We're all booked for the first week of the new season.
I really wanted to go to a specific course in Pinellas, but I encountered a whole new low of incompetence in the golf industry.
So we'll maybe push that off a week — assuming my patience returns. We're instead booked at Lexington Oaks at 9am (site of the BGR's first tournament).
Rate is $38 after tax. Range balls not included... but it's so early, most of you people won't have time to hit them anyway.
-------------------------------
Our 2020 Fantasy Golf Pool is going to be released soon. You'll only have a couple of weeks to enter. Every year I post it... and every year someone tells me they didn't see it.
When you see something... get on it. Late entries will be rejected.
-------------------------------
See you all THIS Sunday.
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Monday, December 23, 2019
End of the Off Season
Two weeks out, and we got a few lazy / deadbeat members to discuss.
Dave and Danny, still need to fill out their registration form. I'll be booking the first week very soon, and will assume any blanks or ??? are not attending.
And the following people have yet to pay league dues:
Danny - $37
Katie - $40
Ho - $110
Reid - $63
Troy - $20
Failure to pay before teeing off in any event results in a DQ. Every DQ makes my chances of winning improve. So while I'm all for it, it's probably better to open up your favorite Millennial payment app and send over some of that money you pretend to make.
------------------------
In other news... just got word that the Bayou Club is going to get us on for $65 plus tax. It's a private Tom Fazio design that I've been trying to take us to for a few years — but could never make it work due to their renovation and maintenance schedules.
It's also where Geoff got married.
Current plan is to play it for the DPT Open (week 3).
------------------------
I've also been in contact with the USGA, attempting to get us on their internal computation platform. It might happen... hopefully... but it seems they're really going to decimate their list of Directly Authorized Clubs.
Type 2 Clubs (like ours) are about to find themselves "unofficial" with very few options. There's a chance we can change that. But regardless, expect our own modified handicaps to be used for all of next season.
Dave and Danny, still need to fill out their registration form. I'll be booking the first week very soon, and will assume any blanks or ??? are not attending.
And the following people have yet to pay league dues:
Troy - $20
Failure to pay before teeing off in any event results in a DQ. Every DQ makes my chances of winning improve. So while I'm all for it, it's probably better to open up your favorite Millennial payment app and send over some of that money you pretend to make.
------------------------
In other news... just got word that the Bayou Club is going to get us on for $65 plus tax. It's a private Tom Fazio design that I've been trying to take us to for a few years — but could never make it work due to their renovation and maintenance schedules.
It's also where Geoff got married.
Current plan is to play it for the DPT Open (week 3).
------------------------
I've also been in contact with the USGA, attempting to get us on their internal computation platform. It might happen... hopefully... but it seems they're really going to decimate their list of Directly Authorized Clubs.
Type 2 Clubs (like ours) are about to find themselves "unofficial" with very few options. There's a chance we can change that. But regardless, expect our own modified handicaps to be used for all of next season.
Monday, December 16, 2019
2020 Handicaps - What's the Deal?
As you may have heard, handicaps are changing for 2020. We'll officially no longer be... official... since we won't be tied into the new USGA system/database.
The goal is to get "official" at some point, but in the meantime we're going rogue!
I'll implement as many of the changes as possible, and we should ultimately be good enough for government work.
Bottom line: in our tournaments you're going to get a number... you're going to play to that number... and you're going to like it. Most of you can stop reading now.
Anyone who wants to know how the sausage is going to be made, continue below:
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 3.1(a) now states that when establishing a handicap, the max score you can take is par + 5. Coincidentally, this is what our Board of Directors implemented over a year ago.
Action: Great job voting in a Board that's ahead of the times. Again, this only applies to handicap establishment. Once you have an Index, you get to deal with the bullshit in the next section.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 3.1(b) changes your max allowed for handicap reporting. While it was based on the ESC grid, the new number is "net double bogey".
Action: Your Club Chairman handles this adjustment after each tournament round. It's on YOU to report your adjusted scores correctly during non-tournament rounds. This requires you to look at the hole-handicaps on the scorecard and decide if you made worse than "net double bogey," and then adjust accordingly. It's a huge pain in the ass. And most of you probably weren't reporting your ESC rounds anyway. We'll hammer this more later once next season has started.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 4.1 says you must submit your rounds IMMEDIATELY after play. This is due to your Handicap Index now changing DAILY, instead of BI-MONTHLY (Rule 5.4).
Action: We are NOT going to change how often your "DPT/FBGC Index" is updated. Ain't nobody got time for that... until we're on an automated platform. So for now, two updates a month per usual.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 5.2(a) changes how many rounds are used in your Index calculation. Currently, it uses the average of your best 10 of previous 20 differentials, with a 4% reduction. The NEW RULE uses the average of your best eight differentials of the previous 20 (with no additional reduction).
Action: We'll be able to implement this change, and for most people it'll only change your Index a few tenths. If you have a wide spread of scores, it'll probably lower you down a point. And a the super high handicaps might actually gain points since the 4% reduction was pretty large up in the bad golfer stratosphere.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 5.3 increases the maximum allowed Index to 54.0.
Action: I mean... sure. But if you ever sniff a number that high... you probably shouldn't be playing golf for score/points/money.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 5.6 applies extra adjustments to your Index based on "playing conditions." The process requires crowd-sourcing scores at a specific course for a specific day, and determining if the reported scores are out of whack.
Action: It's impossible for us to implement this change. Also, it's not going to change your differential very often. The BEST thing this will do is alert the USGA when a course is incorrectly rated (ie: players consistently reporting low net scores like at ChampionsGate CC). How quickly that causes a course to pay their own money for a re-rating is yet to be seen. They're only required to do it once every 10 years unless there are major architectural changes.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 5.8 determines how HIGH your Index can increase over a 12-month period. It compares every revision to your LOWEST Index in the last year. That Index can never increase more than 5 points. And there's a soft-cap that slows any increase after it reaches 3 points above your "lowest index" in the previous 12-months.
Action: This was a huge pain in the ass, but I got it implemented. I don't see the "hard cap" coming into play very often... but starting in January 2020... Gary and John are already in the "soft cap" zone. Sandbaggers!
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 5.9 deals with exceptional scores. If you ever record a round where the calculated differential is 7+ lower than your Index... you get a -1 point reduction in your previous 20 round differentials. If you ever record a round 10+ lower... it's a -2 point reduction. And if you ever do it more than once, the application is cumulative. This is the ultimate sandbagger penalty, and it WOULD affect some of us from time to time. Like when Adam shot an 85 at Buffalo Creek despite having a 21.8 Index (he won by 8 strokes).
Action: A complete nightmare using the duct-tape that makes up this blog. But for the most part, we're ready to roll on this.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 6.1 changes how Course Handicaps are calculated. Currently, an extra calculation is only done if players are on DIFFERENT TEES. This is something we weren't doing correctly in our early existence... and then ultimately figured out when we started allowing you to pick your own tee boxes. Turns out, the USGA is tired of people ignoring this extra step (Darryl). So now... YOU HAVE TO APPLY IT TO EVERY TEE BOX ALL THE TIME!
Good luck explaining how to do this to the masses. Anyway...
It causes a few things... 1) par now matters, since that's the basis for the adjustment 2) your Course Handicap for any given day is definitely going to be different than before.
The net result won't affect our Club events in terms of where you will finish on the leader board. But it WILL cause more bad pitchers to be purchased, since most of us have rightfully embraced the "tee it forward" initiative. The tees that are "correct" for us are usually easy for Scratch Golfers, which is the basis for the Course Rating.
Action: Rounds that were net +8 or +9 are now going to be in the Pitcher Zone. Faz will be able to do average pitchers per round comparison, but if we continue to rack up "owed pitchers" expect the Board to take action against the deadbeats.
The goal is to get "official" at some point, but in the meantime we're going rogue!
 |
| It's gonna be nuts. |
I'll implement as many of the changes as possible, and we should ultimately be good enough for government work.
Bottom line: in our tournaments you're going to get a number... you're going to play to that number... and you're going to like it. Most of you can stop reading now.
Anyone who wants to know how the sausage is going to be made, continue below:
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 3.1(a) now states that when establishing a handicap, the max score you can take is par + 5. Coincidentally, this is what our Board of Directors implemented over a year ago.
Action: Great job voting in a Board that's ahead of the times. Again, this only applies to handicap establishment. Once you have an Index, you get to deal with the bullshit in the next section.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 3.1(b) changes your max allowed for handicap reporting. While it was based on the ESC grid, the new number is "net double bogey".
Action: Your Club Chairman handles this adjustment after each tournament round. It's on YOU to report your adjusted scores correctly during non-tournament rounds. This requires you to look at the hole-handicaps on the scorecard and decide if you made worse than "net double bogey," and then adjust accordingly. It's a huge pain in the ass. And most of you probably weren't reporting your ESC rounds anyway. We'll hammer this more later once next season has started.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 4.1 says you must submit your rounds IMMEDIATELY after play. This is due to your Handicap Index now changing DAILY, instead of BI-MONTHLY (Rule 5.4).
Action: We are NOT going to change how often your "DPT/FBGC Index" is updated. Ain't nobody got time for that... until we're on an automated platform. So for now, two updates a month per usual.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 5.2(a) changes how many rounds are used in your Index calculation. Currently, it uses the average of your best 10 of previous 20 differentials, with a 4% reduction. The NEW RULE uses the average of your best eight differentials of the previous 20 (with no additional reduction).
Action: We'll be able to implement this change, and for most people it'll only change your Index a few tenths. If you have a wide spread of scores, it'll probably lower you down a point. And a the super high handicaps might actually gain points since the 4% reduction was pretty large up in the bad golfer stratosphere.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 5.3 increases the maximum allowed Index to 54.0.
Action: I mean... sure. But if you ever sniff a number that high... you probably shouldn't be playing golf for score/points/money.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 5.6 applies extra adjustments to your Index based on "playing conditions." The process requires crowd-sourcing scores at a specific course for a specific day, and determining if the reported scores are out of whack.
Action: It's impossible for us to implement this change. Also, it's not going to change your differential very often. The BEST thing this will do is alert the USGA when a course is incorrectly rated (ie: players consistently reporting low net scores like at ChampionsGate CC). How quickly that causes a course to pay their own money for a re-rating is yet to be seen. They're only required to do it once every 10 years unless there are major architectural changes.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 5.8 determines how HIGH your Index can increase over a 12-month period. It compares every revision to your LOWEST Index in the last year. That Index can never increase more than 5 points. And there's a soft-cap that slows any increase after it reaches 3 points above your "lowest index" in the previous 12-months.
Action: This was a huge pain in the ass, but I got it implemented. I don't see the "hard cap" coming into play very often... but starting in January 2020... Gary and John are already in the "soft cap" zone. Sandbaggers!
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 5.9 deals with exceptional scores. If you ever record a round where the calculated differential is 7+ lower than your Index... you get a -1 point reduction in your previous 20 round differentials. If you ever record a round 10+ lower... it's a -2 point reduction. And if you ever do it more than once, the application is cumulative. This is the ultimate sandbagger penalty, and it WOULD affect some of us from time to time. Like when Adam shot an 85 at Buffalo Creek despite having a 21.8 Index (he won by 8 strokes).
Action: A complete nightmare using the duct-tape that makes up this blog. But for the most part, we're ready to roll on this.
--------------------------
New Rule: Handicap Rule 6.1 changes how Course Handicaps are calculated. Currently, an extra calculation is only done if players are on DIFFERENT TEES. This is something we weren't doing correctly in our early existence... and then ultimately figured out when we started allowing you to pick your own tee boxes. Turns out, the USGA is tired of people ignoring this extra step (Darryl). So now... YOU HAVE TO APPLY IT TO EVERY TEE BOX ALL THE TIME!
Good luck explaining how to do this to the masses. Anyway...
It causes a few things... 1) par now matters, since that's the basis for the adjustment 2) your Course Handicap for any given day is definitely going to be different than before.
The net result won't affect our Club events in terms of where you will finish on the leader board. But it WILL cause more bad pitchers to be purchased, since most of us have rightfully embraced the "tee it forward" initiative. The tees that are "correct" for us are usually easy for Scratch Golfers, which is the basis for the Course Rating.
Action: Rounds that were net +8 or +9 are now going to be in the Pitcher Zone. Faz will be able to do average pitchers per round comparison, but if we continue to rack up "owed pitchers" expect the Board to take action against the deadbeats.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Inaugural BGR 2-person Scramble
Hello loyal readers! We are back after an offseason of football, family, and not enough booze golf. With bowl season and the next DPT (anxiously awaiting the official name change and logo announcement) season just around the corner, the BGR wanted to get some friends and family together for a fun event doing what we love: golf and booze.
After uncounted hours of planning, we were set for a 10-person field at Lexington Oaks on Sunday the 8th of December. Brendan spent the night before concentrating orange juice so everyone could get their vitamin C in when they arrived at the course. Aside from the OJ, the Martha Stewart-esque goody bags included a shot of fireball to be used in case of a mulligan emergency and a beer for each booze golfer celebrant. Wonderful job, Brendan.
The play itself was inspired, with all groups putting in some great work on the day. Pairings were made by handicaps, lowest with highest, second lowest with second highest, and so on and we ended up with the following:
No strokes given as the selected teams should have been relatively even. May the best golfers on the day win the whole pot. At least that was the plan until Chandler the cowardly sandhill crane chimed in to suggest second place gets their money back. So the pot was set: $80 to the winning team and $20 to the first losers. On to the event!
With 5 groups of 2-person teams, the pairings would be tough to manage. There was a convoluted plan to have groups switch between twosomes and foursomes during the round, but with the lead group waiting on each holes we decided to go with a six-some in there instead. Despite some yelling from the ranger, the six-some idea finished the day and fun was had by all, but mostly the group traveling with a papoose for the day.
The Brendan-Faz combo had to be told numerous times that you must take the fireball before the mulligan. I don't think a Patrick Reed-Billy Mayfair pairing would have bitched as much about not being able to take "provisional mulligans." They were solidly in contention until the Fireball blew up their round on the 12th green when a 5-foot putt just didn't want to go in for them. After that the John-Darren combo joined with the Brendan-Faz and Chandler-Dub teams in the lead six-some and got to witness the glory that was the Chandler-Dub victory lap around the field. Putts were going in from all over the greens for the heroes of the day and victory was never in doubt after the birdie on 13 from Chandler's mulligan 9-iron sticking 10-feet away and Dub draining the plinko style putt. It was a veritable clinic and the only sad part is that not all five groups were able to witness such brilliant play. John and Darren finished a valiant second place. It was hard to see the other two groups from so far out in front, but I'm sure they had fun, too.
While some played on and others went to continue the booze fun with lunch at Winghouse, we will all remember forever the Inaugaral BGR 2-person Scramble. Thanks to everyone who participated and those who put it together. Looking forward to the next BGR event. Course ratings still to come after incomplete data, but suffice it to say, it's not too tough to sneak stuff on out there.
After uncounted hours of planning, we were set for a 10-person field at Lexington Oaks on Sunday the 8th of December. Brendan spent the night before concentrating orange juice so everyone could get their vitamin C in when they arrived at the course. Aside from the OJ, the Martha Stewart-esque goody bags included a shot of fireball to be used in case of a mulligan emergency and a beer for each booze golfer celebrant. Wonderful job, Brendan.
 |
| Drink in case of two shanked drives. |
The play itself was inspired, with all groups putting in some great work on the day. Pairings were made by handicaps, lowest with highest, second lowest with second highest, and so on and we ended up with the following:
- Chandler and Dub (-31.8 combined handicap)
- Faz and Brendan (-31.3)
- Ho and Ben (-31.8)
- Gary and Crum (-31.2)
- Big John and Darren (-30.9)
 |
| The official pairings sheet raw data. |
No strokes given as the selected teams should have been relatively even. May the best golfers on the day win the whole pot. At least that was the plan until Chandler the cowardly sandhill crane chimed in to suggest second place gets their money back. So the pot was set: $80 to the winning team and $20 to the first losers. On to the event!
With 5 groups of 2-person teams, the pairings would be tough to manage. There was a convoluted plan to have groups switch between twosomes and foursomes during the round, but with the lead group waiting on each holes we decided to go with a six-some in there instead. Despite some yelling from the ranger, the six-some idea finished the day and fun was had by all, but mostly the group traveling with a papoose for the day.
The Brendan-Faz combo had to be told numerous times that you must take the fireball before the mulligan. I don't think a Patrick Reed-Billy Mayfair pairing would have bitched as much about not being able to take "provisional mulligans." They were solidly in contention until the Fireball blew up their round on the 12th green when a 5-foot putt just didn't want to go in for them. After that the John-Darren combo joined with the Brendan-Faz and Chandler-Dub teams in the lead six-some and got to witness the glory that was the Chandler-Dub victory lap around the field. Putts were going in from all over the greens for the heroes of the day and victory was never in doubt after the birdie on 13 from Chandler's mulligan 9-iron sticking 10-feet away and Dub draining the plinko style putt. It was a veritable clinic and the only sad part is that not all five groups were able to witness such brilliant play. John and Darren finished a valiant second place. It was hard to see the other two groups from so far out in front, but I'm sure they had fun, too.
 |
| Your inaugural BGR 2-person Scramble Participants! We even took the time to pose for a group photo. |
While some played on and others went to continue the booze fun with lunch at Winghouse, we will all remember forever the Inaugaral BGR 2-person Scramble. Thanks to everyone who participated and those who put it together. Looking forward to the next BGR event. Course ratings still to come after incomplete data, but suffice it to say, it's not too tough to sneak stuff on out there.
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
BGR Update
Let’s put a stop to the rumors, yes it’s happening!
Date: Sunday, December 8th
Time: 9:30 AM
Course: Lexington Oaks
Two man scramble format.
We will randomly generate parings.
Bring $10 winning team take all.
Please reconfirm your attendance.
Please reconfirm your attendance.
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Words from the Commish
As of right now, the following people owe club dues:
Adam - $35
Danny - $37
Katie - $40
Ho - $110
Reid - $53
Troy - $20
We start back up in 5 weeks so get those submitted.
---------------
10 of you need to fill out your registration for the next season. I might lock that down 2 weeks out, depending on where we play, so claim a spot if you're in Week 1.
---------------
Irish Dave requests a Red Dog gathering on Saturday, December 14th. Be there if you'd like to partake in our Club's social obligations. 7pm or so.
---------------
The entire Blue Team from the 2019 Rapture has been awarded this year's "Pain Stewart Award" [sic].
Not the one given to someone whose "values align with the character, charity and sportsmanship that Payne Stewart showed." But the award for horrifically crashing and burning.
Adam - $35
Danny - $37
Katie - $40
Ho - $110
Reid - $53
Troy - $20
We start back up in 5 weeks so get those submitted.
---------------
10 of you need to fill out your registration for the next season. I might lock that down 2 weeks out, depending on where we play, so claim a spot if you're in Week 1.
---------------
Irish Dave requests a Red Dog gathering on Saturday, December 14th. Be there if you'd like to partake in our Club's social obligations. 7pm or so.
---------------
The entire Blue Team from the 2019 Rapture has been awarded this year's "Pain Stewart Award" [sic].
Not the one given to someone whose "values align with the character, charity and sportsmanship that Payne Stewart showed." But the award for horrifically crashing and burning.
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
The Concussion
Golf Channel is doing a story on the Australian that Gorecki hit in St. Andrews!!
Re-live the story here.
Re-live the story here.
Monday, November 25, 2019
Family Tree
Pointless content to rattle some cages. Below is a somewhat accurate view of who is responsible for everyone in the league. The free web creator wouldn't allow for incestuous relationships, so I know I'll be told the "Growler/Frat/Fidoucheiary" section in the middle is all jumbled.
Whatever. Happy Thanksgiving week. Pour one out for Reid, JW, Gorecki and Katie... all of whom have 100% "dead children" in this chart.
Whatever. Happy Thanksgiving week. Pour one out for Reid, JW, Gorecki and Katie... all of whom have 100% "dead children" in this chart.
Friday, November 22, 2019
Winter 2019 Board Meeting
It might not be "Blog Season," but we have some things to report.
The Board of Directors met last night to go over any proposed changes to the Club for 2020. Since we're such a well-oiled machine, there's really not much to tweak. Nevertheless, below are my notes of the meeting, which are covered in wing sauce:
By-Law items need 5 of 5 approval. Non-By-Law items need 4 of 5 for approval.
The Board of Directors met last night to go over any proposed changes to the Club for 2020. Since we're such a well-oiled machine, there's really not much to tweak. Nevertheless, below are my notes of the meeting, which are covered in wing sauce:
By-Law items need 5 of 5 approval. Non-By-Law items need 4 of 5 for approval.
- Dave asked us to consider changing the number of events needed to qualify for the World Golf Rankings (and thus the Rapture) from 10 to 8 in a rolling 18-tournament span. This was denied by the Board, 4 to 1. Only John voted "yes." No change next year. You'll still need 10 rounds in an 18-tournament span to make the list.
- JW wanted to revisit the rule requiring you to play in at least ONE event in the first 3 weeks in order to compete the rest of the season for money and points. The Board approved 4 to 1 to expand this to ONE event in the first 4 WEEKS. Only John voted "no."
- Gorecki wanted us to consider making the Skins game a $30 entry, where $10 was awarded based on stroke-play results. This was shot down unanimously. John instructed me to put on the record that he emphatically said: "That's stupid!"
- Gorecki also suggested if his first proposal didn't pass, that we divide the $20 Skins entry into $10 for the Skins and $10 for the stroke-play. This was also shot down unanimously. The feeling is there isn't an issue for one of our nine tournaments to be different in the way it pays out. And that Points, which are still awarded based on stroke-play, are much more valuable than money.
- John proposed changes to the Eagle payments. Currently, it's $2 from everyone in that specific group. It's a number we arbitrarily decided on back in 2012, and never really gave it much thought since it took forever for someone to even record an eagle. Now the league has 10 of them. John wanted the payout to be $1 from everyone in the field that day. This proposal narrowly failed 3-2, with JW and Chandler voting "no" and blocking the move. Their reasons for "no" dealt with: 1) difficulty in collecting an additional dollar from everyone after the round 2) accounting annoyance if attempting to collect from membership balances 3) comparison to sandies, where you should have to see the eagle to pay out on it, thus making it group-specific.
- JW proposed changing the name of "The Memorial" to "The Concussion." This led to a debate where ALL but the Skins and Match-Play events were considered for the name change. Ultimately, JW's original proposal passed unanimously. More tournament name changes might happen down the road, as is the case on all professional golf tours.
 |
- Chandler asked if we needed to change By-Law Article III.8, requiring members to play in 6 events of a rolling 2 seasons to maintain membership. The Board unanimously voted to keep that in place without change.
- The Board unanimously approved a new By-Law dealing with the dissolution of the Club. In the event this ever happens, all unused dues would be returned to each individual, and all Hole-in-One money must be used on booze at a Dissolution Party hosted by the Board.
- The Board unanimously approved to keep calculating handicaps as we've been doing in 2020, despite the USGA switching over to the World Handicap System. Our goal is to become compliant and on the new system ASAP, but so far that would require us to become an FSGA regulated Club, who will then charge us $30+ per person per year to use the USGA's GHIN system. It'll be difficult to tell how different the new system is from the old, since the calculation is now going to be a USGA secret. The Board will have an emergency handicap meeting in late December to discuss the few changes we are able to implement. This does mean that until we are compliant, we can no longer provide Handicap Cards for use in other tournaments.
- Finally, the Board unanimously approved a new name for the Club, and a new logo. I need to get with our graphic design guy before we can move forward. Spoiler alert: we didn't go with "Putt Stuff."
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Southern Hills Golf
Gary is going to make some tee times for Sunday. 10ish... but whenever they'll let us out.
Comment if you want some off-season practice.
Next season starts in 47 days. The Member Registration link is open. And you can start paying your Spring 2020 dues at any time. Seven of us owe nothing due to the ClubCredit system.
Get on it, or Christmas will be cancelled.
8 spots on Sunday - 10am
NO SPOTS OPEN
Comment if you want some off-season practice.
Next season starts in 47 days. The Member Registration link is open. And you can start paying your Spring 2020 dues at any time. Seven of us owe nothing due to the ClubCredit system.
Get on it, or Christmas will be cancelled.
8 spots on Sunday - 10am
NO SPOTS OPEN
Friday, November 15, 2019
Thursday, November 7, 2019
BGR Event
Let’s put a stop to the rumors, yes it’s happening!
Date: Sunday, December 8th
Time: Late Morning
Course: TBD
Please reply in or out so we can get a headcount and finalize more of the details.
Monday, October 21, 2019
2019 Winter Board Meeting
We're going to hold our Winter Board Meeting in about a month. This is the time of the year where we review all Club policies and rules.
If you have anything you want to be discussed and/or voted on, post it here. Especially those of you who ran for a Board position. This is a good way to get your ideas on the record, so you can say to everyone later: "Hey! I'm the one that came up with that."
-----------------
Checked out a few courses in Naples this past weekend. Granted they were on the high-end private side of the spectrum, I got some ideas for the 2020 Rapture.
Hope you all are out practicing. Gary is working on making a serious run at the Cup next season!
If you have anything you want to be discussed and/or voted on, post it here. Especially those of you who ran for a Board position. This is a good way to get your ideas on the record, so you can say to everyone later: "Hey! I'm the one that came up with that."
-----------------
Checked out a few courses in Naples this past weekend. Granted they were on the high-end private side of the spectrum, I got some ideas for the 2020 Rapture.
Hope you all are out practicing. Gary is working on making a serious run at the Cup next season!
Monday, September 30, 2019
2020 Spring Schedule
Publishing our "spring" schedule EARLY, so you family men can plan accordingly.
If anything gets rained out, we'll just shift everything down a spot.
See you in January.
If anything gets rained out, we'll just shift everything down a spot.
See you in January.
Monday, September 16, 2019
2019-2021 Board of Directors Election Results
After one week, the polls are closed. Seventeen of our 20 members exercised their right to elect leadership for the next two years. Which is bad news for the three slackers, who now have to worry about P Diddy coming after them.
Meet the New Board, Same as the Old Board
Faz - 17
John - 14
JW - 11
Gary - 11
Geoff - 10
Gorecki - 5
While we almost had a 3-way runoff — perhaps this means there just isn't much to change. Hopefully everyone stays involved in Club happenings for the next two years. We're going to have a re-branding, we need to figure out what to do about the 2020 World Handicap change, and we might even have a new platform instead of Blogger (maybe... probably not).
Lots to do... more golf to play... more content to dream about and never see.
If you have anything you want to the Board to vote on in the Winter Meeting, make a comment. Or just remain silent and read my complaints on golf course architecture in Tampa.
 |
| What a time to be dead. |
Meet the New Board, Same as the Old Board
Faz - 17
John - 14
JW - 11
Gary - 11
Geoff - 10
Gorecki - 5
While we almost had a 3-way runoff — perhaps this means there just isn't much to change. Hopefully everyone stays involved in Club happenings for the next two years. We're going to have a re-branding, we need to figure out what to do about the 2020 World Handicap change, and we might even have a new platform instead of Blogger (maybe... probably not).
Lots to do... more golf to play... more content to dream about and never see.
If you have anything you want to the Board to vote on in the Winter Meeting, make a comment. Or just remain silent and read my complaints on golf course architecture in Tampa.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
2019 Board of Directors Vote
Since we have a lull in the #content, let's go ahead and start the nomination process for the next Board of Directors.
At the end of every odd numbered year, we vote on the four non-commissioner Board seats. Board members are required to meet twice a year, vote on all membership issues, and during the Winter meeting (which is upcoming) vote to change any Club policies.
Much like the US Constitution, our By-Laws were purposefully written to make change difficult. But over the last two years the Board has:
But if you're interested in running, make a comment and I'll put you on the ballot. Might help if you tell the people something that you'd change, or at least like to discuss — which will probably be immediately shot down by Dear Leader (through Article VII.1 if it references any By-Law items).
I believe all 4 current Board members are willing to serve again. So unless I'm told otherwise I'll keep them on the ballot.
Adam, Robbie and Danny are the only Members who can't run for the board due to the playing requirement (20 events). Sorry guys!
At the end of every odd numbered year, we vote on the four non-commissioner Board seats. Board members are required to meet twice a year, vote on all membership issues, and during the Winter meeting (which is upcoming) vote to change any Club policies.
Much like the US Constitution, our By-Laws were purposefully written to make change difficult. But over the last two years the Board has:
- Implemented a +5 max policy
- Overhauled the skins game to individual group payouts
- Mandated dues are pre-paid before each season
- Officially allowed all advice off the green
- Reduced member playing requirement to 6 tournaments in a rolling two-season period
But if you're interested in running, make a comment and I'll put you on the ballot. Might help if you tell the people something that you'd change, or at least like to discuss — which will probably be immediately shot down by Dear Leader (through Article VII.1 if it references any By-Law items).
I believe all 4 current Board members are willing to serve again. So unless I'm told otherwise I'll keep them on the ballot.
Adam, Robbie and Danny are the only Members who can't run for the board due to the playing requirement (20 events). Sorry guys!
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
2019 Rapture Recap
There were a few hard lessons explained to the Blue Team last weekend:
--------------------------
Playing in North Port was always going to be logistically challenging. Actually — calling it a "challenge" is a bit unfair. It's just difficult to find housing big enough for 16 people, let alone close enough for all locations to be walkable.
This wouldn't normally be an issue for grown adults. Booking three acceptable "sight unseen" houses, from three different owners, all within a 7-ish minute car ride isn't easy in a city with a median household income of $55k. Your Dear Leader's AirBnB list is well over 60 houses long.
And yet, the question was still asked, by multiple people: "Why didn't we get three houses on the same street?"
Perhaps the biggest lesson never learned in the 8-year history of our prestigious Club: There is no such thing as a stupid question. Only stupid people who ask questions.
--------------------------
North Port did have a handful of great qualities. It was close enough for Robbie to drive down every morning — a last minute development which he took like a champ.
Robbie's "can do" attitude should be commended, and without a doubt contributed to his excellent play all weekend. Winning a Chapman match with Katie was an amazing feat. And he shot around -4 (full handicap) each of the final two days, which is very respectable. Unfortunately, he drew a guy who shot -8 (full handicap)* and a 22-handicapper (full) who made 7 pars in 17 holes**.
* The last time Chandler shot a 77 or better? Scepter in Spring 2019, where he coincidentally beat Robbie by 4 strokes.
** Adam has played in 15 league events, ever. The number of times he's recorded more than 5 pars or better? Once - seven pars and two birdies at Buffalo Creek, Summer 2019, where he smoked the field and won by 8 strokes (despite a quadruple-bogey!). Adam making 7 pars on Sunday is statistically overwhelming to any opponent.
Robbie is a perfect example for what happened to some of the Blue Team. While most of them arguably sucked, the ones who played well went up against someone who was lights out. The luck of the draw is real in The Rapture (and Ryder Cup).
But let me once again stress an important point: most of the Blue Team did not play as well as their memory/egos remember.
Only THREE people on the Blue Team would have shot under par on Sunday with their FULL handicaps, based on rough estimates, which include inconsequential putts outside of "gimmie" range being conceded: Dave (-9), Robbie (-4) and Darren (-3).
About half the Blues would have been under par (net) on Saturday, but that is nowhere near the percentage of the Green Team. Reid also fired a 77 gross (-10 full-net) that day, while Geoff and Adam would have been around -6 and -8 respectively! Sensing a trend?
Despite losing in Chapman at Riverwood, Adam played two stellar net-under-par rounds at Sarasota National. And yet the experts all said he was drafted "too high." His draft position was the least high thing about Adam!
So how did the Green Team end up with all the hot players? Luck? Masterful drafting? Excellent Captaincy?
Yes.
Pre-Rapture, Gary was ecstatic that 5 of the top 6 players in the Summer 2019 standings were on his team. But he failed to realize the recent good play drastically reduced their handicaps. Essentially, he bought high and was confused when the trend wasn't sustained.
John alone lost a potential 6 strokes at Sarasota National over the previous two months. He would need to shoot somewhere between 79 and 82 each day to provide his expected value. That's a near impossible task when he's mentally focused on making as much noise as possible while we're scrambling to find tee times on open courses.
Conditions also favored Team Green, as wet fairways with zero roll definitely hurt a few of the shorter drivers of the golf ball (Darren, Katie, Gorecki). For those of us that lack speed, it was an insanely brutal grind, putting more reliance on good chipping and putting.
--------------------------
North Port was also selected due to its proximity to some decent courses. Obviously, playing in August might lead to rain and course maintenance issues. But what we encountered was completely ridiculous, and extremely lucky.
All three courses were destroyed with rain the previous week. Dear Leader, ever the planner, began working on back-up plans Thursday afternoon, compiling a list of seven different options within an hour drive — hoping that ONE of them would be playable if needed.
Friday morning looked promising as Verandah told us they were open. But a monsoon in Ft. Myers during our travels officially closed the course as Car #1 was minutes from arrival. What followed was a borderline miracle in coordination, as seven different cars (some filled with clowns) were now driving aimlessly to an unknown destination (or jail).
Huge shout-out to Gorecki who was the only one to actually help matters, calling Sarasota National to check their current status and reserve a backup tee time on Saturday. Luckily, Riverwood was not planning on closing despite the course being completely empty and saturated.
The decision was made to play Chapman first — since it was already planned and set up for Riverwood — and then play Sarasota National two days in a row (weather permitting). Eventually everyone was able to accept the change in schedule and make their way to the course.
The day was long and grueling, and included a 10 minute downpour on the back nine. But the course, especially the greens, were amazing. Riverwood was probably going to be the "worst" course we played, and it sounded like everyone enjoyed it. But the day was a slog, thanks to a combination of conditions and the general slow-play epidemic that plagues a handful of members.
It's a shame we may never see Verandah, but at least Sarasota National was able to take on additional rain each night and remain open. It's a great course and a real treat in dry conditions. Even Team Blue gave it praise, despite getting slapped around the way Brendan & Danny slapped their ball in Chapman.
--------------------------
Some final thoughts:
- Dave summarized that the golf and conditions might be shit, but this was — in his mind — the most "fun" Rapture yet. If any year was going to be ruined, it was this year. Discussions were had about how and where to play make-up rounds in Tampa over the winter. Yet we somehow got everything completed. The Rapture remains the best way to end golf season.
- Dave shot a gross 71 (-1) on Sunday, which was the only way Blue scored a point in Singles.
- Brendan and Danny, the two "Best Value" picks, both went 3-0 and earned their first ever Rapture Singles victory. Danny shot a 99 (gross) on Sunday which would have been -4 (net) in stroke play. In his entire league history (16 events), Danny has never shot -4 net. Nor has he ever broken 100 on a full-sized course. Meanwhile, Brendan shot a career best 83 gross (-14 net!) on Sunday. Seriously... the Green Team couldn't lose.
- It only took Katie Scallops 45 holes to say "I'm never coming to The Rapture again!" I believe the crux of her statement was that she mentally hated Match Play. If true, that will really help Dave who can't seem to qualify on his own.
- It's also worth noting that Katie lost on Sunday to a guy who made 5 putts over 15 feet — all to either halve or win a hole. If those don't go in, she's All Square going into the 15th hole — on a day she was playing terrible. She could have easily won that match. Especially if she had recorded more than 3 rounds in the past 5 months — allowing her handicap index to trend upward.
- Darren was very concerned that the match-up procedure drastically favored high handicappers, which explained why Green was "beating that ass." A few things on this... 1) Handicap allowances hurt high handicappers. On purpose. 2) The USGA Handicap System exists so people of wildly different skill can compete against each other. The formula itself helps better players, and rewards improvement. We can't just throw out 108 years of history and say it's now unfair for Dave to play Danny. 3) The "random" match-ups, used in the Ryder Cup, make it fun. Nobody wants to play the same person every year. And there's actual strategy in deciding whether to create a "sacrificial lamb" team of high handicaps, a "super team" of low handicaps, or a "mixed bag of shit." And there's additional strategy on when to send out each pairing. 4) This was by far the most lopsided victory in six years of the Rapture. I wouldn't get the pitchforks out yet. The only other "blowout" (which wasn't anywhere near this bad) was Dave's 2016 team. And they had much lower handicaps compared to Tall Mike's team.
- Speaking of "sacrificial lambs," Brendan and Danny got 19 strokes against Dave and John in Chapman. Insurmountable? I don't think so. If I had told you before the Rapture that B&D would make bogey or better on 75% of their holes in alt-shot... you'd say: "Daaaaaaaamn. Yeah they would totally win. But there's no chance that will happen." And yet, that's exactly what happened. They also won their double-stroke hole outright.
- My current thought on next year is Naples, which is another hour or so further south than North Port. There are a TON of golf courses and a lot of housing options. Tiburon (Black & Gold), TPC Treviso Bay, Old Corkscrew, The Rookery, Hammock Bay, and a bunch I don't know about. You could do 5 Raptures down in Naples and never play the same course twice. The cost would be a lot higher, and would depend on how far my AirBnB rating falls after last weekend.
- Dave thinks Geoff looks like the most likely to be a murderer. Geoff thinks Dave looks like the most likely to get murdered. Geoff is 100% incorrect.
- Rapture Performance Payouts will be sent after I check with "Reid the Collector" to make sure no outstanding debts are owed.
- Past performance is not indicative of future results.
- Acceptance is the first step to enlightenment.
- Adapt or perish.
- The beatings will continue until morale (and pace of play) improves.
--------------------------
Playing in North Port was always going to be logistically challenging. Actually — calling it a "challenge" is a bit unfair. It's just difficult to find housing big enough for 16 people, let alone close enough for all locations to be walkable.
This wouldn't normally be an issue for grown adults. Booking three acceptable "sight unseen" houses, from three different owners, all within a 7-ish minute car ride isn't easy in a city with a median household income of $55k. Your Dear Leader's AirBnB list is well over 60 houses long.
And yet, the question was still asked, by multiple people: "Why didn't we get three houses on the same street?"
Perhaps the biggest lesson never learned in the 8-year history of our prestigious Club: There is no such thing as a stupid question. Only stupid people who ask questions.
--------------------------
North Port did have a handful of great qualities. It was close enough for Robbie to drive down every morning — a last minute development which he took like a champ.
Robbie's "can do" attitude should be commended, and without a doubt contributed to his excellent play all weekend. Winning a Chapman match with Katie was an amazing feat. And he shot around -4 (full handicap) each of the final two days, which is very respectable. Unfortunately, he drew a guy who shot -8 (full handicap)* and a 22-handicapper (full) who made 7 pars in 17 holes**.
* The last time Chandler shot a 77 or better? Scepter in Spring 2019, where he coincidentally beat Robbie by 4 strokes.
** Adam has played in 15 league events, ever. The number of times he's recorded more than 5 pars or better? Once - seven pars and two birdies at Buffalo Creek, Summer 2019, where he smoked the field and won by 8 strokes (despite a quadruple-bogey!). Adam making 7 pars on Sunday is statistically overwhelming to any opponent.
Robbie is a perfect example for what happened to some of the Blue Team. While most of them arguably sucked, the ones who played well went up against someone who was lights out. The luck of the draw is real in The Rapture (and Ryder Cup).
But let me once again stress an important point: most of the Blue Team did not play as well as their memory/egos remember.
Only THREE people on the Blue Team would have shot under par on Sunday with their FULL handicaps, based on rough estimates, which include inconsequential putts outside of "gimmie" range being conceded: Dave (-9), Robbie (-4) and Darren (-3).
About half the Blues would have been under par (net) on Saturday, but that is nowhere near the percentage of the Green Team. Reid also fired a 77 gross (-10 full-net) that day, while Geoff and Adam would have been around -6 and -8 respectively! Sensing a trend?
Despite losing in Chapman at Riverwood, Adam played two stellar net-under-par rounds at Sarasota National. And yet the experts all said he was drafted "too high." His draft position was the least high thing about Adam!
So how did the Green Team end up with all the hot players? Luck? Masterful drafting? Excellent Captaincy?
Yes.
Pre-Rapture, Gary was ecstatic that 5 of the top 6 players in the Summer 2019 standings were on his team. But he failed to realize the recent good play drastically reduced their handicaps. Essentially, he bought high and was confused when the trend wasn't sustained.
John alone lost a potential 6 strokes at Sarasota National over the previous two months. He would need to shoot somewhere between 79 and 82 each day to provide his expected value. That's a near impossible task when he's mentally focused on making as much noise as possible while we're scrambling to find tee times on open courses.
Conditions also favored Team Green, as wet fairways with zero roll definitely hurt a few of the shorter drivers of the golf ball (Darren, Katie, Gorecki). For those of us that lack speed, it was an insanely brutal grind, putting more reliance on good chipping and putting.
 |
| The greatest team of all time. |
North Port was also selected due to its proximity to some decent courses. Obviously, playing in August might lead to rain and course maintenance issues. But what we encountered was completely ridiculous, and extremely lucky.
All three courses were destroyed with rain the previous week. Dear Leader, ever the planner, began working on back-up plans Thursday afternoon, compiling a list of seven different options within an hour drive — hoping that ONE of them would be playable if needed.
Friday morning looked promising as Verandah told us they were open. But a monsoon in Ft. Myers during our travels officially closed the course as Car #1 was minutes from arrival. What followed was a borderline miracle in coordination, as seven different cars (some filled with clowns) were now driving aimlessly to an unknown destination (or jail).
Huge shout-out to Gorecki who was the only one to actually help matters, calling Sarasota National to check their current status and reserve a backup tee time on Saturday. Luckily, Riverwood was not planning on closing despite the course being completely empty and saturated.
The decision was made to play Chapman first — since it was already planned and set up for Riverwood — and then play Sarasota National two days in a row (weather permitting). Eventually everyone was able to accept the change in schedule and make their way to the course.
The day was long and grueling, and included a 10 minute downpour on the back nine. But the course, especially the greens, were amazing. Riverwood was probably going to be the "worst" course we played, and it sounded like everyone enjoyed it. But the day was a slog, thanks to a combination of conditions and the general slow-play epidemic that plagues a handful of members.
It's a shame we may never see Verandah, but at least Sarasota National was able to take on additional rain each night and remain open. It's a great course and a real treat in dry conditions. Even Team Blue gave it praise, despite getting slapped around the way Brendan & Danny slapped their ball in Chapman.
 |
| Not the greatest team of all time. |
Some final thoughts:
- Dave summarized that the golf and conditions might be shit, but this was — in his mind — the most "fun" Rapture yet. If any year was going to be ruined, it was this year. Discussions were had about how and where to play make-up rounds in Tampa over the winter. Yet we somehow got everything completed. The Rapture remains the best way to end golf season.
- Dave shot a gross 71 (-1) on Sunday, which was the only way Blue scored a point in Singles.
- Brendan and Danny, the two "Best Value" picks, both went 3-0 and earned their first ever Rapture Singles victory. Danny shot a 99 (gross) on Sunday which would have been -4 (net) in stroke play. In his entire league history (16 events), Danny has never shot -4 net. Nor has he ever broken 100 on a full-sized course. Meanwhile, Brendan shot a career best 83 gross (-14 net!) on Sunday. Seriously... the Green Team couldn't lose.
- It only took Katie Scallops 45 holes to say "I'm never coming to The Rapture again!" I believe the crux of her statement was that she mentally hated Match Play. If true, that will really help Dave who can't seem to qualify on his own.
- It's also worth noting that Katie lost on Sunday to a guy who made 5 putts over 15 feet — all to either halve or win a hole. If those don't go in, she's All Square going into the 15th hole — on a day she was playing terrible. She could have easily won that match. Especially if she had recorded more than 3 rounds in the past 5 months — allowing her handicap index to trend upward.
- Darren was very concerned that the match-up procedure drastically favored high handicappers, which explained why Green was "beating that ass." A few things on this... 1) Handicap allowances hurt high handicappers. On purpose. 2) The USGA Handicap System exists so people of wildly different skill can compete against each other. The formula itself helps better players, and rewards improvement. We can't just throw out 108 years of history and say it's now unfair for Dave to play Danny. 3) The "random" match-ups, used in the Ryder Cup, make it fun. Nobody wants to play the same person every year. And there's actual strategy in deciding whether to create a "sacrificial lamb" team of high handicaps, a "super team" of low handicaps, or a "mixed bag of shit." And there's additional strategy on when to send out each pairing. 4) This was by far the most lopsided victory in six years of the Rapture. I wouldn't get the pitchforks out yet. The only other "blowout" (which wasn't anywhere near this bad) was Dave's 2016 team. And they had much lower handicaps compared to Tall Mike's team.
- Speaking of "sacrificial lambs," Brendan and Danny got 19 strokes against Dave and John in Chapman. Insurmountable? I don't think so. If I had told you before the Rapture that B&D would make bogey or better on 75% of their holes in alt-shot... you'd say: "Daaaaaaaamn. Yeah they would totally win. But there's no chance that will happen." And yet, that's exactly what happened. They also won their double-stroke hole outright.
- My current thought on next year is Naples, which is another hour or so further south than North Port. There are a TON of golf courses and a lot of housing options. Tiburon (Black & Gold), TPC Treviso Bay, Old Corkscrew, The Rookery, Hammock Bay, and a bunch I don't know about. You could do 5 Raptures down in Naples and never play the same course twice. The cost would be a lot higher, and would depend on how far my AirBnB rating falls after last weekend.
- Dave thinks Geoff looks like the most likely to be a murderer. Geoff thinks Dave looks like the most likely to get murdered. Geoff is 100% incorrect.
- Rapture Performance Payouts will be sent after I check with "Reid the Collector" to make sure no outstanding debts are owed.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
2019 Rapture Info
By now, everyone has received the address for your Rapture House. They all should be decent, according to recent reviews on AirBnB. But be sure to bring towels and pillows and whatnot.
I'll be opening houses before 3pm. Text me as you make your way down.
Tee times have all been confirmed:
Friday - 10:30am, the course is 45+ min away
Saturday - 8:50am, the course is 10 min away
Sunday - 9:30am, the course is 20+ min away
BE SURE TO HAVE EVERYTHING CLEAN AND READY TO CHECK-OUT ON SATURDAY NIGHT. We won't have time to be hunting for wallets.
It is green punching/sanding season, so they could be a little bumpy. All three courses are getting a TON of rain, which is also going to be an issue. As usual, we'll playing "lift, clean and place" if a course is cartpath only. Don't cheat if it's NOT cartpath only. If you are confused as to what we are doing... take a deep breath and stay far away from Gary. He's only going to tell you the wrong thing.
Bring rain gear! It's going to be sloppy.
Teams are GREEN and BLUE. If you don't have your appropriate color, you should question why you are actively avoiding a part of the spectrum. Does green not complement your eyes? Does blue make you sad? Anyway, just don't show up in the other teams color.
You have already pre-paid your gambling expenses ($50 for golf). As a reminder, you'll "earn" back $20 for each FULL point you win, split between you and your teammate (if applicable). If your team wins The Rapture, you'll get $60.
HANDICAPS:
Round 1 - Verandah (Whispering Oak) - Four Ball (ie: Best Ball)
No. 3 (70.2/133/6,259) & No. 5 (70.1/123/5,190) - 80% course handicap allowance
1 - Reid (3) / Faz (0) vs. Gary (1) / Gorecki (15)
2 - Danny (14) / Brendan (9) vs. John (0) / Katie (7)
3 - Chandler (0) / Ho (0) vs. Robbie (0) / Moostie (4)
4 - Adam (13) / Geoff (15) vs. Dave (0) / Darren (9)
Round 2 - Riverwood - Chapman (ie: Alt-Shot ie: Not-Scramble)
White (70/131/6,034) & Gold (72.2/135/5,376) - 60% A player + 40% B player
HOW TO PLAY THIS FORMAT
1 - Danny / Brendan (19) vs. Dave / John (0)
2 - Chandler / Faz (0) vs. Gary / Moostie (2)
3 - Adam / Ho (0) vs. Robbie / Katie (3)
4 - Reid / Geoff (0) vs. Darren / Gorecki (3)
Round 3 - Sarasota National - Singles (ie: Match Play)
Silver (69.5/121/6,026) & Jade (69.1/117/5,081) - 80% course handicap allowance
1 - Chandler (0) vs. Katie (9)
2 - Danny (11) vs. Moostie (0)
3 - Geoff (0) vs. Gorecki (3)
4 - Brendan (9) vs. John (0)
5 - Adam (7) vs. Robbie (0)
6 - Faz (4) vs. Dave (0)
7 - Reid (2) vs. Gary (0)
8 - Ho (0) vs. Darren (4)
I'll be opening houses before 3pm. Text me as you make your way down.
Tee times have all been confirmed:
Friday - 10:30am, the course is 45+ min away
Saturday - 8:50am, the course is 10 min away
Sunday - 9:30am, the course is 20+ min away
BE SURE TO HAVE EVERYTHING CLEAN AND READY TO CHECK-OUT ON SATURDAY NIGHT. We won't have time to be hunting for wallets.
It is green punching/sanding season, so they could be a little bumpy. All three courses are getting a TON of rain, which is also going to be an issue. As usual, we'll playing "lift, clean and place" if a course is cartpath only. Don't cheat if it's NOT cartpath only. If you are confused as to what we are doing... take a deep breath and stay far away from Gary. He's only going to tell you the wrong thing.
Bring rain gear! It's going to be sloppy.
Teams are GREEN and BLUE. If you don't have your appropriate color, you should question why you are actively avoiding a part of the spectrum. Does green not complement your eyes? Does blue make you sad? Anyway, just don't show up in the other teams color.
You have already pre-paid your gambling expenses ($50 for golf). As a reminder, you'll "earn" back $20 for each FULL point you win, split between you and your teammate (if applicable). If your team wins The Rapture, you'll get $60.
HANDICAPS:
Round 1 - Verandah (Whispering Oak) - Four Ball (ie: Best Ball)
No. 3 (70.2/133/6,259) & No. 5 (70.1/123/5,190) - 80% course handicap allowance
1 - Reid (3) / Faz (0) vs. Gary (1) / Gorecki (15)
2 - Danny (14) / Brendan (9) vs. John (0) / Katie (7)
3 - Chandler (0) / Ho (0) vs. Robbie (0) / Moostie (4)
4 - Adam (13) / Geoff (15) vs. Dave (0) / Darren (9)
Round 2 - Riverwood - Chapman (ie: Alt-Shot ie: Not-Scramble)
White (70/131/6,034) & Gold (72.2/135/5,376) - 60% A player + 40% B player
HOW TO PLAY THIS FORMAT
1 - Danny / Brendan (19) vs. Dave / John (0)
2 - Chandler / Faz (0) vs. Gary / Moostie (2)
3 - Adam / Ho (0) vs. Robbie / Katie (3)
4 - Reid / Geoff (0) vs. Darren / Gorecki (3)
Round 3 - Sarasota National - Singles (ie: Match Play)
Silver (69.5/121/6,026) & Jade (69.1/117/5,081) - 80% course handicap allowance
1 - Chandler (0) vs. Katie (9)
2 - Danny (11) vs. Moostie (0)
3 - Geoff (0) vs. Gorecki (3)
4 - Brendan (9) vs. John (0)
5 - Adam (7) vs. Robbie (0)
6 - Faz (4) vs. Dave (0)
7 - Reid (2) vs. Gary (0)
8 - Ho (0) vs. Darren (4)
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
PGA Tour Championship Pool
We're running a convoluted pool for the Tour Championship, where we simulate each players round as if it were Match Play. Entry is $5. You'll be randomly assigned someone, so it'll be a compete crap-shoot.
Read more about it here.
You have until Wednesday at noon to send in your money.
Read more about it here.
You have until Wednesday at noon to send in your money.
Monday, August 12, 2019
Rapture Predictions
Round 1 - Verandah (Whispering Oaks) - Four Ball (ie: Best Ball)
1 - Reid / Faz vs. Gary / Gorecki
Reid and Faz are a combined 2-5-0 in Four Ball. Gary and Gorecki are combined 4-4-2. However, they've actually played this format together THREE times, going 1-1-1. Two years ago they stomped Dave/Ho 4&3. Last year they were easily tossed aside by Dave/Danny 6&4. Gorecki sinks the team this go-round at Verandah with his reduced handicap. Reid/Faz win 2&1.
2 - Danny / Brendan vs. John / Katie
Brendan is a 4-ball specialist, with a record of 4-1 at the Rapture. But he has a hurt wrist. John/Katie win 2&1, and then both sit in the bar topless.
3 - Chandler / Ho vs. Robbie / Moostie
Combined Four Ball record of 1-6, the Chandler/Ho pairing is terrible. No idea why this drunkenly happened. But Robbie and the Moose are a combined 2-4. And none of these people are playing exceptionally well at the moment. Sounds like this will end in a halve, and all will be content with that outcome.
4 - Adam / Geoff vs. Dave / Darren
Four Ball is the ONLY format Darren has won a match in his 5-year Rapture history. He and Dave win 3&1, while Adam and Geoff steal their wallets and vape pens.
Round 2 - Riverwood - Chapman (ie: Alt-Shot ie: Not-Scramble)
1 - Danny / Brendan vs. Dave / John
Easy victory for Dave/John, who win 4&3. The course isn't suited for Danny and Brendan to slap it around all day.
2 - Chandler / Faz vs. Gary / Moostie
Green Team wanted to go "Big Game Hunting" in this slot, and they ended up with Mr. Magoo and Wild Moose. Chandler/Faz have opposite styles, but that'll work out with alt-shot. With multiple decent approach chances, they'll easily win 5&4.
3 - Adam / Ho vs. Robbie / Katie
Katie is the wild card, as she hasn't played much golf recently. Adam brings a lot of strokes to the table, and that'll be enough to win 1 up.
4 - Reid / Geoff vs. Darren / Gorecki
Darren and Gorecki are a combined 1-7-2 in Chapman. Their only tie was playing together last year, in an epic match against Chandler and Danny. Reid/Geoff aren't Chandler/Danny. They're better. Green wins 3&2.
Round 3 - Sarasota National - Singles (ie: Match Play)
1 - Chandler vs. Katie
Chandler has never lost a singles match in the Rapture. That ain't starting now. 3&2 victory.
2 - Danny vs. Moostie
Danny just wants to start liking golf again. Maybe in 2020. Moostie wins 2 up.
3 - Geoff vs. Gorecki
Geoff knows how to get under Mike's skin. In fact, he's the one who put all that cancer there. Geoff wins 3&1.
4 - Brendan vs. John
John beat Brendan once in a 2017 Match Play event. Let's go with that repeating itself.
5 - Adam vs. Robbie
Both these guys are capable of great rounds, or complete disasters. Sounds like a tie.
6 - Faz vs. Dave
If I thought Dave would beat Faz in Match Play, I would have selected him first. Faz wins 1 up.
7 - Reid vs. Gary
They've only played each other once, with Reid winning back in 2013. If Reid doesn't hype himself up too much on the first tee, he wins 1 up.
8 - Ho vs. Darren
Darren has never won on Sunday of a Rapture. Time for that streak to end. Darren wins 1 up.
That brings our predicted total to... Green 9 to Blue 7.
I'll go ahead and get the plates engraved.
1 - Reid / Faz vs. Gary / Gorecki
Reid and Faz are a combined 2-5-0 in Four Ball. Gary and Gorecki are combined 4-4-2. However, they've actually played this format together THREE times, going 1-1-1. Two years ago they stomped Dave/Ho 4&3. Last year they were easily tossed aside by Dave/Danny 6&4. Gorecki sinks the team this go-round at Verandah with his reduced handicap. Reid/Faz win 2&1.
2 - Danny / Brendan vs. John / Katie
Brendan is a 4-ball specialist, with a record of 4-1 at the Rapture. But he has a hurt wrist. John/Katie win 2&1, and then both sit in the bar topless.
3 - Chandler / Ho vs. Robbie / Moostie
Combined Four Ball record of 1-6, the Chandler/Ho pairing is terrible. No idea why this drunkenly happened. But Robbie and the Moose are a combined 2-4. And none of these people are playing exceptionally well at the moment. Sounds like this will end in a halve, and all will be content with that outcome.
4 - Adam / Geoff vs. Dave / Darren
Four Ball is the ONLY format Darren has won a match in his 5-year Rapture history. He and Dave win 3&1, while Adam and Geoff steal their wallets and vape pens.
Round 2 - Riverwood - Chapman (ie: Alt-Shot ie: Not-Scramble)
1 - Danny / Brendan vs. Dave / John
Easy victory for Dave/John, who win 4&3. The course isn't suited for Danny and Brendan to slap it around all day.
2 - Chandler / Faz vs. Gary / Moostie
Green Team wanted to go "Big Game Hunting" in this slot, and they ended up with Mr. Magoo and Wild Moose. Chandler/Faz have opposite styles, but that'll work out with alt-shot. With multiple decent approach chances, they'll easily win 5&4.
3 - Adam / Ho vs. Robbie / Katie
Katie is the wild card, as she hasn't played much golf recently. Adam brings a lot of strokes to the table, and that'll be enough to win 1 up.
4 - Reid / Geoff vs. Darren / Gorecki
Darren and Gorecki are a combined 1-7-2 in Chapman. Their only tie was playing together last year, in an epic match against Chandler and Danny. Reid/Geoff aren't Chandler/Danny. They're better. Green wins 3&2.
Round 3 - Sarasota National - Singles (ie: Match Play)
1 - Chandler vs. Katie
Chandler has never lost a singles match in the Rapture. That ain't starting now. 3&2 victory.
2 - Danny vs. Moostie
Danny just wants to start liking golf again. Maybe in 2020. Moostie wins 2 up.
3 - Geoff vs. Gorecki
Geoff knows how to get under Mike's skin. In fact, he's the one who put all that cancer there. Geoff wins 3&1.
4 - Brendan vs. John
John beat Brendan once in a 2017 Match Play event. Let's go with that repeating itself.
5 - Adam vs. Robbie
Both these guys are capable of great rounds, or complete disasters. Sounds like a tie.
6 - Faz vs. Dave
If I thought Dave would beat Faz in Match Play, I would have selected him first. Faz wins 1 up.
7 - Reid vs. Gary
They've only played each other once, with Reid winning back in 2013. If Reid doesn't hype himself up too much on the first tee, he wins 1 up.
8 - Ho vs. Darren
Darren has never won on Sunday of a Rapture. Time for that streak to end. Darren wins 1 up.
That brings our predicted total to... Green 9 to Blue 7.
I'll go ahead and get the plates engraved.
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Rapture Housing
Alright, I'm finally getting a free moment to look at what I booked in the fine city of North Port. Everything should be decent... but I'm at least hoping for at least the same quality of houses as we had in Inverness (Black Diamond Rapture).
I was wrong when I said the three houses were going to provide a bed for everyone. Each house has at least one king bed, and couches... so get comfy or get creative. If you have an awesome air-mattress that you enjoy... comment that you'll bring it just in case. Also, bring towels and shampoo. No idea how well they are stocked.
We have three houses. With the exception of the super secret C-Suite, I don't really care where you stay. But I'm going to group you together initially, and if you want to swap locations, go for it. Just know if we get charged any damages... it'll be coming out of your Club Dues. If we can't pinpoint who's responsible, I'll just charge anyone who looks guilty.
Home Base - "Large" common areas and has a pool (bring towels!). This is where we should hang out and gamble, but no shoes in the house. - Gorecki, Faz, Robbie, Dave, Ho, Geoff, Darren
Premier Pass - Looks cozy. Plenty of couches and rugs for Brendan to pass out on - John, Danny, Katie, Tall Mike, Brendan
C-Suite - don't worry about it. I get charged extra if you look at it. - Chandler, Gary, Adam, Reid
Unless there are some swaps, I'll email everyone their house address next week.
I was wrong when I said the three houses were going to provide a bed for everyone. Each house has at least one king bed, and couches... so get comfy or get creative. If you have an awesome air-mattress that you enjoy... comment that you'll bring it just in case. Also, bring towels and shampoo. No idea how well they are stocked.
We have three houses. With the exception of the super secret C-Suite, I don't really care where you stay. But I'm going to group you together initially, and if you want to swap locations, go for it. Just know if we get charged any damages... it'll be coming out of your Club Dues. If we can't pinpoint who's responsible, I'll just charge anyone who looks guilty.
Home Base - "Large" common areas and has a pool (bring towels!). This is where we should hang out and gamble, but no shoes in the house. - Gorecki, Faz, Robbie, Dave, Ho, Geoff, Darren
Premier Pass - Looks cozy. Plenty of couches and rugs for Brendan to pass out on - John, Danny, Katie, Tall Mike, Brendan
The above two locations are only a few miles apart, but about a 7 minute drive due to traffic lights. Drink responsibly. Plan accordingly. You're adults now.
C-Suite - don't worry about it. I get charged extra if you look at it. - Chandler, Gary, Adam, Reid
Unless there are some swaps, I'll email everyone their house address next week.
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
DPT Masters - Summer 2019 Recap
The state may be soggy, but that doesn't prevent us from enjoying the #golflife. At least, most of us enjoyed it. Falcon's Fire was a decent course. Not great. Far from terrible. Way easier than previously reported.
It's hard to set aside bias when discussing the merits of a golf course. Our "course rankings" project proves that. Playing well, in perfect conditions, is always going to elevate a course in your mind. Playing like garbage might make you unfairly dislike a course (ie: Gorecki and Ho respectively rating Waterlefe and Southern Dunes a 1).
So cartpath only in the sweltering heat wasn't ideal. Playing behind two scramble foursomes that were insanely slow wasn't good either. But group C finished in exactly 4:40, which was amazing considering the cart restrictions. Time, or at least the perception of it, speeds up and slows down based on many factors. So I feel for the elderly twosome playing behind Group D, watching Gorecki ping-pong chips across the green and Tall Mike standing over 2-foot putts for 60+ seconds. Must have been brutal.
Our summer season ended with an averted crisis, as Darren won his 9th Major by a landslide. He now has so many Majors, they're literally falling out of his pant legs. Presumably through the holes in his pockets. It's worth mentioning anytime someone has a "double-bogey-free round." Great playing by the Baron, who still has a handicap high enough to do some damage in The Rapture and Spring 2020.
Gary needed to shave off 4 strokes to win the season. He wasted those on the 2nd and 3rd holes, allowing Tall Mike to secure his 3rd DPT Cup. Excellent end of the season for The Moose, who played all but one event after thinking he was going to miss a handful of dates. In our 15 seasons, 10 of those (67%) were won by three people. I'm not sure how that happens in a 100% net format — but some guys must have the champion genes.
-------------------------------
The Rapture is in two weeks. Apparently Verandah has changed courses on us. And all three facilities might be recovering from punched greens. Hopefully it won't be too bad, but it's the same for everyone — so deal with it.
I need to make house assignments. Tell me who you're riding with and when you're coming. Here's what I have so far:
[Chandler, Gary, Darren, Gorecki] - Thursday early-afternoon
[Reid] - Jamaican time on Thursday evening
[Faz, Adam] - late Thursday night
[Dave, Ho] - after 5pm Thursday
[Geoff] - after 5pm Thursday
Turns out the old man paid me a few days ago. We regret the error.
It's hard to set aside bias when discussing the merits of a golf course. Our "course rankings" project proves that. Playing well, in perfect conditions, is always going to elevate a course in your mind. Playing like garbage might make you unfairly dislike a course (ie: Gorecki and Ho respectively rating Waterlefe and Southern Dunes a 1).
So cartpath only in the sweltering heat wasn't ideal. Playing behind two scramble foursomes that were insanely slow wasn't good either. But group C finished in exactly 4:40, which was amazing considering the cart restrictions. Time, or at least the perception of it, speeds up and slows down based on many factors. So I feel for the elderly twosome playing behind Group D, watching Gorecki ping-pong chips across the green and Tall Mike standing over 2-foot putts for 60+ seconds. Must have been brutal.
Our summer season ended with an averted crisis, as Darren won his 9th Major by a landslide. He now has so many Majors, they're literally falling out of his pant legs. Presumably through the holes in his pockets. It's worth mentioning anytime someone has a "double-bogey-free round." Great playing by the Baron, who still has a handicap high enough to do some damage in The Rapture and Spring 2020.
Gary needed to shave off 4 strokes to win the season. He wasted those on the 2nd and 3rd holes, allowing Tall Mike to secure his 3rd DPT Cup. Excellent end of the season for The Moose, who played all but one event after thinking he was going to miss a handful of dates. In our 15 seasons, 10 of those (67%) were won by three people. I'm not sure how that happens in a 100% net format — but some guys must have the champion genes.
-------------------------------
The Rapture is in two weeks. Apparently Verandah has changed courses on us. And all three facilities might be recovering from punched greens. Hopefully it won't be too bad, but it's the same for everyone — so deal with it.
I need to make house assignments. Tell me who you're riding with and when you're coming. Here's what I have so far:
[Chandler, Gary, Darren, Gorecki] - Thursday early-afternoon
[Reid] - Jamaican time on Thursday evening
[Faz, Adam] - late Thursday night
[Dave, Ho] - after 5pm Thursday
[Geoff] - after 5pm Thursday
Turns out the old man paid me a few days ago. We regret the error.
Monday, August 5, 2019
Summer 2019 Season Stats
From Fazioli:
Our 15th season is in the books and it was a
relatively unique season in a few different statistical categories. The average
winning score was -7, more than 2 strokes lower than last season and the
average margin of victory was 4.111, which is the second most ever to the 4.333
average in the Summer ’15 season. There were three events where two players
tied for the victory, which has never happened before in league history.
Speaking of ties and league history, only once have three players tied for the
win. Chandler, Geoff, and Faz tied to win the Chandler Classic at Heritage
Harbor in the Spring ’14 season with a winning score of +4! That’s tied for the
highest winning score in league history.
The 1,640 points that Mike earned to win this season’s
cup is the lowest ever. The next lowest was Katie’s total of 1,841.7 in the
Spring ’17 season. Not surprisingly, his 205 points per event is also the
lowest to ever win a cup. It would have been interesting to see what would have
happened if Brian played in more than four events and if John and Gary didn’t
have to each miss an event toward the end of the season but Mike did exactly
what he needed to do to by finishing 2nd, 1st, 2nd
in the final three events. He had one terrible event, a +11 in the Match Play
at Cypress Creek, but other than that he played consistently well and if you
remove that one score, his average net score would be -1.5.
As for the overall stats that I keep every season, not
many surprises in terms of who is best/worst in each category. Dave and Brian played
the best golf on paper but both of them are considered statistically irrelevant
since Dave played in three events and Brian played in four. Gorecki had a very
solid season compared to past seasons, hence him being one of the six players
that could have still won the cup after eight events. His average net score was
+0.375, more than 3 strokes better than last season and just a slight
improvement to the incredible average net score of +11.875!!! from Summer ’17.
If you think that’s impressive, our man Smedium John dropped his average net
score from fucking +15 last season to +2! He dropped his average net score 1.3
pitchers in one season, wild stuff. And if you find statistical anomalies at
all interesting, do yourself a favor and check out his recent handicap index
history.
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