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GRAHN TIES THE KNOT
 Out to prove that the 2005 title was no fluke (when Honeybrook Golf Pro Dale Lafferty rounded out the team), Hank Grahn (94) & Co. edged out a highly competitive field to win the 2008 Big Stogie Classic with a modified best-ball score of 80. Our 2007 champs, the Sheimer-Wimer Connection, failed to repeat; coming up one stroke short as both Sheimer (87) and Wimer (86) double-bogeyed the final hole. Mark Subers (75) led team Grahn, while Mark DelSantro (77) carded three birdies on the front 9. Barney (82), a solid 3-man on the team, scored 10 consecutive 4’s on holes 5 thru 14 after nearly drowning the team with a triple-bogey 7 on the worst-ball hole #4.
Scott Nangle (71) smashed the record for individual low score, flirting with par for the entire round until bogeying #14 to finish one stroke over. Next year could be the magic one for sophomore Team McEvoy, they also came up one stroke short of a tie for team honors; all players in this group have been in the 80’s for the past two years. Pete Duffy, one of only two rookies in this year’s field, blasted a 283-yard drive down the middle on #2 to win longest drive, but he will be remembered more for his “shot heard round the world”… an 83 yard dribbler on #9 that put him in the eternal books for shortest drive.
This year’s tourney featured the highest quality play in Big Stogie history, with an average individual score of 87.7; only the second time in history that the field averaged a sub-90. Compare this to the early years of 1997 and 1998 when we saw averages in the 97-98 range, with guys with names like Boo, Dale, Big Frank, Streep, and Chico. Those were the days of the “shooting gallery holes” with carts, balls, and beer cans criss-crossing all over the back-nine holes of 12, 14, and 15.
The birdie payout was $34, to 9 of our 31 players. And once again, no team has successfully repeated with the same exact foursome. Will Grahn attempt to break that curse in Big Stogie #13, or will he make an off-season move?
We would also like to thank this year's sponsors and business partners:
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