Swan Song

Cheez announced that he is leaving on Thursday for The Villages, so this past weekend were his last official rounds in the Pot Game.  He got a recent email from the the head of the "Sticks' in The Villages informing him that unless Phil "The Thrill" was arriving in early October, they were full up with players.  So if he is still "The Thrill Is Gone" then they have found a home for him with former "Sticks" who also have lost their games.  The group is called "The Toothpicks".   They play behind "The Sticks" on Saturdays.  The good news is they don't care if you move around when someone is putting out and you can talk all you want in their back swing because most can't see or hear.  Should be fun.

Saturday was unseasonably warm at 7:30 so jackets were off early.  Twenty players showed up to play which is practically a Red, White & Blue mob.  Mad Dog announced his retirement from golf for 2013 because of bad golf game and bad back, not sure which came first.  So the YTD with the Bear is over.  Bear declared victory with $1 in winnings. (Last fall Dog retired and unretired three times so stay tuned).


Team #1 Triple N, Joey M, Birdie and House went off first with 2 carts and one speed walker.  They shot a middling +5 3BB with all birdies counting on the front.

Team #2 Bear, Billy D, Cheez and Chimney ripped off three birdies on the first hole to grab the lead only to watch it disappear on the next hole with 3 bogeys.  Cheez may have jinxed the team when he said on the first hole, "I never play well if I birdie the first hole".   It was down hill from there into a +9 score.

Team #3 TJ, Jedi, Brett and Rama thought they were off to a fast start with a TJ eagle on 1 and three more birdies over the next four holes from Jedi and Brett getting them to -3.  However they succumb to the power of the bogey and ended up with +6.

Team #4 Jay Esh, Tractorman, Jerry and Fireman looked great on paper but never got untracked and ended up with a score of +7.

Team #5 Brad-Brian, Skrocki, Dr Dave and Dickie Mac realized they might be in trouble when their captain doubled the first hole, so they decided to dig deep and try not to use his ball.  The strategy worked as they ding-donged their way to +3 and victory.

As the teams were finishing and heading to the deck, Team #2's score of +4 on the back was holding up as everyone else was +6-+10.  Cheez was starting to count his "chickens" again when Team #5 announced they had swept all sides with a back nine +2.

TJ was not as disappointed as his team however because he had polled everyone as they sat down on the deck to see what their low score was on the first.  He knew he at least had a skin with his eagle.  So the stunned look on TJ's face was priceless when Bear started to ask for birdies on 1 and Brad-Brian shouts out "eagle".  Dickie Mac had dunked with it with a wedge from 90 yards out.  That set off hoots and hollers heard around the course.  All TJ could say with his jaw wide open was "really, your shitting me".   Another classic Pot Game moment.

Low scores of the day were Triple N 74, Bear 76, Jay Esch 76, Tractorman 77, TJ 77, Skrocki 78, Dickie Mac 78, Dr Dave 79 and Birdie 79.

There were a total of six skins worth $15 a piece. (Dr Dave, Billy D, Triple N, Joey M, Brett and Jedi.

No group hit it longer than Team #3 with massive drives; they were hitting 9s and 8s into the 18th hole when the rest of the field were hitting hybrids and 3 woods for their second shots.

Dr Dave jumped back into the winners circle again this week.  He has raked in so much cash from Pot Games that he is thinking about cutting back his grueling work schedule from 2 1/2 days a week to 1 1/2 days.

Sunday was suppose to be rainy and cool until around 11am.  However the rain blew by before 7am and bright blue skies greeted the Pot Gamers who showed up.  Only 10 made it, so quota became the game much to the displeasure of the Birthday Boy Cheez.  He couldn't believe on his last day he was forced to play the game he hates the most quota.  Nobody else seemed to mine so it was game on.

Team #1 Bear, Dougie and Billy D made zero points on the first hole and continued that theme throughout the front nine ending up with -9.

Team #2 Sandy, Jedi and Birdie never got better than pars and bogies and finished with a indifferent -7.

Team #3 TJ, Skrocki, Cheez and Fireman having fattened their handicaps all summer were able to shot +3 on the front to gain a 10 shot advantage over the nearest team.

The Pot Game theme is usually never fear on the back nine the team that blitzed the front.  Sunday was no exception as Team #3 blew a huge lead by shooting -12 on the back for a -9 total.  Team #1 was imploding with a score of -7 led by their inept Captain being -10 on his own ball.  However Team #2 shot an impressive +4 on the strength of Sandy's three birdies and Jedi's one birdie and lots of pars from Birdie.  They snatched the total out from under Team #3 with a -3.

Low scores of the day were Sandy 77 and Billy D 78.  Everyone else was in the 80s.  No one could figure why most players had a bad scoring day on the course in beautiful weather.

There were 7 skins worth $7 a piece (Jedi 1, Sandy 2, Fireman 2 and Skrocki 2).  Fireman had a total of three birdies but still managed to slip into the low 80s.  He must need new equipment.

Birthday Boy Cheez

Cheez was rewarded with an extra beer out of the Pot as it was his 71st birthday.  No he did not shoot his age.  There will be an over/under pool on what age the Cheez will accomplish shooting his age.  The early line is when he is 74.