Captain Wilker's 3-0 Record Leads Blue to Narrow Victory

October 4, 2015

Blue survived a chilly Saturday afternoon and a couple of tight matches on Sunday to eke out an 11-9 victory. Blue got out to an early lead Saturday and held on with 4-4-2 record in the pairs matches. It was Blue's fourth straight win, mirroring the Red streak from 2008-2011.

Four-Ball

Red struggled in match one, losing the first seven holes, until Ron George Sr. chipped in from the hill behind 8. But Blue closed out the match on 11. In the second match, Blue got out to a quick three hole-lead, but lost it when Red went on a tear on holes four through nine, highlighted by Jon DeAngelis driving the green on the fifth and making birdie. By the 12th, Red had a 2-hole lead, and the chute had been widened by tree cutting. Still, the hole was halved when Walters, Williams, and DeAngelis all made 7, while Grace made an "X." DeAngelis closed the match with pars at 16 and 17, as the rain and wind came up late in the morning. Dennis Hackett played strong in the third match, with some early help from AC Shoop. Hackett parred the difficult sixth through ninth holes, en route to a 6&5 pasting over Bill Sedwick and Dan Maletich. In match 4, Paul Morgan got off to a great start, parring eight of the nine holes between 2 and 10, but his good play was not good enough to get a lead as rookie Glenn Peggs birdied the fifth, and he ham-and-egged it with partner David Best to keep things close. Then Morgan's good play ended with the cold rain, as he doubled four of the next five holes, and Best mudded net pars on 12, 13, and 14. Blue closed the match with strokes at the 16th, and Blue tied the matches at two apiece. In the last match, Vince Olenik and Tom Bres got out to a three hole lead when Bres birdied the 2nd, Olenik's par at the 4th was good enough, and both Red players birdied the fifth. But Bres was involved in his third comeback match in the last two years, giving up a two hole lead after 11 with losses at the 12th and 13th, and then three halved holes. At the sixteenth, Brad Schubert hit his second shot above the hole to about 8 feet. Olenik landed his 2nd shot short, but made a great second putt. Then Schubert holed his putt, and Blue led one up. Schubert and Olenik both made solid two putts at the 17th. Captain Chris Wilker's five-for-four at the 18th closed out the match, and Blue had achieved a 3-2 morning lead by the thinnest of margins.

Foursomes

Saturday afternoon's weather was nasty -- some said it was among the worst the Cup has seen. The first match was very close, with seven of the first eight holes halved, Tom Bres and Dennis Hackett were winning as a result of their five on the third hole. David Best and Brad Juday won with a bogey at the eight, but Red evened the match with a par at eleven. The teams matched nines at the 12th (stay tuned, this was not the worst foursome result at twelve.) Blue made a run at thirteen and fourteen with bogeys, and held on for a one up victory as the teams halved the last three holes. Jon DeAngelis continued his hot play as he and partner put together a very strong round in the conditions. Both he and partner had birdied the fifth in the morning, and they birdied it together in the afternoon, on the way to a front nine 41. Even getting four, Blue's Dan Maletich and Mark Williams were not able to keep up, and their snowman at the 13th put them five behind. They rallied to win the next two holes, but a tie at the 16th gave Red the 3&2 victory. In match eight, Glenn Peggs and Bill Sedwick coasted to a five hole lead, and held on in spite of carding the 7-7-7 jackpot on holes seven through nine. A little controversy arose when Red reached the green in three at the ninth and four-putted, as Frank George challenged the sportsmanship of Blue for not giving the putt. The incident seemed to fire Red up, as they extended the match more than expected, but they lost at 14, as Matt Cates had played only 25 holes on Saturday. In match nine, Chris Wilker and Ron George played reasonably well for six holes, gaining a two hole lead, but went on a 7-7-7 jackpot of their own, and turned only one ahead of AC Shoop and Ron George Sr. The seniors pulled within one when they won the 12th hole with a nine, to beat Blue's eleven. But Blue righted the ship with a par at thirteen, and a bogey at fourteen, and the match ended at fifteen. With Blue up six to three, Paul Morgan and Jamie Grace picked up a key point, losing only the second hole on their way to a four and two win. Blue had won Saturday six to four.

Pairs

Seeming to want to mix things up, Captain Tom Bres created several surprising matches on Sunday. Vince Olenik was paired against Brad Juday for the first time, and Bres matched up against David Best. Captain Wilker had pitted the rookie Glenn Peggs against Red's best player Paul Morgan. Other matches involved long time rivals who hadn't played in many years. Mark Williams played Ron George Sr. for the fourth time in singles, but for the first time since 2002. And Jon DeAngelis and Ron George, both 2-0 on Saturday, played their fifth singles match against each other, but their first since 2005.

In the first match, Glenn Peggs survived an early push from Morgan by parring the fourth and birdieing the sixth, which was played from the 135-yard tees. Morgan turned one ahead, and then birdied the tenth and parred the 11th to take a three hole lead. But Peggs won the 12th with a par, the 13th with a net birdie, and evened the match at sixteenth with another net birdie. His par at the 17th completed a four hole swing between 12 and 17. Morgan made a strong par at the 18th to even the match, and the rookie had gotten Blue its first half point, finishing the weekend at 2-0-1.

Matches 12 and 13 were split, as Ron George Sr. won a close match against Mark Williams, and Dan Maletich took advantage of sloppy putting by Jamie Grace, who failed to achieve his eight undefeated weekend. One highlight was Maletich's birdie on the difficult eighth, although he only tied the hole when Grace got up and down from the hill behind the green.

Match 14 featured two players that went 0-2 on Saturday, and Matt Cates gave Bob Walter's a needed tonic. Walters' front-nine 43 was good enough for a six hole lead, leaving some to wonder if the two players should be playing even. Walters closed the match at the twelfth, and Blue was up to 8 1/2 points.

Chris Wilker began the day 2-0, and built a five hole lead through the 10th hole with pars at the 2nd, 5th, 6th, but then AC Shoop began to make a strong comeback. He won four straight holes, capped by an excellent par at the 15th, to bring the match to one. At this point, Red was doing well in four of the last five matches, meaning that the Captain's point would mean a lot.

In the same group Brad Schubert and Dennis Hackett were playing a very close match. Hackett had continued his strong play from Saturday by opening the first four holes at one under, while Schubert struggled, and Hackett led by four. Schubert recovered a little, with pars on the fifth through seventh, as was within two. After Hackett won eight, Schubert won four straight holes with three pars and a bogey at twelve, which involved a little controversy. At the twelfth, Hackett missed a chili-dipped chip by Schubert, and picked up his mark from two feet below the hole when he thought Schubert made a par putt. The hole would prove to be a huge factor in the outcome of the Cup. The players tied the next two holes, and Hackett evened the match at fifteen. Riding with AC Shoop, fifteen was pivotal for both Red players.

Just behind them, Jon DeAngelis was continuing to play well. He had opened a three hole lead over Ron George in the first five holes and kept it through eight. George made a little comeback with a par at nine and a birdie at 11, and the players left 12 with DeAngelis up by one. At 13, George hit an eight iron to about four feet, and had a strong chance to even the match. But he was giving a stroke, and DeAngelis responded with a strong shot of his own. He putted first, and nestled his putt up to four feet. After George missed his putt, DeAngelis made his, and had extended his lead to two holes. DeAngelis parred three of the next four holes, closing the match at 17, and finishing the weekend 3-0.

Meanwhile, Bill Sedwick was hanging on to a two hole lead over Frank George through fifteen. Sedwick brought a flawless 4-0-3 record in pairs. In the last group, Vince Olenik was handling Brad Juday easily, closing by making a long putt (51 feet by some reports) at the 14th.

In the final group, David Best struggled with some early gastro-instestinal issues, conceding a putt at the third so he could make an outhouse run. (It was Blue's second encounter with such problems during the weekend. On Saturday, Brad Juday's visit to a restroom propelled a 220 yard three wood to four feet at the first). Best had opened a two hole lead when Bres three putted the second, but lost it back by the fourth.

As Best and Bres moved to 15 with Best up one, the matches were set to go either way. Red still had chances to pick up the four points it would need to clinch the cup.

At sixteen, Chris Wilker guaranteed a half point by making bogey. Schubert and Hackett halved the hole and moved to seventeen even. As they played seventeen, DeAngelis won the 16th with par, while George and Sedwick halved the hole, also guaranteeing a Blue half point. Meanwhile, Best and Bres halved the fifteenth with double bogeys.

With Blue at 9 1/2 points, Wilker and AC Shoop halved the 17th, giving the match to Wilker 2&1, and Blue had clinched the Cup with 10 points, led by Wilker's 3-0 weekend. Schubert won the 17th with bogey to take a one up lead to 18, and Blue had moved to 10 1/2 points.

DeAngelis closed at 17, but Sedwick could not close, as Frank George closed with bogey and then a strong par (including a sportsmanlike give by Sedwick) to halve the match. Sedwick's unbeaten record was intact at 4-0-4.

Meanwhile, Schubert's third shot hit the stick and rolled ten feet away at 18, but he rolled in a twelve footer to tie the hole and win the match, one up.

With Blue up 11-8, Tom Bres was making a run. He made a strong putt for par at 17 to tie the match, and after some trouble, threw in a dart from 150 yards to about 3 feet to close with six-for five, winning the match 1 up.

Many players could look back to missed putts that would have swung a one-up or even match, but Blue had hung on to win 11-9.