The 30th annual Cragin was held July 12 under a blue sky and slight winds.
Hunter Country Club again hosted the tournament for the 26th year.
The northern Illinois area experienced a week of downpours which left the
course in surprisingly green condition. Players remarked that they
could actually tell the difference between the fairways and the greens.
For what seems the bazillionth time, Ken Mrock once again took home
the Low Gross Trophy with a score of 86. Several players mounted charges
of their own, but fell short of glory. Moe was hot on the trail, but
dunked a ball in the water on 15. That led to a double bogey on the
short par 3. He followed with another double bogey. Still Moe had a
chance to tie Mrock and take home the trophy via the tiebreaker rule of best
score on the last hole. (We don't have playoffs anymore since old farts like
us have enough to do just to make it through 18 holes without worrying about
more). Moe needed a birdie on the last hole to tie, and nearly chipped
in a 50 yard shot. It hit the front of the green and roled ten feet, hit
the flag and stopped just six inches from the hole. Had that gone in,
it would have been the shot of the day.
That shot, however, belonged to The Leech. On the par 3 15th hole,
lengthened this year to 160 from its traditional wedge or nine iron length,
Leech hit a higharcing shot that stopped a mere six inches from the cup.
Moe's annual prediction that the tournament would yield its first ace
nearly came true. There would have been no need to enforce the Ace Rules
which were enacted earlier this golf season. We were all looking forward
to Leech buying us the drinks. We'll have to wait. Moe will make
the same prediction next year.
Another player in the hunt was Founder Dennis Zielinski. His recent
goals in The Cragin have been merely to run a decent tournament and to beat
the pants off Moe in the tournament. We have no idea why he wants Moe's
pants off. Nor do we understand this seeming obsession with beating
Moe in golf. In the numerous times that they have played together since
they played on 800 yard holes at Hansen Park, The Weasel has always had Moe's
number. It is only recently that Moe's game has improved enough to
beat Den. Well, that an a combination of the massive deterioration
of Weasel's skills.
In their annual game within a game, Moe beat Dennis by two strokes. Where
Moe's quest for the trophy fell apart on two holes, the 15th and 16th, Dennis's
drive took a turn for the worse on the infamous 9th. After putting
his ball in the first creek, he put another ball in the second creek as well
on his way to a quadruple bogey. Weasel finished with an 89, three
shots back.
We had an increase in participants this year. Twenty-eight people showed
up and some family members joined us for lunch later. Of course, nearly
half of them were Zielinski family members and their guests.
Rookie Tom Repel was pleasantly surprised that he took home the Low Handicap
Trophy with a net score of 60. CGA bylaws state, however, that only
original CGA members can win the traveling trophy. The honor of the
trophy collecting dust goes this year to Bob Sparr with his net score of
68.
Amid the lousy golf shots, the numerous cries of "Ah Shit!" and "Nice shot,
asshole!" the cameraderie and friendship of Chicago born men and women continued
for another year. We have all moved on in our lives, our children grown,
our golf games as bad as ever. The trials and tribulations of life
seemed trivial at least for one day. We'll take that gimme.
