Bridge Blog 1028: The Bygone Month of May

     Gone following a 10-day vacation in Arizona, but not entirely forgotten. Let’s belatedly crack into the ACBL race results and see where we stand.

   Unit 116 (Buffalo only), Ace of Clubs (club play only), Ruby Life Masters (players with 1,500 to 2,500 points). 

     In January, I was first. In February, I slipped to fifth. In March, I narrowly climbed back to the top. April sent me back to fourth place. Now I’ve returned to fifth. Here's the top 10:

      Continuing on top is David Millward, 93.53, who’s returned from Florida, where he got most of those points. He remains in third place among all players in the unit. Allen Beroza had a good month and reclaimed second place with 71.87. Martin Pieterse, 61.77, retreated from second to third.

     Ken Meier moves up to fourth with 55.06. I’m next with 53.56, getting just 8.92 club points for the month. I remain 12th overall in the unit.

     Mike Silverman, at 53.46, is poised to overtake me. He may already have done it, since I’m writing this on June 22. Dorothy May bounces up from ninth to seventh with 40.57.
     Rounding out the Top 10 are Gene Finton, also back from Florida, with 35.90; Fred Yellen, 35.76; and Elaine Kurasiewicz, 26.58.      

   Unit 116, Ace of Clubs overall. 

     Alan Greer should be the leader here. He had 120.77 points a month ago, but he’s missing from the list. On top instead is last month’s runner-up, Nancy Wolstoncroft, with 114.77.

     John Ziemer is next with 97.32, followed by Ruby Life Master leader David Millward with his 93.53. Allen Beroza, eighth overall last month, now is fourth/fifth with 71.87.

     After that it’s Liz Clark, 62.16; Martin Pieterse, 61.77; Barbara Libby, 61.20; Jay Levy, 58.85; Bob Linn, 57.88; Ron Henrikson, 55.68; Ken Meier, 55.06; and Gay Simpson tied with me at 53.56.

     Rounding out the plus-50s are Mike Silverman, 53.46; Denise Slattery, 52.12; John and Martha Welte, 51.63; and Bud Seidenberg, 18th with 50.56.

     Last month’s leader John Ziemer, now fourth with 74.28, still has a commanding lead over the next bunch of players. Bud Seidenberg, third last month, is fifth with 50.56. Barbara Libby, previously second, is sixth with 50.43.

   Moving on to the Mini-McKenney races, which count all points earned everywhere, I have 72.49, up 9.39 from April and now below my goal of 15 points per month. Nevertheless, I’m firmly fifth again among Ruby Life Masters in Unit 116.

     Continuing way out in front is Davis Heussler, almost to the double century mark with 199.39. He's also tops among all Unit 116 players. 

     Second once more is David Millward with 119.87 (eighth overall). Then it's Ken Meier, third again with 112.92 (up from 14th to 11th overall); rampaging Allen Beroza, 75.07, up from sixth place last month (up from 38th overall to 24th); and me with 72.49. I'm 26th overall, down from 24th. 

     The next fivesome includes Fred Yellen, 63.92 (34th); Martin Pieterse, 63.14 (35th); Mike Silverman, 53.46 (43rd); Elaine Kurasiewicz, 43.86 (47th); and Dorothy May, 42.92 (49th).  

     Among all players in Unit 116, after Davis Heussler with his 199.38 comes Linda Burroughsford, up from fourth place with 152.58. After her come the Weltes, tied for third with 141.59, up from a ninth-place tie a month ago.

     Last month’s runner-up, Saleh Fetouh, is fifth with 134.98. Then it’s John Ziemer, 132.78; Jay Levy, 129.66; David Millward, 119.87; Nancy Wolstoncroft, 119.66; and Sandi England, 118.35.

       Alan Greer also is missing here. There’s a good chance he’d be second.

      Now let’s widen our horizons.

   District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh) Ace of Clubs, Ruby Life Masters. 

     David Millward, with 93.53 points, maintains a slightly smaller advantage over the man he displaced in April, Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., who has 78.71. Millward has slipped from fourth to fifth among all District 5 players. Goulding has rebounded from 12th to ninth.

     Allen Beroza moves up from sixth to third with 71.81 (15th overall in the district, up from 28th). Then it’s Martin Pieterse with 61.77 (21st); Chantal Whitney of Bratenhahl, Ohio, with 61.73 (22nd); Marvin Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, 59.69 (27th); Susan Konig of Bridgeville, Pa., dropping from fourth to seventh with 27.24. She’s slipped from 21st to 34th overall in the district.

     Then it’s Ken Meier, 55.06 (41st); James Wheeler of Edinburg, Pa., 54.74 (42nd); and then, tied for tenth place with me is Joane D'Antonio of Sewickley, Pa., both 53.56 and both 44th overall. Mike Silverman, 53.46 is No. 12 and 47th overall.

   Overall Ace of Clubbers in District 5 look like this:

     Buffalo's Alan Greer would rule with last month’s total of 120.77, but he’s missing in action.

     So it’s Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, 115.18; Nancy Wolstoncroft, 114.77; John Ziemer, 97.32; , Richard Katz of North Versailles, Pa., 97.31; and David Millward, 93.53.

     Sixth and eighth are Pittsburghers Arlene Port with 88.54 and Barbara Belardi with 81.61. Seventh is Patricia Katz of Pittsburgh, bouncing back from 10th place with 87.58. Rounding out the Top 10 are Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., 78.71; and Robert Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, 76.55.  

     Other Unit 116 players in the Top 20 are Allen Beroza, 15th with 71.87; and Liz Clark, in 20th place with 62.16. Three more – Barbara Libby, Martin Pieterse and Jay Levy – come in between 21st and 30th.   

   Now for the District 5 Mini-McKenney, Ruby Life Masters. 

     Omigod! Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., has edged ahead of our own David Heussler, 199.84 to 199.38. They’re eighth and ninth overall in the district.

     The other leaders include: Craig Biddle of Pittsburgh, lifted by a 66.10 month to 156.82 (up from 37th overall to 19th); David Millward, 119.87 (down from 23rd to 39th); Barbara Greenpsan of Beachwood, Ohio, 115.76 (45th); Leroy Hackenberg of Pittsburgh, 113.73 (47th); Ken Meier, 112.92 (49th); Wayne Heritage of North Olmsted, Ohio, 104.67 (58th); Marvin Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, 90.90 (76th); and Frank Scali of North Ridgeville, Ohio, 86.53 (81st). I’m 14th with my 72.49 and 107th overall.

   Mini-McKenney leader among all District 5 players continues to be Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, adding 111.49 points in May to reach 431.17.

     Then it’s Kathleen Sulgrove and Don Sulgrove of Twinsburg, Ohio, with 325.97 (130.95 points in May) and 293.54 (130.25 in May), reflecting their success at the Cleveland Regional. In fact, the top seven spots are all held by Ohioans.

     There’s Bernie Greenspan of Beachwood with 256.38; Robert Alexander of Mentor, 223.19; Kenneth Kranyak of Parma, 219.97; and Stephanie Alexander of Mentor, 209.45.

     Ruby Life Master leaders Philip Goulding and Davis Heussler are next with 199.84 and 199.39. In 10th place, down from second last month, is Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, 194.74. Last month, 27 players were in triple digits. Now 62 players are.

   Ace of Clubs, Ruby Life Masters, nationwide.

     A 46-point month moved Paul Hassett of The Villages, Fla., ahead of Anna Maxcine Thacker of Palm Coast, Fla., 161.51 to 148.34. April's leader, Russ Pearly, also of The Villages, continues third with 143.67.

     Richard Seidman of Orlando, Fla., is next with 126.67, followed by Joanne Matchette of Vero Beach, Fla., 124.57; Mason Barge of Atlanta, 123.92; Michael Fishman of Great Neck, L.I., 119.17; Brian Breckenridge of Corvallis, Ore., 118.81; Bruce Ladin of Harwood Heights, Ill., 116.80; and Chester Neel Jr. of Tyler, Texas, 116.41.

     Unit 116 leader David Millward is 40th. Allen Beroza moved up from 335th to 158th.Other local notables include Martin Pieterse, up from 320th to 291st. Last Buffalo player is Ken Meier, 465th. I’ve dropped off the list. It cuts off at 52.85.

   Ace of Clubs, all players, nationwide. 

     Bill Kulbersh of Atlanta had a 67-point month and now enjoys a 90-point lead over Robert Epstein of Atlanta, 327.39 to 237.49. Epstein, with a 60-point month, edged ahead of Bella Ionis-Sorren of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who had a mere 52-point month to reach 235.84.  

     Then a trio of new entries in the Top 10 – Tania Reyes Hiller of Bedford Corners, N.Y., with 216.59; Harry Kaufmann of North Redington Beach, Fla., 215.18; and Kay Schulle of Purchase, N.Y., 207.78.       
      After them, it’s Roberta Trayman of Naples, Fla., 203.20; Jack Snyder of Naperville, Ill., 201.85; En Xie of St. Louis, 194.66; and Michael Dalton of Palm Coast, Fla., 193.42.

      Nancy Wolstoncroft has moved up from 314th to 221st. John Ziemer, who just missed the list last month, is back, sitting in 437th place. David Millward, who made it a month ago, missed it by less than a point this time. The list stops at 94.14.

    Onward to Mini-McKenney, Ruby Life Masters, nationwide.

         Out of sight out front is Robert L. McClendon of Ponte Vedra, Fla., who had a 206-point month to reach 872.22. Mary Ose of Sacramento, Calif, remains a very distant second with 396.79. Alex Khrakovsky of Columbus, Ohio, stays third with 374.43.

      Still sitting fourth is someone we’ve played against, Joel Wooldridge’s sometimes partner Junko Hemus, of Windermere, Fla., last month and now of San Clemente, Calif., who has 302.32.

     Sabrina Miles of Mansfield, Mass., moves up from eighth to fifth with an 81-point month to 288.71.  

     Then it’s Mason Barge of Atlanta, 280.87; Darryl Legassie of Milton, N.H., 280.87; Kim Brinkman of Highland Village, Texas, 253.15; Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., 245.67; and Kevin Castner of Kentfield, Calif., 232.28. Unit 116’s Davis Heussler, is 31st with his 199.38. David Millward drops from  154th to 204th. Ken Meier rises from 318th to 265th. The list ends at 90.15.

     And now for the really heavy hitters, the Mini-McKenney leaders overall.

     A month ago there were four players in four figures. Now there are nine.

     Joe Grue of New York City sits on top for the fourth  straight month with 1,489.61. Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., continues second with 1,399.65.

Kevin Dwyer of Melbourne, Fla., moves from fourth to third with 1,242.58, pushing past Brad Mass of Denver, 1,231.57.

     John Hurd of New York City jumps from seventh to fifth with 1,119.70, thanks to a 323-point month.

     Then it's Shan Huang, also from Melbourne, with 1,068.59; the legendary Eric Rodwell of Clearwater, Fla., 1,028.94; January leader Geoff Hampson of Las Vegas, dropping from sixth to eighth with 1,022.55; another legend, Jeff Meckstroth of Clearwater Beach, Fal, 1,001.82; and Justin Lall of Charlotte, N.C., 926.94.

     Familiar names: Former Buffalonian Joel Wooldridge bounces back from 41st to 25th with a 235-point month, reaching 694.83. District 5 leader Sue Lan Ma is up from 109th to 91st with her 431.17. No Unit 116 people here. This list cuts off at 212.97