Match Play - Summer 2023 Recap

Topor won his 2nd career event, which was quite shocking since it had to be one of the hottest rounds we've ever played. I don't get physically drained often — since I'm the epitome of human fitness — but I was struggling swinging the club.

Considering how difficult University Park played, it was quite shocking Topor was able to build a 6 shot lead on the back nine. We all made jokes that it wouldn't last... and it almost didn't... with a quad on 12 and a him playing double-bogey golf from 13 on.

Meanwhile, Moostie made a charge with nothing but pars and bogeys on the back to lose by one. They were the only guys living under par (net)!

Greens were great. Rough was lush... with balls sometimes sitting up and sometimes not. Fairways were a little bare which was surprising. To me it seemed the transition from rye to whatever strand of Bermuda wasn't going well. And like all courses, they have a tree problem... if you consider dwarf/saw palmettos to be mini trees. Those things are pretty damn penal and they're everywhere! That course would look amazing if they killed back some of those areas and just made it pine straw.

 

Congrats to all the winners of the matches. The site should be fully updated, including your individual records.

 

Also, jokes aside, we are going to miss Travis. Good luck starting your new life... and I hope whatever new friends you make are way worse than us.

 

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The Concussion this week is at Southport Springs... a tricked-up "short" course in Zephyrhills we played two years ago. Melberg shot -6 (gross!) and only tied for the victory with Ho due to his +1 handicap. Ho was a 7 course handicap back then, and is now a 1 on Sunday #roadtoscratch!

 

Dave will be a +1 this week, and Melberg a +2! We birdied the course to death last time, and I'm thinking -2 (net) gets the victory.

I haven't been out there in two years, but current reviews online say its in decent shape. More importantly, they're charging us like $25.

Tee time is 9am. I don't believe there is a range. Everyone is on the WHITE tees (one set up from tips) for this event. No moving up or back. Be careful on all the drive-able par 4s. Yes, I'm well aware holes #11, #13, and #14 are terrible.

We have one spot open with two MAYBE Members (Troy/Adam). First one to change their RSVP to IN gets the final spot.

 

See you Sunday.

Match Play Notes

Looks like we'll have a full field of 20 for our re-do of Match Play (and Travis' final event ever!).

We'll do long drive on #12.

University Park has three nines, each with handicaps 1-9 (just like Countryside). You'll need to do some math in order to dot your cards. Front nine will be odd handicaps, back nine evens.

 

Card says sidewalk to the left of #5, #6, #7, #8 and #18 is OB.

I'm assuming by now everyone has told me if they're moving back. Nobody said they wanted to move up, which is probably smart.

Match handicaps in parenthesis:

Group A

Troy (8) vs. Dave

Casey (2) vs. Faz

Group B

Moostie (10) vs. Melberg

Adam vs. Topor (5)

Group C

Billy (8) vs. Chandler

Gorecki (7) vs. John

Group D

Geoff (0) vs. JW (0)

Dan vs. Gary (3)

 

Group E

Ho vs. Reid (5)

Travis vs. Danny (8)

Match-Play Make-Up - Summer 2023

We're headed down to University Park for the 2nd time in Club history... but this time playing the 1/10 routing (#1 & #2 in Golfshot).

Everyone is on Platinum (White) unless you tell me otherwise. The 55/25 club can move up to Platinum/Gold combos. Be sure to comment your preference.

Keep an eye on pairings, as they will shuffle if someone bails.

Tee time is 10am. Cost is going to be $87ish. There is a range. Long drive on #12.

 

Give yourself plenty of time to get down there as it's about as far south as we travel. We should eat elsewhere afterwards, near the interstate.

I'll post the strokes closer to the event. See you Sunday.

Schedule Updates

Unfortunate rain-out yesterday. The course was in excellent shape and there were some good matches playing out. Brendan - with a 62 on the front nine - was on pace to take away Gorecki's course high record as well (119)!

We probably could have finished as the next batch of rain never materialized... but that wasn't our call to make.

Anyway, we've slightly shuffled/adjusted the schedule so we'll do Match Play down at University Park. We only have 20 spots and Brendan is already on the alternate list. If you can't make the tournament please update your RSVP so he can get in.

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Brendan is going to host people at his house this Sunday - July 23rd - to sit in the pool, watch the British Open and grill out. He last hosted this in 2018, so I guess enough time has passed that we're allowed back over.

• You must RSVP so he has an idea of headcount. Make a comment or text Brendan.
• Bring your own drinks.
• Bring your own meat (real or impossible) for the grill.
• WAGs are always welcome.
  

Starting time should be whenever final groups tee off... which should be around 9:30am. Coverage ends at 2pm.

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Just a reminder (which apparently I need) that Rapture dates are October 5th - 8th. We're headed down to Sebring, the site of the first ever Rapture in 2014. Tee times are booked:

Friday, October 6th - 8:24am - Turtle Run

Saturday, October 7th - 9:00am - Deer Run

Sunday, October 8th - 9:00am - Turtle Run

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See you in a couple weeks if not before.

Match Play Pairings - Summer 2023

We are now down to 4 groups for 16 people. We do not currently have any open spots.

 

Assuming nobody else bails... below are the pairings for Match Play, with strokes received in parenthesis. Remember to ride with your real-life opponent. And use the handicaps on the card to track your match... not the leader board app.

 

There's a drop zone near the green on the last par 3. 

 

There are no good long drive holes... so let's do it on #6. Keep in mind you can easily drive it into the water off the tee if you take a conservative line.

Group A

Dave vs. Casey (3)

Faz vs. Brendan (4)

Group B

Tall Mike vs. Adam (1)

Topor (6) vs. Billy

Group C

Chandler vs. John (5)

Geoff (10) vs. Dan

Group D

Gary (0) vs. Reid (0)

Travis vs. Danny (8)

The Hangover - Summer 2023 Review

We set a record of 14 Members in attendance at the hangover party — proving Carrollwood is the true center of our Club. Sure, the live music was too loud... and the locals were weird... but that last point is a feature, not a bug. I had my ass grabbed like 3 times by some troll of a woman. And we saw haircuts and dance moves that should never have left the house.

Most importantly, for the first time since Spring of 2021, someone won the Trojan Horse award!

Danny about to lose his putter.

While I'm a Red Dog aficionado — I've been there with Danny 1,000 times. He's easily batting 0-1,000 at the Dog. And yet he's 1-1 at O'Brien's. The stats don't lie!

I also want to give a shout-out to our waitress, who somehow served a section of 30 people quickly and without complaint or errors. Good service has been impossible to find since COVID destroyed the youth's ambitions.

Thanks to those who attended the bar. I had a lot of fun pretending I could hear what you were saying.

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The golf on Sunday was brutally hot, and very difficult. I was shocked at the scores — as Countryside B/L played 6.5 strokes more difficult on average than the first time we played it. Although, it's no mystery why that happened...

Those were the absolute worst greens I've ever paid $80+ to play on. And it wasn't a "recently punched" issue. Conditions were honestly terrible in a lot of areas... and if I hadn't already lost my Club Corp membership, I'd resign right away!

But as I've always said... conditions are the same for everyone. And not everyone played terribly.

Brendan won with the only score under par (net), looking like he was going to run away with it on the final hole after a monster drive. Of course, nothing matches the pressure of trying to win a FBGC event. And it took Brendan 6 strokes to get in from the middle of the fairway.

Faz then birdied 16, leading the group of guys inside the clubhouse to proclaim the event was over. Chandler (this guy!) gave everyone a "not so fast, my friends!" The 17th hole is sneaky difficult, because anything short, right, or long is dead. Sure enough, Faz pumped an entire sleeve of balls into the water to eject from the tournament.

Congrats to Brendan on his 8th career victory!

Other congrats go to:

• Casey for winning the Hangover side-pot.
• Topor and Faz for earning some 2nd place side-pot money... and Topor with his best finish since July of last year.
• Danny for setting a new high course record of 119, our 14th highest score in history.
• The soggy bottom boys of Crum, Gorecki, Danny, and Gary who combined for 5 pars total between them.

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This week is Match Play out at Big Cypress (South) in Lakeland/Kathleen at 10am. Yes... this is the course in the trailer park. I have no idea what the state of their greens are... but it's only going to cost us $45+ and it's an amazing Match Play course.

 

Pairings are set based on standings. With Hamliton "penciled in," we don't have any open spots at the moment. Update your shit if your plans change.

 

Everyone is on GREEN tees unless they want to move back to BLACK. This scorecard should be accurate. See you then!

Countryside Info

Tee time is 9:10am on Sunday at Countryside. Please let me know if you're moving back from the WHITE tees.

 

Long drive on #2... just because it's the most bunched tees.  All the par 5s in this routing are narrow. Good luck.

July Updates

The Hangover party will be Saturday, July 8th at O'Briens in Carrollwood. I'll probably arrive around 8pm. Show up for a chance to win the Hangover side-pot on Sunday.

Golf on Sunday will be at Countryside at 9:10am. It'll be around $80. Thanks to Casey for getting us on... earning himself Member of the Month for July!

See you all next weekend.

Spring 2023 Champions Dinner