It's been nine years since we ventured down to Sebring, the host of the first ever Rapture.
We've grown a lot as a Club since then. We have eight more official Members. Faz is no longer prone violent outbursts after losing a Singles match. Dave no longer eats meat. Gary can no longer see. Gorecki's entire body — not just his inner thigh — is now covered in rash.
The Rapture itself is a smoother operation, with official qualifications, a draft party, three distinct formats that everyone (I hope) now knows how to play, tried-and-tested pairings strategies, and an overall sense of what to expect. Sebring also grew over the years. There's now a few more options for food, a slightly upgraded hotel bar, and gas stations with EV chargers for Geoff's fancy whip.
But a lot of the 2023 Rapture felt like we stepped back in time.
The hotel (Inn on the Lakes) was basically unchanged — a good value and location — blending "historic" with "broke-ass" elements. The courses (and their greens fees!) haven't changed in a decade. Deer Run is a difficult but fair test of golf... but nothing special outside of being conditioned much better than most tracks on our yearly calendar. And Turtle Run is a genuinely "fun" layout... offering up many pars and birdies, but with enough teeth on a few holes (especially the par 3s) to blow up your scorecard. If Turtle Run was an hour away, we'd probably play it every season.
We also returned to the 12-man Rapture format, used from 2014-2016. Despite our larger membership, too many people are sadly unable and/or unwilling to attend a weekend excursion. The growing number of "unwilling" Members, with the impending loss of a few current Members, makes us question if 12 is the correct number going forward. I'm still planning on booking 16 next year, as it gives us more unpredictability in the draft and competition... but it's worth monitoring and discussing.
The stage was set for Faz to overcome his 2014 captaincy defeat... or for Troy to become the first ever back-to-back winning Rapture skipper. After a sneaky Green Team Chapman practice round on Thursday, the entire field risked their gastrointestinal tract at a Mexican kick-off dinner... coincidentally in the exact same building as "Mugs On 27" (RIP) where we first ate in 2012 at the DPT Masters.
Thankfully everyone was feeling fine the next day.
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Team Green
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Team Blue
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Day 1 - Chapman
The "Super Team" of Faz/Dave had a grind-fest against Troy/Moostie. Nobody was more than 1 Up the entire match, with the lead bouncing on and off All Square eleven times. It was a heartbreaking loss for Team Green, as Troy/Moostie recorded their only double-bogey of the day on the final hole to lose a full point.
The Casey/Geoff vs. Brendan/Gorecki match was just as tight — never veering off the 1 Up mark, with nine lead changes. Just as in the first match, Green lost it on the final hole of the day.
In what I still consider the biggest shocker of the week, "Sacrificial Lamb" Gary/Topor embarrassed "Super Team" Melberg/Chandler 4&3. It would be reductive to say Team Green lost the match with bad ball-striking and atrocious putting (by Chandler). The reality is Gary/Topor reminded us why the "Sacrificial Lamb" team is a good captain strategy. They always had at least one ball in play, and used their 15 strokes to card six net-birdies in 15 holes. They even stroked on all three remaining holes had the match continued! Gary's short game in the difficult rough was excellent, and Topor's putting was the best I've seen out of him. Green didn't stand a chance.
Blue Leads 3-0
Day 2 - Four-Ball
After a late-night bender which included a shattered wine glass, emergency team meetings, unsportsmanlike Blue Team cake, a $100 singles bet, and probably many more eye-rolls than laughs... we were off to Deer Run. Most of us were worse-for-the-wear, and it showed on the course.
Faz/Casey handled Melberg/Brendan fairly easily, winning 7 holes on their way to a 3&1 victory. Six of those holes were won with net-birdies. A nightmare start for Team Green!
Dave/Topor never quite gelled against Chandler/Moostie. Topor legitimately carried the team for the first 1/3rd of the match, but Dave finally found some form on the back nine (I believe shooting around even par). However, it wasn't good enough as Chandler made a par (net-birdie) on ALL four of his stroke holes. Combined with sporadic contributions from Tall Mike... they were able to somehow fit Team Green's first point of the Rapture into their clown cart, which was already packed with eight DPT Cups!
The final match of Gary/Geoff vs. Troy/Gorecki was the most exciting. When asked how many holes Gorecki contributed, Captain Troy — always thoughtful — replied: "The only one we needed." It was a true 2 vs. 1 competition, which saw Team Green 3 Up through 8 holes. Green was guaranteed a half point after 16, but Troy still had to par (almost making a 30 foot birdie with everyone watching) on the final hole to secure the full point!
Blue Leads 4-2
Day 3 - Singles
As Chandler (hey, that's me!) so eloquently told Team Green on Friday night... Singles is really what matters. Leading into this Rapture, the team that outright won Singles was 8-1. The only year that team lost was in a playoff between Katie/Gary. There had been 5 previous "blowouts" in Singles... and two of those caused a team who was 2 points down going into Sunday to comeback and win The Moses.
Of course, early in the day, the entire board was blue.
Playing in the same foursome, Troy and Gorecki were the first two casualties, getting waxed 6&5 by Casey and Gary respectively. Both Green guys only won a singular hole, and neither match was ever in doubt:
- Casey "The Unqualified" shot a 38 (gross) on the front. And a string of double-bogeys by Troy made it official. Casey was the only participant to go 3-0 overall.
- Meanwhile, Gary was 4 Up at the turn with a gross 44 — a drastic improvement to his recent play. Unfortunately for Team Green, Gorecki carded a gross 50, which was probably worse due to conceded holes. Captain Faz made the right choice leaving Gorecki on the cutting-room floor.
Dave technically secured the final half-point needed to win The Moses for Blue, going up Dormie-3 on Tall Mike. Moostie fought hard — and slow — all day... but losing holes 13 and 14 was difficult to overcome. Dave finally closed Tall Mike out on the 17th hole with a birdie, and was only +4 (gross) on the day. Once again, Captain Faz made the correct #1 overall selection with Dave. Perhaps this destroys the narrative that it's better to be #2 Captain?
Geoff put the next official point on the board, defeating Brendan 3&2. There was hope Brendan could flip this match, but Geoff continued his historically stellar Rapture play... and probably would have shot an 89 (gross). The last time he did that on a par 72, he shared a victory at Lake Jovita (North) earlier this year. Brendan's Rapture Sunday Singles record slid to 1-9... a number I can't really wrap my head around given his recent form. He also doesn't booze anymore, so the "Darren Sunday Slide" doesn't explain it either.
Faz was up 2 through five holes on Melberg — until he mentally checked out with all the Blue on the leader board. Melberg won 6 of the next 9 holes... two of them with bogeys! Going up Dormie-4 guaranteed Green wouldn't be shut-out on the day. Faz won the next three holes, but ultimately lost the match when they pushed on 18.
The final match on the course was the $100 bonus between Topor and Chandler. Topor played absolute lights-out early on, draining long putts and at one point winning a hole with a sandie. He then won 4 holes in a row (9 through 12), shooting +1 (gross) and carding his fourth net-birdie of the day. Both players ran out of steam, playing like complete trash and limping into the clubhouse. Unfortunately for Topor's wallet, Chandler's trash game is far superior. Chandler squared the match with a gross (literally) double bogey on the 16th... and then let Topor's predictable implosion do the rest of the work.
Blue Wins 8-4
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The Captains
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2023 Winning Captain - Faz
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2023 Rapture Champions
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Congrats to the Blue Team on a well deserved victory! But the biggest winner of the week was the game of golf. And friendships.
Enjoy the long off-season. Feel free to plan/post any outings. We'll pick a date (or two) for bar nights to chip away at all the pitchers/buckets we owe.
Great year, everyone!
