2023 – Week 10

Believe it or not, we are halfway through the 2023 GCCGL season. Ten weeks down with 10 more to go. This time of year marks the summer solstice, the precise moment when the sun is at its highest point in the sky each year. This occurred on Wednesday, June 21, at 10:58 a.m. EDT. We lose daylight every day from here on out. Therefore, as we get closer to the end of July and August, if you are at the golf course and the tee is open and your foursome is ready, get your lazy asses to the tee and tee off why don’t ya!

The halfway mark is also a good time to reflect on the 2023 GCCGL statistical achievements up to this point. 

Points Leaders
Brady Gosney – 52.5 points
Mike Harris – 50.5 points
Danny Roller – 45 points

This is the first time in GCCGL history where subs have led in this or any statistical category this far into the season. Remind me again why these two didn’t join the league? It’s a good thing the Points and Winning PCT titles are for full-time members only or this kid would be taking everything home except for the coveted GCCGL Championship trophy.

Winning PCT
Brady Gosney – 7-1-0 .875
Jack Tally – 5-1-1 .786
Kurt Kreyling – 4-0-3 .786

Money Leaders
Brady Gosney – $64
Peter Goldenberg – $48
Jack Tally – $40

The summer solstice made for some interesting play this week. Bedell was down to Nixon, 9-0 going into the last hole! It was one of those nights. This league has been in existence for 28 years. Since we’ve started capturing stats in 1997, there have been 6,387 matches and there has NEVER been a 10-0 score in head-to-head match play. I’d be remise to not mention the 10-0 skunking between Ollie and Syndrome’s CARD. If I don’t mention it, I’m going to get bombarded with emails and phone calls from Ollie and I can’t have that. Sorry Ollie, although it is a “decent” accomplishment, it doesn’t count AGAINST THE CARD! Think about that for a second, 6,387 matches and never once did anyone get skunked. Bedell was sweating it out on hole #18 on the Pioneer. Things got a little tense to the point where Bedell was threatening Nixon with physical violence if he lost 10-0. Bedell hit a wayward drive on #18 but remarkably recovered and hit a beauty of a second shot approximately 5-6 feet from the pin and made the birdie to secure a point. Whew!  

This generated some interesting discussion about if you were going to get skunked by someone in the GCCGL, who would you want that someone to be? Who wouldn’t you mind losing to? Use the comment section below and let’s get the discussion going!

Another interesting match included Harris vs Welling. Big Donkey giving up 15 strokes! This one had an exciting finish. On #18, Big Donkey hit his approach shot 6 feet from the pin.  He proceeded to miss the slightly downhill putt bad enough that the next one wasn’t a gimme. Snoodles walks onto the green and gives him a read but Harris misses again. The dreaded 3-putt from 6 feet. We’ve all been there. After Harris missed the putt, he pulls the ball back to the same spot and hits how he read it and drained it.  Roller’s read cost him to halve the hole and lost the match 4.5 to 5.5. The conspiracy theorist would say Big Donkey missed it on purpose to avoid the dreaded tie! Once again, proving the handicap system works, EXCEPT when you play Jim Allen who shot -5 under his handicap, beat PW senseless and took low net.

Is it me or are the handicaps getting lower and the play getting worse? In a first for the GCCGL, the last group was held up by the group behind them. You read that right. Our last foursome was held up by the group behind them! As they were getting ready to tee off on #17, the Par 5, along came a guy from the group behind them looking for his ball from #16! Seriously? How in the world do you hit a ball from anywhere on #16 close to the tee box on #17? That’s hard to do. Well, the guy couldn’t find his ball so he drops and attempts to hit his shot over the trees but instead hits a tree and the ball comes right back to the tee box on #17. How embarrassing. 

Team Go Putt Yourself is mired in a 3-game losing streak and has fallen all the way back to 3rd place. Their hopes are sinking faster than the Titanic Submersible. Too soon? Still plenty of time left in the season, especially with the Montezuma’s Revenge scramble up next and the Stableford in August.

The big winners this week were Return of the Cletus who beat Go Putt Yourself (26-14) for their 6th straight win! They were led by Cletus who took 7.5 points. Meat Balls got by Dude, Where’s my Par? (23-17) to barely stay in first place. They were led by Nixon who squeezed out 9 points. The low net winners were Roddy (A/B) with a low net 33 and Jim Allen (C/D) with low net 31! Congratulations to the winners! Remember, it is the Montezuma’s Revenge scramble this week. If you have not played this event yet, you gotta try and make it. I think it is one of the funnest events of the season. If you can’t make it, make sure to get a sub no better than 3 strokes of your handicap. We hope to see you on the course and as always, hit ’em straight!

The Portuguese Warrior – GCCGL co-commissioner