Arrowood GC

Friday  September 11, 2009

Our club’s playoff season is now here and the 12 top players in our points standing are all set to go to determine our new 2009 Club Champion.  Who will take home the Seacoast Cup?.  Our top 12 players are all excited for the post season play, and the bottom 8 will now have to face off in their “wild-card” matches.  Here is the lineup.

Note:  Winners of the Wild Card Matches will advance to the next round, Quarter Finals, and will be matched up against our club's top four players who earned a 1^st round bye.  Bret Herman (1), Curtis Chan (2), Mike Nelson (3), and Dan Anderson (4). 

Each player had their game face on as they knew their whole golf season was at stake.  Here were some pre match comments and notes regarding each match:

Bill Grow vs. Larry Wood – Bill has always made it to the playoffs, and with his experience in match play he knows how to play under pressure.  Larry has been playing steady and has been putting in the practice rounds.  Last year he made it to the playoffs and his surely will put his past experience into play today and hopefully will move to the next round.

Darren Maglidt vs. Jim Hopson – Darren’s game has kept improving, and his index is slowly coming down.  He still has elements of uncontrolled golf which gives him the double and triple bogey holes.  His goal is is contain this element of his game in his match with Jim Hopson.  Hopson has a very controlled game and as long as he is steady in his game,  he should be able to give Darren a very competitive match.

Bill Brackett vs. Geoff Baynes – Bill has been working on his game and is excited to make the playoffs this year.  His short game has been improving and he hopes to put it into good use for this round.  Geoff has been focusing on course management skills and knows he has good potential.  As long as he plays within himself and not spray the ball all over the fairways, he can post a good score.

Darryn Prince vs. Bob Newby -   Darryn Pince has been mentally preparing himself for this match.  He knows Bob is a touch match player.  Bob has experience (2007 Seacoast Cup Champion)  and he is one player you can’t take for granted.  Darryn is a bit worried that his work and travel to the Far East has put a damper on his golf practice in recent weeks.  Bob knows he can play well and the tight course at Arrowood gives him a slight advantage, as long as he doesn’t make the big mistakes.  Both players have been emailing each other this past week, giving each other “mental” golf tips on their games…a bit of gamesmanship and strategy to weaken the opponent..

Wild Card Match Play Score Cards – note for match play, the lower handicap player is given the difference between the 2 players calculated monthly course handicap.

Wild Card Match Play Results:

Arrowood GC – White Tees

Grow vs. Wood:  Grow wins 3 and 2.  Both Bill and Larry came out to play.  Each player somehow was able to match shot for shot and after 9 holes, the match was all square. Then on the 10^th hole of the match, Bill put his game into anther gear and was able to win 4 consecutive holes.  Larry fought hard to settle his game down, and was able to win hole #14 to at least give himself a chance for the match.  But in the end, Larry’s effort were not enough to overcome Bill’s ability to match Larry’s play and by the end of 16 holes, Bill had a 3 hole lead to give him the win.

Maglidt vs Hopson:  Maglidt wins 8 and 6.   For Jim Hopson, the match started out nicely as he took advantage of Maglidts big triple bogey start and Hopson was suddenly 1 up.  But then Darren collected himself and turned his game around and went on a scoring frenzy.  On hole #2, Darren sank his birdie putt to square the match.  He then proceeded to par the next hole to take a 1 up lead as Hopson could only save bogey.  Then, Darren took advantage of Hopson’s uncharacteristic erratic play on the next few holes and by the end of the front 9, Darren was 5 up on Jim Hopson.  Darren knew that Jim had the ability to turn his game around and begin scoring well, but then he found another gear to step up his own play.  On the 10^th hole Darren found himself putting for a birdie and he sank the putt for another winning hole.  By hole 12, Jim Hopson found himself in a deep waters as Darren went 8 up to close the match.  Jim could only congratulate Darren for his great steady play, and only blame himself for showing up today without his normal game.

Brackett vs. Baynes:  Baynes wins 5 and 4.  Due to scheduling conflcts, Bill Bracket and Geoff Baynes agreed to play their match last week at Encintias Ranch GC.  They both have been working on their golf game this past year and both were eager to square off.  The match began as a good old fashion dual as both players matched each other stroke for stoke and after the 1^st hole the match was All Square.  But then Baynes drew first blood as he made his bogey putt, while Brackett could only salvage a double bogey.  Then Baynes when on a scoring spree and by the 7^th hole he found himself 4 up on Bill. Bill then composed himself and was able to take advantage of the “snowman” scores that Geoff posted on holes 8 and 9 and and the turn, Bill had cut the lead to only 2 up.  Goeff felt he had to shake off the “big 8” scores that he managed to make and on hole 10, he settled down his swing to just play within himself.  This did the trick as he scored a par and was able to win the hole.  Bill Brackett thought he had the momentum in his favor but now he found himself 3 down.  The two of them exchanged wins on and the 11 and 12^th holes, but then Baynes pulled out the dagger by paring and winning the 13^th and 14^th holes to finish the match at 5 and 4.

Prince vs. Newby:  Prince wins 2 and 1.  Bob  Newby and Darryn Prince were primed and ready to square off for their match.  Both have spent many hours on the range working on their swing, short game, putting, etc.  Bob even put in a few practice rounds at Arrowood to get the “lay of the land” and to gain the extra knowledge of the roll of the greens and to also discover the ideal places on the fairways for approach shots to the green.  Darryn knew his game has been slowy improving day by day.  His golf goal for this year was to make it to the playoff season and here is in his first match play playoff with the 2007 Seacoast Champion. Darryn felt confident that if he could somehow avoid the double and triple bogey score then he would have a chance.  Right into the first hole both players put in their best efforts, but Darryn stoked on the 1^st hole and was able to take the first hole.  Bob fought back quickly on the hole 2 and sank his par put, while Darryn could only settle for double bogey and the match was again all square.  Bob finally was able to make a move and won holes #5 ,#6 , and #7 to take a 2 up lead.  He felt the momentum shift and realized he had Darryn on the rocks.  But Darryn collected himself on fired back with a great par on #8 and capped off the front nine with another par (net birdie) on hole #9 to bring this match to ALL SQUARE.  Both players were now ready for a great finish.  The match remained tied until hole #13, when Newby had a difficult time getting to the green and had to settle for a double bogey.  Darryn made his crucial bogey putt to win the hole.  But Bob showcased his competitive skills and calmly birdied the next hole to once again tie the match.  Realizing that Bob wasn’t going to go down easy, Darryn then calmly placed his tee shot on the green on the difficult hole #15 (par 3 / hcp #2) and putted out for par to win the hole.  This finally put Darryn in a great position.  Bob was now running out of holes and it was a “do or die” hole on the most challenging hole #16.   Bob reached down deep to settle his game down.  He realized he needed to win this hole to give him a chance to win.  But things fell apart on this hole for Bob and the “snowman” score gave all the momentum back to Darryn.  On the next hole #17 , Bob missed his par putt and settled for a bogey, and Darryn took advantage of his stoke allotment and was able to tie and close out the match.  Both players knew it was a hard fought battle to the end.  Congratulations to Darryn for winning 2 and 1.

Quarter Finals Match Play - On September 26, players in position 1-4 will be matched up against the winners of the “Wild Card Match Play.” 

Then on October 16 the winners of the Quarter Finals Match will again square off in the Semi Finals Match Play.  The winners of these matches will then create our final 2 players who will then meet on November 6 for our Championship Match.

Remember, all players who desire to come out and play on the day of the Match Play event are still welcome to participate in our normal individual stroke play event .  There will be no points distributed in this post season play.

Quest for the 2009 Seacoast Cup - This year has been full of fun times on the golf course.  We have added a new dimension to our club’s monthly event play by having Match Play events beginning September 2009.  Twelve players have earned their way to this year’s match play event.  Points were earned by finishing well in both individual low gross and low net score postings.  Also points were earned in different team and individual events ranging from match play, 4 man team best ball, and 2 man best ball events.  Net Skins were also another category that allowed players to add points to their monthly points.

Remember only those players who have an official SCGA or USGA golf index qualify for low net play and compete in Seacoast Christian Golf Club Points System.   Players who participate in our events who do not have an official golf index / handicap, may be assigned a course handicap and may participate and qualify for team net play or for net skin play.  For information on how to obtain an official golf index contact Curtis Chan and visit : Membership and SCGA