Showdown At Pheasant Ridge

Pudge and Mad Dog both brought old guys to the NHPGA Pro Senior Championships at Pheasant Ridge In Gilford NH last Wednesday to face off to see who had the better team.  Mad Dog brought Little Bow Pete, Cheez and Birdie.  Pudge brought Bear, Billy D and Commish, the 2009 State Champions.  Both pros played well shooting 74 for Pudge and 75 for Mad Dog.  When the dust had cleared Pudge's team came out on top with a -5 score to the Mad Dog's -2.  The wager was for $20 a man, so Pudge's team was able to dine on steaks at the Longhorn while Mad Dog's team had to settle for a quick burger at Wendy's drive thru.

Invitational Recap

Tournament Director Running The Show

The Tournament Director Deacon was able to assemble 20 Pot Gamers for his Invitational held last weekend under perfect weather conditions.

Friday night's Pick-Em Party hosted by Sandy and his wife Kerry was a huge success once everyone was able to find their driveway which was not easy (even with directions).  Several Pot Gamers passed each other going in the opposite direction back and forth on the road looking for house number 208.  Penguin almost missed out on the food because he went by about 10 times before he found it.  Food and beer was plentiful, including venison burgers for a little something different.

Deacon assigned heads to Cheez and tails to Bear and it came up tails giving Bear the first pick.  Sandy was the first player taken, then Cheez had the next two and without hesitation took Skrocki and Jay Esh.  Back and forth it went until Blue Tees wearing his Mr Irrelevant sign on his shirt was on the Cheez's team completing the rosters.  Each team chose their colors and Bear took red and Cheez took blue.

The rosters were as follows:

Bear, Sandy, Tractorman, Birdie, Chimney, Bow Pete, Joey M, Rama, Deacon and Hagen

Cheez, Skrocki, Jay Esh, Billy D, TJ, Cabot, Penguin, Blue Tees, Dougie and House

The best part of any Pick-Em Party is doing the pairing for all three formats: 4 Ball, Alternate shot and Singles.

Below are all the results.

4 Ball Matches

As you can see by the pic of the results provided by Joey M, Cheez's team Blue jumped out to a quick 2 point lead after the morning rounds.

Alternate Shot

Cheez's team added to their lead by picking up 2 more points in the afternoon, giving them a commanding lead of 4 points going into Sunday's singles matches.

Singles

It was a solid victory by Cheez's team who pulled out several points on the very last hole to give them victories or halves.  Nobody from either team earned 3 points but a few did make 2.5 points

Here is a list of how the points were for each team:

• Bear  1                   Cheez  2
• Sandy 2                  Jay Esh 1
• Bow Pete 2            Skrocki  2.5
• Rama  1                 Billy D  2
• Hagen  0                Blue Tees 2
• Chimney .5            House  2
• Deacon  1.5           Penguin  1
• Joey M  0              Cabot  2.5
• Tractorman  1.5     TJ  2
• Birdie  1.5              Dougie  2
• Total  11                 Total  19

Highlights:
Little Bow Pete made a hole-in-one (his first) on the 8th hole north course Sunday with a 6 iron.  It took two bounces and rolled into the cup.  However all he got was a skin and a big bar tab as it was decided prior to the Tournament that because it was an Invitational instead of a regular Pot Game any hole-in-one would not count in the pool.

Deacon kept his streak alive of not being on a winning team despite shooting 76 and 75 on his own ball in 4 ball and singles.  Plus he had to lug around the struggling Bear in alternate shot to earn a point.

The four white tee sluts on Cheez's team made sure Bear knew they had taken points in all but three matches over the weekend.  I guess they were a little sensitive to all being on the same team and Bear not picking any of them.

With the majority of players sitting at one big table at Gino's waiting patiently for their beers and appetizers,  House decides to order just for himself a big juicy cheeseburger and onion rings and proceeded to eat it in front of the other starving players.  His onion rings were quickly stolen from his plate by all those around him and he was made to pony up another $20 for being so selfish.

A big thank you to Joey M for bringing his camera along and snapping pictures of the tournament and both parties before and after.  Here are some selections of his work.

 

Captain Cheez Pondering His Picks

Sandy Making Sure His Deck Doesn't Collapse

Some Of The Boys Waiting To Tee Off On Sunday

Late Tee Time Boys

House Trying To Explain Why Didn't Wait To Eat

Everyone Chowing Down On Wings

Quota Obsession

The mid week Pot Game has a quota obsession lately.  The beauty of the Pot Game has always been it plays gross best balls only and never involves handicaps, until this year.  So when an even number of players 12 showed up for today's Wednesday Pot Game, it was decided we should play quota using the 39 point system.  The question has to be asked..Why?

Captain Walt's team of Little Bow Pete and House jumped out to a huge lead with a frontside of +4.5 which was 4 points clear of Cheez's team of Birdie and Skooger.  But like most Pot Games the team that has the big lead never duplicates it on the back nine and today was no exception.  As Team Walt struggled to -7.5, Bear's team of Billy D and Cabot roared out of third place and won the back with +.5 and were able to tie Walt's team for the total with -3.  Although Bear had three birdies he still couldn't match his B player Billy D who had four.

Low scores of the day were turned in by Little Bow Pete 73, Bear 74, Skooger and Cheez 78.  Six players broke 80.  The breaking news of the day was Bear finally awoke from his deep funk of bad play to grab $11 from Mad Dog who finally stubbed his toe with a bad round.  So YTD Mad Dog up $30.

Other News:
Pencil in Saturday September 1st for the Labor Day Red, White and Blue tournament as per Pudge with approval of Commish.

Congrats to the Pot Games own Skrocki who played his way into the Club Championship finals today with a match play win over David Lanier.  Old guy playing gold tees equals well done...

Rumor has it Skooger recently left the deck for the parking lot even though he knew popcorn had been ordered. What....How is that possible?

Deck Chatter

The Invitational is on for next weekend with 20 Players ponying up the necessary $120 to the Tournament Director Deacon.  Bear and Cheez have been named Captains.  Cheez has reluctantly agreed to be a Captain after he consumed three cold ones, but is nervous he will screw up his picks and lose the flip for the first pick.  More news will be forthcoming.

Mad Dog continues to want to interject "net" into the Pot Game format.  He knows he can only get away with it when Bear is away or Commish is on the porch drinking his coffee.  He has been nominated for his second X as a result of his creating a one gross one net format on Saturday.

Dougie has been blazing hot after a secret lesson with a local pro whose name rhymes with fudge.

Birdie hoping to be picked by Cheez in the upcoming Invitational so he can name their team the Obama Boys.

Deacon continues to rake in money from the Pots even though he shoots in the 80s.  Keeping his handicap at the right level so he always gets the best Captain is a real art form not many people have.

Gretchen in Caddie Outfit

Billy D has his caddie all lined up for next weekend.  Gretchen has agreed to lug his bag for all the matches.  Something tells us Billy D will be a popular opponent.

Next week the annual bet between Mad Dog's Team and Pudge's Team in the NHPGA Pro Senior Championship is going to take place.  It is anybody's guess who will win with both Captains peaking but the rest of their teams not so much.  Mad Dog has Cheez playing without purpose, Birdie a little erratic, and a mystery player yet to be named but it won't be Triple N.  Pudge is saddled with the high handicap Bear a shadow of his former self,  Commish two time loser to Birdie and Billy D who has fought off the cuts all year long but is playing better golf as of late.  So the odds makers are stumped as to whom to pick.

Wipe Out.. Almost

With fog covering the North course, 15 Pot Gamers teed off with no idea where their balls went.  After the fog lifted only Cheez's team of Tractorman and Fireman was able to hold off Mad Dog's team of Dougie and Deacon from winning it all.  Both teams tied the front (2 BB) with even par, but Mad Dog's team blitzed the back with -5 to win the overall by a wide margin.  There were 10 skins worth only $7 a piece ( Tractorman 2, Dougie 2, Mad Dog 2, Luke, Bear, Deacon and Skrocki).  Low scores of the day Mad Dog 70, Dougie 72, Tractorman 76 and Cheez 77.  Only 6 players broke 80.  Mad Dog continues to have a hot hand and clipped Bear for another $8 to make his YTD winnings $41.   It seems like years ago when Bear was playing solid golf and had a pocketful of Mad Dog's money.

Wednesday Mauling

Two Wednesdays ago, 15 Pot Gamers came out for battle.  Mad Dog rallied his team of Dougie and Skooger to shoot -2 on the front 2 BB just nipping the team of Triple N, Billy D and Billy M who shot an impressive -1.  But Triple N's team team shoot +2 on the back and tied with Mad Dog's team to tie the total with a +1 score.  Each team winning 1.5 sides.  Low scores of the day were Triple N 71, Mad Dog 71, Skrocki 77 and Dougie 79, they were the only ones breaking 80.  Mad Dog showed no mercy to the struggling Bear and whipped him for $10 to make YTD $33.

Moldy Old News

Two weeks ago,  15 Pot Gamers showed up on Saturday to play under cloudy skies.  Pudge's team of Billy D and Deacon swept all three sides with +1 on the front and and even on the back.  There were 7 skins worth $10 a piece (Commish, Bear, Pudge, Skrocki, House, Little Bow Pete and Deacon).  Low scores of the day were Pudge 71, Mad Dog 73,  Billy D 78 and Commish 79, they were also the only players to break 80.  Mad Dog took another $4 off Bear to go up $23 YTD.

Sunday 16 Pot Gamers played 3 BB on the South course.  Sandy's team of 40, Billy D and House won the front with even par and tied the overall with a +3 for 1.5 sides.  Mini lead his team of Commish, Birdie and Red Dunn to a -1 on the back and +3 overall to win 1.5 sides.  There were only two skins worth $40 a piece (Sandy & 40).  Low scores of the day were Mini 73, Red Dunn 74, Jay Esh 75 and Billy D 75.  There were 8 players who broke 80.

Rumor, Tidbits and Scoops

The 2012 Invitational has been canceled until 2014
Bear has retired from playing golf and will be taking up fishing.
Murt hasn't missed anything or anybody from the Pot Game while he has been in recovery.
Congrats to Triple N on his dizzying  performance winning the Sr. Division of City Championship
Birdie wants Commish to refer to him as Champ, Commish prefers Shithead.
Sr. Pro made an appearance two weeks ago, plans a few more before the snow flies.  "Get Her Done"
Mad Dog went wild last week shot 67 even with bogey bogey finish.  Billy D put hex on him on 17th tee.
Cheez misses 4" putt by whiffing then asks for a ruling.  Even for him that is bizarre.
Cabot (aka Lenny) had brain fart last week when he declared all balls count in Mid Week Pot Game with three man teams.  One Pot Gamer struggled with score over 100 so his team set new record score of +20 just on the front.
Cabot removed as Mid Week Commissioner, replaced by Cheez.  Oh boy.
Skooger asks if he can have Joey M instead of Bear as his Captain from now on.
Otis can only play scrambles now that his handicap is at an all time low.  Member Guest Invites dried up once he went single digit.
Are you watching Women's Beach Volleyball for the athletes or for what they are (not) wearing?
Deacon bet Joey M he couldn't find 16 players for the Invitational, Joey took the bet so Invitational might be back on if you are friendly with Joey M, if not forget I mentioned it.
Someone signed up Chimney for Cities even though he has never played in it and probably never will.
Loy the human ATM has disappeared, Commish is heart broken.
TJ changes his equipment more than anyone else, I wonder if his wife knows how much he spends
House removed the link to this Blog in his home computer, so his wife wouldn't read all the nice things we say about him.
Little Bow Pete had his highest finish in Cities with a tie for sixth.  Plus he and Skrocki plucked a few bucks from Billy D and Bear.  However Billy D made sure he and Bear drank up all their profit.
Pudge has found his game and is playing real well in the Pro Ams, the problem is he has no Ams who have found their games so his winnings are down.
Dougie not only is an accomplish golfer but climbs mountains and designs Post & Beam houses in his spare time.
Cheez just received a plaque from the Villages which read "Congrats for having played the most golf of anyone but having spent the least amount of money to do it in 2012"

Battle At Beav At Montcalm

 Birdie With New Hat Commish In Background

They are at it again.  Birdie and Commish both invited to play with Pudge and Billy D at last Monday's Pro Am at Montcalm decided they wanted to play a rematch of their Battle At The Beav.  This time it was for bragging rights and a new Montcalm hat.  Pudge was excited to report all the details of what was suppose to be a hard fought close match, but it turned into a rout right from the start.  So here is what the onsite reporter's story he filed looked like: "Commish played like shit and Birdie played ok.  Landslide victory for the Birdman."  According to a text from Commish he lost a ball on the first hole and it was down hill from there.  In total he lost 5 golf balls and had to play with one ball the last six holes as he had nothing in reserve.  Birdie reported lost 2 balls.  When you look at the scoring, if it had been a fight they would have stopped it after the 12th hole.  So Congrats to Birdie a two time 2012 Champion and proud owner of two new hats.  Commish will be sticking to parking cars at the Swamp Bat games instead of matches with Birdie in the near future.