End of Season Commentary - The Ugly

Please accept my apology for the delay. I wrote the vast majority of this post back in October and then totally forgot about it. And because of that, some of the references or poor attempts at jokes could possibly be outdated and to that I say, deal with it.

Danny

Ol’ Danny MacCovid-19 was the only member to play less than half of the events this season. If he played more often and was somehow able to keep up his average of 90 points per event then he would have finished twice as high in the standings. But…and I mean BUT…that would have been difficult to do with being last or nearly last in every single stat category. He averaged double bogey golf by making par less than 14% of the time, making double or worse nearly 57% of the time and had the third worst bogey average with just over 29%. The only people with a lower average are Mike and Chris. Mike won the damn season and Chris averaged more than 25 strokes better in terms of gross scoring so they should have a lower bogey percentage. Not surprisingly he also had the worst par 3, 4, and 5 scoring average. Will his funemployment lead to better scoring next season? Only time will tell!

 

Katie

The best woman player in the league played six times as many events this season compared to last. While it doesn’t reflect in the stats, she appears to be playing a more consistent game these days so hopefully she will continue playing a lot and return to form. She finished 16^th in the standings by averaging only 43.333 points per event. She needs to start turning more of the dreaded “others” (51.852%) into bogeys (33.333%) to get that average net score of +5.833 down a few strokes. Her one highlight was averaging 4.040 on par 3s, which was lower than nine other members. She should try playing and reporting more off season rounds because I don’t think her handicap has fully caught up with the new formula. If only she knew a group of people that are still playing just about every weekend <confused arms up emoji>.

 

Gary

You guys remember when Gary almost won the cup two seasons ago? That was fun. What’s less fun is playing in all nine events and coming in 17^th place by averaging a measly 27.278 points per event. A+ for attendance and a C- for performance. Someone with Gary’s handicap needs to be way better than middle of the road in all key stats. He had the 7^th best gross scoring average, 8^th best for net scoring, 7^th in par or better percentage, T9 for bogey percentage, and 8^th for “others.” None of that is truly terrible but it’s not going to get it done if he ever plans on seeing another chance at the cup. But who are we kidding? Gary can’t even see his own tee shots. 

 

John

Speaking of legendary follow up performances, how about the people’s champ going from a championship to 18^th place! His season point total was more than 1,200 points less than his championship season. What’s funny is that his gross scoring average was only 1.5 strokes worse than last season. Maybe it was missing three events, a misaligned handicap, and a season full of tough competition that led to such a marked difference.

 

Troy

Yet another poor follow up performance for a guy that came in 3^rd by just over 200 points in the Spring ’20 season but finished second to last this past season. Troy had the worst points per event average with just 16.786 after posting an average of 153.338 in the Spring. Not quite as bad as Gorecki’s average of 1.875 in the Summer ’17 season…yikes! Not to beat a dead horse about the difference between his last two seasons but he fell from the lowest net scoring average (2.625) to 15^th (5.571) and this is probably due to making double bogey or worse more than 42% of the time, a 10% increase! But hey, maybe 2021 will be the year of the Trojan Spring.

 

Brian

Too talented of a golfer to come in dead last but Brian only played in five events and never finished better than 5^th. This led to a measly points per event average of 22.1, which was about the same as his drinks consumed per round average back in the day. I unfortunately don’t think I ever played a single round with him this past season so I don’t know if he still parties like he once did but I sure hope so. I love it when Brian is able to come out and play but I know life gets in the way sometimes, which is totally understandable. What isn’t understandable is how a guy with his potential had the highest bogey percentage in the league with 46.667%. That’s one of those stats where you want to be ranked near the top if you have a high handicap, not if you’re a player like Brian. But I’ve noticed a little handicap bump since the summer so maybe he’s this season’s dark horse if he can make it to more events, here’s to hoping!

Spring 2021 Week 1 - Info

Had some interesting hiccups booking this week. But we're all set to go:

Club Renaissance - 10:20am - $59 plus tax

Little later than usual, but look... it's a private Club and we have 24 freakin' people now. The weather is allegedly going to be nice.

All Members are on the BLUE tees, unless you make a comment or text me that you're moving back. Do that before Sunday, as I can't move you the day of.

 

Katie is on the GREEN tees, and is the defending Champ at this course.

 

 

Pairings will be randomized and published later this week. Stay tuned for some more #content as well.

Remember:

The Board passed a rule requiring everyone to be ready to play at first tee time (10:20am). If you are in a later group, roll the dice that we don't go out early at your own risk.

 

Club Renaissance doesn't have a range on site... but if you get there early enough you can head down to Sandpiper... OR find the hidden range near Scepter. If anyone gives you shit, just tell them you're in a tournament at CR and they sent you over. If they still give you shit, start coughing a lot?

 

See you Sunday.

December 2020 - Mailbag

It's been quite awhile since I've told you people what to do. With the upcoming season right around the corner, here are some answers to questions I've been asked lately:

How far back are you allowed to tee up your ball?

Two club lengths, according to the USGA. I don't think anyone has ever teed up further back than this... but there you go.

 

My ball went into a hazard. Where can I drop?

You have a couple of options under the "new" 2019 rules of golf:

1) Within two club lengths of where the ball went into a hazard or unplayable area.

2) Draw an imaginary line between where the ball entered the hazard and the pin. Go back as far as you like on that line. Drop within two club lengths of the spot you pick on that line.

Keep in mind Option 2 is basically impossible with hazards, woods, bushes on the side. You're probably only going to be able to use Option 2 when you hit it into a lake/stream in the middle of a hole.

Remind people about losing a ball near OB. I saw some sketchy shit last season.

OK... sure.

If your ball goes OB, you take a penalty and must re-hit from the previous spot. Usually this means hitting 3 off the teebox, although it does come in play on your approach or lay-ups sometimes. This is why we stress you should hit a provisional if your ball goes anywhere near OB.

Let's say you don't hit a provisional (shame on you!). You get up to where your ball should be — near OB — and you can't find it. Guess what? We now have to assume it went OB. So either drive back to where you last hit, and hit again (with penalty), or drop within two club-lengths of your best guess where it went OB and take a TWO STROKE penalty (one for the penalty stroke and one for the hypothetical distance to get to where you're now dropping).

Almost always, driving back is the best choice. Hit a provisional when in doubt, so you don't have to waste time.

Sure, there can be a situation where your ball went into some thick bushes with OB twenty yards further to the side. If you your playing partners agree you are in those bushes and not OB, then take a drop for one stroke (instead of two). Just make sure they agree with you first.

My ball is plugged and not in a hazard. Can I remove it?

Yes. You can always remove a plugged ball when it's not in a hazard. Also, whenever you legally get to pick up your ball, you are allowed to clean it. But after removing (and cleaning) an embedded ball, you're supposed to drop it within one club-length from that spot, no closer to the hole.

Remove, clean, drop nearby.

Remember: Our local Club rules allow for you to lift, clean, and place the ball in any fairway.

When is Dave going to pay Adam $252?

Not sure about this one. Dave definitely owes him $2. By all accounts he also lost a $250 flop-bet. I'd like to see that get resolved but I'm staying out of it.

Who are all the randos on the Week 1 sheet? Are they related in any way to Gorecki?

Not Gorecki related. John and Danny have some guys who are interested in the Club. Our By-Laws only allow for 3 more Memberships, and that won't be changing any time soon. Once we get to 24 Members our doors are closed, mainly due to the manual nature of running the Club. I shudder at the thought of regularly booking 6 tee times — weeks in advance — and then just hoping you people show up and have accurate RSVP designations.

Also, the goal has always been to have people who want to join, but can't because of some bullshit rule we put in place in 9+ years ago. That's when you know you've "made it."

I highly recommend everyone go out of their way to introduce themselves to any guests.

RSVPs

Eight of you have yet to fill out the RSVP sheet. I won't be saving any spots for people, especially with 3 guests already set to play the first week.

Fill out the sheet. Keep it updated.

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Over the next two weeks I'm going to write some rules reminder posts. Not that we've had any issues, it's just been awhile since we talked about some of these things. Send in comments or emails if you have any specific situations you want addressed.

Spring 2021 - Membership Dues

Spring 2021 FBGC Membership Dues are now... due. It's time to refill the coffers!

Each season is currently $130, which is the sum of all nine entry fees. Many of you have #clubcredit from finishing in the money, or skipping previous events (much to Casey's ire).

If you owe money, and you're not an old man who refuses to use Venmo/PayPal, then I've gone ahead and sent you a request at no extra charge.

You can review your balance information in the link that is within the "Deadbeat List" portion of this blog.

Spring 2021 Registration

It’s almost time for the Club to come out of hibernation. Registration is now open for all 11 weekends on the calendar, including the make-up weeks. 

As always, use the link on the right side of the blog to fill out the form. Edit your responses whenever something changes. If the RSVP grid doesn’t update immediately... don’t worry... it will eventually.

Hope you all have been enjoying the time off. Sorry I missed all the BGR tournaments that were held. Those looked like a lot of fun!

2021 - Tentative Schedule

Below is the tentative schedule for 2021. Expect us to start up in early January.

With Gasparilla moved to April, I built in some make-up weeks and spared you powerless people the thought of playing on Valentine's Day.

If any event is rained out, we'll just push the entire schedule (Spring and Summer) down to the next open make-up week. Hopefully we won't have the scenario of playing a ton of weeks in a row.

My goal for The Rapture is mid October, depending on the location and housing options.

New Membership - Winter 2020

At our current Membership size, Crum needed 15 affirmative votes to become a new member. He was voted in 18-0.

Two people apparently hate freedom.

Over the next week I'll start adding Crum to all our databases, and he'll be ready to roll when the next season starts up in January. Here's hoping he sticks around longer than JW's other sponsorships!

Fall 2020 Board Meeting

The overall theme of the meeting was the Board's desire to reinforce that the Club and weekly league events should be your "biggest priority." Obviously other obligations come up from time to time. But in general... we should be viewed as a serious organization.

This isn't at all related to anyone specific. We just want it to be the basis of any policy changes.

So anyway... every decision was unanimous unless otherwise noted:

Membership

Crum passed the initial Board approval vote 4-1. In the next couple of weeks I'll email a ballot to everyone for his Club approval. Assuming he gets enough votes, he'll be an official member next season.

Two members were brought up for removal from the Club due to conduct. In order to begin that procedure, we needed four affirmative votes:

Gorecki's removal failed 2 - 3. 

Brendan's removal failed 0 - 5.

Tee Boxes

The Board decided to not make an official ruling on tee boxes. The "set-up committee" will continue to allow whatever tee boxes they see fit. We felt applying some strict definition of what is allowable would only complicate the issue if an anomaly arose down the road (conditions, a players physical limitations, etc). So each tournament we will continue to list the approved tee boxes... and you can choose any from that list.

Handicap Allowance Changes

We are not going to adjust any of the handicap allowances at this time. But if JW or Brendan win any more events, then we will revisit.

Max Scores

We decided the +5 max is working, and didn't feel the need make any changes. Moving to +6 or 10 max on every hole was discussed. But  +5's seem like a good number for now.

Ties for 1st Place

Everyone on the Board dislikes ties for first place. However, everyone was also against moving to a "scorecard tiebreaker." We felt it was too subjective, random, and didn't make the subsequent victory feel "earned." The only acceptable solution would be sudden-death playoffs... but that's not possible for various reasons (some courses wouldn't let us, many of you people don't stick around afterwards, etc). Ultimately, we convinced ourselves that ties for 1st place actually make the overall season standings tighter, and thus better.

Penalty for WDs and DQs

We wanted to make an official decision on this, since multiple scenarios have happened:

WD before the day of event (midnight): No penalty. Keep your money. Get called a "Gorecki."

WD the morning of an event (after midnight): No pitchers owed, but your entry fee goes to the Club.

No-Show: No pitchers owed. Your entry fee stays in the pot for the tournament.

WD/DQ during a round: Entry fee stays in the pot. You get 1 net stroke added to your current score per hole remaining in order to determine owed pitchers. So if you are +9 at the turn and decide to quit, you'll be considered +18 and owe one pitcher. This is severely less penal than what we've been doing. You're welcome.

The Board also keeps the ability to waive any penalties depending on your situation.

Greenies on Par 4s

If you drive a green and two putt, you get a greenie.

Waste Bunker Sandies

If a waste bunker is next to a green, and you get up-and-down for par or better, then you get a sandie. You all know what "up-and-down" means. Don't come to me saying you two-putted and want it to count.

Winter Season

There will not be an official Winter Season. Enjoy your time off. Sports are back. Everyone is encourage to host an event. Don't text Dear Leader asking him to set something up. Make a post, book some tee times, and let's play! If anyone wants to post but doesn't know how, let us know.

Bailing on Match Play

If someone WDs before the day of play, we'll re-shuffle the field and pairings. 

If someone WDs the morning of or no-shows (see penalties above), then they get an official Match Play loss... and their opponent gets an official win and the 100 points that accompany it. This is a change from how we've handled it in the past.

Entry Fees for Skipped Events

We are not changing our current policy. If you skip an event (with proper notice), you do not get charged an entry fee.

Penalty for Arriving Late

This was a lively discussion, not because we all disagreed... but because it's very difficult to create an enforceable rule. John summed it up as: "We are all adults," meaning this shouldn't even be a thing. Yet, here we are. The Board voted to implement two new policies:

1) All players are expected to be at the course, checked in, and ready to play by the FIRST posted tee time.

2) If your group tees off without you, then you'll receive a max score for each hole until you re-join the group.

Yes, we are aware the last group could tee off 30-ish minutes after the first group. So you're more than welcome to roll the dice that we don't go out early. We just don't see how arriving at the very last possible second does anyone any good. It only leads to your group-mates having to delay their round.

Here are some real-life examples from last season:

- Tall Mike was the last person to arrive at Cheval. His group (A) was supposed to go out first, but ended up having to slide back to the third spot. This would be OK as long as it's before the first posted time (we went out slightly early). But once the first posted time arrives, Group A is allowed to tee off without him. Moostie would get the max on every hole where he didn't tee off with his group.

- Tall Mike (Group E) showed up extremely late to Waterlefe. Well past the first posted tee time, and even past his group's unofficial tee time. They graciously waited on him. Under the new policy, they can still do that... or they can leave him and make him take the max for each hole missed. So if you're running late, call your group and give them a sob story.

- Tall Mike (Group C) was on the putting green when his group teed off at Esplanade. Gorecki physically drove back to get him while the rest of us stood in the fairway. Under the new policy, Moostie would have received a max 9 for the hole, and Gorecki would have won the season!

2020 Rapture Recap

Despite 2020's best efforts, The Rapture still happened with John's Gray Team ascending to the height of golfing glory.

The houses were decent. The courses were dry. Conditions were good. Layouts were challenging. And the weather forecast was thankfully incorrect (90% chance of rain!).

It was a blow-out... until it wasn't... and Moosite's Blue Team had it won... until they didn't.

Let's remember how it unfolded, based on what little information I retained when you all were Ho-Telling me about your Matches:

Day 1 - Four Ball

Celebration GC played tight and sneaky difficult, and yet was by far the easiest course on our schedule. The shorter holes were defended by small, elevated, and undulating greens. Spraying your tee-ball would usually find a lake or thick trees. This was a day for good ball-strikers.

Chandler was in full Gypsy Magic mode — basically stealing a point away from Dave — thanks to a timely contribution by Gary and the typical choking of Gorecki on the final hole. Adam/John didn't have much trouble with Brendan/Darren, while Reid/Geoff eventually shrugged off Casey/Troy in the final closing holes.

It looked like the day was going to be a clean sweep for Team Gray, but Tall Mike (and JW) started doing Tall Mike things, winning the final two holes to halve with Faz/Danny.

For the second year in a row, we had a beat down on our hands.

Day 2 - Chapman

The day started pretty early for John/Danny, as they agreed to go off at first light in order to play the Match in accordance with Gorecki's demanding personal schedule. Everyone will probably have a lot to say about how the negotiations transpired, but here's the "official" State-Run Media response:

I applaud John, Danny and Troy for agreeing to play at 6:30am. It's better to play all the matches in their correct format, then to have some cloud of doubt hanging over a closely contested Rapture. Any one of those three could have rightfully stood their ground and said "no." But they didn't, and the weekend was better for it.

On the other hand, Gorecki once again continued to selfishly inconvenience his fellow Club Members. Just because a personal scheduling conflict is an issue for you, doesn't mean it's everyone else's problem to deal with.

 

But once an agreement between all parties was made, there shouldn't be continued complaints about it.

Anyway, Troy and Gorecki pulled off a miracle, winning the final hole (with a bogey!) to halve the match. Everyone else had a lot of fun refreshing the leader board throughout the morning. The 5-point lead (through 6 holes!) is the largest blown lead in Rapture history.

For the rest of the day it looked like Blue would sweep the remaining matches. JW/Brendan expelled the bickering duo of Reid/Gary for an easy point, while Dave/Darren and Moostie/Casey had their opponents dormie-2. Considering 17 and 18 were two of the easiest holes on the course, the outlook was pretty bleak for Team Gray. But Chandler/Geoff and Faz/Adam conjured a miracle of their own, winning BOTH holes outright to halve the matches.

*This is the part where I have to remind everyone that if you're not an active participant of a match, you probably shouldn't be distracting the other team, or anywhere near their upcoming shots.*

Day 3 - Singles

While Team Gray only needed 3.5 points to win The Rapture, at one point Blue was leading the singles matches 7-1. But Shingle Creek was playing really long, and it was difficult for most of the players to build a sizeable lead.

-Gary and Geoff continued their abysmal golf, losing 6&5 to Moostie and Dave respectively. 

 

-Chandler put together a mistake-free round, beating JW who hit it solid all day but couldn't seem to gain any ground. 

 

-Troy took an early lead on Danny, until MacCovid won 6 points in 7 holes to improve his already impressive Rapture record. 

 

- Casey finally pulled away from Adam on 14 to win 3 & 1.

 

-Gorecki was 2 Up through six holes before crashing back down to Earth with odd leg-kicks and finger snaps after every bad shot. Which was basically every shot that I painfully had to witness.

At this point Team Gray was winning 8 to 6, with Team Blue leading the remaining two matches. Darren had a struggling John dormie-3, only to miss an important putt on 16, and ultimately meltdown on 17 and 18. It was really a war of attrition all day.

Up ahead Brendan pumped two drives into the water on 18, allowing Reid to win the match (and The Rapture) with a double bogey. The crowd went wildly lethargic.

 

Winners

 

 

Losers

 

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As always, it was a great weekend. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it, even those of you that showed up without a hint of a golf game. I know it's frustrating to play poorly, but hanging out together is far more important than this ridiculous exhibition.

Congrats again to John — who won 2020 with a season title and now Moses smiling down on him until next Fall.

Rapture Week - 2020

Rapture Week is finally upon us. Unfortunately, Orlando got a ton of rain yesterday. If you own multiple pairs of golf shoes, I highly recommend you bring them. Hawk's Landing will have a bunch of cart-path only holes... and they're going to be pretty soggy.

Later today I'll send each team an email with a house address and code to get inside. Check-in on Thursday is 4pm. Bring snacks and whatnot, but we should probably go out each night, especially with the Lightning playing on Friday and Saturday (if necessary).

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Apparently I need to clarify our policy on a player missing an event:

If someone bails on the Rapture before competition, we'll do our best to replace that player with an alternate. 

However, if someone bails on a specific event (even due to injury), then their partner will be playing alone. If it's in Singles, then they forfeit that point.

This is how it works in Club Championships across the country (I'm sure Faz has told you about that one time playing in his brother's Member-Guest). 

Way too much time and planning goes into the Rapture for us to allow the precedent of "one-event substitutions." Regardless of how well-intentioned such a policy might be, we must acknowledge that it would eventually (and probably immediately) be abused. If this isn't the most important event of your weekend, then let someone else take your spot.

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Remember to pick-up your ball and stop playing when your opponent tells you to do so. This rule is really just directed at Four Ball (day 1).

We also do NOT allow players to give advice on putts during Singles (day 3). Obviously people forget and I'm probably guilty of breaking this rule. So if it happens, just remind everyone not to do so.

See most of you Thursday.

Rapture Handicaps

Handicaps are locked. Read this post carefully, since there will be an issue on Day 2 (Chapman)... beyond the format being too difficult for you people to understand.

 

Day 1 - Celebration GC - Four Ball

Gold/Silver Blended Tees

Par 72 - 5,969 yards

Dave (0) & Gorecki (16) vs. Chandler (1) & Gary (5)

Casey (0) & Troy (8) vs. Reid (1) & Geoff (9)

Tall Mike (6) & JW (8) vs. Faz (0) & Danny (16)

Darren (2) & Brendan (5) vs. Adam (0) & John (3)

Day 2 - Hawk's Landing - Chapman

Green Tees

Par 70 - 5,779 (6,179 adjusted) yards

The course has changed a few holes around — mainly the 550 yard par-5 final hole is now a 166 yard par-3 island green. This will NOT be reflected in the scoring app (Golf Game Book). More importantly, the hole-by-hole handicaps for the back 9 will need to be manually adjusted (I'll hold your hand before the round). Whoever is entering scores in the app... it doesn't really matter what you put in... just make sure the result of the hole (won, loss, halved) is correct.

 

Troy/Gorecki (2) vs. John/Danny (0)

Casey/Tall Mike (2) vs. Faz/Adam (0)

Dave/Darren (0) vs. Chandler/Geoff (4)

JW/Brendan (6) vs. Gary/Reid (0)

Day 3 - Shingle Creek - Singles

Blue Tees

Par 72 - 6,213 yards

 

Troy (0) vs. Danny (6)

Tall Mike (2) vs. Gary (0)

Casey (0) vs. Adam (1)

Dave (0) vs. Geoff (12)

Gorecki (15) vs. Faz (0)

Brendan (4) vs. Reid (0)

JW (8) vs. Chandler (0)

Darren (0) vs. John (1)

Blue House Breakfast Menu

I have a blue house with a blue window,

Blue is the color of all that I wear,

Blue are the streets and all the trees are too,

I have a WAG and she is so blue,

Blue are the people here that walk around,

Blue like my golf cart, it's in and outside,

Blue are the words I say and what I think,

Blue are the feelings that live inside me,

I'm blue da ba dee da ba daa

Da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa

Da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa

Friday Morning: Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Saturday Morning: Deviled Eggs With a Side Cart of Potatoes 

Sunday Morning: Everything Bagel Egg Sandwich

Free for the Pickin's

Gatorades, Two Frozen Pizzas, Wavy Lays w/ French Onion Dip, Tostitos Scoops w/ Salsa and Queso Dip, Fritos w/ Bean Dip, Cliff Bars (take for the turn), Assorted Gummies, and Ice Cream Sandwiches.

All meals are served with an assortment of fresh fruit. Beverage selection of Bud Heavy or Mimosas. This meal plan is intended for the guests of The Blue House only. Guests may request slight alterations to their meals but must do so in writing by noon on Thursday. All breakfast items and other common groceries will be split evenly amongst the participating guests of The Blue House.

Consumer Advisory: Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of food borne illness, especially if you have certain medical conditions. Menu items may contain or come in contact with wheat/gluten, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, and milk. Items on menu should be consumed at the risk of each individual guest and will hold the provider harmless from any legal or medical conditions that might arise.

End of Season Commentary - The Bad

Sorry for the delay but part 2 of 3 is here. This is the middle of the pack in terms of this season's final standings. Stay tuned for part 3, The Ugly.

Chris

A great addition to the league (you’re welcome) in both golf skill and in just being an overall good guy. See what happens when we don’t invite strangers from the bar Mike? A very solid inaugural season in terms of gross scoring with the lowest scoring average (+10.75), identical front and back 9 averages (also known as the anti-JW), rounds of +3 and +4 with the +3 coming at Esplanade for his highest finish of the season (2^nd). He had the best percentage for making par or better (56.944%), the lowest for bogey (27.083%) which of course is good when you’re a low handicapper and terrible if you’re a high handicapper, and third best in terms of making double or worse (15.972%). Lastly for gross scoring stats, had the best par 3 average (3.405), second best for par 4s (4.667), and third best for 5s (5.655). Now for the bad. He finished 9^th in the standings, which was more than 1,200 points behind Mike even though he only missed one event. 10^th best in terms of points/event (77.5) and 12^th best in terms of net scoring average (4.875). Besides his 2^nd place finish at the final, he only had one other top 5 finish (5^th in the season opener) and had to buy a pitcher twice. There’s just not much room for error when you’re a low handicapper. It’s tough to start the “bad” commentary with someone who is clearly good at golf but the line had to be drawn somewhere!

 

Ho

A pretty decent season in terms of gross scoring with the 5^th best average (+16), 6^th best average for making par or better (40.972%), and leading the league in par 5 scoring with an average of 5.483. Excellent attendance for the season with missing only one event, in fact he’s only missed five events in his six seasons as a member. Finished in the middle of the pack for the overall standings, earned 75.938 points per event played with an average net score of +4.75. I think he needs to dial in those fancy pants irons of his because he only made seven pars and one birdie on par 3s (out of 36 attempts), leading to the 13^th best scoring average of 4.056. Also, he made 35 doubles or worse out of 144 holes played (12 of which were triple or worse). No wonder he has so many stories to (Ho)tell!

 

Darren

First of all, it was great having Darren back this season after he had to miss the previous one with a rather embarrassing self-inflicted wrist injury. But I fear the days of The Baron may be gone forever as it seemed like he went out of his way to dispel the age old saying of “beware the injured golfer.” Even with a win (four way tie) he only earned 580 points on the season. This was mostly caused by a slow start, averaging 23.5 points/event during the first five, one of which he owed a double pitcher! Not only was it his first time buying a double pitcher, he’s only had to buy seven in his entire career! For reference, John bought nine pitchers in the Spring ’19 season alone. A very middle of the road season in terms of stats with nothing really too horrible or too great to highlight. I hope he returns to form and helps continue to #keepthechampsdinnersmall.

 

Faz

Always fun to write these things about yourself but here goes nothing. It’s looking more and more likely that not only will I never win a fourth cup (or what would be three in the modern era) but I don’t think I’ll ever win a single event again. I have played 36 events since my last win, which was in the Summer ’18 season, and is also the last season I won the cup. Even though my gross scoring stats (4^th) are always relatively good compared to the rest of the league I can just never seem to play well enough in relation to my handicap when it comes to league events. Since the Summer ’18 season I’ve ranked 13^th, 7^th, T8th, and 12^th for net scoring. Please note, this is in no way me complaining about how hard it is to win with a lower handicap, I’m simply just not playing good golf when it matters. Maybe instead of calling people a “has been” they’ll now be known as a “Faz been.” I’ll see myself out…

 

Brendan

Is there a better person to have in your foursome? Who else can so easily just slap a papoose on the front of a cart in front of course employees and they don’t bat an eye? Who else can get blanked on points in more than half of their events played this season,  rank 18^th for net scoring, 16^th for gross scoring, make par or better 22.222% of the time and make double or worse 41.358% of the time and still be such a pleasure to be around? That being said, it was a feast or famine season for BD. Of the four events he placed in the points, three were top five finishes, including a tie for second in the first event. He also tied his career low gross score with a round of +13 at The Groves. His other +13 round came at Stoneybrook (R.I.P.) where his net score was -16 and may have been the catalyst for the creation of the “good pitcher” rule. Lastly, does anyone have a better hat collection than this man?

 

Adam

Such a conundrum this fella. Solid swing? Check. Great gear? Check. Plays a lot and even practices sometimes? Check. Has a realistic handicap for his skill level? Check. All of these boxes checked and yet last season (Spring) was the only one where he threatened a cup. Something isn’t adding up. I’m convinced that he’ll eventually put enough solid league rounds together to win a cup at some point but this season was definitely not the one. He earned 410.5 points with a win (four way tie) and two top-5 finishes. His round of +9 at The Groves was a new career best in terms of gross scoring but he also had to buy two pitchers. If there’s one area I’d say he should focus on it’s par 3 scoring, where he ranked 12^th this season with an average of 4.054. Club up good sir, club up!

Is Stroking It at the Rapture the Key to Ascension?

In my infinite-part series of combating bad analysis based on a singular observation, we turn our attention to the Rapture. Darren has been convinced since the 2019 North Port Massacre that "teams with higher handicaps have an unfair advantage!" Sound familiar?

The entire premise is a bit ridiculous because so many factors go into how someone plays, regardless of their stroke situation. People get hungover, pulled over, bladder issues, relationship strife, swing changes, back pain, thigh rashes... it's a total crap-shoot. Not to mention the number of strokes received depends on your opponent(s). But if there is a bias, we have enough stats to figure it out.

I originally wanted to get the overall winning percentage of pairings/singles that received strokes. I could then break it down into the three formats (Four Ball, Chapman, Singles). I also wanted to see if a bias existed based on the number of strokes received (in total and per format).

Chapman and Singles formats are easy, since (usually) one team gets strokes and the other gets none. Four Ball is a little different as the low-player(s) play to scratch. So for that format, I used the total strokes for each pairing and adjusted the low-team down to zero.

Seven matches in Rapture history have been "straight-up," and all were thrown out as the results are irrelevant to this exercise. Only one of those seven was in Four Ball — a hilarious (on paper) 2018 contest where each side had a total of 22 strokes: Gary (3) & Gorecki (19) vs. Dave (0) & Danny (22). Four of the five "experts" who made picks went with Dave/Danny, so that tells you the overall Club sentiment. They won in a blow-out 6&4.

Of the remaining matches (77) that had strokes, the pairing that received strokes had a slight losing record: 34-36-7 (0.487). I drilled that down to tiers of strokes-received: 1-4 (40% of all matches), 5-8 (30%), 9+ (30%).

Right off the bat, it's safe to say there's no obvious advantage in the Rapture as a three day event. Even in the extreme case of a pairing receiving 15+ strokes, their record is only 5-3. Two of those involved a Four Ball team of Dave & Darren giving 16 and 17 strokes (they won one, lost one), so I can see where Darren formed his hypothesis after losing on the final hole to Adam & Geoff last year.

But what about a format-related bias? Is the creation of "Super Stroker" pairings (which I'm fond of) the way to go in Four Ball and/or Chapman?

The first thing of note is the sample size of "format-specific data by strokes received" is pretty small. But here are a few conjectures:

Four Ball - This seems to be a format where higher handicappers can shine. Match Play not only ignores their blow-ups, but they can also be saved on those holes by their partners. Of the 6 active Members with winning Four Ball records, four of them have indexes above the Club median: Danny, Brendan, Geoff, Darren.

Chapman - There's a mixed bag here because of the 60/40 allowance. You need two high handicaps together to get any meaningful strokes. JW and Gorecki have been paired together 3 times, only winning once. Overall, it feels like bad players can really hurt good players in this format.

Singles - This is the most important format, as it accounts for 50% of the total points each year. Only JW and Geoff have winning Rapture Singles records and have historic indexes higher than 16.

All of this should result in a fairly even 3-day exhibition. Bad golfers can contribute in Four Ball... potentially drag their team down in Chapman... and definitely aren't getting an advantage in Singles. Without an obvious overall bias, there's only one conclusion we can make about the 2019 Rapture: Chandler is the greatest Captain of all time.