Throwback Thursday

Some fun facts from Spring 2014:

• Gorecki is the one who (sarcastically in comment) suggested calling our par-3 tournament the "Gorecki Memorial." We used that name for 4 years until he did something so astonishingly dumb we changed it to "The Concussion." Perhaps we should change the name of our final Major to "The Karen"
• In Tall Mike's FIRST SEASON, he:
• Overslept the Hangover, showed up on the 4th hole, and argued the entire time that we should allow him to play those holes after the round. He was DQd and would have been DFL anyway.
• Drove to the wrong Stoneybrook (Estero... 1.5 hours south of Bradenton), and somehow still got back to Bradenton in time for the final group.
• Our finals at Copperhead cost $115 for: ticket to Valspar, parking pass, round on Copperhead which we used at 8am.
• I asked the entire league for someone to fill the final spot in a Bay Hill trip. Two nights on property, two rounds on Bay Hill... $420 total.  Dan was the only person to even consider it.
• We failed to get a pic at Geoff's Golden Era Championship Dinner at Koto's. But we did get this one from TAPS afterward:

 

Jamaican Open - Summer Preview

Gorecki called Reunion (multiple times) and was very "pushy" (their words) with the Accounting Rep. He demanded a full refund, and was angry that it needed to be cleared by the Group Leader (me). I told them my preference was to deny the refund, but ultimately agreed when it was confirmed it wouldn't affect the rate for anyone else.

I'm going to assume Gorecki will get refunded, and Marcus is now OUT.

 

If anyone (including Marcus) wants to show up on Sunday, the pro shop will charge them something. Could be more, could be less. A real "who's to say" situation.

 

As for Gorecki... I hope the time spent crying on the phone and being rude to people was worth the $18.96.  I've removed $100 (thanks for the penny) from your Membership balance and cancelled the Venmo request.

 

Should there be any penalties for Gorecki sullying our group's reputation? Comment below! And smash the "like" and "subscribe" buttons! 

 

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Our Club has never played the Nicklaus at Reunion. It's historically considered the most difficult of the three courses.

 

Everyone is on the WHITE tees unless you tell me otherwise. Gary is on the WHITE/RED (which cost him 4 strokes!).

 

The Nicklaus Course is on the WEST side of the interstate... not at the main hotel. You still enter the same main gate, but be sure to follow the signs after that. It has its own range. Get there early! Hopefully we can get out early to help beat the rain.

 

See you Sunday! Don't forget to wear your Jamaican colors (colours?) if you're a traditionalist and love all things from the Golden Era of FBGC!

 

The Hangover - Summer 2026 Recap

We had an absolute epic battle this past weekend, which came down to the final hole! Dan nearly missed a hole-in-one, to tap in for birdie and a 1-shot lead over Andrea on the Black Course. The pressure got to her as she completely duffed her tee shot into a fairway greenside bunker. Stymied by a catch-basin and some strategic mounding, the packed gallery watched in astonishment as her birdie attempt scared the hole — but ultimately settled for a par.

 

Chandler and Reid finished T1 on the Black Course (-4), with Chandler also taking the top spot on the Red Course at +3.

 

A big thanks to the "others" who hosted a record 70% field-turnout!

 

Not pictured: two WAGs and one kid

 

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On Sunday we had another epic battle at Scepter, also reaching the final hole! Chandler (that's me!) made a classy two-putt par on 18, followed by Dan's short par-miss, to tie for the Hangover Pot. Both players had some bone-headed swings on the back nine, but still walked away $25 richer in Chandler Bucks!

 

Reid had the money in his hand until a triple bogey on 18 lifted his hopes, cleaned his dreams, and placed his chances further down the leader board.

 

Gary would have easily won the day, if not for a cinco and quad bogey on two par 5s. His even-par run from 10 through 15 was still impressive.

 

Back-Nine-Ho reared his ugly head again with a 37-45... but he did make an eagle!

 

Buchert looked like a man who has been gallivanting around the globe instead of working on his game. He hit every possible ball flight that can be applied to a golf ball.

 

At the other end of all the spectrums, somehow Gorecki tied Buchert at +17 (net), despite seemingly playing well! PopStroke unlocked something in his brain I've been telling him for years. If he could get off the tee (I can fix that too if he'd ever listen) he might find the winners circle!

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And finally, we have to discuss the rain-out that never was. I was literally soaking wet, standing in Gary's garage, watching Davis Islands flash flood, and listening to my parents (and multiple Member texts) exclaim: "it's raining!" Yes, I'm aware. 

 

But it wasn't raining in Sun City Center. And the largest cells appeared to be missing to the north and south. And the forecast showed it clearing up by 11am, only an hour after our scheduled tee time. 

 

I don't want to drive down to Sun City Center and get rained out. But I also don't want to spend additional time and effort scheduling an unnecessary make-up week. We need to err on the side of attempting to play. If Scepter was already flooded like Pinellas and Tampa... then we'd obviously cancel.

 

Did we get lucky? Or does Chandler actually know how to read a weather radar? The real answer is: it's irrelevant! 

 

Every event is at least 6 hours of our day that we've blocked off. If we get rained out... then we're still within that window. We can have a few beers and an early lunch. It changes nothing on the calendar.

 

Now... I'm well aware that for some of you... this may not be the case. The thought of hanging out with any number of the people on our roster is too painful. A rained out golf day — of which we've had maybe five in 31 seasons — isn't worth the time away from the nest.

 

Boy, do I have some good news for you! You all have personal agency!

 

As soon as you get in your car, YOU are deciding it's worth the attempt. Your actions are literally agreeing that we shouldn't cancel. If you truly felt otherwise, you'd stay home and laugh at those of us who "wasted" our Sunday morning.

 

And this applies well beyond a weather forecast. We've had sporadic outbreaks of Grumpy Boy Syndrome over the years among current, former, and perhaps soon-to-be-former Members.

If the tee time is too late. If the temperature is too hot. If the round might get rained out. If the course is too far away. If you don't like the pairings. If the greens fee is too expensive. If you're playing in a group behind Tall Mike. If you hate the course. If you're golfing against your family's wishes. 

 

Stay home.

 

Quarantine yourself for at least 15 days to stop the spread. Wash your groceries. Wash your clubs. Triple mask. Do whatever performative things stop you from feeling like someone is making you play golf.

 

Our penalty for bailing the morning of is laughably weak. Take advantage of it!

 

Gorecki said on Saturday that the league is dying. Reid replied the league will always exist as long as we have at least four people. As a two-time Champion in the Golden Era of FBGC, I wonder if that number is too high!

 

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The pace Sunday was amazing. Group 3 — with two players shooting +17 (net) — played in 3:29. This is vastly more impressive than Group 1 playing in 3 hours. They had 25% less people, and 33% less shots... and only played 14% faster?!? Embarrassing! Topor, Marcus and Ho are the new Group of Death. Unfortunately, those three along with Molasses Dave are going to jam up the course this weekend. 

 

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We're at Reunion this upcoming Sunday. Twelve spots have been prepaid ($118.95, which is far lower than Gorecki remembers). If you have to bail, good luck selling your spot.

 

It will probably rain on us. It rains every day in Orlando. So here's the rain policy from our contract:

• 3 or fewer holes played – rain check issues for full amount
• Hole 4 – 12 completed - 9-hole rain check to be validated for 6 months
• Hole 13 –18 completed - No credit

 

I'll post the scorecard in a bit. 

Hangover - Summer 2026 Preview?

 Long drive on #12.

 

Scepter's range is the old Falcon Watch range in the middle of the neighborhood. You can not take a golf cart to it. 

 

Looks like we're down to 10 players... not good when we initially booked 20. But because of the forecast, they'll probably just be happy if any of us show up.

 

Speaking of... we play in the rain if the course is open. So be prepared.

 

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I'll get to PopStroke around 6:30pm on Saturday for food and drinks. As of now the wife will be joining me. That could always change.

 

I'll see 3 of you there! 

FBGC Championship - Summer 2026 Recap

It was the Cellar's Revenge yesterday as our top three finishers all came from the unsupervised final group of the day. Moostie overcame a triple-bogey on the first hole, to shoot a -4 (net) and win for the second straight time at Hunter's Green.

 

Reid made a quad on two and still finished solo-2nd, his best finish since August of 2025. 

 

And Melberg opened with 8 straight pars, and set a new course record (76 gross) despite double bogeys on 9 and 18.

 

John did not do as well, probably because he tried to switch out of this group before the round!

 

Faz won the closest-to-pin for the 2nd time ever - netting him a healthy $14. 

 

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Everyone else was unimpressive. I highly doubt Ho's 13 stroke swing from front to back is a record, but it was his first official trunk-slam of the season.

 

Hunter's Green was in excellent shape, and the brutal heat went away for a couple of holes - before coming back - as we dodged all the rain.

 

It's by far the best value we're getting right now, so hopefully it continues. 

 

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With Gorecki bailing on Reunion, Marcus is now back in - a huge boost to his chances. Ho is in 2nd - but not really relevant with his low handicap and current mental state. Moostie is only playing one more event so he's basically OUT.  Dave is only playing two of the final three.

We could easily see Marcus win the season without scoring another point!

 

Reminder: anyone who doesn't play in 4 events BEFORE the finals can not be in the field for money or points. They're still welcome to play for fun down at Rosedale. This rule is going to apply to a bunch of people.

 

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This weekend is the Hangover - our season party. The "others" have picked PopStroke out in Wesley Chapel, which I believe will be our first visit to the area. Bring your wives... perhaps your kids? Maybe your putter?

 

Their food is decent, and I've hung out there a couple of times without even playing putt-putt.

 

Everyone who makes an appearance will be playing for the side-pot at Scepter on Sunday (9:56am).

 

Speaking of, I guess we're dropping the field down to 12 based on those who said they were in. I'll see some of you Saturday! 

Open spot this sunday

Topor had to bail due to a family emergency. If anyone wants to get back in or bring a friend, let me know. 

Reunion Hotel Option

My contact at Reunion has agreed to waive the 2-night minimum stay, allowing us to go the day before (August 8th). There's 4 beds in each villa, and the cost will be $82 per person for the night.

Here are the people who asked me about doing this:

 

Chandler (me!)

Gary

Geoff

Ho

Billy

 

Comment if you're interested in doing this, and if we get another villa filled I'll set it up.

 

Villa #2 - (need at least 3 people):

 

The Championship - Summer 2026 Preview

Long drive on #17

The most important TOUR on golf continues this Sunday, with a sprint to the finish.  No more breaks unless there is a rainout.

First up is The FBGC Championship - something we still need to rename. It's our 2nd Major of the season, and we'll be at the private Hunter's Green with an after-member start of 11:28am.

 

It'll be hot, but not as bad as recent weeks. It also looks to be dry, which is nice. Fort Brooke was founded in the boiling swamp of the Hillsborough Bay... so hydrate and soldier on.

 

Their greens were punched a couple of weeks ago and they've been closed that entire time. Hopefully that means it won't be so bad? We've seen a wide range of putting surfaces this year, and you'll need to adapt.

 

All 16 spots have been paid for.

 

Base tees are the WHITE... with allowance to move up to WHITE/GREEN if you're in the 55/25 club. Gary is moved up... Reid told me two weeks ago he wanted to move up... if any of that isn't correct let me know.

 

The course is fairly difficult with only a few under winning so far in our history.

 

See you Sunday.

Match Play - Summer 2026 Recap

We had a very hot and slow day yesterday. The 4.5 hour pace at 8am was set by some 2-man scramble tournament going on in front of us. I don't think I've ever played a fast round at Jovita on a weekend.

 

Aside from that... it was a pretty good day. Conditions - especially the greens - were the best I've seen in awhile out there. The course played very easy for some reason, with nearly half the field finishing under par (net).

 

Marcus got his 2nd victory of the season and is playing some very consistent golf at the moment. His driver is really good, and he avoided any huge numbers with only two double bogeys on the day. He now has a commanding lead, but will be missing at least one tournament coming down the stretch.

 

Gary finished one back, with his best tournament performance since January 2023 (where he also finished 2nd at Glen Lakes).

 

And we broke BOTH course scoring records, with Ho tying a personal best 72 (gross) on the North Course, and Gorecki shattering Danny's previous worst with a 121. Genius move by the Board to bend the rules for Gorecki and get us all two more pitchers of beer!

 

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Quick match-play notes:

 

- Gary's beatdown of Melberg (8&6) was not only Melberg's worst loss of his career... it was the first time he's ever been closed out before the final hole!

 

- Dan/Brendan had Dan winning 2&1 on their physical card... but they only had Brendan receiving 9 strokes (they didn't use the custom scorecards). Brendan actually got 10 strokes, and lost on the final hole!

 

- Watching Geoff make a 40+ foot putt on 18 to tie his match against Reid was cool. However, he didn't fist-pump like Reid would have.

 

- Ho handed Chandler (me!) his first match-play loss since February 2022 (ending a no loss streak of 12 events)!

 

That's about all I got. Great turnout at the grill afterwards!

 

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We're off this upcoming weekend for the British Open at Royal Birkdale. 

 

Fun fact... the last time The Open was played at Royal Birkdale was 2017. Ho, Greg, and Robbie were playing as guests to become FBGC Members.

 

On Sunday, we were rained out at Pebble Creek, and most of the field got sloppy drunk at the pub (Mulligan's) watching Jordan Spieth beat Matt Kuchar. We had such a great time, we made The Open a permanent bye-week on our calendar (this was actually John's suggestion).

 

A few times over the years we've met at bars or houses to watch, but like most things in life, it's impossible to capture the magic and spontaneity of our youth.

 

Enjoy the week off!

Match Play - Summer 2026 Preview

Long drive on #15 

 

Pairings have changed for the 3rd time... Big John "forgot" he was in.  Crum's guest pushes him and John to final group.

 

8am shotgun start at Lake Jovita North this Sunday. I'm waiting on Ho to officially tell us what holes we're starting on... but this is the first time we'll have Match Play in a shotgun. Which kinda changes the official final score, unless we just "start" every match on hole 1.

Overall it doesn't matter. Stroke on the holes the card says you stroke on. The same winner (or tie) will happen regardless.

 

Everyone is on the WHITE tees unless you tell me otherwise. The 55/25 can play the GREEN tees if they desire.

 

We should be fine missing any rain due to the early tee time. Here are the match-ups and strokes received:

 

Hole 1A 

Marcus

Topor (6)

 

Ho

Chandler (6)

Hole 1B

Geoff

Reid

 

Melberg

Gary (5)

Hole 18A

Dan

Brendan (10)

 

Troy (6)

Adam

 

 

Hole 18B 

Crum (1)

John

 

Ghost John

Gorecki (5)

 

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It doesn't seem like we're going to hit our minimums for Reunion (12). So go ahead and ask any friends if they want to fill spots. The Reunion spots are supposed to be pre-paid by Friday... and we only have 8 people signed up. Looks like the hole-in-one pot is about to be reduced by $1,000!

 

See you Sunday! 

Upcoming Pre-Paid Rounds

Both events are full at the moment. Everyone who was a maybe or didn't sign up is now OUT.

 

We have two rounds coming up where we need to bring a minimum number of golfers. If we fail to do that, any balance owed will come out of our Club funds. Unfortunately, that balance is only about $850... so we could end up dipping into the hole-in-one pot!

August 9th - Reunion (Nicklaus) - Need 12 people minimum - July 10th deadline to pay

 

Go to this link: Reunion Deposit Payment

 

Group Name: Chandler Brown Golf Group Aug 2026

 

Arrival date: 08/09/2026 

 

Deposit amount:  $118.95

 

Pay with your credit card and then let me know you've done so for my records.

 

Signed up so far:

 

Chandler

Ho

Topor  

Geoff 

Gary

John

Brendan 

Gorecki 

Dave

Billy 

Reid 

Tom (guest) 

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July 26 - Hunter's Green - Need 16 people minimum

 

Event is now full.

 

Get on it. Nicer courses come with more hoops to jump through. If we'd rather have the flexibility to bail last minute with no consequence... then we can do an entire season at Southport Springs. Doesn't matter to me. I just like to golf and compete.

The Concussion - Summer 2026 Recap

It was a pretty good day of competition yesterday at a bombed out and depleted Southport Springs. Seven players were within 3 strokes of the winner! That's a lot of people who feel like they could have won.

 

And everyone probably left at least 3 strokes out there due to a few unfortunate green bounces. So I guess it all evens out and the right guy won.

 

I'd tell you more about his round but he's already done that.

 

As for conditions, a few people said I over-sold the shittiness. Some said I was pretty accurate. Nobody said it was worse than expected... which is good. Geoff had a valid point: playing lift-clean-place everywhere definitely made it less noticeable.

 

And we still had a ton of birdies (and an eagle) which is fun. 

 

We'll try SPS again in 3 years, as it is the correct amount of "quirky" for this tournament.

 

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We're off for 4th of July this weekend. Next weekend is Match Play at Jovita North... an 8am shotgun start. We'll be grouped by standings the rest of the way, so check the event sheet to see who you're playing as people inevitably bail.

 

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A few schedule updates:

• Have you put the Rapture on your calendar yet? October 8th - 11th?
• Are we even going to get 12 players to qualify?
• Only 7 players have sent me money ($80) for the July 26th round at Hunter's Green (11:30am).
• This is one of the best deals in town, and we have to bring 16 players. Very soon I'm going to start filling the sheet with outsiders. I've put a few paid posts on golf architecture message boards, looking for replacements for some of you people.
• I've somehow talked Reunion into honoring our rate ($119) for 12 players on August 9th (Jamaican Open). I'll be posting a link for that soon... and anyone attending needs to pre-pay by July 9th.
• We can add up to 16 players depending on how fast people pre-pay. 

The season standings are tighter than usual at this point of the schedule. 

The Concussion - Summer 2026

This event is more and more starting to resemble its founder.

 

Long drive on #18

 

Annoying things to note:

• #7 is a par 4. It'll say par 5 on the scorecard. That is incorrect according to GHIN (and our app), so we're playing it as a par 4. 

• GameBook has the nines reversed. But I have every group starting on #10 (within the app... we're still physically starting on #1), so you shouldn't have an issue in the app. 

• According to this post - our Fall of 2020 Board Meeting unanimously established that a "greenie" can't be a 3+ putt.

• There is no range on Sunday - only two shitty nets near the first tee.

• We're playing the WHITE tees.

• The grill is not open on Sundays.

• Beers are somewhat cheap, but only available in the pro-shop. 

Reunion Golf

Reunion is offering us $119 (all in) for the Jamaican Open (August 9th) - starting at 10:20am on the Nicklaus course. It's the same deal they offered us last year, which I turned down for being too expensive.

Now a year has passed. What do we think, chat?

Any appetite for this?

Concussion Time Change

Southport Springs is in rough shape. Slow, fuzzy greens… with a bunch of dead spots. Fairways are the same.

But the scout team voted to just keep it booked since Countryway and The Groves are reporting similar conditions. 

We are going to play lift-clean-place everywhere.

We also moved the tee times up to 7:45am. There’s no range… so let’s get in and out faster.

If you’re someone who can’t handle shit conditions, I’d recommend you skipping next week.

Throwback Thursday

Spring 2013 Hangover Party - April 5th - TAPS (downtown Tampa)

Drinking mind-erasers.

 

FBGC Open - Summer 2026 Recap

Didn't we rename this thing?

 

Anyway, Waterlefe is an amazing course. It's a fun and interesting layout that really elevates players who are hitting it well. Any non-committed, scared swings are penalized heavily.

 

Unfortunately the greens still hadn't recovered a month after being punched. This is not normal, and it's clear they haven't been watering for whatever reason. The rest of the course was in great shape, and some of the rough was surprisingly juicy.

 

So who hit the ball the best? I watched a handful of Marcus' tee shots and he was striping it. With only three "blow-ups", he was able to win comfortably as the only player in red-net figures. Three birdies on the day is impressive! Marcus now has two career wins — both Major victories — and jumps to the top of our standings.

 

Billy made par on the final three holes... which is also very impressive... and high-fived Dave as he passed him on the leader board.

 

Everyone else isn't worth talking about, but here are some odds and ends:

• At most places, if you're in the clubhouse first, you can watch yourself move up the leader board. This is very true at Waterlefe with a daunting finishing stretch. This week we saw Chandler (that's me!) move up the leader board long after the round was over... because some idiot in his group (also me!) didn't give him credit for his birdie on 17 in the app.
• The par-3 15th at Waterlefe is the closest we'll ever see to the par-3 12th at Augusta. This is not a joke. In fact, it's probably more penal because the surrounds are tighter and the green is more severely sloped. We had one birdie (Geoff) and two pars (Chandler, Ho). Everyone else made a double-bogey or worse!
• It's very difficult to win at Waterlefe with a double or worse on the first hole. Geoff made a 9 on it and won by a stroke back in 2013! Buchert did it again in 2022! But most people who eject on this hole are done for the day. 

We're off for Father's Day weekend. Southport Springs will host our next event in two weeks. See you then! 

FBGC Open - Summer 2026 Preview

Long drive #12 (par 4)

 

First tee time is 10:12am.

  

Not much new to say about Waterlefe. This will be our 10th official event on the course, placing it only behind Southern Hills (17) and Countryway (13).

 

Everyone fears this course, but it's actually rated slightly easier than average in terms of difficulty (+4 median net to par). Wide fairways and sizeable greens help lower the scores.

 

9 of the 13 winners at Waterlefe have a first name that starts with "C".  So Faz with his inflated handicap should win Sunday.

 

See you then. 

Random Club History - 2012

On June 29th, 2012... Gorecki beat his dad in golf - straight up - for the first time in his life (35 years old at the time). He did this in an exhibition match at Legacy Golf Club (now part of Lakewood Ranch G&CC) with a score of 100 - 107. We were practicing for our first ever Major, played at Southern Hills the next day.

Geoff and I were lucky enough to witness this touching moment of Father/Son history.

Three weeks later on July 21st, we played the first (of only three) "Just the Tips" tournaments. It was a back-to-back tournament weekend due to a rainout. Only four people showed up. There were no greenies or sandies earned. Northdale was playing 6,824... and this leader board was amazing:

No, we will not be bringing this event back.  

The very next day we played a soggy TPC Tampa, which resulted in Gorecki's first ever victory and this gem of an excerpt from the write-up:

Everyone played like crap with the exhausting conditions, except Gorecki who shot one over his handicap to earn his first victory of the season.

Of course... he cheated all day... pairing himself with the Clique-o-Ballics, who couldn't watch him while they were constantly hunting for Dino's wayward drives. After we caught Gorecki hitting a mulligan on the first tee, he responded: "I'm not in your group, so I don't have to play by your rules." Commissioner Geoff pointed out: "You also don't have to win our money."

Skins Game - Summer 2026 Recap

As predicted in the weekly preview, Topor won at Seminole Lake this past weekend, with an impressive 44 (gross) on the front, followed by typical Topor-Ball on the back. He and Marcus had a double-bogey-party on the final stretch, with Topor's par on the difficult 16th proving to be the difference.

 

Other stats of note:

• Faz going 4 - 10 - 4 on the par-5 stretch on the back. He also hit 7 balls OB on the day which is probably a record for him.
• Gary making 6 pars in the final 7 holes on the front... only to implode with a 53 on the back (draining a long putt for birdie on 18 to avoid a pitcher).
•  Geoff with three sandies on the day.
• Dave did this back in 2022
• Buffalo Ben had 4 at the old Stoneybrook back in 2013
• Chandler (that's me!) hit all 14 fairways 

The rest of you were not noteworthy.

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Seminole Lake had probably the best conditions we've seen in a long while. Great fairways, rough, and greens. The first group waited on every shot and still played in 3:52. Somehow, Tall Mike's threesome kept up! 

 

It sucks that they increased our rate 23%+ over last year... but at least it seems they're putting it back into the course?

 

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We play our first Major of the season next Sunday at Waterlefe. Tee time is 10:12am (allegedly after their members).

 

They only increased their rates 13% on us year-over-year.  I don't think range balls are included. We might be at the point where it's too expensive to warm up anyway.