disqualification for submitting non matching scorecards. Neither card was signed. One with Marc’s name spelled correctly, as opposed to the other which replaced the C with a K,  only had scores through the first 17 holes. The other had what appeared to be scores posted in the wrong boxes on holes 12 and 13. Technically, when scorecards do not match, the higher score is taken as the official final score. That rule would eliminate Marc’s possible Birdie on # 12 and closest to the pin for three points. Pierre argued that the Cards for Fran, Jim, Ed Hannan and Dave were also not signed and the Secretary was not at the tournament to accept and verify signatures! With the Promenade ablaze with chatter about Brain Fog and Chemo Fatigue, the Hofbräuhaus added support to an Incompetence Claim noting the incorrectly published name of William Tobias Finger. Of course, they were quick to add that President John Larson undoubtedly would have addressed the situation had the membership come to his Pre-Tournament meeting to start the season. 

In the Polish American Tavern, Stanislaw told Cashmir that Art Czachorowski, who was on the committee that formed the Ocean City Amateur Golf Association, and Marc’s father, also in that group, would have never turned in a card that was unsigned with numbers not matching. They were of course upset that Rich Antczak had not yet returned from the Arizona tour. With Art’s passing and Lazarchick diagnosed with debilitating stage 4 cancer, the Tavern had no representation. Anticipatory excitement exploded when it was announced Rich would  be back for The Vineyards.

The Norwegian Cruise line bar was also a glum place with Phil Stocker last minute injury and possibility of not being back for the next venue. Henrik did interject that Phil Stocker was still universally accepted as the best OCAGA President of all time. 

Michael O’Brian was in his seat at the Irish Pub, pumping blood with a pacemaker, not released to play by his doctor. He shook his head often watching phenom Jim Cummings, a Rookie of the Year, struggle  to keep his front score under 50. OB was surrounded by Patrons who were trying to sit as close to him as possible. When they groaned too much, OB reminded them with calming hand gesture and words that the tournament was far from over.

The Hofbräuhaus,  now featuring Larson and Finger,  in general, are now considered to have the strongest team. Lisbet, the new bartender has been encouraging everybody to lobby for John Larson as the best ever President. There has not been such early enthusiasm since Joe Champion took his leadership role. With Joe in the hunt, The Champion Club was also energized. Of course on opening day there was a large contingent of girl scouts outside The Club paying tribute to Stephanie Champion, the first woman to play on the tour. Stephanie’s quote, “Why would I do that?” is almost a mantra for the scouts, needing no explanation when it appears on a teashirt, except to the new younger women. When they join the troop they hear the story of Art Czachorowski complaining he did not like “to be out driven by a girl off the senior tees” and his questioning why they were allowed to play.in tournaments The quote of course was her response to the offer to play from the forward red tees. Joe was quick to to respond there was no rule saying Women were not allowed on the tour. Stephanie shattered the glass ceiling winning multiple tournaments.

When the Investigative Reporter questioned President John Larson about the handicaps, other complaints and removing the Secretary, he quickly quelled all “discussions.” He said first of all that he had full confidence in his Secretary, who is clearly the best the association has ever had. And, this Association is about Having Fun and Being as Fair as Possible with a framework designed to give all players an opportunity to make money, not just the best players with the most skills. He concluded with our Secretary publishes everything he does and if anyone is against being Fair and Having Fun, they are welcome to look elsewhere!    

The Middleman Bar, the preferred hang out for entrepreneurs, was exceptionally lively with Fran Middleman’s entrance to the tour. With the same handicap as Andy Swanson and also playing from the regulation tees, he was not only edging out Andy for a top five finish, he was quite competitive with Champion, Cummings and Kissinger for second place. It was an exciting race.  All the veterans put on a finishing show. While Andy fell short, both Champion and Cummings were impressive and caught Middleman, finishing ahead by virtue of lower handicaps. Indeed, Jim dropped par on 6 of the last 7 holes igniting the Irish Pub, highlighting OB’s wisdom. Seeing the line and executing became very easy. He just started his charge a little too late. 

The Italian Bistro increasingly sent loud cheers out onto the Promenade. Dave Kissinger dropped three beautiful putts all for bogey over the last holes, just enough to squeeze out a second place victory. It was Eddie Borillo however that turned back the clock, shocking the field with a three stroke victory, with the lead over all 18 holes. His drives were not quite the distance he had during his prime, but formidable and in the fairways. His mid game was solid, chipping sweet and his putting elicited ever increasing crescendos of oohs and ahhs. Ed Borillo was simply magnificent on opening day.