BOB RINGHAM/Courier-Post Frank Tobolsky checks out his lie as he prepares for his second shot at the par-5 18th at Valleybrook around 9:20 a.m. Tobolsky made par.

More information: Watch video of the "Dream day" golf game - RealVideo | QuickTime 'Courier-Post' unveils best holes in S.J. Readers have their say on best 18 holes

They said it couldn't be done.

Even midway through, there were doubters.

``You're never gonna make it,'' Wedgwood Country Club superintendent Marty Musho warned. ``You don't have a chance.''

Ha! Take that, Musho! We proved all the naysayers wrong.

On Aug. 19, two Courier-Post employees and two readers accomplished the ``impossible.'' Copy editor Todd Shaner and I joined readers Frank Tobolsky and Tim Salvatore in playing the Courier-Post Dream 18.

That's 18 public golf holes on 17 courses, spread over 359 miles from start to finish. All that and it only took 16 hours and 14 minutes from the moment we stepped into our limousine in the newspaper parking lot in Cherry Hill to the time we returned there after finishing our round at Cape May National.

But that's only part of the story.

Prologue

It all started because Courier-Post sports editor Phil Anastasia had an idea.

``I want you to come up with the best 18 holes in South Jersey,'' he said.

Just a simple statement, and yet what a major project.

That simple phrase was the reason I was up at 3 a.m., a time I had seen at the end of my day but never at the beginning. I was driving down the Atlantic City Expressway to pick up Salvatore, 41, whose entry garnered him a spot in the foursome. The entry was for the 18th hole at Cape May National and simply read, ``I needed a par to break 80 for the first time in my life and I got birdie. I love that hole.''

As I pull in to the Farley rest stop, where I meet Salvatore, the radio is playing Jessie's Girl by Rick Springfield. Good God, how did that happen? If this song stays in my head all day, someone is going to have to die.

Salvatore, an engineer from Ocean City, is ready. His clubs are out of his car, and he proudly displays a shirt with the Buena Vista Country Club logo. His home course will be our 12th stop of the day, but it's way too early to be thinking about that.

The course

• 5:15 a.m., Courier-Post parking lot: Our group is all but intact as the limo and our driver, Bill, meanders through the parking lot to us.

Our photographer-videographer Bob ``Ringo'' Ringham has brought the doughnuts and coffee. Personally, I've never seen anyone more excited to bring doughnuts and coffee, but that's cool. At least one in our group is awake.

Tobolsky, 41, a lawyer from Cherry Hill, arrives minutes later. He's dogsitting his sister-in- law's Yorkie along with his two. His wife and kids are in Sea Isle City with his sister-in-law. Suffice it to say, his night was a disaster.

The dogs got sick eating each other's food, and he's spent hours shampooing the rug. All I can think is: Thank God I don't have a dog.

• 5:49 a.m., Deerwood Country Club, Westampton: You see, everyone has an agenda.

Tobolsky is looking to shoot under par in hopes he can be on the Senior Tour some day. Salvatore is here to have fun and smiles the entire day. Shaner is fighting off a cold and is looking to survive. Me? I want to get done.

We're met by Deerwood general manager Terry Mulligan - isn't that apropos? - at the course. He has three carts waiting for us, and off we go to the par-4, 365-yard third hole. The sun isn't officially up yet, but it's bright enough to see. That is until we hit our first drives, which disappear into the haze.

I double bogey after being next to the green in two and now have 20 minutes to think about where I went wrong.

We pull back into the parking lot, and there is Bill with two handfuls of tees he's picked up in the parking area. He gives them to Mulligan with this advice: ``These things will go right through steel-belted radials. You don't want them laying around.''

OK then.

• 6:37 a.m., Golden Pheasant Golf Club, Medford: We got lost.

We followed the map to Medford and knew we were near Golden Pheasant, but we got lost because Eayerstown Road isn't always Eayerstown Road.

It seems that while it's Eayerstown Road as it runs past the course, somewhere it changes to Country Club Road. But who knew? Country Club was too obvious, but Shaner swears it's on Eayerstown. Tobolsky gives about five opinions in two minutes from the back seat.

We find it, but now we're really behind schedule.

Three shots on the eighth green and one in the woods to the left later, and Tobolsky has the first birdie of the day. Two pars and a double bogey also get registered. Guess who had the five?

I now have 20 minutes, if we're lucky, to again figure out what went wrong.

• 7:26 a.m., Rancocas Golf Club, Willingboro: My boy Billy runs a red light on the way, and that saves us at least two minutes. Billy gets what we're trying to do. Billy is my buddy. Billy is my friend. Billy is going to get us killed.

To be fair, five people were screaming directions at the time, but we're still nervous.

One thing about a limo: It gets you noticed.

As we drive up to Rancocas, an employee stops to watch us drive by the ninth green. Of course, he lets go of his mower, which goes about 5 feet before he catches up to it. Fortunately, we won't need to read the new break on the ninth green.

We pull in and load up.

Our three carts take to the Rancocas layout like the Running of the Bulls. Basically, each cart has its own approach to the 13th tee. This is also the first of many times that we'll need to jump in front of another group.

Tobolsky, who would have been a great public relations man, runs over to the 12th green to soothe any problems the threesome of octogenarians (I've always wanted to write that) Charles Adams, John Williams and Bill Faulkes may have.

``One hole,'' yells Adams, as he literally jumps back a foot.

The three have gone from ``What the . . . ?'' to ``What a great idea.''

As we approach the green, Tobolsky has lost his ball in the high rough to the left. Because of the drought, if the fairways and rough aren't burned out, they are thick and longer than usual because superintendents can't cut the grass or it will die.

Tobolsky is doing his best Lewis and Clark imitation. It took less time for the two to find the Pacific than for this guy to find his ball.

Did I mention I only care about time?

On a side note, I three-jack the green for a bogey, and now I'm 5 over through three holes.

I now have 20 minutes to figure out what I'm doing wrong.

• 8:23 a.m., Pennsauken Country Club, Pennsauken: In and out with grace and speed at the par-4 10th hole.

We did miss a chance at a photo of Spot News along Rt. 130. Ringo was on his cell phone doing God knows what. Free advertising, and we miss our chance.

Salvatore has quietly played 1-over golf and gets his third par. If every course is this easy, we're in.

• 9:13 a.m., Valleybrook Country Club, Blackwood: This was our biggest hurdle in terms of getting there. There's no direct route, and back roads and traffic lights aren't conducive to making up time.

Everyone now knows we're about 45 minutes behind schedule. Sorry, I'm just getting on everybody's nerves.

On top of that I didn't know I was with such big hitters.

Valleybrook has been hit hard by the drought. The lake that runs through the fairway is now a quagmire. The fairway's a bit hard and my three partners take advantage, averaging 350-yard drives.

Shaner's second shot, however, is possibly the worst shot I've ever seen. He tried to slice it around some branches to the green, but instead hit it dead left, clipped a branch and it fell into the muck.

I take great joy in his bogey. Nice save, but I sense the wheels coming off.

Tobolsky and Salvatore can shoot lights out. I need to beat Shaner.

• 9:51 a.m., Pine Hill Golf Club, Pine Hill: We make up time by playing two holes here.

Tobolsky's dad joins us, and suddenly we have a gallery. The old man is happy to be there, but the son seems to take the heat.

But he shoots the same score as I do over the two holes.

I'm starting to have fun. I still don't know what we were thinking, but I'm having fun.

The key is we understand how each of us plays. Tobolsky takes his time but isn't really slow. Salvatore plays the big draw, Shaner the big fade (slice) and I'm all over the place, scrambling away. Oh, and Ringo wants to win an award. A point he reminds me of during at least one backswing.

• 11:20 a.m., Maple Ridge Golf Club, Sewell: All you need to know is I lost a ball on the cart path, and with a 3-wood I hit a ball 20 feet forward and 40 feet into the air. It landed in a creek. Oh, and we found a silver ball, so if we have a run-in with a werewolf, we're cool.

• 11:59 a.m., Wedgwood Country Club, Turnersville: We get a cart with an axle that seems to be bent. Driving to the 13th hole, Shaner remarks how he now knows how Ted Stryker felt trying to land in the movie Airplane!

Great, all we need is for the cart to die. The 13th hole ain't exactly close to the pro shop at Wedgwood. Valuable time could be lost.

No problem, the No. 1 handicap hole on our course produces two bogeys. That's after I pull a ball deep into someone's back yard. I shoot a 52 on the front, but it's a par 38, so it's not too bad. Shaner's got a 49, Salvatore a 46 and Tobolsky a 45.

I'm in the hunt, but don't look to win. I've also moved to the back seat of the limo. This is the throne for the day. It's the best seat and, guess what, I'm pulling rank.

• 12:35 p.m., Scotland Run, Williamstown: Five minutes behind schedule, but we're cool.

We stop at the halfway house before playing No. 12. Tobolsky knows someone at every course, and here it's Dana, our server. We order six sandwiches, and that takes longer than it took God to create the world. Turkey with no lettuce; turkey with mustard, tomato, no lettuce; plain turkey. I just want a hot dog, for cryin' out loud.

I'm driving the ball well, so maybe I have a shot at Shaner.

• 1:25 p.m., White Oaks, Newfield: Ten minutes behind, but for the first time all day I'm confident we're going to make it.

Shaner knocks one stiff at the 202-yard, par-3 17th and gets the only par. I'm hoping the cold kicks back in. We butt in front of a lovely couple, and Tobolsky goes into the routine. I must say, he's taken at least one responsibility off me, and it's helped my game.

He mentions all the courses we've played and draws one of the best responses all day: The lady voices some displeasure with Valleybrook with a shrill shriek.

It's not the first comment of the day about our selections. Every course had at least one comment about another. Even Pine Hill took a few shots. Aren't opinions great?

• 2:23 p.m., Buena Vista Country Club, Buena: It's 300 yards from the parking lot to the clubhouse. It's during this walk that the entire group slows down. It's hot and we've been up since what seems like the dawn of time.

I know what I shot, but I don't remember how.

• 3:07 p.m., Twisted Dune, Egg Harbor Township: Now I'm pumped.

I hit my best shot of the day to within 30 feet on this 176-yard par 3. Salvatore is on, but Tobolsky and Shaner are long. Ringo is begging for more commentary for his video. This won't win any kind of Academy Award, but we can't convince him of that.

He tells Todd that he wants dancing and celebrating even if he misses his shot to the green. Please. Todd had a better shot at Bridget Fonda asking him to take her away to an island off Paraguay than he had of making that shot.

I nail my 30-foot birdie putt but refuse to dance. It's just below me.

Actually it's not, and I give Ringo what he needs. I'm leaving Oscar night open.

• 3:52 p.m., Blue Heron Pines (East, then West), Cologne: We meet up with Edwina Hansen, who along with her husband, Roger, owns Blue Heron Pines Golf Club.

Edwina has more energy than the five of us combined, so she's a much-needed boost.

I get grilled on why we selected No. 11 on the East. Not that she doesn't like every hole, she just feels 15 is better. Problem is, when we played 15, Shaner made the par 5 in two. If you need to know, Todd's our version of Tom Kite, short and true.

Anyway, we get stuck behind the slowest scramble team in history. This threesome, which took 20 minutes to play this par 4, affords us time to relax and talk to Edwina. That is until Tobolsky starts stretching. At least we think that's what he was doing.

While Tobolsky continues to do his hybrid of yoga, tae kwon do and the macarena, we finally get our chance to hit.

I save par with three good shots and one, a 7-iron from 150 yards, that went 15 feet.

We move over to the West Course and again get a personal escort from Edwina. My seven on the 114-yard (its length on this day), par-3 11th hole brings down a group that had two pars and a birdie by Salvatore. It's official, Shaner's the only one not to get a birdie.

• 5:28 Seaview Marriott Resort (Pines and Bay), Absecon: Three holes left.

We play the Pines and move on. Five zombies looking to finish this round.

On the Bay we have to make an executive decision. The 14th hole has a backup of four groups in a scramble. We can jump in line or we can play another hole. For our safety and to get 18 holes in, we go to the sixth hole, which was our second choice on this course. I post the high score and I'm all but done.

One hole left.

• 7 p.m., Cape May National, Cape May: Plenty of light and only 45 minutes behind schedule.

As we walk to the clubhouse, we get confused looks.

``I don't think I have you on the tee sheet,'' Wildwood Catholic High School junior Dylan Mullock says as he cleans the clubs of golfers who have finished. ``I hope you don't plan to get in 18.''

Trust us, we didn't.

We head out to the fifth tee, tired and looking to get done. Maybe it's exhaustion or maybe it's the thin air, but I bet Shaner he can't hit the fairway. If he does, I'll play the hole bare-footed.

Off come the shoes and socks.

My drive is perfect and about 100 yards - give or take 85 - farther than Shaner's. Granted, that means I hit the ball about 280 yards, but I'm in good shape. For the first time all day, all of us are on in regulation.

Three pars go with a bogey by Salvatore, and we can go home.

On the back, I shoot a 41 for 93 total. Shaner puts up a 90 after a 41 on the back. Salvatore also puts up a 41 on the back for an 87. That ties him with Tobolsky, who had a 42 on the back. What's remarkable about Salvatore's 41 is that it included a nine at Scotland Run.

Epilogue

On the way back, Tobolsky goes into a long story. Due to space restraints, I'll summarize:

``I usually hit more balls after a round,'' Tobolsky said. ``I have no urge to do that now.''

All that matters is this: We did it, we did it, we did it. Yeah!



Reach Michael Radano at (856) 486-2424 or mradano@courierpostonline.com

Back to index