Watching the Rapture qualification in "real time" today was a blast. At various points the first man out bounced between Ho, Faz, and Melberg.
Here is the final Rapture qualification standings, and locked Handicap Indexes. Those who qualified owe $234 for housing and entry fees. Sending me that payment will secure your spot. You have until September 1st to pay (one week) before we reach out to the alternate list.
Once we have all 12 players in, we'll schedule the live draft.
Qualification tie-breakers:
1) World Ranking
2) Number of events played in qualification period
3) Total points earned in qualification period
4) Number of Raptures previously attended
5) Perceived pace of play
6) DEI - (Dave's Etiquette Index)
7) Looks
8) Coin-toss
Locked Rapture Index in parenthesis
Captain #1 - Geoff(15.7) *paid*
Captain #2 - Brendan(10.8) *paid*
Casey (11.9) *paid*
Dave (6.2) *paid*
Troy (14.3) *paid*
Chandler (8.7) *paid*
Gary (17.5) *paid*
Tall Mike (15.2) *paid*
Reid (15.7) *paid*
Faz (9.9) *paid*
Melberg (4.7) *paid*
Ho (6.1) *paid*
Alternates *tie-breaker(s) used*
Billy (18.8) *ranked #15*
Danny (25.1) *9 events played*
Adam (11.9) *8 events played*
Buchert (12.4) *7 events played*
Out
Gorecki
JW
Topor
Crum
John
Dan
Get your $234 payment in now (assuming you qualified).
Reid won his own trophy (if we can ever find out who has it) for the 2nd time today, with an outstanding even par (net) from the big boy blue tees. A bold strategy that definitely paid off, despite him hitting a lot of long irons into greens.
The next best scores (Dave and Faz) were +5 (net) on the day! Clearly Azario is rated too easy.
But it is the BEST deal we have going right now. Conditions were stellar, and we paid under $60 (half off rack rate). Who knows how long they'll give us a deal... as they're still building a ton of houses in the community. It's only a matter of time until it goes fully private like the original Esplanade.
Azario also has — in my opinion — the best green complexes on tour. There is not a single flat putt out there, as they are true "potato chip" greens. You really need to be creative, and it gets very humbling.
-------------------------------
Geoff officially won his 3rd Cup, as he also becomes the 3rd Member to win back-to-back titles. Much deserved despite finishing the year with double goose eggs.
Excellent season everyone! It was probably the best set of courses we've ever scheduled... and it included Northdale the first week!
Now we'll switch focus to the Rapture. Info on that will be posted very shortly.
Geoff was one shot away from buying a double pitcher, and still basically locked up his 3rd season title (unless we get rained out this upcoming Sunday).
Troy is technically still in the mix, but he's unfortunately missing his second tournament of the season. It could have been very interesting if he made par on the final three holes yesterday. After a nice drive on 16, he chunked his approach and epically ejected with a quadruple bogey.
Chandler ('tis me) needed a solo 3rd to stay alive, but blasted his tee shot 40 yards OB on #5... and then proceeded to miss countless 4 footers the rest of the round.
----------------------
Brendan ended up taking the title, his 4th FBGC Masters victory in a row! Truly an amazing stat as he continues to play some excellent golf.
Danny overcame all odds, actually waking up and making it out to Orlando... and was rewarded with a solo 2nd. It's his highest finish since March.
Reid was looking like a winner after a miraculous birdie on 14... only to get that bounce-back-triple on the next hole.
Casey also could have tied for the victory, if not for his own bounce-back-triple after a birdie on 17. It's amazing how often this happens.
Adam and Crum — who had to play for funsies due to a lack of attendance this season — would have finished T4. So they can sleep better knowing they saved $20 in Club Credit by not officially entering.
----------------------
Reunion was good yesterday. Greens were great... very difficult with zero flat putts. Adjusting to the slow uphill and fast downhill speeds was a problem. I take back what I said about Watson being the "easy" course. Palmer is way easier.
----------------------
As I mentioned previously, Waterlefe still has holes closed due to 15" of rain received during the tropical storm.
Ho was nice enough to make some inquiries, and booked us at Esplanade Azario. Great to see a Mike contribute to the Club!
We start at 10:36am, and the cost is $55+. An excellent deal for an excellent course! The quote raised a few concerns that it's almost too cheap, and their greens are punched. While this might be the case, tee times are still listed at $99+ on their website. So I think it's going to be fine.
The only time we've played Azario was back in Spring 2021... the round where Geoff made Katie quit the Club! We have to wonder if Geoff's recent dominance is the reason Danny, Crum, JW, Adam, John, and Moostie are all quitting!
Anyway... Melberg won last time at Azario with an outstanding 74 (gross).
And while it may seem like this is a pointless tournament... Club Credit is still on the line! Chandler Bucks can greatly bolster your legacy! And there's Rapture qualification and a captaincy up for grabs! I'm setting the pairings for maximum manufactured drama:
Group A
Geoff is guaranteed the #1 Captain Spot. His World Golf Ranking average points of 305.2 is the second highest in Club history (Katie achieved 311.8 in 2018).
It's not possible for Billy to qualify based on points, even if he wins the Jamaican.
Adam doesn't have enough rounds to qualify for the Rapture. He'll be on the alternate list.
Brendan can score zero points and still be Captain #2, even though he's dropping off 600 points from last season's FBGC Masters. But a handful of people can pass him...
Group B
If Brendan scores zero points, the following guys can be Captain #2 by earning...
Casey - 153 points
Chandler - 275 points
Gary - 294 points
Dave - 388 points
Obviously the points needed increase depending on what Brendan does. And it's also all relative to everyone else in this group.
Group C
These guys are all in danger of missing the Rapture due to points:
Ho - currently the first man out, despite Reid dropping off 133.3 points. If Ho lays another goose egg, he's the first alternate.
Reid - should consider Sunday to be a head-to-head match against Ho if he wants to officially qualify. Beat Ho, and he has nothing to worry about.
Faz - could miss out if both Reid and Ho score 184+ points more than him.
Melberg - probably going to qualify unless he scores zero and Reid/Ho/Faz all drastically outplay him.
It looks like Danny would have qualified for the Rapture if he attended one more event in 2024. Unfortunately, Reunion might be the last we see of him as a FBGC Member!
We're playing Reunion (Watson) for the first time in official Club history. It's probably the easiest and most "resort" of the three courses on property. But it does get a little tight in areas, with OB near the villas if I remember correctly.
Tee time is an early 9:10am. Range balls are included. And we have a small 14-man field with a handful of guests.
Most of us are starting on the Blue/White combo tees. The 55/25 club can play the Whites if they want. Let me know if you're moving tees. A lot of us get nothing moving back to the Blues!
A couple of people have commented on Dear Leader's drastic fall from grace in the World Golf Rankings. Remember, your rank is based on the best 10 rounds in a rolling 18 tournament window. So last week I dropped off a victory in 2023 Summer... and replaced it with a turd at Big Cypress (North).
We recently moved the qualification period to the entire calendar year. So if you have a bunch of high finishes at the end of last summer, you might suffer a similar decline. Basically: Brendan, Dave, Faz, and Reid. The rest of us suck and can only move up.
From best I can tell... it's impossible for anyone to unseat Geoff as Rapture Captain #1.
Start campaigning on why you should (or shouldn't) be the first overall pick!
Coming into the clubhouse, Reid asked me: "Dude! How are we tied? I played terrible!"
Well... Dear Leader loaded into the app Reid's Handicap Index (16.0) instead
of his Course Handicap (11.0). The official standings are corrected. Dear
Leader regrets the error... and also acknowledges this will probably happen
again.
Unfortunately I can't fix the app since someone (Ho) clicked that dreaded "End
Game" button. It's a terrible app design... but we get what we pay for ($80
per year... out of our mysterious "Club Funds" Dan keeps asking about).
-------------------------------------
Fun day out at Big Cypress... albeit so God damn hot. The course was in great
shape considering all the rain they had last week. The consensus is Big
Cypress (North) is still the best Concussion course on our rota.
I'm going to take us back to The Groves next season to change it up and throw
them some business (and it's a much shorter drive). But BC is a great unknown
"gem" in our area.
Speaking of gems... it took 12+ years... but Geoff has figured out how to
golf. He played the round on one ball. Didn't make any huge mistakes, with no
score worse than bogey. And he would've won by 8 strokes (buying a good
pitcher) if he figured out the slow greens.
Goeff doesn't (currently) have any swings that make you cringe: tops, chunks,
shanks, etc. The ball goes toward the target... and he's comfortable with
bogeys. I really don't see anyone catching him this season, especially with
Troy missing the make-up final week. Geoff's handicap will be a career low
15.7 next event.
Troy tied Geoff for the victory, with an awesome round of his own. But unlike
Geoff, Troy's putter saved him all day. Absolute clutch when he needed to be.
And a few bad shots were immediately followed by excellent chips (and made
putts). Unfortunately I think Troy will fall victim to missing two events.
Dave broke the course record with a +1 (gross) 61. Gorecki tied his course
record with a stinky 96 (gross).
Gorecki also got a long drive today, with a 120 yard tee shot hit with his
driver. It was his first long drive since 8/27/23 — almost a full year ago —
which was also the date of his last anything (greenie, sandie, etc). He
hasn't had a greenie since February of 2023. Truly amazing.
Also, while we (I) allowed Gorecki to knock 3 pitchers off his deadbeat list
by bringing beers for the turn... that was a one time thing. None of the other
Board chimed in to say they were against it. If you have misgivings, you need
to #votebetter
--------------------------------
Dan's video of Reid with the dead baby snake didn't come through on the app.
If he texts it to me I'll post it on the blog.
--------------------------------
Practically only Troy and Chandler can catch Geoff. With Troy missing the
Jamaican (barring a rain-out), Geoff will be our 3rd ever back-to-back
Champion!
Too bad he lost our trophy!
--------------------------------
Next week we are playing at Reunion around 9am. All rounds (18 of them) have
been pre-paid. This is part of that "we should play better courses" thing.
Some of them require contracts and accountability — hence my previous
avoidance of such facilities.
Tall Mike and JW have expressed interest in selling their spots. Let me know
if anyone purchases one.
We are treating this like the final Major, with all the standard requirements.
Therefore, Adam is playing for "funsies" due to his lack of previous play (2
rounds). Billy will be allowed in the money/points since he is playing the
Jamaican (giving him the required 4 events).
Speaking of playing requirements... three people dropped off the World
Rankings due to lack of rounds! And there was a huge shake-up for Rapture
Captain #2. Looking at the data, there are a couple of guys who are "safe"
right now... that are dropping off a lot of points. With Ho in on the outside
hoping to steal a spot! It should be a fun final two weeks as the
qualifications solidify.
I'll see if I can't get a good rooming offer from Reunion if anyone wants to
go out on Saturday. Stay tuned!
Cabot just released their rates for the Fall and Winter. Their 2nd course — The Roost (aka: Rolling Oaks) — is opening in October.
For that month, rates on both of the big courses will be $270 (plus tax). In November it moves to $395+.
Walking will be mandatory, although they will provide a "complementary" forecaddie for each group. You'll still be responsible for a minimum $30 tip per person.
There will be a local discounted rate ($145+) for Hernando and Citrus residents only during October. It doesn't look like there are ANY discounts in November and beyond (until next summer, I reckon).
---------------
This is why I haven't really been "excited" for this project. Losing World Woods, which had two very decent courses at affordable rates, is a big hit to the area.
While we're still waiting for the golf economy (and world economy) to crash... Callaway reported this week that TopGolf revenues have tanked 8% year-over-year. They're probably going to end up selling TopGolf to a South Korean company.
"But Dear Leader... TopGolf sucks and has nothing to do with real golf."
Yes. But it's a very big indication people are running out of disposable income, and are tightening up. The same thing is happening in the craft brewery market (although Gen Zs and Gen AAs drinking tastes is also to blame).
So I guess if you haven't played Cabot yet, you should probably do that now while it's $200ish.
We're scheduled to play Big Cypress (North) this Sunday at 9:30am.
Price is $48 and includes range balls. Remember the range — and clubhouse — is quite a golf cart ride away from the first tee. So give yourself some extra time if you're planning on popping tires.
Everyone is on the tips. Long drive on #16.
It's going to be a complete soggy mess. I'll call them Thursday or Friday to check their status. I've heard a bunch of courses are expected to be closed all week. We'll try to pivot if we have to.
Update your RSVP status.
Also, if anyone isn't in for Reunion, Tall Mike might be selling his spot. He doesn't know how pre-payment works... so you might even be able to buy the round at a discount!
While the current forecast has the system passing through the area on Sunday, we still won't make an official call until that morning.
Depending on how it turns, it could miss us completely and suck all the moisture out of the air... which would be awesome! Or it could miss us a bit to the north and keep Bradenton dry.
So just be patient and stay tuned to the blog. Texts will also go out when we make a decision. If it passes through our area, it's not like you're going to do anything else that day.
