Trouble on the left and the right

The par three sixth hole at Lancaster Country Club looks both pretty and unthreatening when seen from the nearby bridge over the Conestoga River. 

Appearances deceive.

The view is less cheery from the tee box 183 yards away and perched 25 to 30 feet above the hole.

At only 25 yards wide and 38 yards deep, the green looks even narrower. 

A meandering yet threatening creek runs the length of the green’s left side, with its stone-faced side a few feet from the edge. The minimal fringe between green and the stonework, sloped toward the water, adds to the tension.

As several players discovered during the recent U.S. Women’s Open, however, favoring the right side brings its own perils.

LPGA golfer Ssu-Chia Cheng of Taiwan pushed her tee shot about 10 yards into the right rough. The hole 90 feet away sat 10 paces from the left edge, allegedly leaving green to work with for her second shot, as her caddie advised.

Cheng’s next shot landed on the green about 10 feet from her side’s edge, checked once and slowly rolled across and into the creek.

She took a drop from the same area and tried again. This time, her attempt landed just on the green and stopped 12 feet from the hole. Her first putt missed by about a foot, leading to an eventual six.

Ariya Jutanugarn seemed to make a short, sawed-off swing when she played the sixth during the second round. The ball landed on the green’s left side and rolled farther left, dropping into the creek about 50 feet from the hole.

Yellow stakes stood on both sides of the creek. The grass on the other side was matted down by fans at the adjacent concession stand. Jutanugarn walked down the slope to the drop area, a tee box set about 125 yards from the green’s front edge.

Her next shot finished 27 feet below the hole. She two-putted from there for the double bogey.

Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen’s tee shot also hugged the left side, landing on the green but bouncing into the creek. She used the drop area for her third stroke, but it fell far short of the green, about 38 yards from the hole. A pitch from there stopped 12 feet short, leading to another two-putt six.

Amateur Junia Gabasa of the Philippines just barely managed to keep her left-sided approach shot out of the creek. It was so close to the stone wall that she could not take a stance that permitted a chip or putt toward the hole. Gabasa chipped to about 22 feet below the hole and two-putted for bogey.

Going long was not a good idea either. LPGA golfer Sarah Schmelzel landed her ball on the left side of the green, but it finished in the rough beyond, about 10 yards from the hole. Even with the green sloping away, her approach finished 6 feet short. Her par putt rolled 3 feet too far, leading to a bogey. 

Schmelzel slapped her thigh in frustration.

The sixth hole presented no major challenges for some. Japan’s Mone Inami landed her tee shot 7 feet below the hole and putted to a foot for an easy tap-in par. 

Women’s British Open and ShopRite winner Ashleigh Buhai hit her tee shot left, but it stayed on the green, 34 feet from the hole. Her first putt finished within a foot for a simple par. 

Those were the relative exceptions. The sixth finished third-hardest during the second round with a 3.419 scoring average, a tiny bit lower than the 12th hole’s 3.429 or the 18th hole’s 4.42. Nine players birdied the sixth among the full 155-player field that day, with only the 18th hole producing fewer birdies.

The NASCAR fans among the crowd at Lancaster CC would have enjoyed this show.

Note: This is the third in a four-part series about the par threes at Lancaster CC during the U.S. Women’s Open.

Rookery Club Championship

The Rookery held its club championship Aug. 10-11, crowning winners in several categories.

Justin Stolba won the men’s championship, with Steve Kaminsky in second. Lisa Orem won the women’s championship, with Jane Kuhfuss in second, and Kathleen Williams and BJ Ferguson tied for third.

Stephani Castaldi won the women’s senior title, with Marianne Delorenzo in second and Jan Johnson in third. Dave Bergh won the men’s senior championship, with Paul Ruggerio and Mark Cadwell tied for second. 

Jerry Waggoner won the men’s super-senior, with Earl Cleaver and Gerard Kelly tied for second. Deb Ronemus won the women’s super-senior, with Janet Montague in second and Pat Morgan in third.

Minnie Larosa and Peggy Sander tied for first place in the women’s net contest. Sid Simon won the men’s net, with Mick Stanke in second, Craig Wearden in third and Dusty Shockley in fourth.

Local club competition results

The Mulligan’s Pointe Ladies played a team 1, 2, 3 game Aug. 27. 

Brenda Joyce, Gail Logullo, Wendy Michaelson and Debby Quinn won Division 1. Pat Burkee, Donna Dolcem, Terese Kane and Rita McDonnell won Division 2.