Teaming up

Sports can usually be divided into the solitary pursuits and those requiring a team structure.

Golf can be either, which is perhaps why it has a broader appeal as a lifetime sport.

At the professional level, the Solheim and Ryder Cup competitions highlight the team element over the usual weekly tournaments. 

For amateurs, the golf leagues found at nearly every club provide team-based competition opportunities.

Hundreds of Cape Region golfers participate. Rookery Golf head golf pro Kyle Deas said league spots for his course fill up quickly each season, requiring waiting lists for those hoping for an opening.

This column also reports several ladies’ league match results during the main six months of the local golf season.

I recently walked with a threesome playing a 3, 2, 1 game before the Mulligan’s Pointe Ladies 18-Hole League’s season-closing luncheon. This format counts three net scores for the par 3s, two for the par 4s and the best score for the par 5s.

Tammy Findlay, Deb Quinn and Gail Logullo provided brutally funny assessments of the state of their games, constantly cheered each other’s efforts, and showed why league play is so appealing. 

They were under no illusions that their team score would put them in any better category than “participating,” and therefore refused to take themselves too seriously. 

Considering the wet conditions as the course recovered from a recent 5-inch rainstorm, that was the right approach.

Quinn is a longtime member of the club, going back to its Sussex Pines days. She said that at one point before Pete Townsend took over the club to create Mulligan’s Pointe, the ladies league had dwindled to only a dozen members. She credited the new management with helping to create a fun and welcoming atmosphere that has swollen the current league membership to more than 60.

“There are a lot of good golfers [in the league]. Actually, it’s just a lot of good people,” she said. “We’re all happy to be here, and it’s just so fun.”

The group’s conversations sometimes dealt with playing conditions, such as where to take relief from casual water. More often, the between-shots chats focused on children and grandchildren, the local real estate market, upcoming trips and other topics – just like any other round of golf, in my experience.

The two dozen or so competitors who braved the elements that morning gathered for their luncheon after the round. I chatted with Sue Ahern, whose two-year term as league president just ended.

“The teams are set up by the pro shop, and we try to base them on handicaps, so they’re all mixed up, especially if there’s a team event, so that we’ll have a variety of different handicap levels on the same team. We work closely with Shane [Long], our pro, who’s been wonderful,” she said.

In contrast, the league I played in years ago at Shawnee CC required formal two-player teams for the season, with substitute options as needed. 

The lunch crowd applauded the days’ winners as well as the season-long accomplishments that were announced, including most improved player, total birdies and best ringer score for the year, split by handicap groupings to make it fairer for all.

Ahern said she joined Mulligan’s Pointe a few years ago. She appreciated how joining the league helped her and other new members make new friends among the club membership.

“The nicest thing about our league here is that we have people from all levels of play, from handicaps around 8 or 9 all the way up to 40, 45,” she said. “And we play together every week, mix up the handicaps. Everybody learns more of the rules and the etiquette. We’re just out here really to have fun.

“Although we have games and have prizes, it’s just really a great time out here with this group of ladies,” Ahern said.

The group also elected Findlay as their new league president. She looks forward to helping the league continue its appeal.

As for the week’s results, first place went to Maxine Ansbach, Valerie Grib, Kathy Marks and Peggy Clausen. Ahern, Chris Bielenda, Kathy Hudak and Brenda Joyce took second.

And as they predicted, Findlay, Quinn and Logullo participated.

Cape golf team boosters

Several Cape Henlopen High School athletic teams have benefited from local booster group support for many years.

A new group of parents and other supporters recently created the newest booster bunch, this time aimed at helping the Cape High golf team.

The new 501(c)(3) entity has established a social media presence on Facebook and Instagram. 

Group members have already tapped their networks to acquire shirts as well as logo’d hats, gloves and golf bags.

Fish On! restaurant at Five Points will hold a dine and donate event from 5 to 9 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 19, with 10% of all sales to be donated to the team.

Additional efforts are underway or in the planning stages. 

For more information, go to the Cape Henlopen Golf Team pages on Facebook or Instagram, or contact them by emailing capehenlopengolfteam@gmail.com.