SportsJuly 17, 2008
Lassies Classic tees off
Mary Jane Eftink has made a habit of holes in one. She recorded her fourth ace in four years Wednesday afternoon at Cape Girardeau Country Club. This one happened to come during the first round of the Lassies Classic, but it was not enough to propel Eftink and teammate Ann Fowler into the championship flight of the 30th annual event...
Mary Jane Eftink has made a habit of holes in one.
She recorded her fourth ace in four years Wednesday afternoon at Cape Girardeau Country Club. This one happened to come during the first round of the Lassies Classic, but it was not enough to propel Eftink and teammate Ann Fowler into the championship flight of the 30th annual event.
In fact, the ace on the 130-yard par-3 13th hole led to almost as much bad as good.
"After that hole in one, we kind of got shook and bogeyed the next two holes because we got so excited," Eftink said. "I said, 'We better get back on track' because we wanted to be even.
"If we wouldn't have gotten shook. ... Our goal was to be in the championship flight."
"We don't care if we win it; we just want to be in it," Fowler said.
But Eftink and Fowler fell just one stroke short of making the top flight, instead settling for a share of the lead in the AA flight for the two-day tournament.
The event concludes today. More than 90 teams are taking part in six flights, which were divided following the opening round.
The 11 teams in the championship flight all are under par, with Janice Hoffman and Vicki Long leading the way at 5-under 66. They have a two-stroke lead over two teams — Sandy Barclay and Mary Jane Tyler and the 2005 champions Leslie Steele and Robyn Young.
Hoffman and Long also have championship credentials, having won back in 1993 and 1997. They finished second last year, five strokes behind eight-time champions Harriette Myers and Diane Fowler, who are not in this year's field.
Long said it took the duo a while to get going Wednesday afternoon in a round that featured six birdies and a bogey on No. 5.
"It just took us a few holes to get kind of acclimated," Long said. "It was very humid, we were short a lot and so we had to try different clubs. We missed some putts; you know how it is. Golfers always think they can do better.
"Hopefully, we will do the best we can tomorrow."
Wednesday was warm, but a break from what the tournament has brought in the past, Ann Fowler noted.
"There have been some years where you had to have a towel on your neck and your head was throbbing when the round was over," she said.
Eftink and Fowler parlayed the good weather and the ace into their best round in tournament play, beating a previous score of 74.
Their lone previous championship flight bid came when the event was played at Kimbeland Country Club in Jackson. That's one place where Eftink hasn't had a hole in one lately.
She scored a hole in one two years ago on No. 8 at Cape Country Club while playing with her husband, Leon. She also had an ace at Dalhousie Golf Club last year and one in Arizona during her streak.
"My husband hasn't had any, and he was the first person I called," Eftink said. "He said, 'Oh, God, not again.' I'm just waiting for him to get one.
"Now, I have to call him again and tell him, 'You better watch out because the bill could be pretty high here.'"
Oh, yes, the other drawback of that hole in one — the time-honored tradition of buying the drinks.
"It's really wrong, because everyone should be buying me drinks," Eftink said, "but that's the way it is."
Eftink, playing in her 10th Lassies Classic in her 10th year of golfing, said she used the 6-hybrid for the shot.
"It felt good and everything," Eftink said. "We said, 'Boy it's close.' We watched it all the way and we knew it was a great shot, but we could see part of the ball so that's why we didn't think it went in. It landed right and front of the pin and the pin was what was holding it [against the side of the cup]. It was neat to see it all the way."
Scores
Results from first day of Lassies Classic at Cape Girardeau Country Club:
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
66 (5 under par)
Janice Hoffman/Vicki Long
68 (3 under par)
Sandy Barclay/Mary Jane Tyler
Leslie Steele/Robyn Young
69 (2 under par)
Marie Ballard/Charlotte West
Barbara Dalton/Suzie Ruppert
Shawna Glueck/Laurie Welter
Jane Kirk/Alice Temm
70 (1 under par)
Bonnie Bradley/Pam Heisel
Sissy Donahue/Sherre Simmons
Harriett Drusch/Margaret Sanders
Deb Mealy/Kathy Morris
AA FLIGHT
71 (Even par)
Christy Benton/Donna Wheeler
Anita Jo Brogden/Martha Johnson
Jennifer Coad/Deanna Estes
Sharon Dow/Jan Keefe
Mary Jane Eftink/Ann Fowler
72 (1 over par)
Mary Bain/Doris Stepp
Judi Brey/Marlena Jones
Martha Hamilton/Barbara Johnson
Julie Illner/Elaine Vitello
73 (2 over par)
Emily Corwin/Julia Corwin
Karen Davis/Carolyn Willett
Ruth Ann Henager/Nancy Johns
Luanne Keifner/Carol Largent
Terrie Mouser/Jan Shultz
74 (3 over par)
Sheila Cunningham/Sandy Dorton
Barb Gannon/Joyce Queen
A FLIGHT
75 (4 over par)
Claire Karnes/Diana King
Sandy Magurany/Kathleen Robinson
Kathy Raines/Lillian Schneider
76 (5 over par)
Kate Ackerman/Dee Fry
Yvonne Cross/Jan Eveans
Joan Harris/JoAnn Taylor
Mary Lee Hibbits/Reba Mell
Nancy Kohl/Marty Seymour
77 (6 over par)
Stephanie Augspurger/Sharon McCune
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Jan Crider/Melissa Crowley
Helen Ezzell/Janie Wheeler
Mary Henry/Cora Dell Johnson
Jean Irby/Kay Sneathern
B FLIGHT
78 (7 over par)
Lisa Beussink/Carol Weinrich
Lillian Crain/Linda Shields
Mary Sue Layton/Janet White
Linda Simpson/Sandy Swalls
Gloria Thies/Cathy Thompson
79 (8 over par)
Cathy Butler/Sondra Kee
Mary Cotner/Cindy Schmoll
Shirley Kegley/Connie Spears
Kathy Kirksey/Penny Scheibal
Martha Todd/Brenda VandenBrook
80 (9 over par)
Carolyn Blechle/Clara Schafer
Sharon Bush/Margaret Schicker
Matilda Cain/Sue Collins
Sarah Cochrane/Mary Alice Regenhardt
Donna Gibbar/Brenda Govro
Laura Kozisek/Linda Tewis
C FLIGHT
81 (10 over par)
Glenda Buchanan/Phyllis Jones
Linda Byrd/Joyce Spoo
Sheila Caskey/Mary Ann Vogelsang
Pam Carr/Lynda Shannon
Karen Parrish/Nancy Sorgen
82 (11 over par)
Charlotte Arneson/Shari McConnell
Donna Cooksey/Phylis Piazza
Dorothy Holland/Dixie Jones
Joyce Kuntz/Dana Underwood
Jo McPherson/Marsha Robinson
83 (12 over par)
Peggy Ellis/Phyllis Seabaugh
Janet Esicar/Susan Vickery
Diane Jacquemin/Yvette Wattigney
Betty Michel/Shirley Moore
84 (13 over par)
Diane Blanchard/Theresa Rainwater
Gretchen Glassford/Janice Storm-Lingle
Barbara Harris/Adeline Walker
D FLIGHT
85 (14 over par)
Hilda Bryant/Lola McCann
Joan Chilton/Jean Norman
Robin Davis/Patty Ralph
Terri Hanley/Rhea Hasemeyer
Beth Mapes/Catharine Weed
Glen May/Linda Williams
Connie McManus/Barbara Sloan
86 (15 over par)
Sharon Brockland/Pat Pelch
Mary Crabtree/Maggie Shelton
Margie Maddox/Virginia Watkins
Renee Reeves/Brenda Spence
87 (16 over par)
Laurel Adkisson/Jackie Griffith
Betty Dewitt/Nancy Settles
Mary Ann Hampton/Bev Roland
Barbara Hautak/Nancy Ranson
90 (19 over par)
Wendy Blackden/Louise Campbell
Jean Mabrey/Diana Miller
92 (21 over par)
Edna Ruth Fischer/Marcia Wagner
Judy Holcomb/Priscilla Kirby
PRIZE WINNERS
No. 2 (Closest to the pin) — Morning, Sue Collins; Afternoon, Margaret Sanders.
No. 3 (Closest to the pin, second shot) — Morning, Kathy Morris; Afternoon, Harriet Drusch.
No. 4 (Longest putt) — Morning, Sheila Carkey; Afternoon, Shawna Glueck.
No. 6 (Closest to the pin) — Morning, Jean Mabrey; Afternoon, Jan Keefe.
No. 8 (Closest to the pin) — Morning, Sue Collins; Afternoon, Janice Hoffman.
No. 9 (Longest drive in fairway) — Morning, Sandy Barclay; Afternoon, Sandy Magurany.
No. 11 (Closest to the pin) — Morning, Judi Brey; Afternoon, Gretchen Glassford.
No. 13 (Closest to the pin) — Morning, Mary Ann Vogelsang; Afternoon, Mary Jane Eftink (hole in one).
No. 15 (Closest to line) — Morning, Bev Roland; Afternoon, Jan Eveans.
No. 16 (Closest to the pin) — Morning, Laura Kozisek; Afternoon, Sissy Donahue.
No. 18 (Longest putt) — Morning, Emily Corwin; Afternoon, Melissa Crowley.
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