Gilliland and Dandy Duke It Out ...
Post date: Jun 21, 2017 12:56:03 AM
Betty Gilliland and Brenda Dandy led their respective Match Play teams in a clash for the ages on Kingswood on June 20th. Brenda shot a 2 under par 69 while Betty had the round of a lifetime while shooting an 82 ... just one shot off her age!!!
Betty and partner Sue Jacobson had to overcome a fast start by the team of Brenda and Sassy Weber. Brenda easily birdied the first 2 holes to immediately put her team 2 up. Betty managed a par with a stroke on the third hole to soften the blows Brenda had dealt. On the #1 handicap 5th hole, Betty had a
par to bring the match back to even. She said that she rarely pars #5! (This would become a common theme!) Betty stepped up on the #7 tee box and nailed her shot to the par 3 white flag "right up the gut." The ball just rolled up the green and somehow stopped a couple of inches away from the hole for a gimme 2!!! We had no idea how it stayed out of the hole. It was such a pure shot.
On to #8 where Betty rolled her putted approach all the way from in front of the green to the blue pin at the very back of the green to within 6 inches. Another gimme par with a stroke! On the par 3 hole number 10, Jacobson and Dandy tied the hole with birdies. But Dandy and Weber made easy pars on holes 12 and 13 to bring the match back to all square.
Then the imposing par 5 14th hole brought yet another rare par for Betty. Her third shot hit the rocks in the creek and bounded forward to the side of the green. From there, she chipped up and sunk her 14 foot putt for another par (with a stroke to take the hole) ... on #14! Again, Betty never pars #14!!! But the 15th saw Sassy Weber easily take the hole with a great par. Back to all square ... again!!!
Brenda Dandy took advantage of her length to get to the par 5 16th just off the green in regulation. Betty hit yet another crucial putt from about 10 feet for a bogey 6 which, with her stroke, was a net par. Now Brenda had to sink a 6 foot putt to tie the hole. And Brenda did exactly that to keep the match all square going into the par 3 17th hole. Sassy's ball wound up on the putting surface about 20 feet from the hole while Brenda's ball was in the sand trap to the left of the green. Betty's shot to the 17th was sitting just off the front edge of the green and Sue's ball was sitting about 3 feet from the blue pin all the way at the back of the green. When Sue dropped Betty off at the front of the green, she told her it would be a lot less stressful on her if Betty would just sink the putt. You guessed it ... BETTY SUNK THE SHOT for a 2 to win the hole!!! Gilliland and Jacobson were now 1 up going to the 18th hole. And Betty did NOT want to go to extra holes!!!
Brenda Dandy hit a monster drive and a monster second shot to give her only a pitching wedge to the front pin position which she stuck to within 5 feet of the pin! Betty was about 30 yards short of the green. So she walked up while the rest of us drove the carts up to the side of the green. As we came to a stop, we saw Betty's ball in the air. Betty's ball came to rest within 12 inches of the hole in 4 shots! Sassy just missed a birdie putt but Brenda did not miss her putt giving her yet another birdie. But Betty knocked in her 12 inch putt to give her another unbelievable par on a very difficult hole ... with a stroke to tie Brenda's birdie. Match over ... Gilliland and Jacobson win 1 up!!!
Brenda Dandy and Betty Gilliland were "en fuego" (on fire) during the match. They would sink pressure putt after pressure putt so casually. But, in the end, the day belonged to Betty Gilliland who had the round of a lifetime! Even Betty's opponents recognized what they had just witnessed and were so gracious in defeat being very happy for her.
As you can imagine, this was an intense match!?! And really, no one lost this match. There just weren't any more holes to play ...