Seacoast Christian Golf Club Outing

Encinitas Ranch GC,  October 1, 2010

Semi Finals Round - 2010 Seacoast Cup Championship

The 2010 Seacoast Cup Playoff Season is now in it's Semi Finals round as the Top 12 have been now narrowed to 4 players.  Our top 4 players have won their Quarter Final matches in the last round and have earned their way into the Semi Finals.    Below are the match ups and the results of their match play competitions.

Pre Match Notes:

All Four of our Semi Finalist arrived early at the course to warm up their swings and get a feel for the greens for the day’s round.  (note) Match #1, Bret Herman vs. Lee Fitzgerald  and  Match #2 , Bill Grow vs. Kent Coykendall .

 Herman vs. Fitzgerald – Bret has been playing very steady all year and has proven to us why he became the 2009 Seacoast Cup Champion.  Today he is hoping play his best and take his match play to another step  to get a chance defend his title .  There is no question about his playing ability and consistency in posting good rounds.  Bret finished well in our 2010 Seacoast Cup Points and played in only 5 events.  But every event he played in made him enough points to get him a top 4 spot.   As long has his driver serves him well, then Bret’s game will be hard to contend with.   Lee has been working hard on improving his game and this year he has made big advances.  His steady play catapulted him into the playoffs and his recent excellent play in the last few rounds has brought him into the Semi Finals.   Lee barely squeezed out a win in his last round against Bill Brackett when Rule 15-3 came into play and Bill lost a crucial hole to give Lee the match.  Lee knows that he has his plate full today and will have to play his absolute best against Bret.  If Lee plays his game and plays to his playing potential he has a good chance against Bret.  Lee will have to be steady in making sure par is in his rangefinder on each hole. 

Grow  vs. Coykendall – Bill Grow is a seasoned veteran of post season match play.  His experience and mental toughness has taken down many opponents.  Although age has taken a toll on Bill’s length off the tee in his game, his enhanced skills in the short game makes him a stealthy player.   In the last Quarter Round match against a worth opponent in Dan Anderson, Bill finished strong and steady and squeezed out a win.   He knows that today’s match against Kent Coykendall bill be the same kind of game plan…don’t make mistakes and score well.   Kent has been quite happy with his new Taylor Made clubs he switch into this past year.  He has been playing steady in the playoffs and has been knocking out key players each week.  Kent has been the “Cinderella” story of the year as he didn’t  originally make it into the top 12.   Due to the fact the Denny Sbarabaro (#1 seed) and  Andy Trees (#12 seed) were unable to participate in this year’s playff season, Kent was quite surprised when he received the phone call from the tournament committee with the news that he was going to take the last spot in the top 12.   His competitive juices have been churning since that call and he has taken out Curtis Chan and Jim Hopson along the way.  Now he finds himself in the Semi Finals against Bill Grow.    This will be a good match as Kent’s winning momentum will now be tested against the man of experience, Bill Grow.

Match 1

Herman def. Fitzgerald   7 and 6 –  this match had all the potential to be a battle, but unfortunately Dr. Lee Fitzgerald left his “A” game at another golf course today.  Bret Herman started the hole one with a bogey, but Lee had difficulties with his own game from the start and found himself behind  when his ball finally found the cup.  It was an up hill battle as each hole seemed to be another win in Bret’s favor, and by the time the front nine was done, Bret’s lead was already 6 up.  Lee’s normal steady game was filled with bogey and double bogies which only padded more wins for Bret.  Finally after 9 holes, Lee settled down and began making pars, but by the time the 12 hole was complete, the damage had been done, and Bret closed out the match with another par for the win.   Lee’s only comment in the post game interview was..” Bret was too good today…He shot a 75!...I just didn’t have my game today on the front nine…It was fun….but I surely took a beating today…my congrats to Bret and I wish him well as he defends his title.”    Bret Herman was very calm and collected as he made a few post match comments…” I really had a good round today.  All my shots seemed to go how I intended.  Wow..I shot a 75…that’s a great round for me.  I guess I was all pumped up and knew I had to play my best against Dr. Lee today…I saw his recent match play rounds and knew he was a tough player…unfortunately for him, he didn’t have a good front nine, and I took advantage of this situation to get a pretty comfortable lead.  I have to commend his attitude and ability to gather himself, as he played very well on the back nine shooting a 38…but the match was all won on the early holes for me.  I hope I can take this kind of round into the finals"

Coykendall def. Grow  2 up -  This match was pretty close all the way.  Kent jumped out to a quick 2 up lead on the 5^th hole, but this didn’t rattle Bill Grow’s game as he clawed himself back into the match by making par on #11 to beat Kent’s bogey to tie the match at All Square.  Bill felt the momemtum was now in his favor as he sensed his game was all settled in, but on the 12^th hole he missed his par putt, leaving the door open for Kent.  Kent took advantage Bill’s missed put and sank his par put for the win and a 1 up lead.  Going into the difficult (#2 handicap hole) hole #13 par 4, Kent sensed that his hole could be the turning point in the entire match.  Realizing that the lower handicap holes could play a big role in determining tie breaking matches, Kent knew he had to score well on this hole.  Both players had nice drives into the fairway, but Bill’s approach shot to the green was a bit short .  But Bill had a 1 stoke allotment meaning a bogey made a net par.  Bill put his 3^rd shot on the green but a lengthy par put was necessary.  Then Kent pulled the putt of the day out of his bag by sinking a difficult 10 footer for birdie,and a win as Bill could only save bogey.  This gave Kent a crucial 2 up lead going into the last stretch of holes. At hole 16, Bill took advantage of Kents miscue and brought the match to a 1 up lead in Kent’s favor.  Then at the “crazy” 17 hole (water hole) Bill decided to take the “strategic” approach to the match.  Realizing that Kent just made double bogey on 16, Bill played it safe and didn’t fire at the pin, but put his tee shot way left of the water hazard to insure his tee shot would be in play.   Kent sensing that this was “do or die” time,  dug down deep and unleashed  a perfect 6 iron shot that settled down 15 feet from the pin.  Bill’s normal “up and down” short game somehow didn’t show up as Bill wasted his 2^nd shot which ended up far from the cup.  Bill’s attempt for the long par came out short.  Kent now saw the opportunity that he needed to close out the match, and he calmly 2 putted for his par which sealed the deal to end the competition.  The two players shook hands and realized that it was a tough battle.   Bill remarked…”Kent had it going all day. He didn’t make too many mistakes, but I tried to capitalize on the ones he did make which game me the opening to win some holes.  Unfortunately for me the 17^th hole was not kind to me…I tried to play it safe, but I really should have played a bit more aggressive .  Kent played like a champion today and I can see him going all the way with the kind of play he showed today.”   Kent was found in the club house with a big smile on his face and his voice had the sounds of relief as he explained…”Bill was a great competitor today.  I know he can be tough all the way to the end, and he had me going all day.  I knew I couldn’t let the door open too wide for him or else he will chew you up and before you know it he is in the lead.  I took a lesson from the last match he had with Dan Anderson.  Today I resigned myself to play within myself and tried to hit fairways and greens, and give myself opportunities at making pars and birdies.  Today it worked out in my favor and I’m so happy to have conquered  and  come out on top today.  Bill has all the weapons, but today I was able to pull out the win !”

Players Bracket -–In addition to the top 12 players squaring off to determine our 2010 Seacoast Cup Champion over the next few events, a "“layer'’ Bracket"”match play competition also got underway.  All players who are not competing in the Championship Bracket, are welcomed to participate to compete in "Match play"  format in the "Player's  Bracket."” Below are the guidelines and rules for this bracket.

Player’s Bracket Overview and Rules

1.  Player’s Bracket is the playing format for those players who are not competing in the Seacoast Championship Bracket.  Each week players in this bracket will be competing in “match play” competition.  Points will be earned for wins and participation.  Only players who are not in the “Championship Bracket” may participate in the “Players Bracket” to earn points.  A player who loses a match in the Championship bracket may participate in the Player’s bracket in the next round.  Points for the loss in the Championship Bracket will be given to the player equal to the amount allocated for that previous round.   As the playoffs progress towards the end of the year, each event will have a higher value in points.  The player with the most points at the end of the Championship Round will be declared the winner of the Player’s bracket. 

2.     Before each round, the tournament committee will rank participating players according to: points earned and monthly index.  Players will then be matched up in order to compete in match play for the next rounds given points.  Players without an official index may participate, but will be assigned an index for the round.  If there are an uneven amount of players so that a player is without a match opponent, the tournament committee may assign another player from the “Championship” bracket for competition sake, or a blind draw will be utilized from the field.

Points Table

Player’s Bracket Matches – Semi Finals Round

Player’s Bracket Results -–Semi Card Round

2010 Players Bracket Points

Sept 3 - Wild Card Matches  / Rancho Bernardo Inn

Sept 17 - Quarter Final Matches / Arrowood GC

Oct 1 - Semi Finals Matches / Encinitas Ranch GC

Nov 5 - Championship Final / The Crossings at Carlsbad

Dec 3 - Breakfast of Champions / President's Cup - TBA

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