Red Dominates Saturday - Wins 14-10

October 1, 2017

Blue came into the 2017 hoping to win its sixth straight Concord Cup. Captain Mark Williams had Charlie Shoop, returning after several years with a career-high 13 handicap. Rookies Bill George and Ted Lefere also joined Blue. Meanwhile, Red was captained by Dennis Hackett, sporting a career high handicap of his own. He had rookie Dom Spadafore along with Lou Boudreau.

Fourball

In the first match Red took the lead four different times, first at number one where Dennis Hackett dropped a fifteen foot par putt to win the hole (getting a stroke). Hackett birdied the fifth, and his six for five at seven took Red to a 2-point lead. Mark Williams reversed the trend with a great par at the 8th hole and by knocking the ball to three inches at the tenth. Blue never led, but the match was even through fourteen, when Paul Morgan hit it to four feet at the 15th. His birdie, combined with Hackett’s par-for-birdie at 16 put Red ahead for good.

Match Two saw some really ugly scores from both teams. At the seventh, Red took a two hole lead when both Rick Gordon and Matt Cates made sevens. Ted Lefere and Bill Sedwick logged nines for Blue. Cates’s par at the 8th put Red up three. The match saw six holes on the back, with only one par, and Red won at the 15th as both Blue players double-bogeyed.

Red’s early domination continued in the third match, which featured Lou Boudreau, returning after several years away. Chris Wilker and Brad Schubert brought in the second best team record ever, but they struggled early, with a best-ball 41 on the front. Ron George Sr. played solid bogey golf, and with his strokes that was enough to win easily, 5 and 3.

The fourth match featured one of the rookies -- Dominic Spadafore -- along with Jamie Grace, against Bob Walters and David Best. Bob and Jamie had played an amazing fourteen matches against each other, with Walters holding a slight 6-5-3 edge. Red got out to a quick lead with strong play from Grace. Jamie was getting eleven strokes, and on five holes his stroke allowed him to win the hole. Blue evened the match at the fifth hole, when Bob Walters recovered from a tee shot that hit the left-side trees, and ricocheted all the way to the bunker on the far side of the 4th green. The 7-8-9 stretch saw a total of five 8’s from the group, and the teams left nine even. The back nine play was very close. Both sides had a one-hole lead at some point on the back, and word came from ahead that Red was blanking Blue, putting a little extra pressure on Best and Walters. Spadafore’s par at 13 put Red ahead by one, but Best birdied (?) the 14th to even the match. At the 16th, Blue took the lead with a Best par. All the players made five at the 18th, but Grace’s stroke gave Red a tie, and Red’s undefeated early run continued.

Jon DeAngelis and Jimmy got off to a nice start. DeAngelis played four of the first five very strong (leaving out an eight on number three). He chipped in on the 2nd to put Red up two, and Jimmy Gurney’s birdie at the 5th gave Red an early three hole lead. Brad Juday and rookie Bill George rallied to reduce Red’s lead to one by the seventh hole. And while they put together some good holes after that, they never won another hole. Jim Gurney’s birdie at the 14th hole gave Red a three hole lead, and they won at 15.

The only time a team has gone undefeated in the morning matches is 2001, when Blue went 4-0-2. So Red had a chance to jump out to the best lead ever, and they were on their way. But the run was stopped by some outstanding play by Charlie Shoop, who returned after a few years away. Vince Olenik and Frank George had a two hole lead over Glenn Peggs and Charlie after eleven holes. At the twelfth, Charlie’s 6-for-5 won the hole for Blue. Shoop then made a legendary late run, certainly one of the best finishes ever in the Cup. He hit a long putt at the 14th to tie the match, followed by a clutch par at 15. On the 16th hole, he pushed his second shot right, to the right of the cart path by the 17the. Using a three wood, he hit a bump and run over four kinds of terrain, on the back left corner of the 16th green, which then trickled down to about six feet. The remaining putt was a bender, but he sunk it to keep the match tied. He then hit his tee shot at 17 to about six feet, and made the birdie to put Blue up one. When he sunk his 5-for-4 putt at 18, Blue got its first point of the day.

After the fourball matches, Red led 4-1.

Foursomes

As has become recent custom, the morning rounds had taken forever (some were six hours!), but the typical speed of alternate shot but the fact that the matches were held a week earlier gave players some optimism that there would be enough daylight.

Out first, Bob Walters and Mark Williams twice exchanged leads with Dennis Hackett and Matt Cates on the front nine, in a match with only two halved holes. At the first, Williams hit second really-close iron of the day, hitting it two feet and making birdie. But Blue gave it back quickly with a 15-foot three putt double at the second. With a solid long two putt at the fourth, Red took the lead but lost it back with a double at the fifth. The teams exchanged “X’s” at seven and eight, and Red’s bogey at the ninth let it turn one-up. Hackett hit his second shot at the 10th hole to four feet, and Red led by two. Walters hit a clutch five-foot bogey putt at thirteen to pull Blue with one. Red stretched it back to a three hole lead with a double bogey at 15, but Blue parred sixteen and seventeen to force the match to go the full length. Red’s bogey at 18 was good enough for them to win two up.

Match 8 featured three generations of Georges. Blue got out to a quick lead with bogey golf, and a Ron George chip in on the first. Blue lead by four after eleven. Then Red won four straight holes to even the match as Blue couldn’t muster even a bogey during that stretch. The teams tied the last three holes, and the match was halved.

Chris Wilker was paired with the red-hot Charlie Shoop in the afternoon, against Rick Gordon and Frank George, who were 2-0 the previous year. George and Gordon continued their run, easily winning the match as Blue’s 51 on the front gave Red a four hole lead, and Red won 4 and 3. By this point, Red was up 7-2.

Extending his previous pedigree as a fireworks purveyor, Vince Olenik brought out a ridiculously large jambox and played jazz standards at high volumes, trying to shake up David Best and Ted LeFere. Olenik was partnered with A.C. Shoop, who has played in more eighteen hole matches than any other player. The match was even through fourteen, and then Blue played the last four holes in even par, to win two up. Best/LeFere’s 81 was the best alternate shot round of the day.

In match 11, Glenn Peggs and Bill Sedwick went to 3-0 as partners, in spite of the fact that Red got out to a quick three hole lead. Paul Morgan and Jim Gurney went out par-birdie-par to win the first three, but they didn’t win another hole until they parred the 15th. Blue’s bogey golf was plenty enough to win three and two, and Blue had narrowed the Red lead to 7-4. Jon DeAngelis and Jamie Grace dominated the final match of the day over Brad Juday and Brad Schubert. The early play was strong from both sides. Red played the first five holes in one over par and led by two. The teams spent 45 minutes looking for balls at the 7th and 8th holes, and when the smoke had cleared, Red had a four hole lead. They led by five after eleven, and lost four of the next five holes, but hung on to win 2 and 1.

After foursomes, Red led 8-4.

Pairs

Blue spent a lot of time talking about front-loading with captain Mark Williams. Down four, they would need to make an early run.

The first match didn’t help, as Vince Olenik won easily over Ron George -- he’s now 3-0 against George. He survived a TC Chen penalty at eight, and made a nice easy birdie at the ninth, finally winning at the 14th six and five.

Charlie Shoop picked up from where he’d left off the previous morning, winning six of the first seven holes while shooting 38 on the front. Jon DeAngelis had no hope. Steve Shoop named the 12th hole “Concede,” and after DeAngelis squirting his ball into the trees off the tee, he shook Charlie’s hand, while Red wondered how it was possible that Charlie was playing as a 13 handicap.

Jamie Grace brought his 12-7-3 singles record in against rookie Ted Lefere, who chipped in for birdie at the first hole. But Ted was giving ten, and the 19-handicap Grace shot 40 on the front, giving LeFere no chance. Grace won 3 and 2, finishing the weekend 2-0-1.

David Best had a lot of plans for Sunday - he brought in an 11-5-2 pairs record, but his hopes fizzled early. Gordon played well and won the first six holes, and made this the second match of the day not to get past the 12th. He finished 3-0 and is now 5-1 in two years of Cup play.

Bill Sedwick had never lost a singles match before Sunday and he faced Lou Boudreau, whose last singles win came on the wrong ball penalty by Charlie Shoop. Sedwick played solidly, including a six on the ninth hole to avoid another triple jackpot. He made a nice par at the 17th to win the match 3 and 1.

Match 18 was an Uncle vs. Nephew match between Frank and Bill George. Bill got off to a nice start. His birdie from off the green at the ninth gave him a front nine 40, and a five hole lead. He then hit a thirty foot putt at the 12th to take a six hole lead. Frank won the next two to avoid the pasting, and Bill won five and three.

Captain Mark Williams struggled early in his match against Dominic Spadafore, whose bogey golf was enough to take a four hole lead after five. His par at the 15th gave Dom a 4 and 3 win.

Bob Walters and Jim Gurney played a rematch of last year’s Gurney victory, and there were no strokes given. Bob got out to an early lead, punctuated by a shot at the sixth from under a tree, which hit a rake and popped up to two inches. Leading by four, he lost the next three holes as Gurney parred both seven and nine, and his double at the 8th gave him the hole. But Gurney couldn’t get any momentum on the back, and lost at 16 with a double bogey half.

Matt Cates entered the day 2-0 for the first time in his seven year career, while Chris Wilker lost both Saturday matches. The match started off very evenly, and was tied through the fifth. Then Wilker parred the sixth and bogeyed the eighth to go up two. He played bogey golf on the back to maintain the lead and won 3a2. Still Cates had his best Cup ever and was noticeably happier.

Ron George Sr. turned 75 this year, and was playing at forward tees for the first time. This gave him a nice advantage, and he used it well. He birdied the second hole (2-for-1) and made 5-for-3 at the eighth to take a three hole lead. He handled Glenn Peggs easily, winning five and four.

In match 23, Brad Schubert got off to a nice start against Paul Morgan in a match of two good players with losing records at Concord.. Getting four strokes, he shot 38 on the front to take a two hole lead, including a birdie at the ninth. Morgan played well, and birdied the 14th to even the match. But Schubert played 3-4-3 against Morgan’s 5-6-3 on the next three holes and won the match 2 and 1, and both players finished 1-2.

In the final match, Brad Juday faced Dennis Hackett giving him a stroke, a new wrinkle. This was only their second singles match -- Juday beat Hackett in 2008. The front nine was very close as both players struggled. Each led by one at a point, but the match was evened up by Juday’s bogey at the 10th. Hackett finally found a little game at the 13th and won three of four holes. Juday finished 0-3 for the first time since his “golf renaissance.” Meanwhile, Captain Hackett finished 3-0 for the first time in his Concord career.

Red’s victory means it stopped Blue’s five year winning streak, and as Red pointed out, means that over the last ten years, each team has won five times.