Crystal Springs hosts Employee Cup

Hardyston — For 21 years the Crystal Springs Golf Resort has rewarded its employees for their outstanding work by holding an end of golf season Crystal Springs Employee Cup Championship in which employees from each of the Resort’s 6 beautiful golf courses compete in an event to determine which golf course will have their course name inscribed on the Crystal Cup which is housed in the Ballyowen Pro Shop.
For the last 3 years the Ballyowen Employee Team has dominated play, but not this year. Employees from Ballyowen, Black Bear, Cascades, Crystal Springs, Minerals and Wild Turkey Golf Courses hold qualifying events to identify a team of 8 golfers to represent their respective golf courses.
The event follows a scramble format in which each golfer plays his or her golf ball and the best shot of the foursome is selected. The players all play their second shot from the spot of the selected best original shot and follow that process through the completion of the hole and for the entire 18 holes. The scores of the two teams representing each of the golf courses are combined and the course team with the lowest total score is declared the winner of the Employee Cup Championship.
At the end of play the combined Wild Turkey team of Russ Haggar, Mike Rutan, Mike McGarry, Dan McManus, Ed Lemire, Jimmy Conrad, Bill Tawpash and Mike DeNova had carded a score of 24 under par to dethrone the previous 3 time winner Ballyowen to capture the Employee Cup Champion title for 2017. Ballyowen team of James Connolly, Andrew Tredinnick, Ed Muzenski, Denis Sanderson, Pat Donegan, Marc Posey, Ryan Delaney and Dave Kretzchmar came in 2nd with a score of 20 under par.
Following golf a celebration was held in Owen’s Pub to recognize the winners and to enjoy a delicious dinner prepared by the Ballyowen Food & Beverage staff.
Additional prizes were awarded to the top performers in the longest drive and closest to the pin skill events. Katie Jakubowski dominated the skill events by winning closest to the pin on hole #4 with a shot that landed 4 feet 5 inches from the pin, closest to the pin on hole #15 with her shot coming to rest 2 feet 3 inches from the cup aand women’s long drive. Matt McGarry won closest to the pin for men on hole #4 with a shot that was 4 feet 5 inches from the pin, Marc Posey’s tee shot which was 1 foot 6 inches from the cup took closest to the pin with James Connolly to be the winner of longest drive for men.
To make the event more interesting, Art Walton the Vice President for Golf Operations at Crystal Springs routinely adds a “twist” to the competition. This year he had the golfers were given the option to play the par 3 11th hole with either one hand on the golf club or to hit the tee shot with the opposite left handed golf club. The novelty of this “Walton Event” resulted in a number arrant golf shots and many golf balls landing in the water. However, Owen Pullis from the Minerals team was able to hit his shot within 7 feet 9 inches of the hole to win this unique competition. Marc Posey’s left handed shot ended up 40 feet from the hole to win him a prize for his effort.
With the golf season coming to an end the Crystal Springs Golf Resort is offering attractive sales at its course Pro Shops making it possible for golfers to get attractive savings on top of the line golf equipment, apparel and other related items. The Resort is also promoting Memberships for the 2018 Golf Season with best prices available now for those interested in getting a head start on the upcoming season.
— Story and photos courtesty John Whiting