Ok – let’s try this again!  Hopefully the technical difficulties I was experiencing last week are gone and this blog has been posted.  GCCGL’ers, welcome to the 2023 season.  After a relative tame Florida Scramble, it’s apparent this season is completely up for grabs and no team clearly jumps out as the front runner.  Match play starts in week 2, so lets get into the first MOW for 2023!

THE LIPSMACKER MATCH OF THE WEEK

Similar to previous years, I’m shooting for .500 on the 2023 season.  What I also want to point out is I’m losing a MOW regular for 2023.  For the first time in 12 seasons, John “Syndrome” Rayburn is on my team, which means he will NOT be prominently displayed in the MOW for the duration of the season (maybe once at max).  For those of you that are new, there is a MOW jinx – ask some of the old members in the league about it…and maybe make a new friend in the process. Playing with John does take away a lot of material, but we still have some great match-ups in week 2. 

WEEK 2 MOW – Jason “Cupcake” Nill vs. Matt “The Politician” Bedell

Some of those good match-ups to note: Bloomhuff vs. Rayburn and Kreyling vs. Roller but no chance I’m touching those this early in the season (JINX).  Which leaves me with Nill vs. Bedell and Duer vs. Goldie.  Golide owns the latter match-up at 7-3, so Nill vs. Bedell gets the nod.  Lifetime these two have a 4-4 record with their fist match up, dating all the way back to 2010.  Twice these two have matched up on the Pioneer Back and both times Matt came out on top.  Jason gets one stroke, but will that be enough with some of the early season rust still lingering?

GLOSSY PREDICTION – as most of you know, I’m a finance guy and numbers talk.  I went back and looked at the average Pioneer Back 9 net scores that Bedell and Nill have shot over their entire careers in the GCCGL.  The results of that analysis – Cupcake: 37.3 and Bedell: 37.9.  I’m going to try and approach my picks this year using historical statistics.  And based on the low net averages over their careers of the GCCGL, I have to go with Nill.  Cupcake wins 5.5-4.5.  

KREYLING KORNER

Full Swing

Since we all play in a golf league, I’m willing to bet most of us watched the Netflix series Full Swing released this past winter.  For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s basically a documentary following various personalities in professional golf both on and off the course.  My review of the series…meh.  I mean it really didn’t tell us much we didn’t know if you follow professional golf.  I thought some of the cooler stories revolved around the less known guys, like Joel Dahmen.  Guys like Brooks Koepka came off incredibly whinny (which I doubt he really is); Dustin Johnson came off as the “dude” he is (“I mean, who wouldn’t take more money and work less” which is the truest thing ever said when it comes to LIV golf); and Rory came across as, well, Rory (we know nothing more or nothing less about him).  I give it a 6 out of 10.

#couldhavebeenbetter

Inclement Weather

There is the potential of rain tonight, so I think this week is as good a time as any to remind the league that the policy for inclement weather in the GCCGL has change.  The old rule used to be, “if the course is open, we will play.”  Taking that a step further, we all know Kenton County NEVER closes the course, so what that rule really meant was “the GCCGL plays in anything.”  However, there were so many people pissed off playing in the Pink Ball Scramble last year (in torrential down pours from time to time), we have officially changed the rule.  Going forward, George “the Portuguese Warrior” Almeida is officially responsible for determining if the league will be cancelled in any given week.  How George will communicate cancelations to the league is to be determined by him.  The point is – don’t ask Cupcake or me if we are playing on a Thursday night going forward.  We accept zero responsibility.  If the league is cancelled by George, those who do want to try and play are welcome to go to the course, which I’m sure Jason and I will do.  Just know the scores will not count towards league play.

#thenewGCCGL

Golf Joke

Have you ever wondered how the moon got craters?

Three words… Chuck.  Norris.  Golf.

#walkertexasranger

Until next week – fairways and greens my friends.