All Steaks Must End

This was our rallying cry for the weekend as the Fagitas attempted to win SGW for the first time ever. The actual slogan was "All streaks must end..." but SK had a difficult time reading the embroidering on our team hats.

The single pairings for the final round were: SK vs MY, JS vs CW, TS vs TC, JM vs WH, TA vs RL, EM vs SB.

Fagitas need to win 4 matches to pull off the come from behind, historic, victory.

In the individual competition, Scott and Rob entered the round as the only two players under par and nobody else was within 7 strokes.

It was drizzling during warmups and started to get a bit heavier when we teed off. We kept playing through it, but it got worse. Despite leading the tournament, Scott decided the elements were too bad and he sat out a few holes. So he recorded a double-par max on some holes, but Emry was only able to tie him on those holes! Our foursome (Emry, Scott, Rob, Tony) stopped for a few minutes under a shelter and Rob changed into some special golf rainsuit! I was playing well on a par 5 in the driving round and was putting for birdie when I putted all the way off the green and down a hill! Rob was hackin' up the same hole and we ended up tying with an 8!

The marshal came to tell us that the rain was letting up, but some strong storms would be here in 30 minutes. The group in front of us quit after 9 holes and was waiting at the green for us, so we figured the round would end and we really needed to win this hole. I was nervous as a stood over a 6 foot putt to tie the hole and win the round, but somehow I made it.

As the other scores started reporting in, we realized that the Fagitas had pulled it off! With the rain shortened, 9 hole round, we won 4 rounds (Jeff over Wyman, Jay over Wes, Emry over Scott, TA over Rob), lost 1 (Tom over Selby) and tied 1 (SK and Mickey)!

For the individual title, Wes shot an extrapolated 90 to end up +4 for the weekend, while Scott (122) and Rob (104) both wilted in the rain.

We packed up and went to Mellow Mushroom for the final meal, awards ceremony, pizza, and warm cookies.

Emry's new leaf?

We had a larger crowd for poker tonight and it created some good games of Mug Your Boss. I think Emry was trying to turn over a new leaf because he was uncharacteristically aggressive and bold in his betting. He continued to surprise us and stayed in many pots. The result wasn't pretty - he was the big poker loser in triple digits. I think we will see the old, conservative Emry next time we play.

The loft-cubby crowd threatened to use a noise maker that night, so Tom moved out and slept in the other cabin instead.

Scramble to get back into it

The scramble pairings were Tad/Tony vs West/Mickey, Emry/Jay vs Tom/Scott, Seong/Jeff vs Rob/Wyman. Tad and I jumped out to a lead but started getting tired and were down by 4 strokes after 10. We couldn't hit any long putts. At the #12 par 3, Wes and Mickey both hit it into the water and were were able to gain 2 strokes back. But that was as close as it got and lost by 2 strokes. We had a fun, relaxed round with some beers. When it was Wes' turn to buy a round, the cart girl got a bit snooty with him around his poor math skills as he incorrectly calculated his own total.

Emry/Jay were up by one on the last hole when both Tom and Scott barely missed incredibly long putts that would have tied it. Seong and Jeff took care of Rob/Wyman and the Fagitas were gettin' free dinner! We really wanted dinner-revenge on Wyman.

We tried to go to a local place, The Catfish House, but they didn't serve alcohol. Longhorns was too crowded, so we went to Jim and Nicks Rib House. SK did his part for bill-inflation by ordering a big rack of ribs. We all loaded up on desserts too. Jay didn't eat much. His stomach was acting up all weekend and his roommates in the loft-cubbies were suffering because of it.

Despite our unexpected win in the scramble, the Fagitas were still down 5.5 to 3.5 and we needed to win 4 of the 6 Sunday matches.

High/Low and extra low for Fagitas

The pairings for the Saturday morning High Ball/Low Ball round were Tad/Jeff vs Tom/Wyman, Tony/Jay vs Mickey/Scott, Seong/Emry vs Rob/Wes. Scott again used his 34 strokes and consistent play from the rough to stiffle Tony and Jay. We could never make a run to climb back into it and we lost our match. Tad/Jeff also lost. SK/Emry were able to eek out a tie and avoid the DeadBread sweep.

The Fagitas were baffled and frustrated as we paid for another lunch. We were down 4.5 to 1.5. This wasn't supposed to happen. We were supposed to dominate every round except the scramble. Now we were losing going into the scramble and pretty worried. So we changed our pairing strategy to give us a chance at a sweep.

River House

We drove to Prattville after dinner. Jay and Tom went shopping for groceries. They bought a ton of food and beer. Tom said he needed extra for all the parties we was going to host in Austin at his new pad.

We stayed in different houses than previously. The big one had a loft with 4 cubby-style beds and a pool table. We started a poker game, but participation was low and slow. Everyone was tired. Scott, Wes, Jeff, and Rob stayed in the house across the street and none of them joined us for poker. We tried to recreate the 'Trump' game that we made up on New Years Day. It took us a while to remember the rules and Tom boycotted as expected. We perfected the game with a new 'bitch every time' rule.

Best Ball

Our first official round was Best Ball on the Lake course. I teamed up with SK against Wyman and Scott. Scott's golf shoes didn't feel good so he bought new ones at the clubhouse right before we started. His first two drives went a total of 20 yards and Wyman wasn't pleased with his partner. SK and I were feeling pretty confident... and that is always a bad idea at golf weekend. Scott caught fire and we struggled to keep up with him and his 34 strokes. It came down to #18 and SK made a clutch, winning putt with everyone watching to win the match. But it was the only Fagita victory of the round. Both our other teams lost. Tom and Wes beat Selby and Jay. Rob and Mickey beat Emry and Sullivan. Anyone have some highlights from those rounds?

In the individual competition: Wes, Rob, and Selby were under par and Mickey started with a +16 round...

We found an Outback in Opelika and had to suffer through watching Wyman and company eating their free meal. Wyman made sure to order drinks, steaks, appetizers, and dessert - all with that smirk on his face. It was painful. All the Deadbreads (except Scott) sat together in one booth. Jeff sat with them and helped them run up the bill, while the rest of the Fagitas ate conservatively and waited for dessert leftovers.

We decided to set the pairings for the next morning and captain Yawn through out the team of Tom/Wyman. We weren't expecting that, so it took us a while to respond.

Rainy Start

We left Atlanta around 8am in a steady rain which caused some traffic headaches. Mickey was feelin' lucky so we stopped for lottery tickets on the way. Our first round was at Opelika. Everyone except Scott came down for an early round on the Par 3 course. We used the round as a warmup and to spark some team spirit and hatred. So we played Fagitas vs Deadbreads, 50% handicaps, lowest team average score wins lunch. We started by playing a 5 some and a 6 some, but it was a bit slow and the marshall made us break up. Fagitas won lunch and I ordered a Trail Dog. The rain held off, but it started to get a bit warm and muggy in the afternoon.

2009 Draft Highlights

Here are some highlights from last night’s draft…

• Mickey got first pick and chose the team name “DeadBreads” instead of picking the odds-on favorite, SK. Very strange strategic move. “DeadBreads” are undefeated, but isn’t it deeper than just the name?
• I was rattled and confused about his first pick, but after I shook it off, I quickly grabbed SK with my first pick.
• Then, without any hesitation, Mickey chose Wyman and Tom. Did Mickey forget that we use handicaps in this tournament? Did Mickey forget that Tom and Wyman have a deep rivalry?
• That left the door open for me to choose Marchbanks (the annual darkhorse) and Selby (the most frequent golfer) to the Fagitas.
• Mick struggled with his next pick and ended up choosing three players… Rob, Wes, Emry. When he was reminded of his error, he tossed Emry back into the pool.
• I took Sullivan (nobody has seen his game in two years) and then went with the controversial pick… Emry. This will be the first time that Emry and I have been on the same team. I’m undefeated. Emry is winless. Something’s gotta give. (on the flip side, Tom is also undefeated and Rob is also winless).
• Mick took Scott (coming off a two year golf hiatus and foot surgery)We also made the following adjustments…
• SK’s handicap was lowered to 19 – we removed the bonus stroke that Tom gave him for paying early.
• We decided to go back to the 2 man scramble, rather than alternating shot. (I love alternating shot, but was outvoted by Mickey and Tom)
• We have not decided how or if to incorporate the Friday morning par 3 into the tournament. My vote is to keep it as a just a heavily-wagered practice round and not make it count.

So here are the teams for SGW 2009

Deadbreads
TC 7
CW 13
MY 17
WH 19
RL 22
SB 34

Fagitas
TS 18
JM 18
JS 18
SK 19
TA 21
ME 36

Fagitas, I’ll be contacting you to start working on our uniforms and our 2009 rally cry. Some suggestions are “Win one for Emry!”, “Wyman hits longer than Tom!”, “Give Rob another goose egg!”