White Men Can Jump

In what can at least be termed a small surprise, Brad McAreavy elevated his game in club championship qualifying this past weekend.  After opening with an 81 on the West course Brad came back with solid 77 on the East and158 total (Brad gets extra credit for being the only person to come out of the pack and make the championship bracket). That was good enough to earn a spot in a 4 for 1 playoff for the 16th seed.

The prize? A date to play seven-time and current defending club champ Carter Lucas next weekend.

Brad made a smooth par on the 1st hole to defeat Kieth Knight, John Post and Dave Pelusio and earn his first trip to the championship flight. Just remember, Brad, once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away Mark Collier took down Mark Dugan in an opening round match. You to can earn an automatic spot on the Harmon Cup team with a victory over Carter.

Brad will be joined by fellow crew members Dave Fries (78,75 - 151) John Schantz (78,76 - 154)and Jim Mason (79,77 - 156). Dave was co-medalist (but lost the title in a playoff to Matt Weins).

With the new West course blue tees scores were expected to be higher this year so it was somewhat surprising to see a 158 total playoff when 160 or higher played-off the past few years.

Thanks to Dave Fries for reminding me on the range that no one on the range had ever shot a better score than me on the East course.

One

Fourth hole, West Course, new Blue tee, 195 yds, 3 iron. Who else? Jim Mason. Congratulations. Thanks for the drinks and letting me witness my first ace.

Spring Fling

The official flocksome season ended last week. A number of games were played starting in mid-March in both good and foul weather. I did not post any summaries since I was mostly busy skiing. That and I don't believe we've ever included spring results in the Captain's rankings. But, if I had to guess, I would say that:

1. Jim Mason, despite a bad back and crooked driver, probably won money.
2. Brad McAreavy and Mike LaBue probably got more than their share of bad breaks.

I do know that Jim McLaughlin made his maiden appearance and walked away a winner and Rob Turner made and appearance and also came out ahead. Dave Fries was rumored to be playing some fine golf (a little shaky with the putter but everything else is strong) and Doug Lyon has also displayed fine early form, especially with the driver. And nobody can play worse early season golf than myself. I need a few thousand range balls under my belt before my game resembles golf. Another reason the ski slopes look really good in March.

Dow 6XXX

On today's open the Dow crashed through the 7000 barrier. It's nice to take a dollar from Jim, but I don't really feel better.

"The Bet" - Chapter II or Gold $675

Well, it's been three months since the big "Dow 6000" bet between Mason and Schantz. Yesterday the Dow came within 115 points of the magic number - 6999 - but today it's heading back and further delaying my victory parade. Jim even sent an email implying the inevitable was now only a matter of time. I, of course, sensed an opportunity to double down (that I haven't even won yet) with a bet on the price of gold. So here it is - the price of gold (closing at just over 1000 on Feb 20th) currently at 968 will fall to 675 or less before it goes to or over 1000 again. Intraday moves are acceptable. The stakes - $1.00.

Still Skiing!

The dog days of winter are upon us and ski season is still going strong. But there was a brief period this week when green grass was visible. So, on President's day (no we haven't changed it to Barack Obama Day yet) as I strolled around my house looking out the windows wondering if I should pay some bills, do some chores or make dinner I realized "what the heck am I thinking!?" I could be hitting golf balls! So it was out the door across the frozen pond that is my backyard right now and onto the 5th hole for a short practice session. It wasn't as much fun as Monday night gate training at Bristol but it beats paying bills. It's been a great ski season so far - lots of fun watching my little girl turn into a racer and it looks like plenty of base to last through March!

Yep, It's Over

It's only December 25th but it feels as if we are deep into winter. Ski season started the Friday before Thanksgiving and I already have 15 days in. So the time has come to declare the golf season over and post the season's results (see Captain's Rankings on the side bar). Congratulations to Rich Johnson on locking up the overall title for the year. Rich parlayed his three appearances into overall victory by finishing on the plus side in both marks and the game. John Teegardin, regaining his putting touch after going cross-handed, squeaked past Rich by $1.50 to secure the game title. The most interesting battle of the year was decided on the last day of play as Jim Mason made four marks on the back nine and earned $12 to leapfrog Brad McAreavy and Doug Lyon and take the mark title. Not only did Jim take $12 in marks he took $12 in the game to finish the season at +$21.50 finish second place overall and avoid what could have been his first losing season.