The Cider Cup 

“The Dot.com Conflict”

 

The 1st annual Cider Cup began under ominous conditions. The weather was a “balmy” 38 degree’s and the Blue Team’s impressive uniforms had the Red Team visibly shaken. Just look at the facial expressions of each team. Frank Henson seems to be more surly than normal and McIlvain looks like a homeless man with good shoes.

 

Uniform Advantage = Blue Team

 

As a show of good sportsmanship, both teams exchanged tee-gifts that included Bourbon Barrel Ale, Cigars, Ale-8, Hard Cider and some seemingly harmless Red Stag that would prove otherwise as the competition heated up.

Speaking of heating up, the introduction of “The Dots” seemed to help Lenox and Kendall’s blood warm to a toasty 200 degree’s and remain there throughout most of the event.

 

As Day 1 competition began, the participants went into battle playing 2-Man Best Ball. The teams of Kendall/Henson along with McIlvain/Varner won points for the Old Farts, while the duo’s of McCauley/Thornton and Letcher/Bishop won their “Dot” aided matches putting the point total tied at two. (On a side note, as an eye-witness to one of the “Dot” aided matches, I can tell you that the pairing of Sparks/Cox could have been given dots themselves and not have stopped the buzz-saw known as Nick Thornton who played flawlessly much to Captain McCauley’s surprise)

As the teams regrouped and went out for Alternate Shot, it seemed that a couple of the Red Team members were a bit happier than they had been at the start of the day. After a close examination of Lenox and Henson’s cart, it was deemed that the amount of empty Red Stag bottles had a direct correlation to their warm and fuzzy condition. But I digress…..on to the competition. The Blue Team again had a winning performance from Letcher/Bishop. They also scored from the new pairing of Ogden/Meeks while the Red Team got a win from Lenox/Caudill and were hoping for a Point from Kendall/Henson to square things up but the team of McCauley/Thornton had other ideas. As the teams played the final hole, the Red Team held a 1 up lead, but cheers were dampened as Kendall dumped a 30 yard chip short of the green forcing Henson to return to the cart to retrieve his wedge. Thornton inexplicably hits a shot 15 feet past the bottom pin on 9 that spins back and nearly goes in. After the excitement died down, the Blue Team was deflated a bit when realizing they had 10 footer to win the hole after what was almost a “jarred” chip. McCauley then pours in the putt (Red Stag Shot of the Day) to win the hole and give the Blue Team a 4 ½ to 3 ½ lead after Day 1.

 

Day 2 began with much better weather, but a “Dot Storm” was brewing on the driving range. Kendall and Lenox were the most vocal, but expressed their concerns in a pleasant and calm fashion to Captain Sparks. As both team Captains went into seclusion to discuss the matter, Sparks emerged from the meeting with 2 announcements. First, Lenox and Kendall’s concerns were totally ignored and furthermore, they had been paired together in the 2 Man Scramble so as not to infect the rest of the team. The dejected duo promptly went out and was defeated by the “Dot” aided team of Letcher/Bishop. The Blue Team used this controversy as a battle cry and got wins from Ogden/Thornton, Meeks/Gossett and a ½ Point from McCauley/Ammerman which put the Blue Team up 8 – 4 headed to the Singles Matches and needing only 2 ½ Points out of a possible 8 to secure the Cider Cup.

The Singles matches ensued and things were looking up for the Red Team as Henson took a 2-up lead on Ogden and Sparks got off to a fast start against Thornton.

Sparks defeated Thornton on #16:                                 Blue Team (8), Red Team (5)             

Ogden defeated Henson on #17:                                    Blue Team (9), Red Team (5)

Cox defeated Bishop on #18:                                         Blue Team (9), Red Team (6)             

Caudill defeated Gossett on #18:                                    Blue Team (9), Red Team (7)

Lenox defeated Letcher:                                                 Blue Team (9), Red Team (8)

Kendall defeated McCauley:                                             Blue Team (9), Red Team (9)

 

The Cider Cup was all square with (2) matches remaining on the course. Bill Meeks vs David McIlvain and Joseph Ammerman vs Gary Varner. It was at this point, that the Red Team jubilation was throttled a bit at the realization that our hopes were riding on the “Slappy Brothers” otherwise known as Varner and McIlvain.  Joseph Ammerman promptly puked all over himself on his approach to the green (possibly a result of too much partying the night before at an event hosted at his home that Ogden claimed knew nothing about even though Ammerman insisted he had been informed).  Once again, I digress……back to the action.

Varner defeated Ammerman                                              Blue Team (9),  Red Team (10)

McIlvain defeated Meeks                                                    Blue Team (9), Red Team (11)

 

When the dust settled, the Red Team had taken 7 of the 8 Singles matches and won the 1st Annual Cider Cup. It could have been a Singles sweep had it not been for events from the previous day for one Red Team participant.

                                                                

To sum up the 1st ever Cider Cup, I think we can all agree that it was a resounding success. It promoted some needed revenue to the club as well as some beverage companies. It fostered some new friendships within our golfing community. It generated $320 for charity to a couple of folks that reacted as if it was much more than a few hundred dollars, which it was. The gift told them they had friends thinking about them and that they were not alone in their fight against cancer. Last but not least, IT WAS A LOT OF FUN.

Thanks to all that participated. I’m already looking forward to 2014!