FBGC Master’s Preview

One of the things I love most about golf is the completely absurd amount of pressure that we put on ourselves playing a game that we all suck at.  From a big picture perspective, the fact that any of us ever feel nervous over a three foot putt is pretty ridiculous.  Nobody outside of the League gives two shits about whether you shoot a 78, 88, or 98.  In fact, most of the people in the League also don’t give a damn about what you shot, how you played, whether you missed a putt for birdie, par, bogey, etc.  A bad shot or a missed putt has no significant impact on the world at large.  The fact that we care at all is laughable and the fact that we care so much is probably more than a little insane. 

However, it is also true that we are all the center of our own universe.  Out on a golf course, this is magnified.  Hopefully, you have your phone ringer turned off, you aren’t checking emails or texts, and you are enjoying a few hours outside in the sunshine, getting some exercise and hanging out with three other people that enjoy doing the same thing.  While forgetting about the outside world for a few hours is great, it becomes more difficult to keep a healthy perspective regarding your golf game.  A missed putt, a bladed chip, or a snap hook can somehow ruin an otherwise perfect day.

This is a very long winded way of saying that those players in the running to win the FBGC Spring 2023 Season really shouldn’t feel any pressure to play well on Sunday, but they will.  Since that is inevitable, let’s rank who is probably feeling the most pressure going into the final tournament.

1.        Reid.  This one is obvious.  He has played in the League since the very first season and has never won a Cup.  He has a ton of wins and multiple runner up seasons, but somehow has never finished on top of the standings despite all of those wins and a great attendance record.  These facts are also true for Gary.  However, unlike Gary, Reid went 3^rd, 1^st, 1^st to start this Season and looked to have the Season locked up before Valentine’s Day.  The struggles since then have already been well documented by our Dear Leader.  What would make not winning this Season even worse for Reid is the fact that nobody stepped up to steal the Cup from him.  When Tall Mike snatched the Cup away from Gorecki back in 2020, TM had 3 total wins on the Season, had to win that final event, and actually won the event.  In theory, Faz could win the Cup this spring with a solo 5^th place finish if Reid fails to put up significant points in this event.  That would mean that Faz won the Cup with 1 win and 1 second place finish.  Chandler could do something similar with a third place finish.  The possibility of giving the Season away, rather than having someone step up and take it, just adds to the pressure to play well.

2.   Chandler.  You can count on one hand the number of people on the planet that care about the number of FBGC Cups someone has won.  Chandler is one of those people.  He is well aware of the fact that if he is going to get Cup #5, it will have to be in a season like this one where all of the wins are spread out between many players.  He has already maxed out his talent and brain power and isn’t going to have one of those seasons where he drops his handicap by 2 to 3 points, winning 3 or 4 times while doing so.  This would make him the first and only player with 5 Cups.

3.    Gorecki and Gary.  Both of these guys have played a lot of seasons and have never won a championship.  Both are flying a little under the radar since Reid has been on top of the leaderboard almost all season getting most of the attention.  A win would give Gorecki a great shot of winning.  Gary would still need a lot of help, which takes some pressure off.  Gary also has that winless streak though.  If he doesn’t win Sunday, then we are going into the Summer 2023 Season with the possibility that he could break a record we all thought would never be broken.

 

5.           Chris Melberg / Mike Hauch.  Melberg hasn’t played enough seasons to start worrying about the fact that he hasn’t won a cup.  The only reason why he should feel any pressure at all is similar to why Chandler is feeling the pressure.  As a low handicapper, there will be seasons where you have no chance so you want to take advantage of seasons like this one.  Hauch has played in the League for longer.  However, he  could win the tournament and still finish behind Reid, Faz, and Chandler in the season standings if they all had decent finishes.

 

7.           Faz.  If Faz wins the season, this would be his 4^th Cup.  It would be his 3^rd Modern Era Cup, which would surpass Chandler’s Modern Era Cup total.  It would be a great turnaround from the last few years when he got damn close to matching JW’s winless streak.  I would have him ranked higher, but I think he’s just happy to be playing better golf.  I think he has a good mindset and his game is in a good place going into the weekend.  This is my pick to win this season’s championship.

 

 8.          Troy / Geoff.  These guys have already won a Cup.  Winning another one would be great, but I feel like both are just playing with house money going into this event.

 Not mentioned: JW.  Dub may or may not play.  If he does play, I would probably put him below Gary and Gorecki, but above Melberg and Hauch.