2022 Rapture Update

We are still on. Update to follow once I have all the details booked. Which is going slow because I still don’t have power. 

Moostenbrink

While many seasons blend together, for me the Summer 2022 Season will always be easy to remember as the Summer of Moostenbrink.  I was able to play in six events and played all six rounds with Tall Mike.  It created a special opportunity to extensively study the Moostie in the wild. 

We all know the Moostie is a unique creature.  Here is a little breakdown of his golf game and what, in my opinion, has led to his success in the league.

Golf swing breakdown.  Mike is more of a picker than a compressor of the golf ball.  Faz comes to mind as someone that is the opposite.  I would guess that the bottom of Mike’s swing arc with iron shots is pretty much at impact rather than an inch or two after the ball.  This helps explain why Mike is such a good iron player from the fairway, but struggles a bit more from the rough.  I also think this is why he struggles somewhat out of greenside bunkers: it’s tough to consistently “pick” the ball cleanly on short sand shots.  His swing helps him hit up on the ball on tee shots though.  When he gets his 3 wood working off the tee, he can string together a lot of good holes in a row. 

I wonder how much of Mike’s swing is predicated on his back issues and, therefore, whether swing changes would even be feasible.  His swing speed really comes from the gigantic arc that he can create given his height and long arms.  He does not use his lower body to generate much of his speed.  If he created more force with his lower body through the ground, this would help him generate more swing speed and would also create a more descending blow at impact.  It’s a tough balancing act though.  A steeper angle at impact has its own faults for amateur golfers (i.e. more fat shots and pull hooks).  It would also create a lot more stress on his back.  It’s tough to imagine Tall Mike making it through 18 holes if he tried to imitate Joaquin Niemann’s swing.

Another reason why I would hesitate to make any drastic changes with Mike’s swing is the fact that he has shown the ability to greatly improve his golf game with the swing he has in place.  When Mike joined the League, he was around a 24 handicap and he is now a 16 handicap.  The only other player that I can think of that has managed to drop his handicap that much is Mike Hauch.

Moving on to what has made Moostie successful in the League, I think it really comes down to his level of commitment.

Mike is committed in three different ways.  First, he is committed to the League itself.  Despite having two kids and a wife that has to work some weekends, he plays in a good amount of events each season.  If Mike misses an event, there was probably no legitimate way that he could have made it.  Second, he commits as much time as he can to each event.  Generally, Mike will get to the course early to get in a proper warm up and won't leave the range until he is ready.  He doesn’t get distracted by silly things like being on the tee box when it is his Group’s turn to tee off.  After all, there are four players in the Group.  Standing on the box while the first three players tee off is a waste of valuable practice time.  Third, he commits to each and every shot during a round.  We mock the amount of time he stands over a putt, the amount of practice swings that he takes, and not pulling the trigger until he is 100% ready.  However, how many strokes do you waste each round?  If most of us thought about each and every shot and then committed to the shot itself, I think most of us would be able to shave a couple of strokes off our score each round without doing anything else to improve our games. 

I don’t think that it is coincidence that the two guys in the League that have four Cups both have great attendance and also an appreciation for every shot during a round.  Winning an event often comes down to one or two strokes.  For me, I typically make my bad swings on shots that are fairly easy.  It’s generally on a wide open hole that I completely block a drive or a straight forward, bump and run chip that I hit fat.  Those lapses in concentration add up over a round and a season.  I think Chandler thinks his way around a golf course as well as anyone in the League, but Moostie probably concentrates on every shot better than anyone.

 Lastly, here are just a few things that are truly unique to Tall Mike that I've noticed over the years:

1.       The putter pump fake.  Have you ever seen another player line up their putt, take their stance, address the ball, take their backswing… and then stop?  I guess sometimes you will see a professional golfer stop and then step away and restart their process.  Mike will stop mid backswing, bring the putter back to the ball, and then will proceed to hit his putt sometimes a second or two later and sometimes after 5 or 6 seconds of standing over the ball.  I have never seen anyone else do that once, let alone at least once a round.

2.       The mid-round rolling on the ground knees to chest stretching.  Despite all the warm up time, or perhaps because of it, you will undoubtedly see Mike laying on a tee box at some point in the round rolling around on the ground trying to loosen up his back.  

3.       Trying to find the perfect practice swing.  There are plenty of players that try to visualize their shot before they hit it.  I have never seen someone try to mimic the perfect swing with their practice swing though and continue to make practice swings until they find it.  For me at least, it would be almost impossible to make the exact same swing two times in a row.  I don’t want to waste my good swing on the practice swing and then step up to the ball, get half way through my backswing or at the top of my swing, and realize that something is in a different position than in my “perfect” swing.  Without needing a MRI machine, I think it’s safe to say that Tall Mike and Dustin Johnson’s brain activity during a golf swing are going to be polar opposites.

 

2022 - Rapture Draft Results

Since most of you won't physically be at the draft on Saturday night... the results can be viewed here in not-so-real-time: 

Draft Results:

Pairings:

 

Worst Golfer in League History

Let me start off by saying it was very entertaining looking through the stats to try to determine the worst golfer in League history.  While our League has a few “decent” golfers, we have an abundance of terrible golfers.  To narrow down the field, which was difficult, I looked at the following categories:  bottom five in win percentage, bottom five in career earnings, and bottom five in scoring average. 

Worst winning percentage:

Josh Crum: 0.00%

JW Ferguson: 2.83%

Brian Topor: 5.26%

Dan Rogers: 5.26%

Mike Hauch: 5.33%

 

Worst Career Earning:

JW Ferguson:  ($553.87)

Danny MacLean: ($371.66)

Robert Reid: ($327.66)

Mike Gorecki: ($300.41)

Adam Lynch: ($300.11)

 

Worst Career Scoring Average:

Danny MacLean: 106.8

Mike Gorecki:  104.8

Brian Topor: 102.1

JW Ferguson: 101.5

Josh Crum: 100.9

 

This narrowed the list down to nine names.  I went ahead and removed Adam, Reid, Hauch and Dan, as their scoring averages are all under 100.  Hauch might be (has to be?) the worst player when it comes to Exhibition Scores compared to League Scores, but that post will have to come at a later date.

 The real contenders are the following five individuals in no specific order:

Josh Crum:  A lot of Members have enjoyed immediate success upon joining the League, Crum is not one of those people.  He has yet to win, so he has the lowest winning percentage at 0.00%.  He does not crack the top five in lowest career earnings, but that is likely due to the small amount of events played.  He probably holds the longest consecutive Bad Pitcher Owed streak, but I’m not 100% sure on that.  I think Big John had a great (awful?) streak going at one time.  He does have a few stats going in his favor though when it comes to not being the worst player in League history.  His scoring average is just over 100, which is significantly better than Gorecki and Danny Mac.  His Greenie average is 0.43 and Long Drive average is .22, which are very good compared to his competition.

JW Ferguson:  This may seem like the obvious choice based on the combination of win percentage, career earnings, and the fact that he has the longest losing streak in League history.  However, he also has some things he can point to make a good case that he isn’t the worst player.  His scoring average, Greenie average (.38), and Long Drive average (.26) are better than Gorecki and Danny Mac.

Brian Topor:  Like Crum, Topor has not logged a large number of events (19 total).  He has managed to get one victory and it was a Major.  He also has the highest Greenie average in this group (0.57), so I think it is safe to remove his name from consideration given the small sample size.

Danny MacLean:  I was somewhat surprised to see that Danny Mac had the worst Scoring Average in the League (106.8).  Not only is it the worst average, but it is the worst by a full two shots (Gorecki: 104.8).  I haven’t played many rounds with Danny, but I don’t think he has a terrible golf swing and was surprised by the Scoring Average and low Greenie average (.25).  He also has the second worst Career Earnings.  I hate to say it, but his stats make a good case for being the worst. 

Last, but maybe not the Worst, Mike Gorecki:  If we were asked to immediately name the worst golfer in the League, I think we have all been brainwashed to immediately respond with Gorecki.  However, there are quite a few stats that Gorecki could point out to make his argument that he isn’t the worst.  His win percentage (8.5%) is head and shoulders above his competition.  In fact, he has more wins than the other four guys on this list have combined.  He also does not have the worst Scoring Average or Greenie average (.30 compared to Danny’s .25).  He has finished second in the Season Standings multiple times and has the most memorable/heartbreaking second place finish in League history. 

One thing that does not show up in the stats that I have to bring up though is the fact that Gorecki has the only swing in the League that negatively impacts my score.  If I am in Gorecki’s group, I have trouble making solid contact with the golf ball by the time I get to the back nine.  Whereas you watch Melberg’s swing and you wonder how he ever hits a bad shot, you watch Gorecki’s swing and sometimes wonder how the ball even advances.  I took advice from Irish Dave and I will literally not watch him take practice swings or hit the ball as much as possible.  I am not surprised that he has a much better match play record than the other guys on this list due to the negative impact he can have on his opponent.  I don’t know how to factor this into his ranking, but it is something that separates him from the rest.

Despite the fact that these guys all really suck at golf, I’m glad they are in the League and hope they know that they make the rest of us feel a little better about our own golf games.  If I had to assign an order, I think I would go 1.  Danny Mac,  2.  JW,  3.  Gorecki,  4.  Crum, 5.  Topor.  I would give Gorecki some credit for the fact that he has so many more wins than everyone else and I would give Crum some slack based on the small number of events played. 

2022 Rapture Draft

As mentioned previously, the Captains have decided to hold the Rapture Draft at Gorecki's house (Westchase).

Event will be next Saturday, September 10th at 6pm.

10542 Greensprings Dr, Tampa FL, 33626

I reckon it'll just be four of us, but comment if you're joining.

Moostie - Season Performance Metrics

I also have a few things I've been sitting on. But if Buchert is going to provide that sweet, sweet #content... I might as well put this out there to aid his post on Tall Mike:

My takeaways:

• People forget how many seasons Moostie has played.
• His Index was really high when he collected his first two Cups back-to-back. It then sharply dropped, and so did his standings (despite playing most events). This is to be expected, and his career should really be divided into two parts: before and after his 9th season (Spring 2018).
  
• He now contends for titles every time his index gets above 16 and he is able to attend 7+ events.
• This past season he played all 9... his Index was 17... in perfect position to win, and finished 3rd.
• In contrast — his 16th season — he had zero chance to win with a 14.6 Index. His worst finish ever.
  

The Greatest Golfer in Club History

 

The Greatest Golfer in Club History

I plan on posting a few times on the Blog this off-season just to keep the #content train rolling since we won’t have any posts on upcoming events or recaps.  I usually have some free time in the morning before my daughter wakes up.  One of the things I do while having a cup of coffee is check the Blog for any updates or new posts.  99% of the content that we have on the Blog is from Chandler and, while I thank him for his time and dedication to the League, I also feel like the rest of us could be contributing more. 

I have written a few things over the last two weeks, but most of them have to do with me and my golf game.  I did not intentionally set out to do this, but I just didn’t play a lot of golf with most of the people in the League this past season.  I played six rounds and was matched up with Tall Mike all six times, Faz and Topor three times (I think), and Troy twice.  For a few of those rounds, we either had a threesome or had a guest playing as the fourth.  It is hard to write about someone else’s golf game when you did not get to see them play.  I would love to be able to do a breakdown of what has happened to Gary’s golf game, but I have not been fortunate enough to witness that train wreck firsthand.  I do have a write up for Tall Mike though that I hope you all will find entertaining.

However, since most of the content is going to be tied to me in some way, I wanted to kick things off with a post that has nothing to do with me and that is:

The League has been in existence for 10 years, who is the greatest golfer in League history?

To start things off, I want to clarify that I would consider the Greatest Golfer in League History and the Greatest Champion in League History two different things.  (Don’t worry, I have a separate post written to break down the Greatest Champion in League History.)  The Greatest Golfer in League History could be the same person as the Greatest Champion in League History, but that does not have to be the case.

As our League uses an imperfect system to try to level the playing field between golfers of different skill levels, the best player is not always going to be the Champion at the end of a season.  Furthermore, the best golfer at a given moment in time is not necessarily the greatest golfer in League history.  Tom Brady does not win the MVP every year, but he is considered by most to be the GOAT.  His sustained excellence has separated him from his peers.  I don’t think that we have a Tom Brady of the League; someone that has separated himself from other players in the league to such a degree that there is no longer room for a meaningful discussion.  If we did, this would be a very short post.  So here are the contenders, in no specific order, and I’m interested to see if there is a consensus as to who should be considered the Greatest Golfer in League History:

1.     Chandler Brown.  The argument for why he should be considered the greatest is rock solid.  He has the most events played, most wins, most 2^nd place finishes, a scoring average of 85.6, the most Greenies, the most Long Drives, the most Sandies, and four Championships.  He is like the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of our League.  His longevity and sustained excellence really stands out when you compare his stats to the rest of the League.  Are some of his numbers inflated due to the first few seasons of the League when we had less Members?  Sure they are.  That is the reason why there is room for debate when it comes down to Chandler or one of the guys listed below.  His win percentage is 11.7%, he averages 1.05 Greenies per round, and his Long Drive win percentage is 29.7%.  His match play record is a very respectable 16-8-4.

2.     Mike Oostenbrink.  He has the most Modern Era Championships (four), 6 Majors (just one less than Chandler), and has the most epic Championship in League history when he won the final two events of the Summer 2020 Season to steal the Cup away from Gorecki.  He has done this playing in 128 events, which is 60 less events than Chandler has played in.  However, his scoring average is 94.3, his win percentage is 10.1%, Greenies per round is 0.77, and Long Drive win percentage is 18%.  In my opinion, Tall Mike is like the Robert Horry of the League.  He has some of the most clutch performances and shots that we will remember forever, but nobody is going to say he was a better player than the greats of that era:  Jordan, Kobe, Duncan, etc.

3.      Dave Harrington.  Irish Dave has a scoring average of 83.5 and he has put up that average while playing many rounds from a harder set of tees.  Comparing Dave to Chandler and Tall Mike is not an apples to apples comparison.  Dave’s Greenies per round is 1.11, which is better than Tall Mike and Chandler’s averages, but how much “extra credit” should Dave get due to the fact that he wins those Greenies from one or two sets of tee boxes farther back then the rest of the guys in his group?  As far as Long Drive, his win percentage is 27.3% and is better than Chandler and Tall Mike.  Once again, he is doing that while giving up yardage to the rest of his group (usually).  He also has a great match play record of 15-5-2.  His win percentage is 9.4%, which is lower than Chandler and Tall Mike.  I don’t know if that can be blamed on tee boxes.  He also only has half as many wins as Chandler (11 compared to 22).  Dave is like Giannis or Michael Jordan, where the stats alone are great but somehow do not tell the whole story.

4.       Chris Melberg.  Melberg has only played in 34 events, so he has not had time to collect the same career stats as the other guys on this list.  Nonetheless, his short time in the League has already produced some numbers that put him in consideration as the greatest.  He has the lowest scoring average at 82.6.  He has the lowest gross score to par in League history when he went -6 at Southport Springs.  His match play record is excellent, 5-0-1.  He averages 1.14 Greenies per round.  His Long Drive win percentage is 20.6%.  Like Irish Dave, he has played many of his rounds from a harder tee box than everyone else in his group.  Despite his low handicap index, his win percentage is still a respectable 8.8%.  To switch up the sports as far as his comparison, I would say he’s kind of like Chargers QB Justin Herbert.  His stats from his first few seasons are comparable to the best of all time.  However, he has yet to win a Championship and just hasn’t had enough time to rack up the career statistics that some other guys have.

Some people were left off the top contenders list and here is why:

5.       Dan Rogers:  His scoring average is 85.0, but that is more than 2 shots worse than Melberg.  Dan and Melberg have very comparable stats, but Melberg’s scoring average gave him the advantage.

6.       Darren Broom.  He has the most Majors and a great win percentage (13%).  His scoring average is 94.0 though.  Tall Mike has a similar scoring average (94.3) and has double the Cups.  He got the nod over The Baron.

7.       Faz, Gary and Reid:  These three guys have all racked up an impressive amount of wins, Greenies and Long Drives.  However, they do not stack up well when compared to Chandler’s stats and their scoring averages are higher as well.

The rest of you (myself included) do not deserve a mention. 

To be honest, when I started writing this, I thought Chandler would blow everyone away.  I didn’t realize how great of a ball striker Irish Dave is until I started looking at his Greenies per round and Long Drive win percentage.  I think it’s very close between those two guys right now and if we check back in another 10 years, Melberg will probably be right there with them.