Match Play Pairings

Nobody else is allowed to get hurt or pull a Gorecki and bail.

10am tee time. Bloomingdale has a range so feel free to show up early to warm up. Perhaps you can go to the edge of the range and just start spraying your own balls into the swamp. That will get you the most ready for the upcoming round.

Group 1
Geoff vs. Chandler
Troy*

Group 2
Faz vs. Gary
Brad*

Group 3
Brendan vs. Reid
Darren vs. Big John

Ryder Cup Dates

Registration for the Ryder Cup is now open. On the side of the blog is a grid of possible dates. Tell me which ones you are IN and which ones you are OUT.

Your choices are the weekends of: August 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th, September 10th, 17th.

The grid is in order of CURRENT Official Rankings. These change week to week and will lock in the middle of next season.

Keep in mind... Geoff is only one or two rounds away from not only making the list... but my quick calculations show he might return in 2nd. And Guest is only a couple missed tournaments away from losing eligibility.

So keep an eye on it. And tell me what dates you can make it.

Fazioli Match Play - Spring 2016 Location

We've decided to make the bloodbath continue. This Sunday, March 13th, 10am at Bloomingdale.

The only time we've held an event there, Gorecki won with a 106. Also, 5 out of the 8 golfers finished in the Pitcher Zone.

Below are the tentative match-ups, subject to change:

Geoff vs. Chandler
Faz vs. Gary
Brendan vs. Reid
Darren vs. Big John

Whatever guest golfers we have will fill final two spots. Winning your match will earn you a bonus 100 points.

Jamaican Open - Spring 2016 Recap and Other News

We don't have to talk about it. Seriously. We don't have to recap the Jamaican Open appropriately called... "Black Sunday." We don't need to mention that Gary was destroying the field with -3 (net) through 10 holes, only to finish with 5 doubles and 2 triples on the final 7. Or how Tall Mike's quad on 18 and Buchert's quad on 17 cost them both 2nd place. We shouldn't point out that Chandler probably set a league record for largest range of scores in a season, shooting 78 last tournament and a 96 this week. Or that Brendan made no pars on the day, had to buy one of the four pitchers, and somehow still got points. Or that literally half the league walked off the course vowing to get lessons. And we definitely shouldn't talk about Gorecki shooting the 2nd highest 9 holes in league history, a 65 on the back that contained zero bogeys or better.

What we should talk about is how Geoff made two clutch pars on 15 and 16. And how his tee shot on 6 literally lipped out of the cup, which would have been our first ever hole-in-one. Geoff's round was pretty average on a day when everyone else was terrible. So he moves into 1st place as we approach the half-way point of the season.

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This Sunday (March 13th) is the Fazioli Match Play. I'm have a couple of courses to reach out to, and will post the location, time and tentative matches shortly.

As of right now, I have the following people OUT: JW, Tall Mike, Buchert.

This gives us a potential of 12 league members showing up, so I'll book 3 groups. If anyone else is out let me know.

I'm going to assume Dan and Guest are out unless they tell me otherwise. Later this week I will fill any remaining spots with Troy and/or Brad... both who want to establish handicaps and possibly join full time next season.

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A bunch of us are going to the Valspar Championship this week. I believe Darren is going Thursday. Myself, Gary, JW, Gorecki and Darryl are going Friday. Faz is going Saturday on a regular ticket while I'll be in the Hooters tent. Reid and Tom are also going but I don't remember which day.

I have one extra ticket for the Hooters tent (Saturday) if anyone wants it. $78 and you get a boat of wings and all you can drink beers. Comment if you're interested.

Jamaican Open - Spring 2016 - Pairings

Updated pairings for the tournament this Sunday, at 8:30am.

Group 1
Buchert
Tall Mike
Geoff
Troy*

Group 2
Chandler
Gary
Brendan
Brad*

Group 3
Darren
Big John
Gorecki
Reid

Pebble Creek doesn't have a range. And they are notorious for over-booking the course, causing 6+ hour rounds. Don't be late.

2016 Ryder Cup

Few things:

1) Still need to rename this event. But I don't want to do that until we stumble upon something awesome.

2) I wanted to look a new place for us to hold the event this year. I took a shot in the dark and reached out to Black Diamond. It's one of the top courses I've every played in Florida. Anyway, they gave us a decent quote for the golf, but logistically it will require us to play Friday, Saturday and Sunday... rent houses off VRBO... and cost about $300 per person for the weekend.

I'm going to also reach out to Mission Inn (one of the best in the state I've never played) and possibly Reunion. I'm expecting BOTH to be in the $300+ range.

Another option would be to head back to World Woods if it's available. Last year that cost $180 a person. Sebring the first year was $190.

Weigh in with any thoughts or suggestions. Mainly about how much you think that weekend is worth. I'm going to look into Orlando courses like Grand Cypress... and maybe we can piece together 3 rounds with cheap hotels. But any feedback from the peanut gallery would be great.

Jamaican Open - March 6th

Reid is making us play Pebble Creek on Sunday, March 6th. We have 2 spots open since Dave and Faz are last minute scratches. Geoff... Tell your boy he's in. That leaves one spot open with Gorecki bound to bail again.

We tee off at 8:30 am. It was the only time we could get that wouldn't be a 6 hour round. I'll post pairings tomorrow when I get back to Tampa.

Also, remember to wear a shirt that is the color of the Jamaican flag (league players only).

See you people then.

DPT Open - Spring 2016 Recap

Who doesn't like putting at Southern Hills? Everyone. Just a ridiculous day out on the greens, all thanks to Pete Dye. The best way to avoid it, chip in from 30 yards off the green like I did on #7. For par. You know... because that's just how my day went. It definitely didn't feel like a round of 78.

JW came out of nowhere for 2nd, thanks to a pretty solid back nine performance. And Dave battled near the top of the leader board all day until blowing up on the final par 3 17th hole. He still finished solo 3rd.

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Next season Southern Hills will be closed as they put in a faster and better putting surface on all greens. It'll be a true nightmare when finished.

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We're off this week. Go practice! Especially you, Gorecki. Next event will be the Jamaican Open at Pebble Creek. March 6th.

Tell me if you're OUT. Right now all I can remember is JW.

DPT Open - Pairings

Current pairings for this Sunday, 11am.

Group 1
Gary
Jason S.*
Steve C.*
Daniel B.*

Group 2
Tall Mike
Faz
Geoff
Troy*

Group 3
Chandler
JW
Dave
Garcia*

Group 4
Reid
Darren
Big John
Buchert


*not in tournament

Week 3 - Update

We have 11 league members in for Southern Hills... with only Guest not signed up. So we're cancelling the 5th tee time, giving us 16 spots.

Next 5 "Guests" (get it?) who say they're in can join!

Update - Gorecki bailed.

Geoff Skins Game - Spring 2016 Recap

Heritage Harbor is hard. We only play it in the winter because it's cheap and close to home. But it's always cold and windy. The fairways are super tight because there's not much grass on them. Chipping around the greens is a nightmare. Bunkers are terrible. And many of the holes are just unfairly designed.

The greens though yesterday were the best I've ever seen at HH. So there's that.

Heritage Harbor is now the most difficult course in the league that we've played more than once. The average and median net scores to par are 7.5 and 5.5 respectively. Yesterday was no different, as nobody finished below net par.

Tall Mike kept the double pars off his back nine scorecard to win his 2nd event ever, and now sits atop the standings. Geoff was leading most of the day until blowing up on 15, 17 and 18. Dave couldn't make enough pars to win, while Chandler carded a rare quadruple bogey to ruin his chances of a victory.

We also almost had two double-pitchers, with Buchert shooting +16 and Big John +18. It was an ugly day for most of us. Good news though, we won't be back to Heritage Harbor for another calendar year.

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The Baron's reign of terror is over. Darren has held the #1 spot in the Official Rankings for the past 19 events, starting on January 18th , 2015. Dave, much like Jason Day, accomplished his number one goal in life by ascending to the top of the rankings for the first time.

Chandler, Buchert and Tall Mike round out the 5 players that have the most realistic chance to be Ryder Cup captains when the standings are locked in the middle of next season.

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This week we're playing at Southern Hills on Sunday at 11:00am. Get out there early if you want to take advantage of their practice facility. We also have a few spots open if you want to bring anyone. But let me know ASAP. Geoff... let me know for sure if your mortgage buddy is coming.

Week 2 Pairings

First group is out at 9:30am. Heritage Harbor (the one in Lutz). $10 cash entry for the skins game.

Group 1
Geoff
Chandler
Buchert

Group 2
Tall Mike
Dave
Reid
Guest - if he makes it 

Group 3
Gary
JW
Big John
Steve A.

Skins game will once again be broken up into two tiers. Payouts will be calculated in the clubhouse once we're all done. Below are the tiers and how many strokes (80% handicap) each person gets:

Tier 1
Buchert (0)
Dave (0)
Chandler (0)
Gary (0)
Reid (3)


Tier 2
Big John (0)
Darren (1)
Guest (4)
Tall Mike (6)
JW (7)
Geoff (8)

Horses for Courses

It's no secret that certain courses just "fit the eye" of certain players. Tiger Woods used to dominate Torrey Pines and Firestone Country Club. Dustin Johnson owns Pebble Beach, despite never actually winning there. And Big John is the mayor of... Southern Hills?

Yes, even we fall into trends on our tour. Let's take a look at who excels and who rides the struggle bus at our most played tracks:

First up, course ownership. This shows the best (and worst) average net score to par, with a minimum of two tournaments played at each specific location. It's actually interesting how few courses we've played two or more times. Do you own a course? Or are you that course's bitch?

Faz is probably glad to be missing Heritage Harbor this week...

Obviously, not everyone fits into those categories. So what is the best, and worst, course per player? Again... must need two rounds played on a course, which eliminates Buchert from the list.

Dan has an impressively small spread.

The takeaway from this data is that we love Stoneybrook... and we hate Heritage Harbor. You know... the course we're playing this Saturday (9:30am). See you all then.

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Continue to tell me if you're playing Week 3 at Southern Hills.

Week 3 Registration

Who's in for Week 3, tentatively at Southern Hills? It's our first Major of the season and the ONLY time we'll be at Southern Hills in 2016. They're ripping up all the greens and putting down some better, faster grass.

Remember, Week 3 we move back to Sundays... so date is the 21st.

Let me know!

Copperhead & Valspar Championship Update

We now have 5 people who have purchased the Valspar voucher, allowing us to play Copperhead this Spring/Summer. You can reference this post for details and a link.

Five is a terrible number to book a tee time. So who else wants to go play the course? Get off your ass, buy the voucher, and let me know when you've done so.

Update:
Gorecki and Darryl are buying one. JW's buddy is also interested so I think we have 8 now