Ann Rounthwaite

A flock of brightly colored birds invaded the Oakwood Golf Club at dawn on March 8. They were there for the culmination of months of work – the OLNGA Member/Guest day, themed this year as “Bye, bye, Birdie.” With the help of volunteers and club staff Barbara Solomon and Gary Vien, event chairs Margaret Johns and Sharon Gale completed last minute preparations. When 76 golfers started arriving they were welcomed warmly by a large yellow bird and the efficient registration team of Karen Kenyon, Fran Neumayr, Susie Cook and guests. John Walker, Bruce Gale and Mike Stewart stowed their bags in carts labelled and stocked by Kathy Chebuhar and Reggie Wegman.

Pre-golf activities included breakfast prepared by Sally Spangler, opportunities to buy mulligans from Deb Burns and Sandy Krediet, raffle tickets from Madelyn Walker and Carol Pontek, and basket raffle tickets from Tuny O’Rourke, Marcy Griffith and Susan Meer; 22 fantastic baskets offering something for every taste had been lovingly created and donated by OLNGA members.

The nine-hole scramble began at 9:30 a.m. Players could buy a drive from pros Eddy Renio and Kevin Marugame. Sheila Bossio worked her usual magic in pairing golfers and Reggie Wegman did the same in scoring. The winning foursome on the Lakes was K. Chebuhar, J. Roberts, D. Greenwood and V. Mendenhall, and on the Sonoran S. Cook, J. Johns, M. Medved and B. Pezzute.

Skills competition winners were:

Longest Flight: K. Chebuhar, L. Dwyer; L. Trisch and S. Ironside; Closest to the Nest: B. Cannon, R. Ginsberg; U. Bird and J. Thompson; Closest to the Roadrunner: S. Johnson, M. Bergerson; J. Drace and R. Steinfest. Sharon Gale, Deb Greenwood, and Erika Tiepel created such charming graphics for signs and other communications that it seemed a shame to try to hit the Roadrunner.

Sharon Gale outdid herself with the luncheon. The avian theme continued with tables decorated with fanciful hand-painted birdhouses and favors of dazzling bird masks created by artistic Lady Niners under Sharon’s direction. Everyone enjoyed the good food, fabulous decorations and great company. Carol Russell presented a fashion show. A lucky golfer at each table won a birdhouse. There was even a Steve Harvey moment as golf and raffle winners were announced.

Rachel Enloe not only photographed the entire event but acted as treasurer. She reports that over $1300 was raised to be donated to the Hamilton High School girls’ golf team.

Other golf results:

2/16. Low Gross Club Championship game – Flight 1: 1st Joyce Parker, 2nd Cora Lathom-Levensky, 3rd Phyllis Madison; Flight 2: 1st Pat Stead, 2nd Tuny O’Rourke, Carol Wilcox and Linda Trisch; Flight 3: 1st Colleen Duke, 2nd Julia Collier, 3rd Barbara Stewart

2/23. Jo Williams Low Net game: Flight 1: 1st Nancy Heberling and Helen Semple, 2nd Margo Lindsey; Flight 2: 1st Joan Garceau, 2nd Mary Medved, 3rd Patty Partridge and Linda Trisch 3rd; Flight 3: 1st Barbara Stewart , 2nd Margaret Johns, 3rd Colleen Duke

On March 1 Colleen Duke, Karen Kenyon and Linda Trisch scored exactly what they predicted and were rewarded for their prescience.