May 19, 2005

POTTSVILLE, PA — The 2005 Carl Spackler Open took a blow to "sleep time" and added unwanted "wake time" last month.  At least the tournament office thought so.  The Captains Club verified the itinerary has once again been updated and very much improved.

A large corporate outing plans to return to Mountain Valley for the 10th straight year on June 10 with use of Maple and Oak courses starting at 12:45PM through 6:30PM.  That pushed the 5th major championship into the early morning to ensure a finish of Round 2 play by noon.  The Open was set to shotgun start at 7:27AM and scramble at 3:45PM.

Mountain Valley had closed the entire golf course down to the public on Friday due to the Carl Spackler Open and large afternoon outing.

The Captains Club decided to invite Jim Campbell to their weekly tournament meeting to allow their members get involved with the tournament.  He gracially accepted the responsiblity after his round at Jackson Valley where he scored 39 points.  He was chosen to read the group statement on itinerary changes.

"We are not exactly happy with the other outing resigning again this year," says Jim Campbell.  "The club cannot see 68 guys getting up at 5:45AM to make the required tee time and then missing half the Friday night party because of an outing with much less importance.  So we made an adjustment that helps our cause considerably."

Jim Campbell continued to read the statement prepared by the tournament office.  "To ensure everyone is on the right page, I recommend everyone review the itinerary once again.  It has changed considerably.  As far as trying to explain it clearly, "We have the same itinerary as last year with two exceptions."  

Campbell took a drink of his Yuengling beer and continued, "First, the Pine course is ours for the entire day and nobody else will be on the 9-hole course.  That opens a window of opportunity as it is the best and most difficult nine within the 27 hole facility.  Round 2 will be played in two 9-hole shotguns.  We are scheduled to play Maple at 8:30AM instead of 7:27AM.  The Pine shotgun will happen immediately afterwards."

"Second, as for the afternoon scramble, the club has decided to play Pine twice starting at 2:30PM.  The 52 players will straight tee right into the clubhouse happy hour.  This allows later scramble tee times to grab a bite to eat and early tee times more party time."

"This has been fun, but got to go," says Little Buddy as he folded up the statement, stuck it in his pocket, waived to mom, and headed for the stairs.

Starting very, very early Friday morning, the free sober shuttle school bus will leave the River Inn at 7:15AM for the golf course.  It will arrive at 7:45AM, where golf clubs will be retrieved from a locked area on the grounds.  Players will have 30 minutes to get their coffee, hit range balls, putt, or get slapped in the face before leaving for their designated holes for Round 2 to commence at 8:30AM.

The full 2005 Carl Spackler Open itinerary has been updated and posted online.  There are 21 days left until Round 1 play.  Players continue to practice and get in tournament shape.