Fall Team Feature
By Mark Schmetzer
Patty Crisp has been captain of the Four Bridges Country Club team for the Greater Cincinnati Women’s Golf Association Fall Team competition since 2018. Her squad is moving up from Division IV to Division III for the first time after winning this season’s division championship.
Four Bridges moved into a tie for first place in Week Three of the five-week tournament and pulled away for the championship with the team’s two best rounds of the event to earn a promotion to Division III next season. “We’ve always stayed in Division IV,” Crisp said. “This is the first time we’ve moved up.”
Four Bridges finished 7.5 points ahead of Terrace Park Country Club, a trend of remarkably decisive finishes in this year’s event. Oasis Golf Club, captained by April Rockwood, took over first place in the Division I tournament and finished five points ahead of Wetherington Golf & Country Club.
The Ivy Hills Country Club team captained by Denise Meismer moved from third place in Week One to first place in Week Two and never gave it up while capturing the Division II title by 8.5 points over Miami View Golf Club.
Jeannie Schoonover’s Western Hills Country Club team also moved into first place in Week Two of Division III and led the rest of the way, finishing six points ahead of Camargo Country Club. “It was big,” Schoonover said. “It really was. We’ve been up close other times. We hoped for a breakthrough last year. We hung in there until the end.”
Crisp credited an infusion of new blood with helping Four Bridges move up. “You know, literally, we just had some strong new players who really love to compete,” Crisp said. “Some of the girls hadn’t played Fall Team. We had a couple who ended up having some time to play that hadn’t had time before. “I think, as far as handicapping, everybody played to their handicaps.”
Ivy Hills’s Division II championship was its second in three seasons. The team also won in 2020. “We had a very strong team,” Meismer said. “We were very diversified. We had 13 different ladies. That kind of opened us up to more participants. We were able to have greater participation. We were able to open up to more ladies.”
The diversification paid off. Meismer was able to play only three of the five weeks, but teammates picked her up. “We did have a couple of ladies,” she said. “The week at Miami View (Golf Club), I didn’t play. Tote Brodbeck played exceptionally well. She had a good day that day. Different ladies had great rounds.”
Ivy Hills basically clinched the division championship with a win at Cincinnati Country Club in Week Two. “When we played at Cincinnati, those ladies came to play,” Meismer said.
The Western Hills team moved into first place in Week Two of the Division III competition at Summit Hills Counry Club and finished six points ahead of Camargo Country Club after the final round at Hyde Park Country Club. “I would say I like Summit Hills,” Schoonover said. “I like the course. I think many of our people felt comfortable having played there before.”
Western Hills’s win stemmed from a consistent performance from her team members. “Our No. 1, Amy Lambrinides, pretty much played to her handicap for the entire time,” Schoonover said. “Another person who came through for us was Sue Schwarz.”
Western Hills took the lead with a one-point over the home team at Summit Hills in Week Two. “I would say I like Summit Hills,” Schoonover said. “I like the course. I think our people felt comfortable playing having played there before. Many members of our team had played there.”
