And The Race Tightens

A warm and humid night for golf resulted in a season low 44.9 average for league players.  Seven golfers shot in the 30s led by Yanbing Lu's 35 and Lynn Paulson's 36.  Steve McDonnell shot a 37 to edge a little closer to Dave Rieves for the season low average.  Chad Shultz apparently decided to sit out a week to see if he could back door his way into the season lead.  That strategy didn't hurt his chances, other than he needs to get 12 rounds in to qualify.  He has work to do to get there.

The foursome of the night was the 5:38 Molter:Kraus group.  Those four players shot an average of 38.75, and a collective net 20 strokes under par.  The foursome included Eric Durkee's net 24 and Ed Molter's net 25.  The Kraus team had all four players shoot net scores under 30, collecting 5 points and moving into a tie for the second half lead with team Raymer, who had a 6 point night.  The three teams at the bottom of the standings after week 12 secured 14 points, leaving all ten teams within 8 points of the lead with 5 weeks to go.

Jake Holler had perhaps the par of the year on hole 5.  His tee shot ended in the middle of the hole 7 fairway, traveling most of the way to the hole 7 tee box.  That he was able to get anywhere near the green in two more shots was amazing, and then he chipped in for his par.  If anyone is looking for a souvenir of Jake's achievement, his favorite chipping club may be available after he snapped it in two on hole 8 after a disappointing chip.

Pat Fahey had the worst round of the night, but is hard to blame him given his playing most of hole 6 with a ball with a gigantic cut in it.  Even a player with Pat's talent is likely to struggle with that.

Pairings for Week 13, July 28

The pairings for July 28 follow.  Should be an interesting night with so many teams in the mix for the second half title.  There is a fair chance of an isolated thunderstorm.  If lightening is quickly approaching, abandon your clubs and get to the clubhouse as fast as you can.  Wet clubs can be dealt with.  UW Men's League golfers are precious and irreplaceable!  Hopefully any storm we have, if any, will pass quickly and let every team finish.

4:42 & 4:50	Warren vs. Rieves
Jeff Dvorak	12		Dave Rieves	6
Mike Warren	10		Lynn Paulson	9
Chad Shultz	9		Steve Smith	16
Jake Holler	11		Michael Brania	11
4:58 & 5:06	Weber vs. Raymer
Pat Fahey	21		Matt Raymer	12
Tom Weber	25		Adam Hopkins	13
Matt Blouin (cw)	16		Paul Barnett	14
Shane Gibson	16		Mike Sanders	20
5:14 & 5:22	Miller vs. Moritz
Charles Hoslet	18		Tom Hidde	12
Bill Swisher	20		Paul Schuettler	17
Doug Hoerr	12		Keith Brown	7
Sasi Pillay	21		Bob Moritz	13
5:30 & 5:38	Molter vs. Kraus
Dave Downing	14		Bob Jokisch	18
Rob Zimmerman	23		Gary Buehler	17
Ed Molter	13		Jay Krafft (mk)	9
Matt Wornson	12		Eric Durkee	14
5:46 & 5:54	McEvilly vs. Nelson
Pat McEvilly	14		Brad Nelson	18
Dan Stanford	13		Kevin Kiser	14
Ed Corcoran	16		Bill Crahen	24
Jim Zweifel	10		Steve McDonnell	8

Results for Week 12, July 21

The results for July 21 are posted.  The league race tightened, highlighted by a 5 point night by team Molter, putting them in a tie with team Moritz for the second half lead.  Team Molter has accumulated 11 points the last 2 weeks.  But no one can be comfortable as 7 teams are within 3.5 points of the lead.  And that does not include team Nelson, who is seriously considering having more than 2 players show up next week.

Dave Rieves took another step toward reclaiming the league low average crown, pacing the league with a 35.  Steve McDonnell stayed in contention with a 36.  Chad Shultz also stayed in contention with a 39, put this mention likely dooms his chances.  Bill Swisher is starting to hit his stride, posting a league best net 27.  Your commissioner rediscovered that playing four rounds on nice courses up north does not translate into a good putting night at Glenway.

Mike Warren was assessed a 2 stroke penalty on hole 1 by his 3 teammates for hitting the wrong ball (apparently team Warren didn't want to play with anyone from team Nelson, but that is another story).  For the second straight week, a debate broke out among league members about team Warren's motives.  Some called the 2 stroke penalty honorable.  Others suggested sandbagging.  A third option is the special joy team Warren players take in each others' misfortune.  It seems to work for them.  But, if it was sandbagging, team Rieves would appreciate that being the case next week as well.

Assuming that Chris Weber would not show up worked for the second week in a row.  That approach will be used again next week to see if another appearance can be enticed.

There are no x-rays to share this week.  We can all be thankful for that.

Results for July 14, and Pairings for July 21

The results for July 14 are posted.  Team Moritz vaulted into the second half lead despite playing a team Rieves that had all four players shoot their average or better.  A bitter loss for four of us.  Two players from that match, Dave Rieves and Keith Brown, shot league low 38s.  Adam Hopkins and Matt Wornson shot net 26s.  Collectively, the league set a season high for scoring math errors.  We can all be thankful for spreadsheets that catch those errors.  Team Warren continued its second half swoon with two no shows.  At least Jake Holler had a good excuse.

This week's near misses.....

Matt Wornson shot a 40 with a 9 on hole 5.
Lynn Paulson shot a 41 with an 8 on hole 7.

The pairings for July 21 follow.  Assuming that Chris Weber would not appear prompted his appearance this week.  Let's see if that works two weeks in a row.

4:42 & 4:50	Raymer vs. Rieves
Matt Raymer	12		Lynn Paulson	10
Paul Barnett	14		Michael Brania	12
Mike Sanders	19		Steve Smith	16
Adam Hopkins	13		Dave Rieves	7
4:58 & 5:06	Kraus vs. Miller
Eric Durkee	15		Charlie Hoslet	16
Gary Buehler	17		Sasi Pillay	19
Mike Kraus	17		David Miller (dh)	12
Bob Jokisch	18		Bill Swisher	20
5:14 & 5:22	Moritz vs. Weber
Keith Brown	8		Shane Gibson	15
Tom Hidde	12		Tom Weber	25
Bob Moritz	17		Matt Blouin (cw)	7
Paul Schuettler	17		Pat Fahey	22
5:30 & 5:38	Molter vs. McEvilly
Ed Molter	13		Pat McEvilly	15
Rob Zimmerman	24		Dan Stanford	14
Matt Wornson	12		Ed Corcoran	16
Dave Downing	14		Jim Zweifel	10
5:46 & 5:54	Nelson vs. Warren
Kevin Kiser	14		Mike Warren	11
Bill Crahen	24		Jake Holler	11
Brad Nelson	19		Chad Shultz	9
Steve McDonnell	8		Jeff Dvorak	12

Pairings for Week 11, July 14

The pairings for July 14 are shown below.  We can all hope rain will not be an issue.

An offer has been made for a league cookout (brats and hamburgers grilled by Bill himself) on one of our league nights if their is sufficient interest.  Each team captain or representative should poll his teammates and report the team's interest level to the Commissioner.  Thank you.

4:42 & 4:50	Warren vs. Molter
Mike Warren	11		Ed Molter	14
Jeff Dvorak	11		Dave Downing	14
Chad Shultz	9		Matt Wornson	14
Jake Holler	11		Rob Zimmerman	24
4:58 & 5:06	Rieves vs. Moritz
Steve Smith	16		Paul Schuettler	17
Lynn Paulson	10		Keith Brown	8
Dave Rieves	7		Tom Hidde	12
Michael Brania	12		Bob Moritz	14
5:14 & 5:22	Weber vs. Miller
Matt Blouin (cw)	16		Jay Krafft (ch)	8
Tom Weber	25		Sasi Pillay	19
Shane Gibson	17		Doug Hoerr	12
Pat Fahey	23		Bill Swisher	20
5:30 & 5:38	McEvilly vs. Kraus
Pat McEvilly	15		Gary Buehler	17
Dan Stanford	14		Mike Kraus	18
Ed Corcoran	16		Bob Jokisch	19
Jim Zweifel	10		Eric Durkee	14
5:46 & 5:54	Raymer vs. Nelson
Mike Sanders	18		Brad Nelson	19
Matt Raymer	12		Bill Crahen	24
Paul Barnett	14		Kevin Kiser	14
Adam Hopkins	14		Steve McDonnell	8

And the Second Half Begins

The second half got off to a fine start for four teams that managed 5 point nights to take the early lead.  One of the striking outcomes was the margin of victory for 3 teams even though each lost one match.  Teams Rieves and Kraus each won by a net 17 strokes, yet could not match the 22 stroke victory for Team McEvilly.  In a year of amazing outcomes, three teams winning by 17 or more, while only winning 3 matches, may take the cake.

Dave Rieves, despite playing with antique golf clubs, shot a league season low 34 while rimming out par putts on holes 8 and 9.  His night included a birdie on hole 5, where another rare occurrence of having teammates (Rieves/Paulson) shoot a combined one under par on hole 5 was a league highlight.  Dave's net 26 was excellent, but fell far short of the net 23 recorded by Bob Jokisch.  This was the second time in 5 weeks that Bob had the low net score for the league, which may be a sign that he is getting closer to mastering golf.  However, there were a few suggestions that sandbagging was a factor.

Some other noteworthy results.......

> Apparently motivated by the new Golf Channel show "Altered Course", Sasi Pillay arrived late and mimicked the show by hitting a shot, grabbing his bag and running to his next shot, and repeating that approach until he caught up with his group on hole 4.  That worked for the first two holes, but a max 8 on hole 3 showed that we should all have great respect for the physical fitness of the golfers on that show.

> After hitting an estimated 700 shots with the same ball, Pat Fahey finally lost the only ball he has played the last 12.5 rounds (unless he sneaked back on the course and found the ball after league play).  Considering some of the places that ball visited, it was truly special.

> During week 9 Team Warren shot a net collective 11 under par to take the first half title in a head-to-head battle with Team Kraus.  During week 10 the first half champions shot a net collective 11 over par.  A raging debate among league players ensued.  The more charitable among us praised their ability to step up when the league title was on the line.  The more suspicious believe they are padding their handicaps in advance on the league playoff.  At the end of the night, all agreed that both theories could be accurate.

> Matt Raymer hit an insanely long drive uphill, into the wind, and on a cool night on hole 4, and two great shots to hole 7, but shot a 42.  We can all fear the night he hits those great shots consistently.

> For a second straight week, Jeff Dvorak was left wondering what might have been, shooting a 42 despite back-to-back triple bogies on holes 4 and 5 (equaling the combined score of Rieves/Paulson on hole 5, not that anyone is bragging).

Pairings for Week Ten, July 7

The pairings for July 7 follow.  We are embarking on the second half, which is wide open after a first half of handicap padding (perhaps the poor weather the first four weeks was the biggest factor - at least that is my excuse).  Team Warren is seeking to be the first team to win both halves.  Fat chance after their league scramble meltdown (thought I'd get the second half trash talking started).

4:42 & 4:50	Molter vs. Raymer
Dave Downing	14		Matt Raymer	13
Rob Zimmerman	23		Adam Hopkins	13
Ed Molter	14		Mike Sanders	18
Matt Wornson	14		Paul Barnett	14
4:58 & 5:06	Miller vs. Rieves
Doug Hoerr	11		Dave Rieves	8
Sasi Pillay	19		Lynn Paulson	10
Charles Hoslet	16		Steve Smith	16
Bill Swisher	20		Michael Brania	12
5:14 & 5:22	McEvilly vs. Warren
Ed Corcoran	16		Mike Warren	10
Jim Zweifel	10		Jeff Dvorak	11
Pat McEvilly	16		Chad Shultz	9
Dan Stanford	14		Jake Holler	11
5:30 & 5:38	Kraus vs. Weber
Bob Jokisch	20		Pat Fahey	23
Jay Krafft (gb)	9		Tom Weber	25
Mike Kraus	18		Shane Gibson	16
Eric Durkee	15		Chris Weber	7
5:46 & 5:54	Moritz vs. Nelson
Bob Moritz	14		Bill Crahen	23
Keith Brown	8		Steve McDonnell	7
Tom Hidde	13		Brad Nelson	19
Paul Schuettler	17		Kevin Kiser	14

Scramble Results

Another pleasant evening yielded some brisk play, but the scramble scores were higher than usual.  Team scores are shown below.

The defending champs, Team Warren, found themselves consumed by guilt for sneaking out of work early for an early afternoon round, and finished out of the money with a 33.  That will teach them.  Word has it that Jake Holler had the guiltiest conscience.

Team Raymer posted three birdies, including a birdie on hole 5 with Captain Raymer hitting all three used shots.  That should have put them in contention, but they somehow double bogeyed the third hole, possibly becoming the first team in the history of 4 player golf scrambles to score a double bogey a par three.  Nonetheless, the three birdies and a 32 total was sufficient to win third place over team Moritz (who failed to convert a short putt for birdie on hole 6) due to the most birdies tiebreaker, winning $20 for the team.

Team McEvilly, sparked by an amazing pitch-in by Ed Corcoran on hole three, also managed three birdies and shot a 30 for second place, winning $40 for the team.

Team Rieves, paced by exceptional play from Michael Brania and sub Jay Krafft, birdied holes 1, 6, 7, and 8 to shoot a league record 4 under 28 and win the 2015 league scramble, winning $60 for the team.  Michael's second shot on hole 7 rivaled Ed's shot on hole 3 for the shot of the night.

The highlight for Team Weber came on hole eight.  Several team members released their carts and let them roll down the hill.  The ever-entertaining Pat Fahey's cart ended up on the green 18 feet from the hole.  Unfortunately for the team, that was closer than any of their tee shots.  Shane Gibson hit his tee shot on hole 1 almost pin high.  Too bad it was in the middle of the hole 4 fairway.

The hole prizes earned the following players $5 each.

Ed Corcoran - Hole 3 - Longest Holed Shot
Adam Hopkins - Hole 4 - Longest Drive
Paul Barnett - Hole 6 - Closest in One
Michael Brania - Hole 7 - Closest in Two

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
Rieves	3	3	3	4	4	2	3	2	4	28
McEvilly	4	3	2	5	4	2	4	3	3	30
Raymer	3	3	5	5	3	2	4	3	4	32
Moritz	4	3	2	4	5	3	4	3	4	32
Warren	4	3	4	4	4	3	4	3	4	33
Kraus	3	3	4	4	5	3	4	3	5	34
Nelson	4	4	3	5	3	3	5	3	4	34
Miller	5	3	3	4	5	3	4	3	4	34
Molter	4	3	3	5	5	3	4	3	4	34
Weber	4	3	4	4	5	4	6	3	4	37