Red Punches Blue in the Face 16-4
October 16, 2022
Red won the 2022 Concord Cup by the biggest margin ever, dominating Blue in all categories, including a 5-0 plating in Saturday foursomes. Rick Gordon benefited from very strong performances from Matt Haas, Jimmy Gurney, and Vince Olenik, and he played well himself. Blue’s Captain Glenn Peggs struggled with his own game, and struggled to find safe places for his four rookies, and got performance out of his veterans.
Blue entered the morning matches as strong favorites in several matches. Bob Walters and Bill George were 20-1 favorites over Olenik and Gurney. The match was close throughout, the seventh lead changed of the day came at 15, where Bob Walters par gave Blue a lead. But Gurney used a stroke to win at 16, and then parred 17 to give Red a lead. Olenik parred the 18th and the dogs closed out the first match 2 up.
Match 2 had some outstanding golf. It featured a pair of rookies for Blue, Adam Hackett and Pat Fitzgerald, fending against two of the craftier Red players, Gordon and Haas. Adam Hackett started out hot, making putts of 30, 15 and 10 and feet in the first eight holes, leading Blue to a three-hole lead. Hackett then chipped in on the 11th, helping Blue to keep the lead through the 14th hole. But Gordon parred 15 and 16 to pull within one. Haas and Hackett BOTH birdied the 17th, assuring a half point for Blue. When Haas parred the 18th against Fitzpatrick’s bogey, Red had evened the match.
Paul Morgan and Jon DeAngelis were 18-1 favorites in the third match, but Blue jumped out to a four hole lead. Peggs parred the sixth, and won the 7th hole with a bogey as the other players could not manage anything better than a double. But Blue struggled to make anything better than bogey over the next six holes, and Morgan and DeAngelis used a little ham, a little egg, and a couple strokes to get back into the match. DeAngelis’s par at the 15th tied the match. Red put up a pair of birdies at the 17th, and then Morgan parred 18 to keep hold of the one hole victory.
Blue was favored 5-1 in the fourth match, and chalk held here. Nick Ludka broke a streak of three halved holes with a birdie at the fourth hole, which came after Dennis Hackett hit the pit and rolled seven feet away. Will Bass followed with a birdie at the fifth. The eighth hole frustrates everyone, including the zero-handicappers, as Ludka put an X on the card at 8, and Red pulled to within one with Dennis Hackett’s six for five. Jamie Grace finally counted his ball with a birdie at the 13th but Blue wrapped it up when Ludka birdied the 15th.
Tom Bres returned to the Concord Cup for the first time since 2015, and was paired with second year player Brent Keller. They were 5-1 favorites to beat Ron George and the rookie Andy DesJardin. The match was close throughout. Red took a lead when Bres parred the fourth hole, and Blue built the biggest lead after George parred five through seven before carding an X at the eighth. Keller’s par at the ninth evened the match. Keller played a strong back nine with pars at 11, 12, 15 and 17, which gave Red the one up win, finishing up a strong morning for Red, which took a two point lead to the afternoon.
Foursomes
Matt Haas and Vince Olenik pasted Blue’s Ron George and Adam Hackett in the first foursomes match. The match was close until #7, where Haas hit a big drive and Olenik tried to put the ball on the green, but instead pushed it right into the woods. Haas hit their fourth shot from the same spot onto the right fringe of the green, and George and Hackett played too conservatively. Red’s two putt from the right gave them a win on the hole, even though they’d lost a ball. Haas made a 30 foot par putt at #9 to pull his team to four up, and Olenik hit a 25 foot par putt on 11 to extend the lead to five. Haas, in a clearly practiced move at #13, managed to hit his bogey putt, switch his putter hand, pull his hat off and extend his hand, all in the time it took for the ball to travel eight feet and drop into the hole.
There was some questioning of captain Glenn Peggs across the pairings. In Match 7, he put up Bill George and Mark Williams against Dennis Hackett and Tom Bres. Williams and George had lost together by a lot the previous year, and they lost again, as Hackett and Bres moved their team record to 4-2. Hackett is sometimes known to be a better teammate than player, seemingly always able to coach strong games out of his partner. Red closed strong with pars at 14 and 15 and clinched with a bogey at 17.
Most of the holes in Match 8 were won with bogeys. DeAngelis and Keller lost the first hole, but took the lead and never trailed again, but they also never led by more than two as the much was close the entire way. Pat Fitzgerald made a 15-foot putt on nine to keep Blue with one. With a chance to get even with a par on 17, Fitzgerald and Bass could not make par, and then doubled the last to lose by two.
Nick Ludka and Andy DesJardin entered Match #9 as 7-5 favorites, but trailed throughout. The 7th hole was halved with birdies, and Red’s double bogey at the 8th gave them a three up lead. Blue fought back on the back nine, but Rick Gordon and Jamie Grace parred both 12 and 14 to maintain their lead, eventually winning by a hole.
Peggs had to turn to a lot of novel teams with some key Blue players missing. In Match 10, he played with Bob Walters for the first time, against Paul Morgan and Jimmy Gurney, only the second time the uncle and nephew have played together. Red never trailed, but the match was close as they made the turn. Blue was hearing bad news from around the course, as Red tried to put together a 5-0 plate for the afternoon. Morgan and Gurney took a three hole lead to the 13th after a par and two bogeys. Giving up a stroke on 13, they made birdie to tie Blue’s four for three, and they clinched the match at 15 with a bogey.
Red won the foursomes 5-0 and took an 8 ½ to 1 ½ lead into Sunday.
Pairs
Adam Hackett’s father Jeff is the best Sunday player in Concord Cup history, and Adam continued the tradition on Sunday by beating his Uncle Dennis in the first Sunday match. The match was close until Adam won the 14th and 15th holes with pars to win 4 & 3.
Rick Gordon completed his 3-0 performance by pasting Glenn Peggs in the 12th match. Peggs won the first hole with a par, but Gordon reeled off five straight pars to take a four hole lead. Peggs finished the front with three doubles, and Gordon finished the match at the 11th hole.
Bob Walters has one of the best records in the Concord Cup, but completed his first 0-3 weekend since 2009 as Brent Keller led start to finish. Keller started the back nine with two pars, but then Walters eight-net-seven won the 12th hole and pulled him within one. Neither player had many highlights after that, as Walter’s double at the 17th finished the match.
In match 14, Tom Bres had a chance at his first 3-0 weekend since 2003, but he woke up without a game, as Williams 49 gave him a three hole lead at the turn. He won the match with a seven at the 14th hole.
Jon DeAngelis completed a 3-0 weekend by beating up on Ron George. He won the first three holes and never looked back, finishing at the 16th hole. DeAngelis now has a Cup-best 46 match wins, which is five better than the second best total.
In Match 16, Andy DesJardin hung in for the first five holes, but the wheels fell off as he added a stroke to the 7-7-7 jackpot series by finishing 8-8-8 on the front nine. Both players struggled mightily on the par fives in this match, but Grace played well enough to get a 4 & 3 victory.
Will Bass was perhaps the lone bright spot on the Blue squad, earning a 1-1-1 record, including a halved singles match with Paul Morgan in Match 17. Bass hit a 35-foot putt on the fourth to stay close, and then came back from a three hole deficit to take a two hole lead going into the 16th. But Morgan parred 16 and 17 before both players doubled the last hole to finish even.
Bill George came into his Sunday match with a perfect pairs record of 5-0, but Jimmy Gurney ended his streak. Both in their sixth years, the players have already played each other ten times, with Gurney holding a 6-3-1 edge. Gurney hit his tee shot on 14 nearly OB on 13, then lifted a shot over the trees onto the 15th, and then punched onto the 14th green, saving his four hole lead. He then closed the match out on 15, finishing with a 3-0 record.
Matt Haas also went 3-0, finishing his weekend with a comeback victory over Nick Ludka, who built a three hole lead through six. Haas was getting eight strokes and erased the lead with three consecutive 5s for 4s. He then birdied the tenth to take a lead that he did not give back, playing his last ten holes in just three over par.
Pat Fitzgerald and Vince Olenik played a tight final match to the 18th hole. Neither player ever led by much, and the match was even from the 12th to the 16th holes. Olenik’s par at the 17th gave him the lead and the players traded doubles at the last, giving Olenik the win.
Red’s Sunday was almost as good as it’s Saturday as they took 7 ½ points. The final score of 16-4 was the biggest margin in the 29 year history of the Concord Cup.