Encinitas Ranch Golf Club

Friday  October 1,  2008   

In our club’s playoff season event today, 4 players who have survived the “wild card’ and “quarterfinal” rounds were all ready for their semi finals matches to determine our 2 finalist.  The excitement was in the air as one of the following players would soon hold on their shoulders the 2009 Trophy Seacoast Cup.  Today’s Semi Final Matches were:

Note:  Winners of the Semi Final Matches will advance to the next round, Championship Finals which will be played at Encinitas Ranch Golf Club in November.  Consolation matches between the 2 losing players will be played November 7, to determine our 3^rd and 4^th place winners..

Here were some pre match comments and notes regarding each match:

The Matchups

Chan vs. Jensen – Curtis Chan arrived at the golf course 45 minutes before his tee time.  He would have gotten there earlier, but he had to attend his daughter’s “Donuts with Daddy” event which just ended 50 minutes before the tee time with Jensen.  Curtis knew the greens would be something to contend with so he spent 20 minutes putting, then 15 minutes warming up his swing.  For him, his strategy would be to minimize mistakes, give himself chances at scoring par, and to stay away from the 3 putt.  John Jensen, was not to be found warming up unitl  6 minutes before the tee time.  John hurriedly hit a few practice balls and off he went to the tee.  In a pre interview conversation, John Jensen’s strategy was to play steady bogey and par golf.  With his 10 strokes, he felt his chances were good if he stayed away from the double bogey.  Pars would force Chan to score a birdie to win a hole, and as long as John played within himself, minimizing the mistakes, he would take care of business. 

Haug vs. Maglidt – Mike Haug knew his day would be challenge as he had to give Darren Maglidt +16 strokes during the round.  Mike has been playing fairly well in recent weeks, but Darren was definitely a force to be reckoned with.  Darren has been taking out all the lower handicap players by playing consistent  bogey golf.  Darren has been playing steady and practicing on different facets of his game.  Most of his recent wins came by not having any blowup holes, and having a stretch of 2 to 3 great holes of golf where he would give himself a chance at par or birdie.  With his stroke allotment, it would force his opponent to make a birdie just to tie.  Darren felt his chances were good in continuing his quest to the 2008 Seacoast Cup.  Mike, knowing that Darren was on a roll, decided that he would have to play par golf, not make the costly mistakes, and to let Darren do the scrambling to play great golf.  Both players decided to play early and so they met for their 7:36a tee time.

Semi - Finals Match Play Results:

To View the Entire Match Play Bracket - click here

 Chan vs. Jensen:  Chan wins 2 up.   Curtis Chan got an early lead on John by winning the first  2 holes.  Both players played well for the next few holes, each halving great putts and chip shots not allowing the other to win the hole. .  Then on hole #6, John Jensen finally  took advantage of his “given stroke” and made a bogey for a net par, Curtis struggled to make a double bogey allowing John to gain the momentum he needed to put his game into gear.  By hole 9, Jensen felt his game coming around and smoothly scored a par while Curtis fell short with his pitching iron approach shot which netted him a bogey.  This was no match for John’s solid par.  So after 9 holes, the match was again ALL Square.  Going into the back nine, Curtis realized that John was gaining alot of confidence in his game and still in striking distance in taking the lead.   John realized that he was playing very well,  keeping up with Curtis’ game, and it was actually within his grasp to win and take this match..  All he needed to do is begin making some natural pars and he would be able to really make some noise to win.  Both John and Curtis scrambled and made crucial putts to keep the match All Square until hole #13, when Curtis sank a 5 footer for par. John was unable to make his 3 foot putt.  Chan again took a 1 up lead and never looked back.  John kept things close for several more holes, but halving holes was not what he needed.  Curtis’ scrambling and chipping shots were all placed well on holes 14, and 15, which allowed him to halve holes, keeping John from winning anything.  Then on the difficult hole 16 John met his doom. His tee shot gave him about 165 yards to the hole.  He was not able to  execute his second shot and it flew into the right lateral hazard area.  John tried his best to regroup, but a triple bogey didn’t help his cause…he was now 2 down with 2 holes to go.  What composure John displayed as he made a nice comeback and pared out  the difficult hole #17 and got himself to within one (1 down) going into the 18^th hole.  Curtis then realized that John had played incredibly well all during the match, and that on this last and final hole,  had to make a point  as to who was going to be the winner.  So after watching John come up short on his drive, Curtis decided to go all out.  He hit a booming drive into the wind and was able to draw the ball to get within 238  yards from the cup.  Watching John take two more shots to get wihin 120 of the green, Curtis realized that Par would be enough to win.  He still decided to risk the 3 wood shot and attempt a chance at eagle…..so with much concentrated efforts, Curtis flew his 2^nd shot onto the green, leaving himself a 46 foot putt for eagle.  John realized that the match was over.  Curtis barely missed his eagle putt attempt and John conceded the tap in birdie for the hole and the match.  The 2 competitors both congratulated each other, realizing that either player could have won the match, but Curtis ended up on the winning side today.  In the post game interview room Curtis said:  “John was a great competitor.  I knew his game had improved dramatically this year, but today, he really proved that solid work on one’s game can really pay off.  Even though he came out short on just a few holes and lost today’s match, he really should be proud of himself how he kept the match close.  In fact, he easily could have been the winner if he only made a few more putts today.  My putting and chipping was great today.   I was able to save myself several times with my short game from getting behind in the match.  My hat goes out to John for making such great advances in his golf game this year.  I remember earlier this year when he was trying to break 100, and now he almost today, (in competition at that), broke 90….what a player !!!!” 

Congratuations to Curtis Chan for making it to the Finals Match !

Haug vs. Maglidt:  Haug wins 7 and 5.   Mike Haug and Darren Maglidt chose to play early at 7:36am.   The driving range still hadn't opened up yet, so they had to start cold.   Mike Haug was willing to give a pre match interview on the putting green where he laid out his game play:  make pars and birdies, stay away from bogeys, and make sure his drives were in play.  “If I play my best…that gives me a chance to win.  I just don’t want to beat myself. ” Pre match comments were difficult to get from Darren as he was on the practice putting green, putting out fires at work.  He was getting  text messages from his boss, his boss' boss, and his boss' boss' boss.  Needless to say, he was a bit distracted when he teed off. .  Without being able to warm up, he unfortunately hit his first drive OB on the left, helping Mike win the hole.  On the next three holes, he hit the greens in regulation after some nice drives and iron play, but the putter disappeared with two three putts and a four putt.  Mike played steady, posting mostly pars and a few bogies, putting the pressure on Darren, but the driver left him again, putting him in trouble on six, and putting one in the water on eight, and OB on nine. Despite the struggles, Darren maintained a positive attitude, displaying a great strength of character.  After hole 11, being dormied now, Darren made a comment that Mike hadn't hit a shot all day that cost him a stroke.  Mike promptly dispelled that notion by pull hooking a shot left on the par five OB, followed by a topped shot that barely made the women's tees, giving Darren a sliver of hope. That hope was dashed on the next hole, with Mike winning the hole and the match, 7 and 5.   In the post match interview room, Darren said , “ I just wasn’t himself today.  My last two match play rounds were some of the best golf games I have  put together.  Today it just didn’t happen.  My hat goes off to Mike who just played like a machine and didn’t make many mistakes.  He definitely deserved to win with his great play.  I just couldn’t get my game going today.”  Later on, Darren jokingly suggested that Mike might have had some connections to his work to help apply a little gamesmanship to distract him before the match on the practice green.    Darren also said that he played at Temecula Creek with his wife last weekend, and that round was so inconsistent, he had lost confidence in his drive.   Mike said in his post match interview, “Darren really didn’t get a chance to settle down and focus on his game today.  He was not consistent like he was playing Kent Coykendall and Michael Gibbs.  Plus today, I really played well and found a way get my golf game going.  It’s hard to play match play when your opponent is making all his shots like I was today.  I know Darren lost some confidence in his golf game and that hurt him today.”  Later before leaving the course, Mike summed it up when he said. “ The moral of the story:  no matter how much you love your wife, never play golf with her before a tournament round.” 

Congratulations to Mike Haug for making it to the Championship match !

Golf Score Posting Notes:   All Players playing in the 2008 Match Play Seacoast Cup should designate their match rounds as "Tournament" rounds when posting their adjusted gross score with the SCGA computer system.  Those scores that were already posted as a regular round will be adjusted by the tournament committee.

2008 Seacoast Cup - Match Play Bracket

Results for Individual Gross / Net Stroke Play  - several other players did come along to watch and play along with the quarter finals match play participants.  Our normal format of play was also done and here are the results:

Encinitas Ranch GC  / GREEN TEES  69.7/125

The Score Card