2021 – Week 18

Serkan Freeman.

You know him as “The Assassin”… but I might start calling him the “bully”.

Thursday after golf at Buffalo Wild Wings, Serkan was extremely confident in his next and final match of the season. When asked about his upcoming match Serkan replied with “That’s a clown question, bro. Comparing us is like trying to compare Jay-Z and Soulja Boy. Put it on the Blog. Make it the MOW (match of the week). I don’t care. I’m taking seven and a half next Thursday… I guarantee it”.

Yes. Serkan came off extremely confident in his upcoming match and I usually love some good trash talk. The issue I have is that the “victim” he’s referring to is none other than Andy Crowe.

Yes. That Andy Crowe. 0 Wins and 12 losses Andy Crowe.
Yes. Serkan Freeman… Back 2 Back GCCGL Champion Serkan Freeman, A.K.A. the “Assasin” is going out on a very long limb (not really) and guaranteeing a victory over 0-12 Andy Crowe.

Bully; a mean or predatory person who, from a perceived position of relative power intimidates, abuses, harasses, or coerces others, especially those considered unlikely to defend themselves.

Of all people, this actually puts Kurt Kreyling in tough position.

Serkan wants to be the in the MOW. Will Kurt comply? Is this match MOW worthy?
If Kurt does make this the MOW and picks the Bully, and the MOW Jinx kicks in… then he’s condemning Serkan to ridicule beyond compare. If he picks Crowe (and again based on the jinx) then we know he’s only doing it to ensure that Serkan wins and by extension is supporting bullying in the GCCGL.
BUT… Kurt has bigger fish to fry. If you read “Kreyling’s Korner” this past week, then you know that Kurt finally admitted that the jinx is real. So what did Kurt do? He put himself in the MOW against Danny Roller, and by picking against himself, he assured himself a victory. Kurt beat Danny 7.5 to 2.5.

Which brings us to this week.

Destined to Fail is currently in 3rd place. The are 15 points out of 1st place, and they play the 1st place team this week, needing to gain some ground to make the final scramble interesting.

So… does Kurt make Serkan vs Crowe the MOW?
Or does Kurt put himself in the MOW, again?

I’m actually predicting that Kreyling does something unprecedented in the MOW. Knowing the jinx is real, I believe he gives some bullsh*t story and finds a way to make it a 4 way tie for match of the week, picking every member of the Rollin’ 60’s to beat him and his teammates and therefore guaranteeing his team wins all four matches and puts themselves right back in the thick of it all.

So… in an effort to beat Kurt to the punch, for the first time in this blog, I’m giving you the match of the week.

Kurt “Lipgloss” Kreyling vs Mike “Big Donkey” Harris.

Kurt leads the league in winning percentage and points per match.
The Big Donkey leads the league in nothing.
Kurt currently sits at 9-1-1 on the season while the Big Donkey sits at 6-6-2… but over each of our last 6 matches, we’re both 5-1.
We matched up in week 6 on the front 9 of the Willows with Kreying winning 5.5 to 4.5. Both players shot a 41. Kurt played as a (3) handicap while yours truly played as a (1).

There’s so much more to this match, however, than just stats.
With Kurt winning this match, this truly could be the changing of the guard. For years now, the Big Donkey has been (arguably) the best player in this league. Kurt has always been a steady A player… but a little inconsistent. Kurt continues to improve, and this year has become the golfer we all knew he could be. At the same time, the Big Donkey is starting to see his best golf in the rear-view mirror. If Kurt were to win and catapult his team in contention for his first ever GCCGL title he’d be, without question, the league MVP and the best player in the league regardless of handicap.

You’re gonna have to earn it though, Kurt. In the past, I generally step up and respond to pressure when I need to… AND this week, somehow and someway, we’re both playing as a (3). Yes… you read that right. For the first time in years, I’m not giving strokes.

Big Donkey Prediction… LipGloss 6.5 – Big Donkey 3.5

TWIG NOTES
With the final two weeks approaching and this week being the final week of match play… Here’s how things stand.

The current standings are as follows:
Rollin’ 60’s: 377.5
Hoping to Tie: 375.0
Dustined to Fail: 362.0
Aces Ventura: 347.0
Good if Joe Shows: 331.5
Designated Drivers: 315.0

Points Leaders
Dahm: 79.0
Morell: 74.5
Livermore: 74.5

Points per Match Leaders
Kreyling: 6.2
Nill: 6.0
Almeida: 5.9

Wins Leaders
Dahm: 10
Kreyling: 9
Nill: 9
Ethridge: 9

Win Percentage Leaders:
Kreyling: 0.864
Nill: 0.818
Dahm: 0.750

Money Leaders:
Nill: $45.34
Parvesse: $42.66
Freeman: $42.66

The Low Net Winners were
A/B – Kreyling (32)
C/D – Ethridge, J. Allen and Rayburn all tied (33)

Moving on…

I was absolutely and completely shocked by my conversation with George Almeida after golf this past Thursday. Way back in week 6, when I took over the blog, my first topic, my first order of business, was to address the situation of ties in this league. I hate ties and I was completely serious when I said we needed to get rid of them. I even offered a recommendation on the overtime system I would implement if it were up to me. Additionally, I said that I was completely open to suggestions. At the end of the day, I don’t care how it’s addressed, as long as it is addressed.

George thought I was joking. I’m not. I lost sleep over George’s comments.

We’ve had 44 ties this season. A new record.

As stated in week 6… “As fan’s we may not like every sport’s overtime rules (I hate the NFL’s overtime policy), but at least all sports are doing something, at least initially, to determine a winner”.

I understand the Portuguese are a peaceful people but come on man. George just doesn’t want to risk upsetting anyone by determining a loser.

I get the feeling from talking with George that only recognizing 1st thru 3rd place is not enough. I think George wants all six teams to be recognized at the awards luncheon… and apparently he’s ready to recognize all subs with participation ribbons as well.

I don’t know. My head’s spinning just thinking about it.

Maybe Nill can put it up for a vote. How many in the league would prefer overtime or sudden death to determine a winner as opposed to ending things in a tie? We can figure out what the overtime policy will be over the winter.

Pace of play has been a big topic this year and a new idea has been proposed to help speed things ups.
(you guys that aren’t coming out after golf are really missing out on some good conversations).

There was a time when tee boxes were thought about as “men’s tees”, “senior tees” and “women’s tees”… but let’s stop thinking about tee boxes like this is the 50’s and 60’s.

Even this year, the three wisemen, finally decided that Ollie was old enough to move up a tee box… which was the right move but for the wrong reason. Ollie should be hitting from the forward tees, but not because of age, but because his handicap says so.

The days of thinking about tee boxes based on gender and age are over.

Most courses (not all – but most) here in 2021 suggest tee boxes based on your ability… your handicap if you will.

It has been proposed, that especially on the Willows Course, that C and D golfers play up a tee box. The thought process is that the higher handicappers in this league would enjoy golf more playing from the appropriate tees and would improve the pace of play. It’s a win/win.

Finally,

This picture was sent to me because apparently this is blog worthy.

Ollie’s ball ended up behind a tree on hole number 9 this week.

Gloom, despair, and agony on me…

Until next week…

Golf is Hard. If it were easy, it’d be called “your mom”.

Big Donkey