the BCC had a wonderful turnout for this long overdue event (july/april?). most of the founding members were on hand, metamorphosis mike, jef “skully” dryline, louie “the fluke” thehellwith, the dandy randy, chris “the butt” cassini and even, if only to cheer the boys on, pete “the eagle” johnson, who has been recovering from a golfing incident that occurred at #2 One Bad Apple (127yds) not that long ago. the rodeo clowns were there, matt and mike! the Steeple View Country Club consortium of capt. billy jo, robert “pops” auld, johnny Z and derek “sucker punch” schultz, along with french canadian newcomers pete “kegger” rouillard and his younger brother tim “little john” rouillard. some other members that also graced us with their appearance were her ladyship from bay head, with her servant boy jan, the lovely couple kurt and may, jill “keith richards” richmond joining her husband pete, and john sperry with his beautiful wife robin. just add the BYOB BCC Clubhouse, BYOStuff BCC Patio with BCC Bar-B-Q, and you have yourself a party! and it was.
once everybody arrived, most fashionably late, a short orientation was made by the groundskeeper reminding and advising members of the BCC rules of golf and informing them about proper BCC Hole etiquette, most importantly, that the hole was considered sacred ground and not to be stepped in. after forming a circle and spinning a tee to decide the 1st round groupings, the golfers gathered around the green by the first tee for a brief ribbon cutting ceremony inaugurating the holes themselves, a proud moment for the Bernardsville Country Club.
tim rouillard lead the first group in the first qualifying round, that being the first four clockwise holes of the eight hole BCC course played twice, with a four birdie barrage, 10 points and his name on the top of the leader board. derek headed the second foursome with 9 points, highlighted by three consecutive birdies to finish his round, and that was after matt scored the 1st tournament hole in one at #4 Octopine (103yds), winning the Octopine Trophy for closest to the pin. the groundskeeper lead the 3rd group with 7 points and couple of ice cold cocktails. 
the second seeded qualifying round, which consists of eight counterclockwise holes, saw the younger french canadian, timmy, continue his dominance over his group and the course tallying up 9 more points and still on top of the pack with a 19 total. in the 2nd group billy jo made a nice comeback with 3 birdies and an 11 point total for 4th place while derek easily made enough points, 6 more, to make it into the final in 3rd. the groundskeeper dedicated his round to bacardi and coke and scored 11 additional points putting him in 2nd place. with him matt managed 2 points to slide into the Cinderella story 5th position with 7 points.
the stage was set for an exciting championship round. the course was playing hard, fast, and challenging, the holes were providing instant drama and all the contestants were able competitors, involved in a day long war of attrition. so let there be a feast under the tented BCC Patio to celebrate the occasion and prepare the friendly combatants for the final battle for the coveted silver BCC Cup and the 2010 April Fools Open title! and there was.
the following is the groundskeepers recollections of the final round:
“ #1 O.K.Corral (95yds), with these hard fairways and greens, O.B. lurking behind, that requires maybe a 69 yard shot factoring in for bounce and roll, that’s what i was thinking as i sipped my icy cold rum and coke. i actually don’t know what anybody else did that round, louie was the official scorekeeper, so i was free to focus. so nice and easy i hit the spot with a lob wedge and the ball rolled onto the green, 9 iron bump and run from 15 feet dropped into the cup, birdie. nice way to start a championship round.
grinded out a par at #2 One Bad Apple (127yds) and shared some points with billy jo and derek. at #3 Sight Unseen (113yds), with honors at the tee, i made a good swing on an aggressive line over the pines at the hidden hole with a pitching wedge. only to find out it was not good enough, my ball had hit a tree and landed near the BCC Alter, this was a bad omen? not only was i surrounded and blocked by pine trees, i also had not stocked the BCC Alter with ice cold “jeagermeister” for prayer. hell! it's a BCC tradition!
i took a sip of my bacardi and coke and placed it on the Alter and then i saw the light, an opening, for a shot, i punched out but could not join billy jo and derek who made par and shared points. there was trouble at #4 Octopine (103yds), it requires a delicate shot over the pines tentacles yet not too far to bounce down the slope into oblivion (the bushes). even my 3/4 sand wedge went dangerously long, others were not so lucky. matt and i halved the hole with pars. halfway, 4-2-2-1-0, water, breathe, relax. #5 Octopines Revenge (83yds), pars were made by billy jo, matt and myself. #6 Pines Gauntlet (109yds) i made a tap-in par and shared points with tim, a first time contestant who made a gallant effort but obviously had no idea what he had gotten himself into, lol.
at #7 Big Roundup (129yds), everything seemed fine, i had missed a couple of birdie chances but i still had the lead and i hit a nice pitching wedge clearing the fence into the corral and then, where’s my ball? over there? no? there! no! no matter. boom! billy jo nails his birdie. is mike r. his caddy? 6-5-2-2-1. #8 Barn’s Window (111yds), billy jo had the tee but again i was lost in deep thought, “a full swing pitching wedge? no. an aggressive but controlled punch 9 iron right up to the hole”. seeing images that become irresistible paths. witnesses at the hole said it missed by inches. with nothing left but a tap-in birdie. April Fools Open, what a party!” BCCNews
