September 16, 1995

The Red team fought broken alarm clocks, withdrawn concessions, forgetful wives, and the pressure of trailing to snatch victory in the Second Concord Cup. Tom Bres, Steve Shoop, Frank George and Jon DeAngelis captured dramatic final round matches to complete an unlikely comeback victory here today. The Blue team failed in its attempt to repeat by crumbling under the late afternoon pressure.

Blue held a morning 4 to 2 lead, and led four of the six pairs matches entering the back nine, but gave it all away on Concord's historic back nine.

Red fought an uphill battle all day, after its captain Dennis Hackett failed to roust his charges from bed. No less than half of the Red team did not show up for the morning tee-off. Alarm clock makers and wives were scapegoated all morning as George, Mike Lamarra, and DeAngelis raced across I-94 while their teammates struggles one against two. Another Red player, Jamie Grace, never showed up at all. Joining Bres on the fourth hole, Lamarra was unable to help the team recover, and Brett Smith and Ron George captured the day's first match 4&3, George's first, and still only, Concord Cup match victory. Frank George didn't show at all on the front nine, yet playing partner Hackett pushed Brad Juday and Captain Mike Walters all the way to the ninth hole before yielding. And Shoop, who gained playing partner DeAngelis on the second tee, eked out a victory over brother Charlie and Mark Williams, 1up.

In foursomes play, no matches reached the 18th hole, which would find its drama later. Notably, Blue's most valuable player Brett Smith with traditional partner Charlie Shoop gained his fourth Concord Cup victory 3 and 1 over the formidable Shoop/DeAngelis pairing. Blue again won two of the three points, and entered the afternoon up 4&2.

If it looked easy for Blue to begin the afternoon pairs match, it looked even easier after the front nine. At the turn, Blue led four matches, and was all square in one -- Red's only positive was that DeAngelis was coasting to a 7&6 victory over Williams. But then the tide turned. Juday led at the turn but crumbled from ten to fifteen. Charlie Shoop and Mike Walters, in the premier matches, both faced tough competition from the gutty Lamarra and Shoop. And Tom Bres fought back from one down at the turn to even his match all square after sixteen.

Still, as Smith wrapped up a powerful 6&5 victory over Hackett, things still looked solid for the Blues. The match score stood at 5 to 3, Blue needed only to find one point somewhere to retain the cup -- red, in contrast, needed 6 1/2 points, and needed two squeeze out 3 1/2 of the last four

While there are many stories to come from this second cup, two are painful. Both Charlie Shoop and Ron George, who have not distinguished themselves in either Cup (George is 1-5, and Charlie has never won without Brett Smith as a partner), choked. George skulled a wedge on the easiest 17th hole, while Bres calmly parred the hole, and parlayed his stroke on 18 into a victory. Meanwhile, a birdie at 14 by Steve Shoop started a slide in which Charlie Shoop gave away a two-up lead to his brother over the last five holes, knowing that it would mean surrendering the cup.

And finally, in what is the most controversial event in Cup history, Blue member Brad Juday withdrew an apparent concession on the fifteenth hole, causing his match to survive all the way to 18. After completing a six on 15, Juday did not know that opponent Frank George had made three shots in the valley below the green. He conceded the match, supposedly at 4&3. Learning that George needed to make his putt for six, Juday withdrew the concession. George missed the putt, and Juday left fifteen down two. George would later attribute his shaken play on 16 and 17 to Juday's unsportsmanlike action -- nonetheless this match, like three others, would need 18 to decide it. In contrast, the 1994 cup had no matches reach 18, with Mark Smith beating Frank George dramatically on 17. This time, George prevailed as Juday chili-dipped a chip next to the green, and George calmly two-putted from forty feet.

Anchors Walters and Lamarra finished their match all-square, and watched as Steve Shoop beat brother Charlie 2 up to clinch the first-ever victory for the Red team.