On Saturday, July 15th, the members of the Carlowden
Country Club were getting ready to compete for the club championship. As they
rounded the curve and looked at the golf course, they knew very well that the
1995 tournament would be postponed.
The “microburst” storm hit the Carlowden Country Club
like a freight train. Over 150 trees were lost or damaged all over the
course. Around 80% of the damage occurred on the left side of the fairway
on hole No. 17 and around the green on hole No.2.
Onlookers that expected to play that morning said that
there was no other way of explaining what happened except that a tornado had to
have touched down. Trees that stood for over 70 years were snapped in two and
scattered every which way. Also people were shocked at how hole No. 2 now looks
as they stood on the tee. A hole, which was once a tricky par 3 that was
surrounded by dozens of pine trees, now is a wide open hole with pieces of pine
laying on the cart path, in the sand traps and in the once wooded area.
Because of all the damage, the sports committee held an
emergency meeting concerning the fate of the Club Championship. It commenced
once all of the members were present, since some people had a difficult time
driving up to Denmark.
The decision was to allow the maintenance crew to have a
full day to clean up the areas of play and reschedule Saturday’s 18-hole round
to Sunday and play 36 holes.
The women, who were to have begun their ‘First Lady”
tournament that day, decided that they would play 18 holes on Sunday and wait to
the following Sunday to finish their tournament.
At 8 a.m. on Sunday, morning, July 16th, all players were
briefed on a few local rules that were placed in effect that day mainly on holes
2 and 17, but applied all over the course due to fallen branches, etc.
The local rule was that if your ball goes into the damaged
area, you don’t even have to look for it. As long as your four-some agreed
that your ball went in there, you were allowed to place your ball in the drop
areas without any penalty.
After 36 holes on Sunday, Rob Peluso and Butch Haley were
tied for the lead.
Both golfers headed for the No. 17 tee for a sudden-death
playoff. Whoever won the hole won the championship. If they tied, they would
play the next hole.
Peluso teed off first. He pulled his shot left and had
a 50 yard chip on the par 4, 308 yards. Haley put his tee shot on the right hand
side of the fairway and has a simple 40 yard chip with a lot of green to work
with since the pin was on the left back of the green. Haley’s second shot was
about 6 feet from the hole. Peluso chipped short and put his third shot within
Haley. Haley made his birdie putt and conceded Peluso’s par to win the 1995
Carlowden Country Club Championship.