2021 – Week Six
From the desk of the Big Donkey (Guest Blogger)
I hate ties.
I’m not talking about bow ties or neck ties… I’m talking about ties in sports.
Most sports have rules in place to avoid ties.
Baseball has extra innings.
Football (depending on the level) has an additional quarter or overtime.
Basketball can have multiple overtime periods.
Hockey has an overtime period then a shootout to determine a winner.
Even Golf, depending on the tournament being played, will go to 1 extra hole, 3 extra holes or 18 extra
holes.
At this point, the only sport I can think of that does not allow teams to determine a winner during the
regular season is Soccer. But even soccer will allow for an overtime period in elimination rounds of a
tournament and that usually consists of (first) and overtime period then (second) a shootout.
I love overtime. In any sport, for me, the most exciting part of the game is overtime. I’ll watch any sport
if it’s tied after regulation. I’m not a fan of Hockey or Soccer… but if I find out there’s a shootout
happening… I’ll watch.
As fan’s we may not like every sport’s overtime rules (I hate the NFL’s overtime policy), but at least all
these sports are doing something, at least initially, to determine a winner.
Which brings me to the GCCGL.
Most of us consider the GCCGL the best damn golf league in the tri-state area for a list of reasons too
long to mention in this blog. Besides playing at Kenton County, the only drawback I see is that we are
too accepting of matches ending in a 5/5 split.
Sure, back in 2006, the league itself ended in a tie and it was decided in the moment to allow for Ed
Petryk and Paul Eaglin to determine the winner of the league with a long drive contest. But, with the
exception of that one time, there is no tie-breaker in the GCCGL, and the reason I bring that up is
because this league is on record pace for the number of splits in a season… and I’m not talking about
bananas.
Through 5 weeks of match-play (and with 10 match-play weeks remaining) there have been 20 ties..
To put that in perspective, we only had 26 ties last season. The year before that… 22.
The most ties we’ve ever had a in a season is 40 back in 2018.
Going back a decade to 2011, the average number of ties in a season is 26.8.
This season, we’re on pace for 60.
What’s odd to me, is that we never even talk about ties. We’ve never talked about changing the rules. It’s simply become a part of who we are as a league.
Personally, I don’t think any match should end in a tie.
Obviously, nothing will change this year… but moving forward into 2022 and beyond, I recommend we
come up with our own overtime system.
I am completely open to suggestions, but I’ve been taught to never criticize without offering a solution…
so here goes.
If it were me, any match is split 5/5 at the end of 9 holes would be settled on the putting green.
The player who teed off first on the 9th hole would choose a spot to putt from and select the hole both
golfers would putt to.
Fewest strokes wins the hole (obviously).
This person can select a 35 footer or a 3 footer with lots of break. It’s all determined by who gets to
choose.
If the first “overtime” hole is a tie, you alternate. The 2 nd player now selects the spot to putt from and
the hole you’re putting to.
This overtime game alternates back and forth until there’s a winner.
The winner is awarded ½ of a point and the match is settled 5 ½ to 5.
T.W.I.G. Notes (this week in golf). Most players over 40 should get the reference.
The Rollin’ 60’s currently sit in 1 st place – despite not having anyone in the top 5 in either Points or Wins.
Dustined to Fail currently sits in 3 rd place – despite having 2 players in the top 5 in points (Livermore &
Nill) and 3 players in the top 5 in wins (Livermore, Nill and Kreyling).
*Nill and Kreyling are tied with several others with 3 wins)
The “A” Players have been less than stellar posting a 7-10-13 combined record.
The best players in the league by handicap… Harris (1.9), Goldenberg (3.3) and Nixon (3.4) are a
combined 1-5-9 on the year.
The early favorite for MVP is Oliver Livermore.
Ollie currently leads the league in Points with 31.5 and tied for the lead league with 4 wins.
Not bad for a guy taken dead last in the draft.
Rich Parvesse, leads all golfers in money earned with $37.33 – despite being a rookie.
Last Years MVP, Mike Ethridge, currently sits at 4-1 with 29.5 points (only 2 points out of 1 st place)
Now, what’s really interesting to me, in regards to Swiper, isn’t that he’s winning, but HOW he’s
winning.
I’m sure, now that it’s being pointed out, that Mike will admit that he’s not playing the level of golf (yet)
that he played last year, but…
As already stated, so far in 2021, Mike is 4-1.
However, in relation to his handicap, Mike has only shot his handicap 1 time.
In week 2 (the first match play week) Mike shot 4 over his handicap.
In week 3, Mike shot 8 strokes over his handicap.
In week 4, he was even. His handicap for that week was 10 and he shot 10 over and thumped yours
truly.
In week 5, he was 6 over and in week 6 he was 5 over his handicap.
Yet, he’s still winning. What’s it all mean? I don’t know.
Whatever the reason, Mike’s opponent never seems to bring their best game.
His opponent’s, so far this season, have yet to net even par.
In his 5 matches, Mike’s opponents are +12, + 8, +5, + 4 and +8.
Now, for whatever reason, this really intrigued me, so I decided to dig a little deeper.
I wanted to find out the last time Swiper’s opponent shot better than their handicap… the last time one
of his opponents netted a score below par.
So I started digging. I started looking. I had some lunch. I started searching again…. And searching and
searching. I had dinner. I started looking again… Then I finally found it.
That date was May 16 th , 2019.
Yes, you read that correctly. The last time an opponent of Mike Ethridge shot a score lower than their
handicap resulting in a net score under par was 741 days ago.
Week 5 vs Troy Bachman on the front of the Pioneer.
Troy played as a 12 and shot a 43. 4 strokes better than his handicap.
For Mike… that was 21 match play events ago.
In those previous 20 matches… Not only did Mike never play against someone who netted better than
their handicap… Mike never played anyone that won Low Net.
In fact, the only time Mike has played an opponent who won low net, was in week 11 of 2019.
John Rayburn netted a 34 during US Open Week on the back side of the Willows.
During the 21 straight matches Mike played where no one netted under par against him… The only
player that even came close was Ollie.
In Week 15 of last year. Ollie netted an even score… In Battle Golf (and still lost to Ethridge).
On those 21 nights of match play… 74 other C or D golfers shot (net) under par. Mike never played
against any of them.
What this shows is, it doesn’t matter how Mike plays… because for whatever reason, his opponent that
week, is gonna play worse. Much much worse.
*Just for a point of reference, in that same time-frame (my last 21 matches) my opponent netted par or
better 10 times and I played the A/B low net winner 4 times.
Final Thoughts
We received a surprise visit from the Gordon’s Fisherman, Joe Carrier this week.
Joe subbed in the league from 2003-2010 and was full-time member from 2011-2016.
Joe showed up with his son and a couple of pitchers of beer. Great to see Joe!
There’s still some of you rookies that don’t have nicknames… but you better believe they’re coming.
Finally, this is the GCCGL. Members have been talking in backswings for 25 years. You’re better off
getting used to it then trying to change it.
Other topics I could have discussed…
What does Duer do all day long?
What does Duer do on Thursdays after golf, now that he’s no longer going out?
Should Duer host a weekly golf podcast?
The Belterra Golf trip
America’s Golf Festival in Vegas.
Weekend Rounds vs League Rounds
Does Leininger really want to fight Rayburn?
Phil’s PGA Win
Phil Mickelson/Tom Brady vs Bryson DeChambeau/Aaron Rodgers
How George is running out of material
Golf is Hard.
If it was easy it would be called “your mom”.
Big Donkey – GCCGL Guest Blogger
