Inaugural Women’s Spring Scramble

New event sees smiles (and an ace) at Saucon

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BETHLEHEM, Pa. — In a case of irony as mandated by Mother Nature, a crisp fall day served as the backdrop for the inaugural GAP Women’s Spring Scramble Monday at Saucon Valley Country Club’s Old Course (par 71, 5,217 yards).

The event, rescheduled from May 6, changed seasons but not the interest and enthusiasm to participate. Twenty teams of four competed in a net scramble format, which included three flights determined by handicap index.

“I don’t think it could’ve gone any better,” Noreen Mohler, a GAP Executive Committee member who also serves on the organization’s Women’s Committee, said. “The event was cancelled in May, and for Saucon Valley to reschedule it for us was great. I think this was an important event for us to get off the ground successfully. Saucon came through for us. That made all of the difference in the world.”

A hole-in-one made the difference in the event’s First Flight.

The team of Waynesborough Country Club’s Teresa Hillegass, Lu Lu Country Club’s Karen Lucard and Commonwealth National Golf Club’s Wynn Harris and Linda Kennedy filed a score of 11-under-par 60 — two strokes clear of two teams. An ace courtesy of Lucard on No. 9 (par 3, 104 yards) highlighted a memorable day for the good friends.

“It was phenomenal. I just couldn’t believe it,” Lucard, 69, of Fort Washington, Pa., said. “It was obviously the highlight of my day. Then I was hoping I could play golf for the rest of the day.”

Lucard’s smoothly-struck 9-iron bounced once and hopped into the cup. It marked the third ace (Lu Lu and Spring Valley Country Club in Sharon, Mass.) of her career. Yells echoed throughout the Saucon Valley hills once it transpired.

“We were screaming and dancing,” Kennedy, 61, of Chalfont, Pa., said. “Plenty of hi-fives and hi-tens.”

“I think the word is pandemonium,” Harris, 70, of Blue Bell, Pa., said.

A milder version of pandemonium (i.e. cheers and smiles) symbolized the team’s collective experience. Birdies on Nos. 6 (par 5, 432 yards) and 18 (par 4, 257 yards) softly supplement Lucard’s hole-in-one. On the first, Harris hit a 5-hybrid 130 yards to three feet. She set up an identical look on the 18^th hole, this time with a partial pitching wedge from 85 yards. Kennedy’s booming drive there started the sequence.

To ensure team chemistry, the team implemented the same putting order on each hole: Lucard, Hillegass, Harris and Kennedy.

‘And it rarely got to [Kennedy],” Hillegass, 66, of Berwyn, Pa., said.

The First Flight champions collectively praised Saucon Valley’s conditioning, emphasizing its natural splendor and exemplary green complexes. They also felt thankful to see “Women’s Spring Scramble” on the 2019 tournament schedule.

“It was a wonderful idea for GAP to create this event,” Harris, a course rating volunteer for the Association, said.

“We were happy they rescheduled it,” Kennedy added.

Another token of joy for the team: the No. 9 flag, which Saucon Valley gave to Lucard following the event’s conclusion.

“That was a really nice touch,” Hillegass said.

GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The Association’s 274 Full Member Clubs and 75,000 individual members are spread across the Eastern half of Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey and Delaware. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.