And the Winners Are . . .

Democrat Photo by Rob Potter CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENT: Villa Roma Pro Matt Kleiner (left) and Democrat Publisher Fred Stabbert III (right) pose with tournament champions Bill Elliott (second from left) and Chris DuBois seconds after presenting the championship plaques.

Team of DuBois, Elliott
Grab Tourney Championship

By Rob Potter
CALLICOON — August 15, 2000 – Sunday evening at the Villa Roma, a fellow golfer walked up to Chris DuBois and congratulated him. The man noted that DuBois was due.
Indeed.
DuBois, a Fallsburg resident who has participated in all 19 Sullivan County Democrat Two-Man Better Ball Golf Tournaments, and his partner Bill Elliott of Woodridge claimed their first Democrat tournament title Sunday at the Villa Roma Country Club in the Callicoon Beechwoods.
The duo won a tournament that was filled with firsts, such as the first time rain wiped out an entire day of competition and the first time multiple holes-in-one were scored in one day.
Saturday’s torrential downpours and multiple lightning strikes canceled the action and forced a change in the popular match play tournament format. The golfers hit the links Sunday in a 36-hole stroke play tourney, which means simply the lowest team score wins.
One hundred and twelve golfers played 18 holes in the morning, ate a quick lunch, then went back out for the final 18 holes.
DuBois and Elliot shot a 73 in the morning and a 67 in the afternoon for a 140 total. They defeated the team of Craig and Jeff Gordon by one stroke.
“I felt we were really close [to the lead], but it is difficult in this format because you don’t know how everyone else is doing out there,” Elliott said. “I guess it came down to the last few holes. We birdied two of the last three holes.”
DuBois and Elliott, who lost the championship in a sudden-death playoff two years ago, agreed that putting made the difference as they shaved five strokes off their morning score.
“We were consistent and made our putts,” said DuBois, who has teamed with Elliot in the Democrat tourney for three straight years.
Although the rain washed away Saturday’s action, the winners agreed that the Villa Roma Golf Pro Matt Kleiner and his staff had done a great job preparing the course for Sunday’s play.
“The course was in great shape considering yesterday’s rain,” Elliott commented.
The winning duo, who often play at the Lochmor and Terry Brae courses in the Town of Fallsburg, did not seem to be too affected by the change in format.
“I prefer the match play,” DuBois commented. “But on the other hand, the medal play worked out well today.”
DuBois and Elliott’s 140 edged out the Gordon/Gordon team’s 141 (73 and 68). The third place finishers were David Solomon and Jack Jordan who fired a 142 (71 in the a.m. and 71 in the p.m.).
The teams of Dr. Peter Rymer /Matt Rymer, Ira Steingart/Nathan Steingart and Nicholas Yaun/Daniel Yaun each finished the 36 holes with a 143 total.
Following a match of cards, Rymer/Rymer garnered fourth place, Steingart/Steingart captured fifth place and Yaun/Yaun finished sixth in the Championship Flight.
As he waited at the clubhouse for the golfers to finish their first round Sunday, Matt Kleiner noted that it was “a wild weekend with a lot of upsets.” Among those upsets were the teams of Ken Cohen/Barry Winter and Gregg Semenetz/Gregg Semenetz, Jr. — whom Kleiner had predicted in last Friday’s Democrat would square of for the championship — not making it to the championship flight.
However, Cohen and Winter, the defending tournament champions, captured top honors in the third flight. The shot a five-under par 67 in the morning and a three-under 69 in the afternoon for a 136 total.
A pleasant surprise was the fact that three aces were scored in the afternoon round. Brian Gordon, Marvin Newberg and Terry Wolcott all hit holes-in-one. Newberg and Wolcott both aced the par-3 17th hole, while Gordon dropped his tee shot into the par-3 second hole.
The top winners in each flight included:
Second Flight — Winners: Jay Shapiro/Bobby Elliott, 145; Second Place: Tim Smith/Charlie Kester, 146; Third Place: Lee Wood/Dave Weldon, 149.
Third Flight — Winners: Cohen/Winter, 136; Second Place: Marvin Newberg/Sam Hillman, 145; Third Place: Sy Solomon/Mel Kaufman, 154.
Fourth Flight — Winners: Bobby Jones/Mike Daley, 144; Second Place: Terry Wolcott/Bob Simpson, 146; Third Place: Troy Gregory/Michael Goldstein, 150.
Fifth Flight — Winners: David Drucker/Al Bilkis, 152; Second Place: Paul Carlucci/Greg Cox, 154; Third Place: George Lari 165.
Sixth Flight — Winners: Steve Schmidt/Randy Armstrong, 168; Second Place: Paul Berens/Bob Whitaker, 170; Third Place: Steve Epstein/Bob Keyner, 171.