The Villages Daily Sun

THE VILLAGES — Crunch time quickly turned into Tierra del Sol time in Monday’s first day of play in the 2008 Ladies Village Cup at Mallory Hill Country Club.

TDS took a 5-1 lead after the foursome (alternate shot) play of the three-day event by capturing all three of the matches that made it to the 18th hole.

“That was tough,” said TDS captain Sharon Keil, who teamed with Sue Severn to post a 2-up victory. “It won’t get much closer than that.”

In fact, Keil and Severn held just a 1-up advantage going to the 18th tee, but when Severn rolled in a 45-foot birdie putt on the final green — with OBH already assured of par — the final outcome was decided.

“I changed putters right before the (Village Cup) qualifying because I was putting so poorly,” Severn said.

She didn’t have to go far to find a replacement.

“I borrowed one from Jerry,” she said.

Jerry is Sharon’s husband.

The second match of the day produced Monday’s shot of the day. Patti Morris of TDS holed her team’s second shot on the par-4 10th hole for an eagle as she and partner Carla Stevenson posted a 4&3 victory.

“Carla had hit the drive into a bunker on the left side of the fairway,” Morris said. “I asked her what club she would hit and I hit two more.

“It hit the green about 3 feet short of the cup and rolled right in.

“It was my first eagle on a par four.”

The third match also went to TDS, but again, it went to the 18th green where Pat Mangless canned a 7-foot par putt to clinch a 1-up victory.

“It was the only putt I made all day,” Mangless said.

“But she made it when it counted most,” said partner Leigh Anderson.

Donna Pierce and Jan Bernhard made it 4-0 for TDS with a 4&3 victory before Connie Gibson and Karen Anders finally got the three-time defending champions on the board with a 6&5 victory.

That left it up to Priscilla Salute and Myong Sun An to cap the TDS day.

They did with a 2-up win that also went all the way to the final hole.

“We were 2-down with six to go, but we won the next three holes,” Salute said. “But we never quit.

“We knew it was going to be tough. They have won the last three years and they aren’t going to give it to us. We’ll have to earn it.”

The matches will continue today, with six four-ball (best ball) matches on the schedule.

“We’ll have a meeting right now and talk about our pairings,” Keil said just minutes after Monday’s matches ended. “Four-ball is different than foursome, so we’ll take a look at who is going to play with whom tomorrow.”

Same plan for Orange Blossom Hills captain Nancy Metcalfe.

“We’ve got a lot of thinking to do,” she said. “A couple of the pairings that we had today didn’t work out as well as we thought they would, so we might mix up some of them for tomorrow.”

But Metcalfe also knows her team’s history.

“We’ve never been ahead after foursomes,’ she said, “so this is not a new situation for us.”

Salute, who was a member of the TDS team that lost in a playoff two years ago at Glenview Country Club, also knows the OBH history.

“This lead is not enough,” she said while staring at the scoreboard. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Scores from Monday’s first day of play in the 2008 Ladies Village Cup played at Mallory Hill Country Club.

TIERRA DEL SOL 5, ORANGE BLOSSOM HILLS 1

(FOURSOMES)

Keil/Severn (TDS) def. Sniffen/King, 2-up

Stevenson/Morris (TDS) def. Pelletier/Farrack, 4&3

Anderson/Mangless (TDS) def. Mowery/Darling, 1-up

Pierce/Bernhard (TDS) def. Davis/Sydor, 4&3

Gibson/Anders (OBH) def. Werley/Grazio, 6&5

Sun An/Salute (TDS) def. Manning/Keeney, 2-up