The Concussion

Golf Channel is doing a story on the Australian that Gorecki hit in St. Andrews!!

Re-live the story here.

Family Tree

Pointless content to rattle some cages. Below is a somewhat accurate view of who is responsible for everyone in the league. The free web creator wouldn't allow for incestuous relationships, so I know I'll be told the "Growler/Frat/Fidoucheiary" section in the middle is all jumbled.

Whatever. Happy Thanksgiving week. Pour one out for Reid, JW, Gorecki and Katie... all of whom have 100% "dead children" in this chart.

Winter 2019 Board Meeting

It might not be "Blog Season," but we have some things to report.

The Board of Directors met last night to go over any proposed changes to the Club for 2020. Since we're such a well-oiled machine, there's really not much to tweak. Nevertheless, below are my notes of the meeting, which are covered in wing sauce:

By-Law items need 5 of 5 approval. Non-By-Law items need 4 of 5 for approval.

• Dave asked us to consider changing the number of events needed to qualify for the World Golf Rankings (and thus the Rapture) from 10 to 8 in a rolling 18-tournament span. This was denied by the Board, 4 to 1. Only John voted "yes." No change next year. You'll still need 10 rounds in an 18-tournament span to make the list.

•  JW wanted to revisit the rule requiring you to play in at least ONE event in the first 3 weeks in order to compete the rest of the season for money and points. The Board approved 4 to 1 to expand this to ONE event in the first 4 WEEKS. Only John voted "no."

• Gorecki wanted us to consider making the Skins game a $30 entry, where $10 was awarded based on stroke-play results. This was shot down unanimously. John instructed me to put on the record that he emphatically said: "That's stupid!"

• Gorecki also suggested if his first proposal didn't pass, that we divide the $20 Skins entry into $10 for the Skins and $10 for the stroke-play. This was also shot down unanimously. The feeling is there isn't an issue for one of our nine tournaments to be different in the way it pays out. And that Points, which are still awarded based on stroke-play, are much more valuable than money.
  

• John proposed changes to the Eagle payments. Currently, it's $2 from everyone in that specific group. It's a number we arbitrarily decided on back in 2012, and never really gave it much thought since it took forever for someone to even record an eagle. Now the league has 10 of them. John wanted the payout to be $1 from everyone in the field that day. This proposal narrowly failed 3-2, with JW and Chandler voting "no" and blocking the move. Their reasons for "no" dealt with: 1) difficulty in collecting an additional dollar from everyone after the round 2) accounting annoyance if attempting to collect from membership balances 3) comparison to sandies, where you should have to see the eagle to pay out on it, thus making it group-specific.

•  JW proposed changing the name of "The Memorial" to "The Concussion." This led to a debate where ALL but the Skins and Match-Play events were considered for the name change. Ultimately, JW's original proposal passed unanimously. More tournament name changes might happen down the road, as is the case on all professional golf tours.

• Chandler asked if we needed to change By-Law Article III.8, requiring members to play in 6 events of a rolling 2 seasons to maintain membership. The Board unanimously voted to keep that in place without change.

• The Board unanimously approved a new By-Law dealing with the dissolution of the Club. In the event this ever happens, all unused dues would be returned to each individual, and all Hole-in-One money must be used on booze at a Dissolution Party hosted by the Board.

• The Board unanimously approved to keep calculating handicaps as we've been doing in 2020, despite the USGA switching over to the World Handicap System. Our goal is to become compliant and on the new system ASAP, but so far that would require us to become an FSGA regulated Club, who will then charge us $30+ per person per year to use the USGA's GHIN system. It'll be difficult to tell how different the new system is from the old, since the calculation is now going to be a USGA secret. The Board will have an emergency handicap meeting in late December to discuss the few changes we are able to implement. This does mean that until we are compliant, we can no longer provide Handicap Cards for use in other tournaments.

• Finally, the Board unanimously approved a new name for the Club, and a new logo. I need to get with our graphic design guy before we can move forward. Spoiler alert: we didn't go with "Putt Stuff."

Southern Hills Golf

Gary is going to make some tee times for Sunday. 10ish... but whenever they'll let us out.

Comment if you want some off-season practice.

Next season starts in 47 days. The Member Registration link is open. And you can start paying your Spring 2020 dues at any time. Seven of us owe nothing due to the ClubCredit system.

Get on it, or Christmas will be cancelled.

8 spots on Sunday - 10am
NO SPOTS OPEN

Club Update

Big news. You all suck at golf.

BGR Event

 Let’s put a stop to the rumors, yes it’s happening!

Date: Sunday, December 8th
Time: Late Morning
Course: TBD

Please reply in or out so we can get a headcount and finalize more of the details.

2019 Winter Board Meeting

We're going to hold our Winter Board Meeting in about a month. This is the time of the year where we review all Club policies and rules.

If you have anything you want to be discussed and/or voted on, post it here. Especially those of you who ran for a Board position. This is a good way to get your ideas on the record, so you can say to everyone later: "Hey! I'm the one that came up with that."

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Checked out a few courses in Naples this past weekend. Granted they were on the high-end private side of the spectrum, I got some ideas for the 2020 Rapture.

Hope you all are out practicing. Gary is working on making a serious run at the Cup next season!

2020 Spring Schedule

Publishing our "spring" schedule EARLY, so you family men can plan accordingly.

If anything gets rained out, we'll just shift everything down a spot.

See you in January.

2019-2021 Board of Directors Election Results

After one week, the polls are closed. Seventeen of our 20 members exercised their right to elect leadership for the next two years. Which is bad news for the three slackers, who now have to worry about P Diddy coming after them.

What a time to be dead.

Meet the New Board, Same as the Old Board

Faz - 17
John - 14
JW - 11
Gary - 11

Geoff - 10
Gorecki - 5

While we almost had a 3-way runoff — perhaps this means there just isn't much to change. Hopefully everyone stays involved in Club happenings for the next two years. We're going to have a re-branding, we need to figure out what to do about the 2020 World Handicap change, and we might even have a new platform instead of Blogger (maybe... probably not).

Lots to do... more golf to play... more content to dream about and never see.

If you have anything you want to the Board to vote on in the Winter Meeting, make a comment. Or just remain silent and read my complaints on golf course architecture in Tampa.

2019 Board of Directors Vote

Since we have a lull in the #content, let's go ahead and start the nomination process for the next Board of Directors.

At the end of every odd numbered year, we vote on the four non-commissioner Board seats. Board members are required to meet twice a year, vote on all membership issues, and during the Winter meeting (which is upcoming) vote to change any Club policies.

Much like the US Constitution, our By-Laws were purposefully written to make change difficult. But over the last two years the Board has:

• Implemented a +5 max policy
• Overhauled the skins game to individual group payouts
• Mandated dues are pre-paid before each season
• Officially allowed all advice off the green
• Reduced member playing requirement to 6 tournaments in a rolling two-season period

I know it sounds cool, but the meetings are pretty uneventful. Let's face it — there's not a lot wrong with the Club.

But if you're interested in running, make a comment and I'll put you on the ballot. Might help if you tell the people something that you'd change, or at least like to discuss — which will probably be immediately shot down by Dear Leader (through Article VII.1 if it references any By-Law items).

I believe all 4 current Board members are willing to serve again. So unless I'm told otherwise I'll keep them on the ballot.

Adam, Robbie and Danny are the only Members who can't run for the board due to the playing requirement (20 events). Sorry guys!

2019 Rapture Recap

There were a few hard lessons explained to the Blue Team last weekend:

• Past performance is not indicative of future results.
• Acceptance is the first step to enlightenment.
• Adapt or perish.
• The beatings will continue until morale (and pace of play) improves.

Undoubtedly, those lessons fell on deaf ears. It's far too easy to wrap oneself with delusion and conspiracy theories than accept obvious accountability.

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Playing in North Port was always going to be logistically challenging. Actually — calling it a "challenge" is a bit unfair. It's just difficult to find housing big enough for 16 people, let alone close enough for all locations to be walkable.

This wouldn't normally be an issue for grown adults. Booking three acceptable "sight unseen" houses, from three different owners, all within a 7-ish minute car ride isn't easy in a city with a median household income of $55k. Your Dear Leader's AirBnB list is well over 60 houses long.

And yet, the question was still asked, by multiple people: "Why didn't we get three houses on the same street?"

Perhaps the biggest lesson never learned in the 8-year history of our prestigious Club: There is no such thing as a stupid question. Only stupid people who ask questions.

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North Port did have a handful of great qualities. It was close enough for Robbie to drive down every morning — a last minute development which he took like a champ.

Robbie's "can do" attitude should be commended, and without a doubt contributed to his excellent play all weekend. Winning a Chapman match with Katie was an amazing feat. And he shot around -4 (full handicap) each of the final two days, which is very respectable. Unfortunately, he drew a guy who shot -8 (full handicap)* and a 22-handicapper (full) who made 7 pars in 17 holes**. 

* The last time Chandler shot a 77 or better? Scepter in Spring 2019, where he coincidentally beat Robbie by 4 strokes.

** Adam has played in 15 league events, ever. The number of times he's recorded more than 5 pars or better? Once - seven pars and two birdies at Buffalo Creek, Summer 2019, where he smoked the field and won by 8 strokes (despite a quadruple-bogey!). Adam making 7 pars on Sunday is statistically overwhelming to any opponent.

Robbie is a perfect example for what happened to some of the Blue Team. While most of them arguably sucked, the ones who played well went up against someone who was lights out. The luck of the draw is real in The Rapture (and Ryder Cup).

But let me once again stress an important point: most of the Blue Team did not play as well as their memory/egos remember.

Only THREE people on the Blue Team would have shot under par on Sunday with their FULL handicaps, based on rough estimates, which include inconsequential putts outside of "gimmie" range being conceded: Dave (-9), Robbie (-4) and Darren (-3).

About half the Blues would have been under par (net) on Saturday, but that is nowhere near the percentage of the Green Team. Reid also fired a 77 gross (-10 full-net) that day, while Geoff and Adam would have been around -6 and -8 respectively! Sensing a trend?

Despite losing in Chapman at Riverwood, Adam played two stellar net-under-par rounds at Sarasota National. And yet the experts all said he was drafted "too high." His draft position was the least high thing about Adam!

So how did the Green Team end up with all the hot players? Luck? Masterful drafting? Excellent Captaincy?

Yes.

Pre-Rapture, Gary was ecstatic that 5 of the top 6 players in the Summer 2019 standings were on his team. But he failed to realize the recent good play drastically reduced their handicaps. Essentially, he bought high and was confused when the trend wasn't sustained.

John alone lost a potential 6 strokes at Sarasota National over the previous two months. He would need to shoot somewhere between 79 and 82 each day to provide his expected value. That's a near impossible task when he's mentally focused on making as much noise as possible while we're scrambling to find tee times on open courses.

Conditions also favored Team Green, as wet fairways with zero roll definitely hurt a few of the shorter drivers of the golf ball (Darren, Katie, Gorecki). For those of us that lack speed, it was an insanely brutal grind, putting more reliance on good chipping and putting.

The greatest team of all time.

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North Port was also selected due to its proximity to some decent courses. Obviously, playing in August might lead to rain and course maintenance issues. But what we encountered was completely ridiculous, and extremely lucky.

All three courses were destroyed with rain the previous week. Dear Leader, ever the planner, began working on back-up plans Thursday afternoon, compiling a list of seven different options within an hour drive — hoping that ONE of them would be playable if needed.

Friday morning looked promising as Verandah told us they were open. But a monsoon in Ft. Myers during our travels officially closed the course as Car #1 was minutes from arrival. What followed was a borderline miracle in coordination, as seven different cars (some filled with clowns) were now driving aimlessly to an unknown destination (or jail).

Huge shout-out to Gorecki who was the only one to actually help matters, calling Sarasota National to check their current status and reserve a backup tee time on Saturday. Luckily, Riverwood was not planning on closing despite the course being completely empty and saturated.

The decision was made to play Chapman first — since it was already planned and set up for Riverwood — and then play Sarasota National two days in a row (weather permitting). Eventually everyone was able to accept the change in schedule and make their way to the course.

The day was long and grueling, and included a 10 minute downpour on the back nine. But the course, especially the greens, were amazing. Riverwood was probably going to be the "worst" course we played, and it sounded like everyone enjoyed it. But the day was a slog, thanks to a combination of conditions and the general slow-play epidemic that plagues a handful of members.

It's a shame we may never see Verandah, but at least Sarasota National was able to take on additional rain each night and remain open. It's a great course and a real treat in dry conditions. Even Team Blue gave it praise, despite getting slapped around the way Brendan & Danny slapped their ball in Chapman.

Not the greatest team of all time.

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Some final thoughts:

- Dave summarized that the golf and conditions might be shit, but this was — in his mind — the most "fun" Rapture yet. If any year was going to be ruined, it was this year. Discussions were had about how and where to play make-up rounds in Tampa over the winter. Yet we somehow got everything completed. The Rapture remains the best way to end golf season.

- Dave shot a gross 71 (-1) on Sunday, which was the only way Blue scored a point in Singles.

- Brendan and Danny, the two "Best Value" picks, both went 3-0 and earned their first ever Rapture Singles victory. Danny shot a 99 (gross) on Sunday which would have been -4 (net) in stroke play. In his entire league history (16 events), Danny has never shot -4 net. Nor has he ever broken 100 on a full-sized course. Meanwhile, Brendan shot a career best 83 gross (-14 net!) on Sunday. Seriously... the Green Team couldn't lose.

- It only took Katie Scallops 45 holes to say "I'm never coming to The Rapture again!" I believe the crux of her statement was that she mentally hated Match Play. If true, that will really help Dave who can't seem to qualify on his own.

- It's also worth noting that Katie lost on Sunday to a guy who made 5 putts over 15 feet — all to either halve or win a hole. If those don't go in, she's All Square going into the 15th hole — on a day she was playing terrible. She could have easily won that match. Especially if she had recorded more than 3 rounds in the past 5 months — allowing her handicap index to trend upward.

- Darren was very concerned that the match-up procedure drastically favored high handicappers, which explained why Green was "beating that ass." A few things on this... 1) Handicap allowances hurt high handicappers. On purpose. 2) The USGA Handicap System exists so people of wildly different skill can compete against each other. The formula itself helps better players, and rewards improvement. We can't just throw out 108 years of history and say it's now unfair for Dave to play Danny. 3) The "random" match-ups, used in the Ryder Cup, make it fun. Nobody wants to play the same person every year. And there's actual strategy in deciding whether to create a "sacrificial lamb" team of high handicaps, a "super team" of low handicaps, or a "mixed bag of shit." And there's additional strategy on when to send out each pairing. 4) This was by far the most lopsided victory in six years of the Rapture. I wouldn't get the pitchforks out yet. The only other "blowout" (which wasn't anywhere near this bad) was Dave's 2016 team. And they had much lower handicaps compared to Tall Mike's team.

- Speaking of "sacrificial lambs," Brendan and Danny got 19 strokes against Dave and John in Chapman. Insurmountable? I don't think so. If I had told you before the Rapture that B&D would make bogey or better on 75% of their holes in alt-shot... you'd say: "Daaaaaaaamn. Yeah they would totally win. But there's no chance that will happen." And yet, that's exactly what happened. They also won their double-stroke hole outright.

- My current thought on next year is Naples, which is another hour or so further south than North Port. There are a TON of golf courses and a lot of housing options. Tiburon (Black & Gold), TPC Treviso Bay, Old Corkscrew, The Rookery, Hammock Bay, and a bunch I don't know about. You could do 5 Raptures down in Naples and never play the same course twice. The cost would be a lot higher, and would depend on how far my AirBnB rating falls after last weekend.

- Dave thinks Geoff looks like the most likely to be a murderer. Geoff thinks Dave looks like the most likely to get murdered. Geoff is 100% incorrect.

- Rapture Performance Payouts will be sent after I check with "Reid the Collector" to make sure no outstanding debts are owed.

2019 Rapture Info

By now, everyone has received the address for your Rapture House. They all should be decent, according to recent reviews on AirBnB. But be sure to bring towels and pillows and whatnot.

I'll be opening houses before 3pm. Text me as you make your way down.

Tee times have all been confirmed:

Friday - 10:30am, the course is 45+ min away
Saturday - 8:50am, the course is 10 min away
Sunday - 9:30am, the course is 20+ min away

BE SURE TO HAVE EVERYTHING CLEAN AND READY TO CHECK-OUT ON SATURDAY NIGHT. We won't have time to be hunting for wallets.

It is green punching/sanding season, so they could be a little bumpy. All three courses are getting a TON of rain, which is also going to be an issue. As usual, we'll playing "lift, clean and place" if a course is cartpath only. Don't cheat if it's NOT cartpath only. If you are confused as to what we are doing... take a deep breath and stay far away from Gary. He's only going to tell you the wrong thing.

Bring rain gear! It's going to be sloppy.

Teams are GREEN and BLUE. If you don't have your appropriate color, you should question why you are actively avoiding a part of the spectrum. Does green not complement your eyes? Does blue make you sad? Anyway, just don't show up in the other teams color.

You have already pre-paid your gambling expenses ($50 for golf). As a reminder, you'll "earn" back $20 for each FULL point you win, split between you and your teammate (if applicable). If your team wins The Rapture, you'll get $60.

HANDICAPS:

Round 1 - Verandah (Whispering Oak) - Four Ball (ie: Best Ball)
No. 3 (70.2/133/6,259) & No. 5 (70.1/123/5,190) - 80% course handicap allowance

1 - Reid (3) / Faz (0) vs. Gary (1) / Gorecki (15)
2 - Danny (14) / Brendan (9) vs. John (0) / Katie (7)
3 - Chandler (0) / Ho (0) vs. Robbie (0) / Moostie (4)
4 - Adam (13) / Geoff (15) vs. Dave (0) / Darren (9)

Round 2 - Riverwood - Chapman (ie: Alt-Shot ie: Not-Scramble)
White (70/131/6,034) & Gold (72.2/135/5,376) - 60% A player + 40% B player

HOW TO PLAY THIS FORMAT

1 - Danny / Brendan (19) vs. Dave / John (0)
2 - Chandler / Faz (0) vs. Gary / Moostie (2)
3 - Adam / Ho (0) vs. Robbie / Katie (3)
4 - Reid / Geoff (0) vs. Darren / Gorecki (3)

Round 3 - Sarasota National - Singles (ie: Match Play)
Silver (69.5/121/6,026) & Jade (69.1/117/5,081) - 80% course handicap allowance

1 - Chandler (0) vs. Katie (9)
2 - Danny (11) vs. Moostie (0)
3 - Geoff (0) vs. Gorecki (3)
4 - Brendan (9) vs. John (0)
5 - Adam (7) vs. Robbie (0)
6 - Faz (4) vs. Dave (0)
7 - Reid (2) vs. Gary (0)
8 - Ho (0) vs. Darren (4)

PGA Tour Championship Pool

We're running a convoluted pool for the Tour Championship, where we simulate each players round as if it were Match Play. Entry is $5. You'll be randomly assigned someone, so it'll be a compete crap-shoot.

Read more about it here.

You have until Wednesday at noon to send in your money.

Rapture Predictions

Round 1 - Verandah (Whispering Oaks) - Four Ball (ie: Best Ball)
1 - Reid / Faz vs. Gary / Gorecki
Reid and Faz are a combined 2-5-0 in Four Ball. Gary and Gorecki are combined 4-4-2. However, they've actually played this format together THREE times, going 1-1-1. Two years ago they stomped Dave/Ho 4&3. Last year they were easily tossed aside by Dave/Danny 6&4. Gorecki sinks the team this go-round at Verandah with his reduced handicap. Reid/Faz win 2&1.

2 - Danny / Brendan vs. John / Katie
Brendan is a 4-ball specialist, with a record of 4-1 at the Rapture. But he has a hurt wrist. John/Katie win 2&1, and then both sit in the bar topless.


3 - Chandler / Ho vs. Robbie / Moostie
Combined Four Ball record of 1-6, the Chandler/Ho pairing is terrible. No idea why this drunkenly happened. But Robbie and the Moose are a combined 2-4. And none of these people are playing exceptionally well at the moment. Sounds like this will end in a halve, and all will be content with that outcome.


4 - Adam / Geoff vs. Dave / Darren
Four Ball is the ONLY format Darren has won a match in his 5-year Rapture history. He and Dave win 3&1, while Adam and Geoff steal their wallets and vape pens.



Round 2 - Riverwood - Chapman (ie: Alt-Shot ie: Not-Scramble)
1 - Danny / Brendan vs. Dave / John
Easy victory for Dave/John, who win 4&3. The course isn't suited for Danny and Brendan to slap it around all day.


2 - Chandler / Faz vs. Gary / Moostie
Green Team wanted to go "Big Game Hunting" in this slot, and they ended up with Mr. Magoo and Wild Moose. Chandler/Faz have opposite styles, but that'll work out with alt-shot. With multiple decent approach chances, they'll easily win 5&4.


3 - Adam / Ho vs. Robbie / Katie
Katie is the wild card, as she hasn't played much golf recently. Adam brings a lot of strokes to the table, and that'll be enough to win 1 up.


4 - Reid / Geoff vs. Darren / Gorecki
Darren and Gorecki are a combined 1-7-2 in Chapman. Their only tie was playing together last year, in an epic match against Chandler and Danny. Reid/Geoff aren't Chandler/Danny. They're better. Green wins 3&2.



Round 3 - Sarasota National - Singles (ie: Match Play)
1 - Chandler vs. Katie
Chandler has never lost a singles match in the Rapture. That ain't starting now. 3&2 victory.


2 - Danny vs. Moostie
Danny just wants to start liking golf again. Maybe in 2020. Moostie wins 2 up.


3 - Geoff vs. Gorecki
Geoff knows how to get under Mike's skin. In fact, he's the one who put all that cancer there. Geoff wins 3&1.


4 - Brendan vs. John
John beat Brendan once in a 2017 Match Play event. Let's go with that repeating itself.


5 - Adam vs. Robbie
Both these guys are capable of great rounds, or complete disasters. Sounds like a tie.


6 - Faz vs. Dave
If I thought Dave would beat Faz in Match Play, I would have selected him first. Faz wins 1 up.


7 - Reid vs. Gary
They've only played each other once, with Reid winning back in 2013. If Reid doesn't hype himself up too much on the first tee, he wins 1 up.


8 - Ho vs. Darren
Darren has never won on Sunday of a Rapture. Time for that streak to end. Darren wins 1 up.



That brings our predicted total to... Green 9 to Blue 7.

I'll go ahead and get the plates engraved.  

Rapture Housing

Alright, I'm finally getting a free moment to look at what I booked in the fine city of North Port. Everything should be decent... but I'm at least hoping for at least the same quality of houses as we had in Inverness (Black Diamond Rapture).

I was wrong when I said the three houses were going to provide a bed for everyone. Each house has at least one king bed, and couches... so get comfy or get creative. If you have an awesome air-mattress that you enjoy... comment that you'll bring it just in case. Also, bring towels and shampoo. No idea how well they are stocked.

We have three houses. With the exception of the super secret C-Suite, I don't really care where you stay. But I'm going to group you together initially, and if you want to swap locations, go for it. Just know if we get charged any damages... it'll be coming out of your Club Dues. If we can't pinpoint who's responsible, I'll just charge anyone who looks guilty.

Home Base - "Large" common areas and has a pool (bring towels!). This is where we should hang out and gamble, but no shoes in the house. - Gorecki, Faz, Robbie, Dave, Ho, Geoff, Darren

Premier Pass - Looks cozy. Plenty of couches and rugs for Brendan to pass out on - John, Danny, Katie, Tall Mike, Brendan

The above two locations are only a few miles apart, but about a 7 minute drive due to traffic lights. Drink responsibly. Plan accordingly. You're adults now.

C-Suite - don't worry about it. I get charged extra if you look at it. - Chandler, Gary, Adam, Reid

Unless there are some swaps, I'll email everyone their house address next week.