Calusa Country Club - Preview

Long drive on 12

As everyone except Marcus should know... the schedule says we're off this weekend. But I'm going to go ahead and share the details for our final event of the season on April 6th.

 

It's been awhile since I felt like we got a "deal" somewhere, but we'll be teeing off at 8:48am for $79+.

 

Calusa Country Club opened the final week of January this year. It's probably not on any of your apps or GPS - although I did just get it added to GolfGameBook.

 

The carts have GPS screens with distances to the pin, so definitely rely on those.

 

It plays a LOT like Champions Gate Country Club (another Lennar community), but with more water. There are a handful of lakes/ponds you can't see from the tee, so be sure to check the GPS in the cart!

 

There's basically zero infrastructure out there. Anyone who wants to celebrate Tall Mike's 5th championship will need to hang out down the road (The Greyson by the interstate is decent).

 

Other notes:

• The retention ditch down the left side of the 5th hole is all OB. Everything is clearly marked... but you've been warned. Don't hit it up the left side.
• There's a lot of doglegs where you hit over water. There are no drop zones. If your ball doesn't clear the water... you'll more than likely need to re-tee.
• Fairways and greens are firm. Back nine is a little shaggier than front, as it was probably completed most recent. 

Below is the scorecard. While the base tees will be III... I highly recommend anyone who thinks they're a longer hitter to play the II tees. There's a lot of holes out there that don't require driver, so you might as well get the strokes.

Get your RSVPs up to date. We have one open spot currently. JW, Crum, Danny and Dan (the only four not in) aren't eligible to play as official participants. But they can fill the spot as a guest.

Jamaican Open - Spring 2025 Recap

A wonderful day on the course yesterday for the 26th edition of the Jamaican Open. The weather was perfect. The conditions at Huntington Hills were decent. The value was solid. And the first group somehow played in 3:49.

 

Holes 2 through 4 wrecked some mornings, as expected. I'm a little surprised the 5th hole only stung a few people — mainly Brendan who mentally ejected. The rest of the course played fairly easy, with sporadic blow-ups on the back nine.

Gorecki apparently had his game dialed in, stringing together a bunch of pars after the turn. He should have won this event outright by a lot, but he tried to choke it away going +5 (gross) on 16 and 17. Amazingly, he made a par on the final hole, knowing he needed it to be the clubhouse leader.

John was in the group behind, also faltering down the stretch. But with people watching on the final hole, and Dave's hot swing tips circling in his brain, John drained a 40-foot birdie putt to tie Gorecki for the victory. This was John's first win in over two years, as he's been severely struggling with his new domesticated life.

 

Chandler did all he could to finally get a win this season, but came up one stroke short despite setting a new course record of 76 (gross). Regardless of where he finishes in the standings, this will be one of the most underrated seasons in Club history, with six top-3 finishes, and three events only one stroke out of the winner's circle. 

And just three weeks after posting a career best (84 gross) and winning by 5 strokes... Geoff tied his career best to lose by three! And somehow his handicap is scheduled to increase next revision!

 

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Only three guys are mathematically in the running for the Cup. And there are a ton of ways this could go. The most likely scenario... Tall Mike grinds his way to a 5th title.

But more on that later. We're off next weekend for a make-up week we don't need.

Then we're hopefully playing the brand new Calusa Country Club in Lakewood Ranch. The course opened in the last week of January and is pretty cool... so you'll want to check it out. How often do we get to see brand new courses?

Anyway, make sure your RSVP is up to date. I won't know the exact time or price until 8 days out. But expect a start between 9am and 10am. And rate to be around $125.

Jamaican Open - Spring 2025 Preview

8:30am this Sunday at Huntington Hills. We've only been there once in official league play - 5 years ago - and it played very difficult at 6 strokes median net to par. It reminds me of a mix of Cypress Creek and Lexington Oaks. A handful of really easy holes... but a lot of target golf.

It's under new management, and they're making slow "improvements." But apparently not the low-hanging fruit that would make this course a lot better. Like the 7 minute tee time intervals which immediately jam up the course as holes 2 through 7 are some of the most difficult.

 

But whatever. The greens are decent. And fairways/rough are about what we see everywhere this time of year.

 

Here's a few quirks to know:

 

- Hole #3 - There's a drop zone on the other side of the lake on #3. You can use it if your approach (ie: 2nd shot or later) goes into the hazard. But if your tee shot goes into the hazard you need to drop before the hazard, per our local tournament rule. It's also been recently re-sodded and there are signs everywhere saying "keep off." For this event, ignore the signs, as it's clear other people have been doing the same and the only other place to drop is next to the cart path in shit grass.

- Hole #4 - There's allegedly a drop zone on the other side of the same lake on #4. I have no idea where it is... perhaps far right of the green. In any case, if you go in the lake then go across to the other side and look for it. If you don't find it, drop close to the edge of the lake and hit your 3rd shot.

 

- Hole #8 - Drive-able green for some of you people. But it's completely blind. Please send someone to the middle of the fairway to alert you green in clear before topping it off the tee box. Or text the group ahead of you to let you hit up.

- Hole #17 - Same as #8. If you're actually going to attempt to drive the green, text someone ahead of you to wave you up... or wait for them to get to their carts.

 

There is a driving range.

 

See you Sunday.

 

The Hangover - Spring 2025 Recap

"The Others" hosted us at O'Brien's on Saturday night, for an evening of cheap beers and weird people watching. Over half the field showed up and were entered into the Hangover side-pot. There was lots of good discussion about the state of the game, courses we should visit, and the upcoming reduction of our membership. When other Clubs are desperately trying to grow, we lean into streamlining and efficiency!

 

Unfortunately, as you can see from the photo below, we got a lot of work to do and need more GLP-1 meds if we are going to properly thin the herd:

 

Not pictured: Chandler and Gary, who are already streamlined.

The golf on Sunday was also good — except for the pace of 4:35 by the members somewhere in front of us. It felt excruciatingly slow. Unlike the greens which were excruciatingly fast downhill. Putting seemed to be the biggest challenge. In any case, Big Cypress continues to deliver the best value in our rota.

 

Mike Ho played the tips - and shot a very impressive 78 with nothing worse than a bogey. He picked up his 6th victory, and first in two years. And thanks to the Hangover pot, his winner's share was almost that of a full-field Major.

 

Chandler (c'est moi!) had another epic collapse (aka: choke) on the final two holes, but was able to hold off Reid for the 2nd place Hangover cash. He's finished in the top-4 in six of our seven events so far this season.

 

Reid carded one too many double-bogeys, while Moostie struggled keeping the driver on the planet. John co-led at the turn, but imploded with a +14 (gross) on the final five holes! In an effort to avoid reflecting on his own swing issues, Gary has officially taken up the case that Gorecki (and only Gorecki) should be allowed to play tees under 5,500 yards. Gorecki ended the day with one par, which was one more than Geoff. And Topor maxed out his potential with four max scores.

 

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Moostie, Casey, and Chandler are still separating themselves from the pack in our standings, but twelve guys are mathematically eligible to win the Cup. We have another difficult course in two weeks at Huntington Hills.

 

More on this later, as we're off for "Spring Break." We'll be back on March 23rd at 8:30am!

 

See you then.

The Hangover - Spring 2025 Preview

Updates:

 

- Decided to change long drive to #17 (still not a great option)

 

On #14 there is an unmarked drop zone short and left of the green. But the tees might be on the street running up the right side. So if you choose to use the drop zone... you need to drive all the way around the green to get to it.

 

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Tee time is 11am Sunday at Big Cypress (South). Everyone is on GREEN tees unless you want to move to the tips.

 

Notes:

- There should be a drop zone near the green on #15 if you go into the lake.

- OB is very tight to the right of #4 and left of #8.

- Long drive on #17

 

Looking at the Strokes Gained:Net data... and comparing to who is playing well at the moment... here are some predictions:

• Dave wins
• Tall Mike and Reid finish top 6
• Casey gets inconsequential points
• Gorecki bails before the event

 

See you Sunday.

The Championship - Spring 2025 Recap

Rumors of Geoff's demise were greatly exaggerated. After winning back-to-back season titles, it looked like he was in for a reset. Instead, he shot his personal best ever gross score (84) to win his 5th event in his last 17 attempts. Geoff was +6 (gross) after four holes... and then proceeded to shoot +6 (gross) over the next 14.

 

Casey and Tall Mike had a revival of their own, shooting +2 and +3 (gross) respectively on the final seven holes. Moostie now sits atop the Standings, looking for his 5th season title. Casey won his only Cup back in Summer of 2017, so he's itching to get a new Stanley Tumbler... or whatever those things are called.

 

The rest of us weren't very good.

 

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I'm sure by now you've all seen the promotional materials from the "Other Brigade" - who after a lot of well-thought-out deliberation, selected O'Brien's for the Hangover bar this Saturday.

 

15435 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33618

 

This will be the O'Brien's 3rd time hosting our season party. Anyone who makes an appearance will be eligible to win the Hangover Pot, which at the moment is $90 split 70/30 between the top two finishers.

 

I'm assuming people will show up around 8pm?

 

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Golf Sunday is at Big Cypress (South) at 11am. While all the hangovers will be gone by then, it is the earliest they'll let us out due to member play. Rate should be $65+

 

Update your RSVPs if you can't make it. I'll post the scorecard later this week.

 

And don't forget we lose an hour of sleep Sunday.