2024 Tour of the Brookfields Finals Results

We had our FINALS for the 2024 Tour of the Brookfields season on Saturday, September 28th. It is also called “The Grand Tour“. Each division/flight had 6 teams placing in the prize circle. There were also skins awarded (3) as well as 4 closest to the pins.

It was a great golf day weather-wise at Quail Hollow Golf Course and Country Club in Oakham, MA.

We had an amazing field of 128 players – broken out into 32 teams. We had not had so many in a long time. We had 10 teams in the Nicklaus Flight, and 11 teams each in the Palmer and Player Flights.

There was incredibly competitive golf in each flight as you will see below. In the Nicklaus Flight, 6/10 teams were within just three strokes. In each of the Player Divisions, 7/11 teams were within three strokes! You can’t get much more close and competitive than that.

There were two playoffs as well for the top honors – one lasting 3 extra holes in the Palmer and one in the Player Flight – that one lasting four extra holes! The gallery got to cheer on both as they played it out on the 18th hole.

OVERALL RESULTS FROM THE 2024 TOUR OF THE BROOKFIELDS GRAND TOUR

Nicklaus Division/Flight

In the top division (the Nicklaus Division), the team of Tom Staiti, Brad Earle, Ken Burnham, and Patty Kularski had the BEST score of any team in the tournament. They shot a STELLAR 12-under par to finish on top over 4 teams that came in at -10 (not shabby either). Those four teams, who shared in the 2nd to 5th awards, were:

Ryan Auger, Dan Foley, Ray Rawlston, Bob Weighill
Cory Heyes, William Foley, Peter Davis, Paul Wyman
Chris Depasse, Mike Kularski, Kristen Depasse, Dick LaPierre
Josh Russell, Dave Russell, Darryl Furtado, Greg Wypych

Rounding out in sixth place at -9:

Rick Lindsten, Kathleen Soltys, Dave Ashworth, Keith Tytula

Player Division/Flight

In the Player Division, there was a marathon playoff of 4 holes between two teams that finished at 11 under par. To decide the top team, these teams slugged it out 3 times on the 10th hole before moving on to the 18th for the 4th and decisive playoff hole. In the end, the team of Jack Dorman, Dave Fiske, Gary Donlin, and Jim McKeon outlasted their rivals to come in first with a birdie putt by Jim McKeon on the 18th.

Coming in second in the playoff, at -11, was:

Mike Ellis, Jim Gregoire, Bill Gaudette, Ed Kosla

Tied for third at -10, and sharing in the 3rd and 4th team awards, was:

Fran Lamothe ,Bob Demaio, Tom McCarthy, George Jette
Tanner Frankian, Paul Davis, John Desimone, John Wheeler

Coming in 5th, and sharing in the 5th and 6th awards at -9 were the teams of:

Tom Orszulak, Mark A. Morin (me), Norm Laliberte, Jeff McLeod
Todd Allen, Paul Sanborn, John McQuaid, Jamie McShera

Palmer Division/Flight

In the Palmer Division there was yet another playoff as two teams finished at impressive -10’s each. This time, the playoff was three iterations of the 18th hole. Coming out on top was the team of Jim Wilson, Ron Jette, Clayton Rice, and Alex Morales.

Coming in second in the playoff, at -10, was:

Joe Desimone, Shane Higgins, Jim Lovett, Lynn Morin

Alone in 3rd place at -9 was:

Gary Ward, Stan Nolin, Leo Forget, Hoss Ford

In 4th place at -8 was:

Ron Allen, Lex Varney, George Fiske, Tim Nason Sr.

Lastly, coming in 5th, and sharing in the 5th and 6th awards at -7 were the teams of:

Ken Dorman, Dylan Allen, Wyatt Alm, Rick Gendreau
Ron McCann, Lisa Kularski, Tony Woodman, Rob Peterson

Skins

There were three skins – all eagles!

Eagle on number 2: Fran Lamothe, Bob Demaio, Tom McCarthy, George Jette
Eagle on number 8: Mike Ellis, Jim Gregoire, Bill Gaudette, Ed Kosla
Eagle on number 13: Chris Depasse, Mike Kularski, Kristen Depasse, Dick LaPierre

We also had all four par-three holes eligible for closest to the pin prizes. Any teams that did not finish in the top 6 in any division could compete for these prizes. Winning those were:

Closest to the Pin on number 4:

Tom Foley, 10′ 3″

Closest to the Pin on number 6:

Kevin Paradis, 9′ 0″

Closest to the Pin on number 11:

Steve Whitman, 8″ !!!!!

Closest to the Pin on number 17:

Jim Kularski, 3′ 10″

That rounds out the awards – congrats to all the winners and the players. Special thanks to Quail Hollow, especially Debbie Donlin, Gary Donlin, Jim LeBlanc, and the rest of the staff for making this season and this event so special.

Below are some photos I shot during the event.

A Few Event Photos

Busy putting green and range before tee-off time!

John Desimone, Stan Nolin, and Jim McKeon

Patty Kularski, Mike McCarthy, and Jeff McLeod chat it up at the bar.

George Fiske, Brad Earle, and Mike Kularski diligently doing the committee thing at the sign in desk.

Matt Brown, Pete Peloquin, Sr., and Jim McKeon consider their picks to win.

Teammates Lynn Morin and Jim Lovett ready to play.

Todd Allen, Dylan Allen, and Ryan Toomey.

We had to get extra carts there were so many teams!

Ryan Auger surrounded by the Foley brothers Dan and William.

Rich Casault gives a casual thumbs up, while Matt Desimone rocks it out.

Spencer Rice, Norm Laliberte, and Tom Orszulak

My team poses! Tom Orszulak, Mark A. Morin, Jeff McLeod, and Norm Laliberte.

What Next?

Well, the TOB will return in 2025 in April. Stay tuned to this blog for information (you can be an email subscriber for free just select follow and subscribe at the bottom of this article).

I’ll also put out information on the Facebook page here, will post at Still Harts Cafe, and at Quail Hollow.

Thanks to all the players, our sponsors, and to Quail Hollow. You can comment below on this post or the Facebook page – see you next year!!!

Documents and Info for the 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Draft Night on September 26th at 7 PM

The Draft night starts at 7 PM SHARP on Thursday, September 26th! If an A player is late, we will still proceed at 7 PM – so please plan accordingly and arrive early. All are welcome to attend the draft as it is a fun and exciting night!

As the FINALS for the 2024 Tour of the Brookfields season is nearly here, I need to share information!! This blog post will have all of the pertinent data for all players – especially the A players – for the Draft Night at Quail Hollow Golf Course and Country Club. I will share the files (which are downloadable) and screenshots of the files, with some explanations.

The “A” Players Ranking and Pick Sheet

The screenshot below shows the pick/fill in sheet for the Draft Night, to include the 3 divisions/flights.

In Round 1, the “A” players will pick in order from the player field starting with number 32 (Rich Johnson) and finishing with number 1 (Chris Depasse) across the three flights. Players can choose any remaining player from the player pool when their turn comes (the player pool will be seen later in this blog post).

In Round 2, the “A” players will pick in order from the player field starting with number 1 (Chris Depasse) and finishing with number 32 (Rich Johnson) across the three flights. Again, players can choose any remaining player from the player pool when their turn comes.

Round 3 is the “WILDCARD” Round. Each flight will be randomly selected to go first, then second and then third. When a flight is chosen, all of the “A” players in that flight will be chosen in a random order to pick their final player from any of the remaining players from the player pool. At this point, they will also choose their starting holes at random as well.

The Excel file that you can download and print for the pick is called “2024 TOB Finals Fill In Pick Sheet” and is below:

2024 TOB Finals Fill in Pick sheet Download

The 2024 FINALS Player Pool

The next question of course is, who is in the player pool as B, C, and D players? There are screenshots below – click on any for a bigger image – or download the file:

Remember, “A” players can choose any available player from any group they want when it’s their turn to pick. Here is the downloadable Excel file for the entire field of 128 players – it is called “09262024 FINALS Field by ABCD”:

09262024 FINALS Field by ABCD Download

Consolidated Results for ALL 2024 Regular TOB Events

As promised, I am sharing ALL of the 2024 event results below as screenshots and as a downloadable Excel file.

Lastly, here is the downloadable Excel called “2024 Consolidated TOB EventResults”:

2024 Consolidated TOB Event Results Download

This gives everyone access to the same information.

See you on the 26th! Get back to me with any questions that you still have!

September 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Golf Tournament – The Lamoureux Ford Open

Our sixth and LAST regular season TOB event – the September 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Tournament was held on Sunday, September 8th at Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club in Oakham, MA. It was sponsored by Lamoureux Ford in East Brookfield.

We sincerely thank Lamoureux Ford for their longtime sponsorship of this event and the Tour of the Brookfields!

There was a nip in the air and it seemed as if Fall was knocking on summer’s door. I arrived with Lynn before 7 AM and discovered a baby snapping turtle on the cart path by the cart shed below the clubhouse. I saw Debbie Donlin and let her know of my discovery as I thought it was cool. The little cold-blooded guy or gal (I did not investigate) was struggling with the cold (around 52 degrees Fahrenheit) to cross and make his way to safety.

Debbie exclaimed, “Oh my God, they hatched!”, and sure enough there was a small conga line of little snappers trying to make their way to the distant (for them) pond by the 18th hole green. Their eggs were laid on a hill earlier this year by a bog momma snapper.

I spotted the little reptiles for her and she scooped them up with an old golf ball box and got them to the pond/grass edge safely. I think she got between 12-15 of them to cover. If they had come out the day before or even an hour later I think the golf carts would have done them in – so it was an auspicious start to a golf day!

The first baby snapper I spotted – the shell was about 2″ long.

A mini-shot of the conga line – you can see there are two exiting the buried nest here and one in the lower right on its way down the hill towards water.

I thought I’d share as not many of you got to catch this little miracle of nature!

Back to the golf! Despite the initial cold, it did warm up and we had great golf weather. There were 96 golfers on 24 teams divided into three divisions/flights. The three were competitive as you will see, and we did have one very exciting playoff. There were just two skins won as well.

In the Nicklaus Flight, the team of Chris Depasse, Clayton Rice, Tim Nason, Sr., and Alex Morales came in first place with a great score of -11. This was the lowest score by any team in the tournament. Congratulations to all for a fine round of golf! Coming in second place only one stroke back at -10 was the team of Cory Heyes, Tom McCarthy, Rick Gendreau, and Jamie McShera. Very well done!

In the Player Flight, the winning team won by the largest stroke difference between first and second place that we had all year – 3 strokes! Coming out on top was the team of Tom Orszulak, Brad Earle, Brian Chaffee, and Spencer Rice. Amazing! Coming in second and taking that honor due to better match on the 15th hole was the team of Ryan Auger, Tom Foley, Dan Foley, and Brandy Peterson. Congrats to all!

Lastly, in the Palmer Flight, we had a very tight group of teams. Two of them ended up playing off in sudden death over three holes as both top flight teams came in at 8 under par. Outlasting the competition in the playoff was the team of Beth McCann, Dave Woodward, Nelson Malin, and Jason Malin. Dave Woodward, in very dramatic fashion – and with the gallery watching – made the winning putt as the last player on the last playoff hole. Wow!! with Woody’s great putt, Beth’s team narrowly outlasted the team of John Snelling, Adam Stati, Kathy Keough, and Nick Snelling. John’s team are to be congratulated as well on a tough performance – to include precariously standing on the wall over the pond on one shot (giving the baby snappers a nice view perhaps?). Amazing golf was played by these two teams!

Two skins were won – an Eagle on the par-4 second hole by the winners of the Player Flight, Beth McCann, Dave Woodward, Nelson Malin, and Jason Malin! A birdie on the par-4 fifteenth hole netted the other skin for the team of Jack Dorman, Ken Burnham, Kristen Depasse, and Greg Wypych. Congrats!

For the closest to the pin prize on 17, that went to Rich Casault for his team with a fine shot – a 2′ 1″ laser.

The results table is below, as are some notes for the upcoming and highly-anticipated FINALS! I’ll also share a few photos

2024 Lamoureux Ford Open Results

The Next Tournament IS THE FINALS!!

Thanks again to all the players, to Lamoureux Ford for sponsoring this event, and to Gary and Debbie Donlin, Jim LeBlanc, and all the staff at Quail Hollow who work so hard to make the Tour of the Brookfields possible.

The next tournament is the FINALS and it will be HUGE!.

Key information for the FINALS – Mark your calendars!

The FINALS will be on Saturday September 28th with registration starting at 8:30 AM as daylight and cold will be approaching.

This blog will have KEY INFORMATION about the FINALS. I will publish all of the results for this year’s events in a consolidated and downloadable list in this blog (“Life, Golf, Miniatures, & Other Distractions”) similar to what I did last year.

As soon as the committee decides the ranking of the A-players for the draft and the field choices, I will also include that information in the same post. I expect to put that out by the evening of September 22nd or early on the 23rd. The committee’s decision on A-men rankings and the publication of the players in the field will occur by September 23rd – also here in this blog.

Due diligence on the A-players’ parts will be an important aspect in preparing for the draft night. All will have access to the same information published here.

The FINALS sign up will close no later than September 15th – and possibly even closed up earlier. We will be looking for subs volunteers through the Facebook group Facebook page for the TOB here.

The DRAFT NIGHT for the FINALS will be held at Quail Hollow on September 26th (Thursday) evening at 7 PM. ALL are invited and encouraged to attend.

If you have any feedback or comments on this blog post – there is a comment section that you can use below. I will continue to put up these events on Facebook – with results posted here on this blog.

Once again, this blog is titled, “Life, Golf, Miniatures, and Other Distractions”. I do post other stuff here – mainly around miniature toy soldiers and tabletop wargaming (my other passions). Feel free to subscribe as an email follower! (and it is free and you’ll get instant updates).

A consolidated list of 2024 Golf Posts is here.

Lastly, I promised some photos…

The line at 7:36 – great as everyone came on time!

Cheryl Woodman, Spencer Rice, and Beth McCann

Paul Boulette, Ken Begin, Tim Nason, Jr, and Lynn Morin try to stay warm with the sun finally coming up.

Kathleen Soltys, Greg Wypych, Lisa Persson and Jamie McShera

Tony Woodman exudes confidence, while Rich Casault and Spencer look on…

Stay tuned, the FINALS ARE COMING VERY SHORTLY!

August 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Golf Tournament – The Hardwick Crossing Express

Our fifth regular season TOB event – the August 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Tournament was held on Saturday, August 17th at Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club in Oakham, MA. It was sponsored by Hardwick Crossing Golf Course.

We had great golf weather – and for the second time in a row had 104 golfers on 26 teams in three divisions/flights.

We sincerely thank Hardwick Crossing for their sponsorship of the event!

I may sound like a broken record, but once again, each of the three flights were very competitive. One were decided by two strokes, one by one, and one by a playoff to break the tie.

There were just two skins won as well.

In the Nicklaus Flight, the team of Reece McLeod, Tom McCarthy, Paul Boulette, and Lynn Morin won with agreat score of -11. Congratulations to all for a fine round of golf! Coming in second place two strokes back at -9 was the team of Jim Kularski, Rick Gemme, George Fiske, and Greg Wypych. Well done!

In the Player Flight, there was once again a two-team playoff as both top teams ended their rounds at 9 under par. That playoff took place on hole number 18, and was decided there. The team of Jim Wilson, Amanda Pierce, Jarrod Dandurant, and Joe Nichols won the playoff. The team that fought it out for first place and came in second was the team of Chip Wetherell, Pete Peloquin, Sr., Jake Malin, and Bernie Lapierre, Sr.. Of course, Chip’s team did get an amazing Eagle on the par-5 hole number 16 which was worth a good number of bucks – so kudos there!

Finally, in the Palmer Flight, the team of Dave Daoust, Tom Foley, Nelson Malin, and Mike McCarthy took top honors with the best score of the entire tournament at -12!! Wow!! In second place at only one stroke back was the team of Tanner Frankian, Dave Russell, Dylan Allen, and Jamie McShera. That team also were happy winners of the other tournament skin with an Eagle on the par-4 8th hole! So good news for them too! GREAT golf was played by these two teams!

On hole number 17, Matt Desimone got the closest to the pin prize for his team with a fine shot – a 3′ 5″ pin-seeker (that edged out his brother Joe Desimone!).

The results table is below as are some notes for the upcoming September event and the highly-anticipated FINALS! As I was busy at the event, I did not get any photos or videos this time – my apologies.

2024 Hardwick Crossing Express Results

The Next Tournament and some notes

Thanks again to all the players, to Hardwick Crossing for sponsoring this event, and to Gary and Debbie Donlin, Jim LeBlanc, and all the staff at Quail Hollow who work so hard to make the Tour of the Brookfields possible.

The next tournament is the last regular season event.

It is a SUNDAY – NOT A SATURDAY – event!

It is coming up on Sunday the 8th of September, and will be the great Lamoureux Ford Open. Sign ups for this event will come down on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 28th.

The event is coming up very quickly – and this event will also likely be VERY well-attended, so sign up early at Still Harts, at Quail Hollow, or on the Tour of the Brookfields Facebook page!

Registration starts on the day of the event (September 8th) at 7:00 AM.

Some of you need to play in this event to qualify for the FINALS, so sign up!

As before, many players are trying to get qualified for the FINALS (you need to have played in 3 to be qualified for the FINALS).

Going forward only players who have a chance at playing in 3 will be allowed to sign up. The exceptions will be sponsor’s teams and individual medical issues as reviewed by the Committee.

Key information for the FINALS – Mark your calendars!

After the Lamoureux Ford Open, all of the results for this year’s events will be consolidated and published in a blog post here in this blog (“Life, Golf, Miniatures, & Other Distractions”) similar to what I did last year. Due diligence on the A-players’ parts will be an important aspect in preparing for the draft night. All will have access to the same information published here.
The FINALS sign up will close no later than September 15th – and possibly even closed up earlier. Sign up at the September 8th event or afterwards at Still Harts, at Quail Hollow, or on the Tour of the Brookfields Facebook page!
The committee’s decision on A-men rankings and the publication of the players in the field will occur by September 23rd – also here in this blog.
The DRAFT NIGHT for the FINALS will be held at Quail Hollow on September 26th (Thursday) evening at 7 PM. ALL are invited and encouraged to attend.
The FINALS will be on Saturday September 28th with registration starting at 7:30 AM.

REQUESTS AND FYI

Thanks for arriving on time on Saturday! Thanks for getting the scorecards in quickly – these two items made things run a LOT more smoothly. Please keep that going by continuing to come early for registration. 7:30 should find everyone at Quail on September 8th.
As we hope to continue a full player showing, please sign up early – by August 28th – that’s a Wednesday! When it’s full, it’s full. If we still have openings after Aug 28th, that will be shared on the Facebook page.

A consolidated list of 2024 Golf Posts is here

July 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Golf Tournament – The 308 Lakeside Open

Our fourth regular season TOB event – the July 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Tournament – the 308 Lakeside Restaurant Open – was held on Saturday, July 27th at Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club in Oakham, MA. The weather was spectacular, as was the number of players we had sign up – we had 104 golfers sign up (with one last-minute late drop due to illness). This left us with 103 players on 26 teams in three divisions/flights to max out the available carts at the course.

We sincerely thank 308 Lakeside Restaurant in downtown East Brookfield for their sponsorship of the event!

As is the norm for the TOB, all of the flights were very competitive. None were decided by more than one stroke, with 14 of the 26 teams finishing within 3 strokes of the winning scores in their respective flights. See the results after the narrative.

We had two sudden-death playoffs – with two teams each playing off in the Player and Palmer Flights. Amazingly, there was just skin won as well (and that was a BIG prize).

In the Nicklaus Flight, the team of Ryan Toomey, Dave Fiske, Jared Danitis, and Doug Brown took top honors. They were victorious with a spectacular score of -11. This was the best score of any team across the three flights. Congratulations to all for a fine round of golf! In second place at one stroke back at -10 was the team of Cory Heyes, John McQuaid, and Matt McLeod. Due to the previously-mentioned player drop, this team valiantly played with three players instead of four – and was only 1 stroke away from the top score as well – so kudos to you three!

In the Player Flight, there was a two-team playoff as both top teams ended their rounds at 9 under par. That playoff took place on hole number 18, and was decided there after the 18th was played only once. The team of Tom Orszulak, Rich Casault, Jason McCarthy, and Lynn Morin (my wife!) won the playoff with a par. Tom told me that all of his team contributed of course to their -9, but Lynn had two spectacular putts that made a huge difference. She dropped a 35-foot downhill putt for an Eagle on the par-5 fifth hole. And she was not finished as on the next hole she then dropped a 25-foot putt on the par-3 sixth hole. WOW! The team that joined Tom’s team in that playoff was the team of Jack Dorman, Norm Laliberte, Joe Nichols, and Leo Forget, which came in at second but had also an amazing -9 round – INCLUDING that sole skin of the tournament with an Eagle on the first hole (par 4). So, they were the big winners money-wise!

Finally, in the Palmer Flight, there was a two-team playoff on holes 10, 18, and 18 as both teams there finished at an astounding -10. The team of Fran Lamothe, Rich Johnson, Ed McLeod, and Tom Korzec came out on top on the final hole. The other contending playoff team was the team of Shane Higgins, Tom Savage, Bob Demaio, and Jamie McShera who fought valiantly to the end and just came up a bit short on the final playoff hole. Wonderful golf was played by these two teams – well done!

Brian Leveille got the closest to the pin prize for his team with a fine shot – a 6′ 9″ dart!

The results table and some photos that I took will follow this narrative and some notes below.

2024 308 Lakeside Open Results

The results – and some photos I took – are below. Big congrats again to the winners!

As for photos, I did not get as many as I would have liked – and some had folks with closed eyes (I thought I’d delete those). I did get a few videos and I’ll include two here below.

Click on any of the photos for a bigger image.

Newlyweds Ron & Beth McCann, with Tony Woodman and Norm Laliberte await the start of the day

Jim McKeon and Sam Patchen happy to play golf

As for videos, these are not great (I never claimed to be trying out as a videographer), but the first is Tom Orszulak in the playoff hitting from Lynn Morin’s drive position. It’s a tough shot – probably about 125 yards – to an elevated green over a swampy pond.

As you can see Tom’s shot stayed on the green. The other team ended up off the green, chipped on, and two-putted for a 5. Tom’s team putted close and Lynn Morin got to finish as you see below (the exuberant yell at the end is from me).

Before the tournament started, Tom and Lynn gave me a pose – how prophetic!

The Next Tournament and some notes

Thanks again to all the players, to 308 Lakesidefor sponsoring this event, and to Gary and Debbie Donlin, Jim LeBlanc, and all the staff at Quail Hollow who work so hard to make the Tour of the Brookfields possible.

The next tournament is in August coming up on Saturday the 17th of July. It will be the prestigious 308 Hardwick Crossing Open and will be at Quail Hollow. The event is coming up very quickly – so sign ups for the Hardwick Crossing Open will come down on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 7th. This event will also likely be VERY well-attended, so sign up early at Still Harts, at Quail Hollow, or on the Tour of the Brookfields Facebook page!

Registration starts on the day of the event (August 17th) at 7:00 AM.

As many players are trying to get qualified for the FINALS (you need to have played in 3 to be qualified for the FINALS), going forward only players who have a chance at playing in 3 will be allowed to sign up. The exceptions will be sponsor’s teams and individual medical issues as reviewed by the Committee.

REQUESTS AND FYI

Thanks for arriving on time! Thanks for getting the scorecards in quickly – these two items made things run a LOT more smoothly. Please keep that going by continuing to come early for registration. 7:30 should find everyone at Quail.
As we hope to continue a full player showing, please sign up early – by August 7th – that’s a Wednesday! When it’s full, it’s full. If we still have openings after Aug 7th, that will be shared on the Facebook page.

This blog is titled, “Life, Golf, Miniatures, and Other Distractions”. I do post other stuff here – mainly around miniature toy soldiers and tabletop wargaming (my other passions). Feel free to subscribe as an email follower! (and it is free and you’ll get instant updates).

A consolidated list of 2024 Golf Posts is here

June 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Golf Tournament – The Toomey-Lovett Classic

Yes, this is a golf update! For those of you awaiting the third installment of my HUZZAH! convention 2024 recap, that is indeed forthcoming (yes, more suspense…). For those wondering what that is, you can click here or here to see parts 1 and 2 of that. On to golf for now!

Our third regular season TOB event – the June 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Tournament – the Toomey Lovett Classic – was held on Saturday, June the 15th at Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club in Oakham, MA. What great weather we had that day!

We sincerely thank Jim Lovett Still Harts Cafe in North Brookfield for his longtime sponsorship of the event. This TOB always has a big turnout, and this one was no exception.

Once again, turnout was phenomenal – as was the golf. We were maxed out at 26 teams (104 players)! The field was broken up into three divisions of 9, 9, and 8 teams respectively. Scoring was excellent across the divisions.

The competition was intense. Once again we had tight scoring as you’ll see below – with two out of the three flights ending up in a playoff and one with a narrow one-stroke win. Most teams were in sight of first place. This time, there were just 2 skins – and both were eagles!

We also awarded second place this time. Please see the results table and some photos that I took following the narrative and notes below.

In the Nicklaus Flight, after 18 holes there was a two-team tie for first place at -9. The tied teams played off on the 18th hole – and the team of Chris Depasse, Mike Kularski, Jason McCarthy, and Kristin DePasse were victorious with a par to defeat the second place team of Rick Lindsten, Rick Gemme, Tony Woodman, and Lynn Morin in the first sudden death playoff hole! Congratulations to all – shooting a -9 is a really nice score.

In the Player Flight, there was a two-team playoff on three holes – 10-18-18 holes – as both teams seriously rocked the course at -11 (the best score of any division in the tournament). It came down to the third final hole in sudden death. The team of Todd Allen, Ed McLeod, John McQuaid, and George Fiske outlasted the runner-up team of Dennis Jennette, Paul Sanborn, Hoss Ford, and Greg Wypych. Rumor has it that John McQuaid made the winning putt on the final hole! Amazing golf by both teams – and kudos to both.

Finally, in the Palmer Flight, we had another very close competition that came down to just one stroke. The team that triumphed with that one-stroke win was the foursome of Jim Wilson, Tom Savage, Ken Burnham, and Barbara Orszulak with a great run of -10. Outstanding! One stroke behind them was team of Tom Orszulak, Mark A. Morin (yup me), Dylan Allen, and Tim Nason, Jr. at -9 (if only I had made a couple putts…). But seriously, hearty congratulations to the winners!

There were only three skins – all Eagles on holes #1 and #5 per the chart below.

Lastly – the closest to the pin on hole #17 was won by Ryan Toomey (7′ 0″).

Now for the results table. The results – and some photos I took – are below – and click on any of the photos for a bigger image. Congrats again to the winners!

2024 Toomey-Lovett Classic Results

A happy couple! Your author and my beautiful wife Lynn!

Jim Lovett and Paul Wyman chat at the putting green.

Busy time registering all the players! Thanks to all who showed up on time!

Tom Staiti and Jim Wilson ready for the course

Tony Woodman, Tom Orszulak, and Gary Ward

John Desimone shows a masterful putting stroke.

Ed McLeod arrives at the course with plans of victory – and he did achieve that!

After the round – Mike Toomey, Brad Earle, Gary Donlin, and Debbie Donlin relax.

Brian Leveille, Deb Durgin, Bob Weighill, Ken Dorman, and Keith Tytula having fun after the tournament

The top team of the tournament at -11! Todd Allen, Ed McLeod, John McQuaid, and George Fiske.

The Next Tournament and some notes

Thanks again to all the players, to Jim Lovett for sponsoring this event, and to Gary and Debbie Donlin, Jim LeBlanc, and all the staff at Quail Hollow who work so hard to make the Tour of the Brookfields possible.

The next tournament is in June coming up on Saturday the 27th of July. It will be the prestigious 308 Lakeside Open.

Sign ups for the 308 Lakeside Open will come down on Sunday, July 21st at noon.

Registration starts at 7:00 AM on July 27th. This event will also likely be VERY well-attended, so sign up early at Still Harts, at Quail Hollow, or on the Tour of the Brookfields Facebook page!

REQUESTS AND FYI

Thanks for arriving on time! Thanks for getting the scorecards in quickly – these two items made things a LOT more smooth.
Please continue to come early for registration.

A consolidated list of 2024 Golf Posts is here.

May 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Golf Tournament – The Still Harts Open

Our second regular season TOB event – the May 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Tournament – the Still Harts Open – was held on Saturday, May the 25th at Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club in Oakham, MA. It was a BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!

We sincerely thank Still Harts Cafe in North Brookfield for their longtime sponsorship of the event. This TOB always has a big turnout, and this one was no exception.

We were maxed out at 27 teams (108 players)! With so many players, we broke the field into 4 divisions/flights. Three of the divisions had 7 teams and one had 6.

As is becoming the norm for the TOB, all of the flights were very competitive. We had not one playoff – but two three-team playoffs (in the Nicklaus and Palmer Flights). The other two flights were narrow one or two stroke victories. There were only 3 skins!

Because of the addition of a 4th flight, this time there was no addition of a second place prize in each flight, but we did add a second closest-to-the-pin consolation prize – so two other teams won those.

The results table and some photos that I took will follow the narrative and some notes below.

As mentioned earlier, in the Nicklaus Flight, there was a three-team tie for first place at -7. The teams played off on the 18th hole – and the team of Mike Ellis, Ken Begin, Keith Tytula, and Brian Leveille were victorious with a birdie in the playoff! Congratulations to all – and of note this was Mike Ellis’ second win in a row as an A-player. The other two teams in the playoff (who got par and tied for second in the playoff) were the team of Jim Kularski, Dan Foley, Mike Kularski, Matt McLeod and the team of Ryan Kularski, John Desimone, John McQuaid, Ed Sanborn. (There certainly were a lot of Kularski’s in that playoff!).

In the Player Flight, the team of Gary Ward, Mark A. Morin (yup me), Wyatt Alm, and Jeff McLeod narrowly won with a score of -7. The team of Adam Kettles, Amanda Pierce, Jim McKeon, and Deb Durgin came in at second one stroke back at -6.

In the Palmer Flight, we had another three-team playoff on holes 16-18. Two of the teams tied after the three holes at seven under par – that being the team of John Markey, Dave Ashworth, Paul Wyman, and Pete Stafford and the team of Ryan Auger, Paul Davis, Bill Gaudette, and Mark Bruso. Both these teams finished the three playoff holes at -1. The other playoff team was the team of Dave Daoust, Brandon McEvoy, Jason Mcarthy, and Christopher Thibaud, who came in one stroke back in the playoff.

In the Daly Flight, the team of Jack Dorman, Kevin Kokansky, Dave Fiske, and Barbara Orszulak shot the low round of the tournament at -9 to take a two-stroke win over the second place team of Rich Johnson, Stan Nolin, Brian Chaffee, and Lisa Persson. Nicely done!

There were only three skins – all Eagles on holes #5, 7, and 12. See the chart below for those results.

Lastly – the closest to the pin on #6 was won by Jim Wilson (1′ 7.5″) and on the 17th by Ryan Kularski (13’0″).

Now for the results table…

2024 Still Harts Open Results

The results – and some photos I took – are below – and click on any of the photos for a bigger image. Congrats again to the winners!

And now, a few photos…my phone was a bit smudged so these are less clear (sorry):

Brad Earle and Mike Kularski sign in Ed Sanborn

Paul Boulette, Jeff Bennett, and Jim Lovett

Ron and Tara mugg for the camera – well mostly Ron!

Tom Orszulak and my wife Lynn Morin get ready.

The Next Tournament and some notes

Thanks again to all the players, to Still Harts Cafe for sponsoring this event, and to Gary and Debbie Donlin, Jim LeBlanc, and all the staff at Quail Hollow who work so hard to make the Tour of the Brookfields possible.

The next tournament is in June coming up FAST on Saturday the 15th of June. It will be the famous Toomey-Lovett Open.

Sign ups for the Toomey-Lovett Open will come down on Sunday, June 9th at noon.

Registration starts at 7:00 AM on June 15th. This event will also likely be VERY well-attended, so sign up early at Still Harts, at Quail Hollow, or on the Tour of the Brookfields Facebook page!

REQUESTS AND FYI

If there is a playoff, your team will need you! All playoff teams PLAY TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME ON THE SAME HOLE!
Today was better, but PLEASE we need you to arrive WELL-BEFORE the shotgun start time. If you are showing up at 7:55 AM for an 8 AM shotgun – YOU ARE LATE!!! This is very inconsiderate, and just not fair to the committee members at the sign-in desk. PLEASE you MUST arrive BY the registration time – we have a lot of players to sign in.
Not showing up does carry with it a likely suspension for the TOB – just a reminder.
Scorecard accuracy is the A-player’s responsibility – please work with your team to ensure it is correct before turning it in – after that it is official and no changes can be made
A reminder, once a ball is holed out, that score counts – so if you tap in a ball at the edge of the hole before another player gets his turn to putt, the hole is over.

A consolidated list of 2024 Golf Posts is here.

April 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Golf Tournament – The Country Auto Open

Our first regular season TOB event – the April 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Tournament – the Country Auto Open – was held on Saturday the 27th at Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club in Oakham, MA.

The weather was chilly – but thankkfully NO RAIN! We thank Country Auto in North Brookfield for their sponsorship of the event.

We had a nice turnout of 24 teams, with many new players and new A players especially. There were 95 players (one no-show) on 8 teams of 4 in each of the three flights/divisions.

All three flights were very competitive. We had one playoff (Nicklaus Flight), with the other two flights being within 2-3 strokes. There was only 1 skin!

A change this time was the addition of a second place prize in each flight, with teams having to match cards on the most difficult holes for 2nd place. We will do this going forward.

The results table and some photos that I took will follow the narrative and some notes below.

In the Nicklaus Flight, the 3-player team (due to the no-show) of Rick Lindsten, Ken Burnham, and Keith Tytula and the 4-player team of Kevin Paradis, Bob Demaio, Brian Chaffee, and Susan Benoit both shot 9 under par to meet in a playoff. After two playoff holes (they could have gone 3) the teams settled for a tie and split the first and second place pools.

In the Player Flight, the team of Mike Ellis, Tom McCarthy, Lisa Kularski, and Tim Nason, Jr. fired off a stellar 10-under par to tie the best score across the tournament. The team of John Markey, Tom Foley, Jonathan Foley, and Barbara Orszulak came in at second at -7. Congrats!

In the Palmer Flight, the team of Matt Desimone, Pete Peloquin, Sr., Nelson Malin, and Christopher Thibaud also finished at 10 under par – AND this team got the sole skin of the tournament with an eagle on hole #1. The second-place in the Palmer Flight playoff was the team of Tom Orszulak, Dean Malin, Ed McLeod, and Sherry Peterson. Kudos!

The closest to the pin was won by Spencer Rice for his team on the par-3 17th hole at 8′ 0″ away! Nice shot Spencer!

2024 Country Auto Open Results

The results – and some photos I took – are below – and click on any of the photos for a bigger image. Congrats again to the winners!

And now, a few photos…

Debbie Donlin and Jim LeBlanc chat with Bill Gaudette in the warm clubhouse.

Committee members Mike Kularski and George Fiske perform their check-in work.

The Rice Brothers – Clayton and Spencer – show up with their game faces!

George Jette and Jim McKeon get to see that no injury stops Bill Gaudette from golf.

Lynn Morin and Barbara Orszulak chat while awaiting the start of play.

Corey Heyes and Reese McLeod get in some pre-round putts and trash talk.

The golfing couple of Lisa and Jim Kularski in a nice pose.

Ed McLeod seems to be putting Tom Foley to sleep while Dave Fiske seeks a club.

The Next Tournament and some notes

Thanks again to all the players, to Country Auto for sponsoring this event, and to Gary and Debbie Donlin, Jim LeBlanc, and all the staff at Quail Hollow who work so hard to make the Tour of the Brookfields possible.

The next tournament is in May on Saturday the 25th. It will be the Still Harts Cafe Open. Sign ups will come down on Sunday, May 19th.

REMEMBER IT WILL BE EARLIER IN THE MORNING – Registration starts at 7:30 AM. This event will likely be VERY well-attended, so sign up early at Still Harts, at Quail Hollow, or on the Tour of the Brookfields Facebook page!

REQUESTS AND FYI

We need you to arrive WELL-BEFORE the shotgun start time. If you are showing up at 7:55 AM for an 8 AM shotgun – YOU ARE LATE!!! This is very inconsiderate, and just not fair to the committee members at the sign-in desk. PLEASE you MUST arrive BY the registration time – we have a lot of players to sign in.
Not showing up does carry with it a likely suspension for the TOB – just a reminder.
No one should be practice putting or chipping on a green before a hole is complete. Even afterwards, this is discouraged for pace of play reasons.
A reminder, once a ball is holed out, that score counts – so if you tap in a ball at the edge of the hole before another player gets his turn to putt, the hole is over.

If you have any feedback or comments on this blog post – there is a comment section that you can use below. I will continue to put up these events on Facebook – but if you are not on Facebook and want to sign up, you can use the comment section here on this blog. This blog is titled, “Life, Golf, Miniatures, and Other Distractions”. I do post other stuff here – mainly around miniature toy soldiers and tabletop wargaming (my other passions). Feel free to subscribe as an email follower! (and it is free and you’ll get instant updates).

A consolidated list of 2024 Golf Posts is here.

My 2023 Hobby & Blogging Update/roundup

It’s that time again – when I take a look back and see how well I did – or did not do – versus the goals that I set out to accomplish for myself back in January of 2023. This post will also be where I set myself some realistic (and hopefully challenging) benchmarks/goals for 2024 in the areas of Life, Golf, Miniatures, & Other Distractions (after all that is the title of this blog since its inception back in 2015!). It’s more for my own motivation, but I have found that others have enjoyed the ride (especially the spreadsheets for Roger and John!) – so here we go.

2023 was, like 2022, one very busy year on multiple hobby, golf, and life fronts. I did set some pretty aggressive goals for all aspects. Some were around gaming, some around hobby production, some were around golf, and more.

How did I do versus my 2023 goals?

Paint 250 figures or more

Well, I blew goal that out of the park and had my most productive miniature painting year ever – mostly Wars of Ozz figures obviously! I managed to paint 330 miniatures – 128 more than I did in 2022.

Complete a brigade of Winkies for Wars of Ozz.

This was a big part of the 330 – 107 Winkie figures painted – and much bigger than just a single brigade! 1 witch, 3 leader bases, 1 cavalry regiment, 1 artillery battery, and 5 infantry regiments as shown below.

2023 Winkie units and leaders production.

Complete a brigade of Land of Harvest creatures for Wars of Ozz.

I really fell in love with the Great Land of Harvest figures – and painted 111 of them. 4 leaders, 1 witch, 9 infantry 1egiments, and an artillery battery. This was close to just not 1 brigade but 2+ brigades.

Run and play more games – track them too.

Leif Magnuson, me with my wife’s least favorite headgear, and Brad Gosselin at TotalCon37. They both played in multiple **Feudal Patrol** and **Wars of Ozz** games at multiple cons and were EXCELLENT wing men.

The Battle of Lake Texcoco at HMGS Fall In.

Yes indeed, I did both run AND play, and track them as well. I attended and ran games at several conventions and club nights. The conventions included 2023’s TotalCon37, HAVOC, HMGS Cold Wars, HUZZAH!, HMGS Fall In, and EllisCon. I also played in several. All tallied, I played as a player in 12 games – 8 Wars of Ozz, 1 Feudal Patrol, 1 Axis & Allies Miniatures, and 2 Eagles and Empires games. I acted as GM for no less than 20 games - 9 Wars of Ozz, 10 Feudal Patrol (Mesoamerican era/Spanish Conquest skirmish, and 1 What a Tanker game.)

Complete the scenario booklet for Civilizations Collide.

That’s a miss – though I have written 10/16 scenarios.

Complete my terrain for Wars of Ozz, games.

So far, I have to say that’s completed, with a final assist from Guru Dave down under.

Paint up a platoon from Wargames Supply Dump for Combat Patrol™ .

I want to get there – and someday I will Roger!

Try to get my Nomonhan WaT project off the ground. Note I said “try”.

Nope – not enough time, but this stays on my list.

Get the Mass Pikemen more active.

The Battle for Toto (***Wars of Ozz***) playtest at the Mass Pikemen.

I think that happened at about the same rate as last year, so not more active, but active.

Have another nice trip to Florida.

We had a nice escape from dreary cold New England to sunny warm Florida for fun and Golf School. Also got to get together with Buck Surdu and play Eagles & Empires.

***Eagles and Empires*** in Buck’s amazing gaming room.

Post on the blog 48 times or more – make them of good quality

I exceeded this – mainly because I started using the blog for The Tour of the Brookfields golf tournaments – to share information and to share results. As we do have a Facebook page – but not everyone is on it – this blog became crucial to sharing information. Also, this kept it free from the FB bots that, for example, decided that a post of a winning putt “violated community standards”. I posted on the blog 54 times - a good average for me.

Be a good blog follower – still a goal but one that I cannot measure!

Always on the list – but others can decide (like you dear reader).

Have multiple Zoom chats with fellow hobbyists.

I had a few very nice ones – can always do more.

Go to a golf school and get my golf handicap down below 18. This time.

Well, did hit the school, and I barely got under 18 – but done!

Stats on my handicap history. And a Siri circle!

Yes! As shown above, I managed to get to 17.6.

Update my golf tournament progress on my blog – either as posts or a page or both.

OK, I did not record my individual tournament progress – though I did start to use the blog for the Tour of the Brookfields, so I’m going to say yes. Certainly, I left off most of the club tournaments that I played in, but still posted a few. It certainly rained – A LOT.

Play golf (in season) at least twice a week.

Exceeded this as I had 86 handicap rounds plus maybe 8-10 others that were scrambles.

Win my flight in the Championship.

Nope – not even close.

Be a competitive golfer.

I had my moments – and did do well in the annual Club Derby. Knee injury in August (and playing on a bad leg) did not keep me down too badly.

Tom & I win!2/3 was Tom, 1/3 was me – or less.

Personal Highs in 2022

For the second year in a row – the Florida trip and golfing with my wife (she’s getting better)!
Getting together with family especially my daughter Ellen and my granddaughter Tabitha.
Winning my second “PELA” GM award at HMGS Cold Wars for the Battle of Lake Texcoco.
Winning my third “Al” award for the game with the most stunning visual appeal at the Battle Group Boston HAVOC Convention for the Wars of Ozz!
Knocking out 330 figures and terrain for the Wars of Ozz!
Having EXCELLENT wingmen in Brad Gosselin and Leif Magnuson at MULTIPLE conventions.
Getting together with Dave Wood, Buck Surdu, Greg Priebe, Chris Palmer, and Duncan Adams, Eric Schlegel, and all of the other HAWKS in person.
Getting honored by Old Glory by them putting my painted Great Pumpkinheads on t-shirts!
Being on the Committees for the Tour of the Brookfields tournaments and the New England Service Academy golf tournaments.
Having fun Zoom chats.
As a team, winning the Club Derby with Tom Orszulak by one stroke over 36 holes over two days.
And again, being with my wife Lynn, every day (seriously, and she won’t likely read this).

My daughter Ellen, grandaughter Tabitha, my Mom, and me.

Chris Palmer, Dave Wood, and me sporting some cool t-shirts!

Personal Lows for 2021

Knee injury in August.
Knee surgery in December – though that’s a long-term plus for my golf game (I hope).

My goals for 2024

Well, its time to set my Life, Golf, Miniatures, & Other Distractions goals for 2024.

Paint 365 figures or more.
Complete 2 brigades of Quadlings for Wars of Ozz.
Complete a brigade of Whim Whim & Noobi for Wars of Ozz.
Complete a brigade of Temujicans for Wars of Ozz.
Continiue to run and play more games – and continue tracking them too.
Attend and run games at conventions. This would include TotalCon38, HAVOC, COLD BARRAGE, MAYHEM, HUZZAH!, HMGS Fall In, EllisCon, and others..
Complete one more scenario for my scenario booklet for Civilizations Collide.
Paint up a platoon from Wargames Supply Dump for Combat Patrol™ .
Try to get my Nomonhan WaT project off the ground. Note I said “try”. Again.
Get the Mass Pikemen more active.
Have another nice trip to Florida.
Post on the blog 50 times or more – make them of good quality.
Be a good blog follower – still a goal but one that I cannot measure!
Have multiple Zoom chats with fellow hobbyists.
Go to a golf school and get my golf handicap down below 16.
Update the Tour of the Brookfields on my blog.
Play golf (in season) at least twice a week – get in 80 rounds.
Win my flight in the Club Championship.
Defend in the Club Derby
Be a competitive golfer.
Be a good friend.

Of course, MUCH thanks to all who make the time to read this blog and comment on my stuff, craziness, and madness – Happy 2024!

And now – get busy Mark!

The Rescheduled 2023 Tour of the Brookfields FINALS – It is on!

Last night, Thursday, October 19th, 2023, a question was posed to the A players attending the rescheduled draft. Given the upcoming weather forecast for Saturday, October 21st – (rainy and very windy) – do we play, or not?

Not a single A player wanted to pass on playing! So we are on!

Hell, as New Englanders, we don’t let weather stop us!

Please arrive as close to 9 AM as possible for registration. The entry fee is $180 – and only cash will be accepted! We will aim for a 10 AM shotgun start – but the sooner we are ready the better. This also gives time for us to get everything ready for play and for you to check if you want to participate in the optional bonus pool.

Here are the teams as drafted and the starting holes:

You can also download this in Excel below:

10212023-finals-draft-selections Download

As a reminder, and I am sure this will not be a problem, but being a no-show carries with it serious suspensions from the Tour of the Brookfields. Simply put, being a no show puts 3 other players out – and that is not fair. Hence, we take it seriously.

In any case, good luck to all – and see all at the FINALS!

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