1994: Blue Wins Dramatic First Cup at 17th Hole

October 22, 1994 - Concord, MI

With the tension of a large gallery, Mark Smith and late replacement Frank George played a match for the ages, establishing a strong tradition for future Cups to build on. Playing evenly, Smith and George battled back and forth throughout Concord Hill's back nine, not always with the best golf (there were some early concessions) but certainly with dramatic golf.

Throughout the day, the thirty-six holes of this inaugural Concord Cup provided some exciting golf. In the early four-ball round, Jon DeAngelis made a strong par at nine, after being carried by partner Lamarra most of the round, to win a match for Red which would keep them at even through the first segment. Dennis Hackett played some strong golf and got a little help from Jamie Grace to stave off his stronger opponent, brother Jeff Hackett.

Red established a lead with some exciting play in the alternate shot. Blue Captain Ron George had stacked the teams, while Red Captain Steve Shoop had spread his talent out. Tanking a point by partnering himself with Mark Smith, George played for a 2-1 lead, with strong teams in Hackett and Walters, and Georgian Brett Smith and Charlie Shoop. But Dennis Hackett and Tom Bres put together some great combinations and gained an upset point 1-up at the eighteenth hole.

Because of a prior commitment, Lamarra had to leave after the first 18, and was replaced by Frank George. Many of the Pairs matches were routs. Walters easily handled Steve Shoop, who lost all three matches. Jeff Hackett gave three strokes but easily beat brother Dennis, 4&3. Jamie Grace easily handled Ron George, while getting five strokes. On the ninth, Jamie outdrove George by fifty yards, while getting a stroke! Brett Smith pasted Tom Bres even while giving away a stroke (Bres was five holes from the place he would have gotten a stroke when he shook Brett's hand.) And Jon DeAngelis concluded a 2-1 showing with a 3andamp;2 victory over Charlie Shoop.

So most players were done early, and had nothing to do but watch Frank George and Mark Smith play down the stretch. Blue won three of the first five complete pairs matches, and had evened the overall total at 5 1/2. The whole cup rested on the outcome of the Smith/George match. Twenty-five handicappers, they weren't always pretty, but had stayed close; and were tied after thirteen. Smitty won 14, 15, and was two up with three to play. George hung on for bogey on the 16th, making a curvy four-footer to close within one.

Most of the players were not used to a gallery or the surprising pressure of this new event. The stress told on the faces of the two players as they surveyed the short seventeenth. While not particularly long, the hole does have its danger areas. George left his approach short, and Mark Smith also was unable to reach the green. When George chipped up, he was left with a very long putt, and Smith smelled opportunity. He chipped uphill to about ten feet. George did not make his putt.

Now Smith was putting for the match. He walked around his his putt, looked around at the gallery surrounding the green, and stepped to the ball. With a smooth stroke, he sank the ten-footer, dramatically winning the first Concord Cup!

The Blue players savored the victory, then went on to lose money in the 12-man scrambles that followed.