Golf Cart Etiquette

Faz came across this on the golf internets. While similar things have been posted before by me — and even the BGR in one of their "Group of Death" rankings — it's worth a refresher. Even though I know most of you can't read:

1. Park at the back of the green so your group isn't walking toward the group behind once the hole is finished.

2. Drop your cart partner off at their ball, while the other cart golfer goes and finds their ball. You don't need to watch each other's every swing.

3. If you're the one who got dropped off, take your shot and then walk toward the cart so you can link up quicker.

4. If someone is within 60 yards of the green, drop them off with a wedge and putter, and the other player proceed to park the cart at the back of the green. You don't need to cart someone to help them avoid a 20 second walk.

5. If you're the only cart in the group, use your cart to help track down other people's balls.

Match Play - Summer 2024 Preview

Long drive on #9.

 

Southern Dunes is one of the best courses in our rota. Very wide despite being framed by OB. Good mix of long and short holes. Large greens with lots of movement. Too many bunkers, but nobody is perfect.

 

Bring rain gear/umbrella. We're going to have rain delays since it's in the middle of the state. It's also going to feel hotter than Rosedale.

 

As a reminder of our rain policy... we wait it out until the course boots us. Like Grasslands did after the third rain delay. People in the past rolled the dice and went home, only to be counted as a WD after the fact. For those of you on your way to the Pitcher Zone... don't get excited when you hear thunder. Like Casey's kidney stones, this too shall pass.

Lots of tee options for you. Base tees are WHITE. The 55/25 can play White/Gold. Dan has already moved to the tips:

We have some good match-ups too, which I'm sure will change as people bail. We're going out in order of standings except where I had to shuffle people due to guests. But again... keep an eye on the tee sheet since it's fluid.

 

 

The BGR doesn't exist anymore to run the match-play bets, but here's a brief analysis:

Troy vs. Geoff - Geoff getting 7 strokes is difficult to comprehend.

Chandler vs. Casey - The Gypsy is officially 0-2 against the Seaman.

Reid vs. Gary - They meet again for the 5th time (feels like more).

Dave vs. Ho - No strokes given if they play the same tees. 

Dan vs. Melberg - Two heavyweights... and Dan's first round since ditching the blades (take note, Adam)!

Moostie vs. Danny - A proper pillow fight.

JW vs. JohnWeb - Battle of the family-man J.W.s — whose wives wanted them home two hours ago.

Brendan vs. Adam - Winner gets a tonic water with lime.

Crum - Busting ghosts. Currently Danny's.

See you Sunday.

The Hangover - Summer 2024 Recap

Good times hanging out with the boys (and WAGs) again at our seasonal Club party. This year the "Westchase" group hosted us up at Wild Rover Brewing. Ten Members blessed us with their presence, which included six of the eight "Westchase" group!

We've been averaging 10 Members per gathering the last six seasons, so it was a proper chop session.

Unfortunately, nobody dared to venture into the music hall to watch "Jaded"... an Aerosmith cover band who for some reason named themselves after the worst Aerosmith song. Nevertheless, we were still able to hear the shrill sounds of Budget Steven Tyler each time the door was opened, as the assisted living facility patrons ran back and forth to the bathrooms.

Missing: The Bucherts (early departure) and Tall Mike (late arrival).

Thanks, Westchasers! It's always fun to explore new places and see how other societies live!

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As for the golf...

 

While there wasn't much grumbling about Rosedale back in 2022, there definitely was yesterday. Perhaps it was the oppressively hot weather? It's tight, target-golf, and you can't bomb a lot of drivers... but conditions were honestly decent (especially during aerification season), the price was good (for 2024), and it was clearly asking a specific question: "can you hit a 200 yard straight shot off the tee?"

I'd equate it to our version of Harbour Town. Not everyone's cup of tea... but still important for variety.

Contrast it to next week's event at Southern Dunes, which is a big ballpark and you can smash driver all day. Or Southern Hills (RIP) which would be our version of Erin Hills.

Forgiveness is fun! But we need a different test from time to time. And at least Rosedale wasn't a tough test covered in shit hardpan like Moccasin Wallow! Hooray grass!

Also, hooray for American golf! After getting absolutely pummeled in Ireland, Chandler (is it, me?) found Rosedale delightfully easy. Hitting 12 fairways and 10 greens will make the heat a little more bearable. It was his first Hangover win in 7 years, and his round was the only one of the day to be accepted by any of our handicap calculations.

Dave finished 2nd, also straight out of Ireland Golf Camp, earning 30% of the Drunkard Bonus.

Faz was next up with a decent round, but said he struggled a bit off the tee.

We then move to Geoff who continues a solid season in search of a rare repeat Championship. A top-5 finish with 4 triples further underscores the difficulty of Rosedale.

Moostie was next, and could have finished top 3 if not for a quad on the long-drive 12th.

Melberg had four doubles and was quite defeated in the clubhouse. Honestly, his scorecard doesn't look that bad with 8 pars. But I guess the final petal fell from his Enchanted Rose.

Pars were hard to come by for Buchert, but he avoided catastrophic numbers... the opposite of Brendan's round... who was +5 (gross) on 11 holes, but +21 (gross) on the other 7.

And finally, we have Gary. His day was painful to watch, as he could not find any semblance of a golf swing. Advancing the ball in a forward direction was an issue for most of the day. This after he lost last week's Major by a single stroke! His self-deprecation was stronger than usual, and you could really see (and hear) the gut-wrenching struggle of a man who was having zero (if not negative) fun.

But, all the praise in the world goes to Gary for not allowing his terrible day to affect the rounds of Chandler and Brendan!

One of the things we argued in the Great Slow Play Debate of 2024, was that slow play "ruined rounds" - as one seasoned Board Member stated. In codifying our penal powers, the Board justified that doing anything that negatively affects the rounds of others — like slow play — was unacceptable and a violation of Rule 14. Other examples given (but not limited to) in the post-Board Meeting write-up were: "cheating, violence, and Ho's excessive talking during play."

 

So thanks again to Gary, for keeping it cool despite some of the worst golf I've ever seen out of him in roughly 30 years of playing together.

 

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This Sunday is Match Play at the aforementioned Southern Dunes. Tee time is 9:40am. Cost is $70ish (range balls not included, of course).

We're teetering on not needing a 5th tee time, so update your RSVP if you can't make it out to Haines City... or if you need a break from golf and/or mostly meaningless competition.

More on the course later this week!

Great turn out for the hangover party

 

Face Hole Anniversary - 7 years later

Gorecki murdering an Australian man on the 17th hole at St. Andrews Old Course hit the 7 year mark last week. This morning I stumbled upon his first tee shot, which hit the hotel. Enjoy:

Lining up way to the right, because he hates hotels.

Ball can be seen mid-air... seeking innocent bystanders.

Hangover Bar Details

This Saturday (6/22) starting around 7pm(ish):

Wild Rover Brewing Company

13921 Lynmar Blvd, Tampa, FL 33626

The reservation is under my name, but due to a prior commitment, I will most likely be tardy. So whoever is first to arrive, they've reserved a section for us in the sports bar area.

From 9-11pm there's an Aerosmith tribute band playing in their adjacent venue but tickets are required to attend that. Click here for the ticket link if you're interested.

Credit Buchert if we all have a good time as he proposed this location. Direct all complaints to the other Westchase golfer's as they went MIA when asked for input and /or assistance with the planning.

I don't believe Danny will need a place to crash this time after getting kicked out from a middle-aged woman's apartment and Troy is still trying to get back his putter from the bowling alley lot lizard, so just speak up if you want dibs on the Aerosmith Cover Band groupies. 

See you all then!

The Hangover - Summer 2024

Tournament Sunday is at Rosedale at 10:20am

Long drive on 12. 

Hangover party is the night before, hosted by the Westchase Whipped. Stop in and you’ll be eligible for the bonus pot.

If you’re bailing, do so now so I can drop a tee time. 

Here’s a link to the scorecard. It’s short but very tight. Everyone on whites unless you say you want to move back.

I’ll update the standings for the Open once I get the list of greenies and whatnot.

FBGC Open - Summer 2024

Back at Lake Jovita (North) for the second straight season. The South is beat up from aerification, which unfortunately limited our ability to get an "early" start on North. 

Tee time is 11:30am.  No shotgun start.

Long drive on #10... so get there early to warm up!

 

Melberg shot a 73 last time and only won by a stroke. But a majority of the field couldn't get beyond -1 (net). So I assume -4 should win again.

Handicaps on the tournament page are loaded. Let me know before Thursday if you want to move back a set of tees (nobody did last event).

Skins Game - Summer 2024 Recap

Nice day on the course yesterday. It's been a long time since we visited Seminole Lake, for various reasons. Group A played in 3:54 despite waiting on every teebox... so the pace wasn't as bad as it seemed.

Fairways were awesome, and felt like carpet. Greens were slow, still recovering from aerfication a few weeks ago, but were generally fair. With the amount of slope in the green complexes, it would be a massacre if they were able to speed them up. Hopefully we'll see that next time! The firmness of the greens was also a challenge, but that's to be expected as they're only a year old.

Overall, it sounds like almost everyone wants to keep Seminole Lake on the rotation... possibly both seasons. I want to say they were charging $120ish in the winter... and it's very hard to get out in the morning due to the snowbirds. I'm told there's so much demand out there, the snowbirds now have to pay full year memberships to even get tee times!

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Casey pulled the ejection cord like Goose from Top Gun... hit his head on the canopy... and then somehow landed back in the cockpit and landed the fighter jet on the aircraft carrier.

Basically he finished double, birdie, birdie, par to win by one. Impressive stuff, as Casey continues to play well in 2024.

Buchert rolled onto the property in typical last minute fashion, and challenged his own previous course record. Seminole Lake apparently "fits his eye" as he's gone 77 - 80 (gross) in our two events there. Only an untimely double-bogey on the 17th hole cost him a victory.

And finally, Ho set a new course record of 76 (gross), playing amazing for most of the day. His putter (one of like 15 he apparently owns) was on fire... just as he's telling me a new putter is on the way! The driver got a little squirrely on the back, pumping two balls OB on 13. But for the most part the Road to Scratch might be real. Despite a low handicap, Ho could be a great Rapture pick.

Other notes:

- Danny set a new high course record of 105

 

- JW somehow managed NOT to quit at the turn — ignoring a very accessible and enticing parking lot — in part due to a couple of beers sent back to him from Faz on the front nine. I love to see the camaraderie!

 

- Ho set a new course record for most words spoken during the round, making him the outright record holder of that category at 57 different courses!

- I really enjoyed the back-to-back-to-back short par 5s at Seminole Lake. They produced 7 birdies... although none on the 12th with its very cool thumbprint green. It's a fun stretch of holes.

- Everyone got at least one skin!

- I wrote down that JW, Moostie, and Melberg all bought 2 pitchers. Balances are updated. Let me know if I missed anyone. We're slowly chipping away!

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Next week we're playing at Lake Jovita (North) at 11:30am. Looks like it'll be a very small field, so a great chance to get some points!

The 55/25 guys can play the White/Green combo (already put Gary and Gorecki on those tees). Troy, let me know if you want to move up. Everyone else, let me know if you want to move back.

 

Pairings have been randomized and posted, but might slightly change if Dan has Little League. He's gonna text me as soon as he knows on Saturday. We are also holding a spot for JW, which might slightly change the groupings. Check the pairings list on Saturday night!

I'll be out of the country, but I put myself in a solo-group so I can make edits as needed. Ignore my name on the leader board. Give all scorecards to Faz after the round. Make sure you clearly mark who won greenies, long drives (let's do it on #1 again!), etc... Also let him know if you paid for any pitchers after the round.

Faz... just make sure the scorecard totals match the app, and then you can just email me a summary of who got greenies, etc.

It doesn't rain anymore in Florida so the event shouldn't have any issues. Good luck and have fun out there!

2024 Skins Games - Strokes

I reckon everyone is on the tees they desire. So here are the strokes. Long drive on 13:

Ho - 0

Melberg - 2

Chandler - 2

Dan - 0

Faz - 0

Buchert - 3

Casey - 0

Troy - 1

JW - 2

Reid - 0

Moostie - 1

John - 1

Gary - 0

Geoff - 0

Billy - 0

Danny - 5

 

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As of now we're only taking 12 people to Reunion for the final event. I'm signing that contract in four days. At which point I'll gladly sell my spot to someone in the mix, but not in the event, for $250.

Skins Game - Summer 2024 Preview

Only a handful of people have sent in money for our event at Reunion on August 18th. You have one week to send me $102 or you won't have a spot.

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Skins game this Sunday is at Seminole Lake, at 10:15am. Cost is $74 and you need to buy range balls in the pro shop.

 

Fairways are in great shape. Greens are recovering from being punched a couple of weeks ago... but should be decent by Sunday. We've only held one tournament here back in 2018, and scoring was on the easy side, ranging from Buchert's 77 to Gorecki's 101.

Since then they've redone all their greens (they're still very firm), and changed the par from 71 to 72.  There are now three par-5s in a row on the back... all very reachable in two. The 12th has a really cool thumbprint green, something we rarely see.

Everyone is on the WHITE tees unless they want to move back. Let me know.

 

Speaking of... on a lot of holes there are two sets of Red and Green tees (this doesn't affect us).

 

But the card also implies there are two sets of White tees on 13 & 14. Those weren't out this past weekend. If for whatever reason they are out... play the back set.

 

The course is fairly well marked with OB stakes and hazard lines. All public roads are OB. There are a couple of ditches (currently dry-ish) that cross fairways which you can't see off the tee. Check your GPS apps!

We're going out in order of Course Handicap & Index... so pairings might change if people change their tees. 

See you Sunday.

FBGC Masters - August 18th

In an effort to play "better" courses, I've finally gotten us back on Reunion. But... as is the case with those guys... they have a very restrictive contract.

Price is $102 (all in). Tee time is 9:10am. Sunday, August 18th. No cancellation for rain unless the course kicks us off... in which case they'll refund *some* of our money.

We're also on the hook for whatever number of players I tell them. And I have to pre-pay (non-refundable).

So... if you're planning on playing... send me $102. I have to sign the agreement on 6/3. If I don't have your monies by then, you will not have a spot in the event.

Any guests are welcome. So have them send money ASAP as well.

 

 

Get on it!

Summer 2024 - Board Meeting

Notes from last night's Board Meeting. Remember, we can't change "playing rules" in the Summer... but we try to tackle any administrative issues that arise.

Increase Greenies, Sandies, Long Drives, etc

It's been brought up a few times (from Dan specifically) to increase the "payouts" of our Gambling Rules G2 through G5. This was rejected 0-5 by the Board. The feeling is the money wasn't ever really the point, and the payouts are inflation-proof... much like boobs at a strip club ($1 since the beginning of time!).

 

We also don't support the redistribution of wealth from Dave to Ho... which is what would happen if we increased the Long Drive payment.

 

Pitcher Issues

The board formalized (5-0) that a "pitcher" is one of three things:

• A standard pitcher of beer as sold at most bars
• Four 16-oz pints (or 16-oz cans)
• Five 12-oz cans/bottles, typically referred to as a "bucket."

Any one of these three things can lower your balance at the designated hang-out spot after any event, or at the Hangover season party.

 

We also recognize that sometimes you can't stick around after golf, and want to hoard your pitchers until a time you are available. The board is allowing a 2 pitcher balance for this purpose. If your balance is higher than two pitchers at the time of the Hangover season party, the Board reserves the right to purchase drinks on your behalf (at $20 per pitcher owed above 2 pitchers... or the cost of pitchers at the location of the party... whichever is greater) to serve to the Members in attendance. This payment will come out of your Club Credit balance.

Speaking of Club Credit...

Season Payments

Chandler wanted to collect TWO seasons worth of dues ($270) at the beginning of each calendar year. This would eliminate extra transactions before the Summer Season.

This was rejected 2-3 with only John siding with Dear Leader. As a result, expect Dear Leader to get snarkier at those who are slow to pay. Like Crum... who still owes Summer Dues ($94). We patiently await word from his wife if he'll be allowed to play this season!

Negative Pitchers

We needed another pitcher last weekend, and Ho agreed to buy one if he could get a negative pitcher on the Deadbeat List. Our Chairman (hey, that's me!) thought it was funny and agreed.

That did NOT go over well with the Board last night. They immediately censured Chandler and his decision to allow it. And John sent money to Ho to erase his own pitcher debt, as well as Ho's future debt.

So... I guess it was a 1-4 vote, rejecting the existence of "negative pitchers." Any pitchers purchased by Members who do not owe any, will be done so out of the kindness of their heart, and desire to hang out with their friends.

I haven't seen JW this upset since we contemplated mandatory ball marking. 

Review of The Great Slow Play Penalty

Last season's group of death — Gary, Gorecki, Dave and Brendan — were "penalized" the following event, and placed in the final group. Only Dave attended the event, so the "penalty" was symbolic at best.

At the time, Faz was the only Board Member to vote against it, saying it felt like we were making mid-season rule changes. Chandler, on the right side of history, argued it wasn't a rule change, but within the Board's powers to punish conduct unbecoming of a Member. The same way we would deal with cheating, violence, and Ho's excessive talking during play.

Last night we officially expanded The Board's power, voting 5-0 to impose any penalty we see fit, for any action we deem violates Rule 14. Penalties would still require the standard 4/5ths vote by the Board.

First Place Ties

Reid wants to get rid of ties for first place. JW agreed, suggesting that we use the scorecard comparison of final 9-6-3-1 holes on the back nine to determine a winner (as "suggested" by the USGA). This was rejected 2-3.

The feeling of those voting against: while ties for first place are lame... scorecard "count-backs" are even more lame. Only a true sudden-death playoff is in the spirit of the game, and those aren't feasible due to course rules, availability, and the potential of forcing someone from Group A to wait around for Group E to know if a playoff is happening.

It was a lively debate. So if any Members want to join in on the discussion, let your thoughts be known.

Nonsense

John motioned to kick out all Mikes and Daves. This was rejected 1-4.

Skins Game - Summer 2024 Update

Got 20 spots booked at Seminole Lake on June 2nd, at 10:15am. Cost will be $69+ tax.

More on the course later, but update your RSVPs. We currently have 2 spots open if anyone needs to bring a guest. Let me know.

The Classic - Summer 2024 Recap

It felt like the good ol' days Sunday, playing Northdale with a small field of 14 Members. The overwhelming consensus was we've played way worse courses, for way more money, with much longer travel distance. 

 

Outside of the first green which was totally dead, the course was fine. The fairways actually had grass! Group A went out early! The pace on the front nine was great, until grinding to a halt on the back (4:10 total). And the bar afterwards was lively, probably due to how close Northdale is to most of our houses. Even Buchert hung out for awhile!

It appeared everyone had a good time, except Dave, who was not amused with John, Ho and Marcus throughout the day.

Hopefully Northdale continues to get in better shape. We need closer options.

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Geoff — who somehow raised his handicap since the start of last season — putted lights out to post a lifetime personal best score of 86, and winning at -9 (net). He was terrible off the tee. Can't say his approaches were very good either. And yet he drained a few long putts and maybe only had one 3-putt on the day. Most impressively, he made par on the final two holes! Who is this guy??

Geoff did tank his handicap with an "exceptional score," dropping to what I believe will be his lowest Index ever at 18.6. It's nice to see the continued improvement.

Reid played well enough to win, but couldn't quite chase down his former golf partner. It's another strong start to a season, as he searches for his first Championship.

We put a big dent into our owed pitchers, so the count on the blog should be correct.

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We're off next weekend for Memorial Day. I'm still searching a Skins Game course. Lots of places punching greens this time of year. Check back for updates and keep your RSVP status current.