FBGC Championship - Summer 2021 Recap

Travis and Billy tied for the victory yesterday, with an impressive — but expected — score of -6 (net). It's worth noting neither of those guys had ever seen the course before. Both of them avoided any disastrous blow-ups, and made clutch pars on the 18th hole — one that does not give up pars often (only 3 Members did so yesterday).

 

While Travis has been fairly consistent since first joining us, Billy has drastically improved lately, and added his name near the top of our very congested Standings.

Travis has now regained 1st place, while Billy managed completely destroy his Handicap Index.

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Southern Hills was a bit of a soggy mess, playing much longer than normal. It's unfortunate they can't get it to drain better, mainly due to the type of soil on the property. But everyone seems to love it, perhaps because how easy it plays. That's right, Southern Hills is a bit of a pushover which caters to high handicappers.

Of the 72 courses we've played in Club History, only 9 are statistically "easier" than Southern Hills.

We've had 20 winners in 17 events at SoHilly, and only three had course handicaps under 15. Two of those were 14s, and one was Dave playing as an 8 in probably the worst rain & wind we've ever seen in a completed round.

Basically, tournaments at Southern Hills might be the most predictable events on Tour.

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We're off next weekend for 4th of July. 

 

After that we're tentatively playing the Hangover... but I might switch it with the Jamaican in order to get more regulars at the bar. Regardless, Casey is looking into booking us somewhere within his ClubCorp network. I'll post details as soon as I hear about them.

 

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Rapture Update:

 

I have AirBnBs booked for October 7th to 10th down in Naples. With JW and Reid reportedly OUT, the updated Rapture standings are as follows:

 

Troy had to bail due to a family visit. Tall Mike is now Captain #2... our first ever three-time Captain. Travis is now promoted to the final spot. Billy & Topor anxiously wait for others to bail.

1 - Geoff (Captain)

2 - Moostie (Captain)

3 - Dave

4 - Brendan

5 - Melberg

6 - Gorecki

7 - Casey

8 - Chandler

9 - Ho

10 - Reid?

11 - Darren

12 - John

13 - Gary

14 - Faz

15 - Danny

16 - Travis

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Alternates:

1 - Billy

2 - Topor

 

If you're within the top 16, send me $160 to secure your spot. We can't hold the draft (despite it apparently already have taken place) until we have our official 16 players. 

 

I'm sure the alternates would love to have your spot... so get on it.

Once everyone is registered, we'll hold the fake-draft and create the pairings. It would be nice to do it at the Hangover...

FBGC Championship - Summer 2021 Preview

10:10am tee time at Southern Hills this week. Price is a robust $80ish. Course will probably be cart-path only, since it's rained in the last 90 days. And I fully expect the greens to be punched, because it's that time of year and they're never honest with us about it.

 

Get excited!

Everyone is on the WHITE (Magnolia) tees unless you tell me otherwise... with the exception of Faz, Adam, Buchert — who I put on BLUE tees (Pine) based on historical preferences. Let me know I assumed incorrectly. Dan is playing the GOLDs (Oak) because he's a crazy man.

Scorecard can be seen here.

Let's do the long drive on #5 this time. I don't think we've ever used it and the tee differences shouldn't be egregious.

See you Sunday!

Match Play - Summer 2021 Recap

Casey — aka: "The Gypsy Slayer" — won yesterday on a very difficult course in windy conditions. He's been struggling as of late, with 30 points earned in his last three events (9th, 9th, 20th). He was a man weighed down with negative energy, and apparently clothes, as he played strip-golf on the back nine of Southport Springs.

In what can only be described as complete desperation, Casey turned to the rituals of black magic in order to defeat our Supreme Leader. With a voodoo doll in his bag, a transfusion shirt on his body, golf shoes on his feet, and a massive sage bundle smoking his clubs, Casey easily won his match 5&4 and the tournament by 2-strokes (only round under net-par)... even despite a mini collapse at the end.

Not a joke... Casey applying sage smoke to his clubs pre-round.

Of course, the shot-heard-'round-the-Creek was his hole-in-one on the 8th. After being goaded to play the Blue Tees, Casey selected a 5-wood for the 188 yard tee shot, all over water and into the wind. His confidence was evident as he uttered: "I'll just use a club I don't hit well." 

 

Casey hit a lot of good shots yesterday, but this one was the purest, and drew slightly into the wind before landing short of the hole and rolling into the cup.

 

 

Play had to halt around us because Gorecki couldn't stop yelling and jumping up and down, basically admitting he's not use to seeing good golf shots.

 

This was a big-boy hole-in-one, worthy of the $854 pot. That represents the number of rounds played since the pot began without an ace, and would have been $2,057 had we been collecting since day 1 (9 years ago). After the round Casey shared some of that money, buying drinks for those who hung out at Beefs. The HiO pot will now reset, as most of us continue the quest for golf's most coveted score.

Congrats, Casey. Well deserved.

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Cypress Creek was good yesterday. Greens were slow but true, and very receptive/spongy. It's an arduous track, yet surprisingly only in the 58th percentile of difficulty. Once again Gorecki played well there (T2), tied with Troy. With Brendan and Darren rounding out the top-5, the leader board had a collection of "high" handicaps near the top. So perhaps the Creek doesn't favor any specific golfer, just those who are hitting the ball well that day.

It's definitely good for Match Play, as we saw a nice variety of results. Three matches went to the final hole (two of those tied), and three would be considered blow-outs. Be sure to click the "Tournament Scorecard" link at the bottom of the Tournament Page to see the specific results.

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We're off next weekend due to Father's Day and the US Open. Our next tournament is a Major at Southern Hills, 10:10am. They're getting a little too pricey, charging us $80+ for a steamy summer round (it was $65 this time last year!). But it's a fan-favorite, and I promised a few more "open off the tee" layouts. We also had some cost effective options this season to balance it out. But consider SoHilly on notice!

With Tony and Dan playing, our tee-sheet is currently full. Buchert needs to be in the final group in order to make it up there in time, which created a pairing of people who have historically teed it back. Click this link to see a scorecard, and let me know if you want to move (White = Magnolia).

See you in two weeks.

Match Play Week - Summer 2021 Info (Pt 2)

Below are the current Match-ups and strokes. If anyone moves tees, then I'll try to update these so you'll have a reference on Sunday. Match Play strokes (at 80%) are in parenthesis:

Match 1 - Melberg vs. Darren (8)

Melberg currently has the best Match Play record in Club history (2-0-0). Darren is 7-11-3. They've never played each other.

Match 2 - Brendan (1) vs. Travis

Travis' first singles competition in our Club. Brendan is atrocious at Match Play (3-14-2).

 

Match 3 - Ho (10) vs. Dave

Lot of strokes being given, but Ho is moving up a weight class and playing the Blue tees. Dave smacked Ho around 5&4 back in 2018, their only previous match-up.

 

Match 4 - Geoff vs. JW (2)

Similar Match Play records. Geoff beat JW 4&2 in their only meeting in 2020. The 9th green is by the parking lot so a lot of scenarios are in play.

 

Match 5 - Casey (4) vs. Chandler

Chandler only has a handful of Match Play losses... one was to Casey in 2017. In order to limit strokes, Chandler is poofing it back on the Blues, a move he already regrets.

 

Match 6 - Gorecki (8) vs. Crum

Gorecki won on this course in 2019. Crum is 0-1 in matches and tends to spray the ball. This should come down to the wire.

 

Match 7 - Faz vs. Troy (7)

Troy beat Faz head-to-head in 2020, one of his only two Match Play victories. But Faz's last three rounds at the Creek were 83-82-79. Now that I've put that in writing... I smell a 93 from Fazioli.

 

Match 8 - Moostie vs. Reid (3)

They're 1-1 against each other... but this might be the first time Reid is getting strokes.

 

Match 9 - Gary vs. Adam (7)

They've never played each other... but these two are in the middle of a horrific stretch of Club golf. Let the pillow fight commence.

Match Play Week - Summer 2021 Info (Pt 1)

Last week we had a group that "didn't know" the leader board app was starting on what it called "hole 10." We also had at least one player (who played a practice round Friday) not know we were playing the White tees.

Let's try to do a little better with reading and comprehension:

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It's Match Play week... but the regular STROKE PLAY event is still going on. Same usual rules apply... anyone can deny "gimmies" (which are probably going away next year). Money payouts, points, and the leader board will still be based on stroke play.

Your match is a side-bet, which will earn you 100 bonus points if you win, and 50 bonus points if you tie. While we get 100% handicap allowance for the stroke play portion... you only get 80% allowance for Match Play.

If you have more strokes than your opponent, you get the difference in those strokes based on the hole-by-hole handicaps on the scorecard. So if your 80% allowance is 4 strokes higher than your opponent, give yourself 4 dots on the 4 "hardest" holes according to the scorecard. Those hole-by-hole handicaps change all the time, so use the cards they give us (not the one I'm posting below).

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By default, I've put Dave & Melberg on the BLUE tees and everyone else on the WHITE tees. Below is the most recent scorecard I have. If you want to move back, let me know ASAP.

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Tomorrow I'll post the match-ups, handicaps, and maybe some analysis.

The Concussion - Summer 2021 Recap

Fun day on the course as the two best golfers in the Club battled it out for a shared victory. Both rounds of -5 (net) were impressive, as many blow-ups lurked around Southport Springs. 

 

Ho birdied the 13th and 14th — two of the egregiously "bad" holes on the course — before making a bounce-back double on the easy 15th. Sure, it's a "short" course, but shooting +2 (gross) would indicate that Ho has the short game to carry him the rest of the season.

Melberg was unconscious throughout his round, with a lifetime best -6 (gross)... and still only tied for the victory. He also had six greenies! Great to see him on top of the current Standings, as many golfers struggle with the "fear" of going low. He knew what his round looked like, and what he needed on 18... and he didn't throw it away.

 

Gorecki sent this to me, to remind everyone he bought a trophy and beer for "his" event.

One of the reasons The Concussion exists is to test how well we score. Faz reports multiple individual and Club scoring records fell over the weekend. Most of us made at least one birdie (60%)! Are birdies bad? Should we feel ashamed? Are you not entertained?!?

Shout-out to Darren, Geoff, and Buchert for playing the entire round with nothing worse than bogey. We don't see that very often, even on short courses. Dave accomplished this feat too, but the Bogey Train he rode on the back nine was kinda sad, in a low energy way. I think his PEDs aren't working anymore.

Predictably, certain Members drowned in the Springs, unable to handle the finesse of target golf. To those people — fear not! We'll have some "spray and pray" courses on the back-end of our schedule. Not sure they'll be friendly to topped drives though.

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This week we'll be visiting Cypress Creek for the first time in two years! Surprisingly, we've only used this course once before for Match Play — when Gorecki and Dave tied for the victory in 2019 — winning by 7! The skills of those two can't be any further apart, and there doesn't seem to be an overwhelming "horse for this course." Those of us who have played it multiple times have finished near the top and bottom.

 

All eyes will be on Dave vs. Ho — the Sponsor vs. the Sponsee. The #roadtoscratch crosses the Creek on Sunday (assuming Brendan doesn't get grounded this week and screw up the pairings).

Tee time is 9:30am. Cost is $45ish. Ride with your opponent. Guest spots are regulated this week due to Match Play pairing restrictions. More on the course and match-ups later this week.

The Concussion - Additional Info

Tee time is 8:54am...

No range!

Long drive will be on 18 (par 5).

Handful of people played practice rounds this week. The stretch of 10-14 is going to destroy some of us. The rest of the course is scoreable. So get mentally ready!

Of course, GolfGameBook has a couple of issues:

1) The nines are reversed. I set up the app to start us on "hole 10"... but pay extra attention when entering scores.

2) They don't have hole-handicaps loaded in. By default, this causes one side to be: 1, 3, 5, 7 etc... and the other: 2, 4, 6, 8... etc. Which means you'll get all your strokes early on each side. Over the course of 18 holes, this doesn't matter. 

 

Just be aware of it because if you think you're getting a stroke on 18 (3rd handicap on the card) to avoid a pitcher... you probably won't be getting it on the leader board (17th handicap in app)! 

 

Unless you suck like Gorecki — our worst golfer — and get 18 strokes this week.

See you Sunday.