Four teams vying to compete in the coveted Village Cup 3-day Ryder Cup style tournament next week squared off Friday at Palmer Legends golf course.
#1 seed Cane Garden vs #4 seed Lopez Legacy (who won Friday morning’s playoff to advance)
#2 seed Orange Blossom Hills vs #7 seed Evans Prairie
At the end of play Friday’s play there were to be two teams remaining. However, as the great Yogi Berra once said “It’s Déjà vu all over again.”
During two delays for inclement weather there were 56 players from the four teams sitting in team groups around the breezeway at Palmer. Cell phone apps were the order of business. Looking around the breezeway you could see iPhone screens lit up with the bright colors of storms around The Villages. The teams who thought they were ahead were saying the storms were headed directly for The Villages. The teams behind were saying, they are going to pass right by. Joe Huff, Team Lopez said “we can wait this out, there is no reason to call it, the storms are going to stop.”
Team Evans Prairie Captain Randy Dugger seemed relaxed and said, “I have finished my match and I won. I don’t have to go back out. My partner Nick Kent has also won his match and he is done.”
When asked how he thinks he teams stands against Orange Blossom Hills he said, “I think we may be even.”
Village Cup rules state “If all players on both teams complete 9 holes or more, and matches are cancelled for the day, all matches are official at the point they were when play was last called. At around 4:30 the announcement came. “Due to more inclement weather forecasted for this area we are canceling the remainder of the day.”
Captains Randy Dugger, John White, Bob Hilliard, and Brian Ellis collected their team scorecards and handed them in to the official scorer. Fifty-six players surrounded the scoreboard waiting for the outcome to see if they would play another day. Scores were tallied and one of the officials says, “we have the results.” You could have heard a pin drop just before it was announced, “Team Cane Garden wins over Team Lopez Legacy 7 ½ – 6 ½, Orange Blossom Hills and Evan’s Prairie TIE 7-7.”
It’s time for another playoff.
Team Orange Blossom Hills and Evans Prairie will each select three players to play a 3 hole match on Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. at Laurel Valley to see who advances to the finals on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to play Team Cane Garden. It’s going to be a long weekend for 28 golfers.
