 |
| Scott Get'n paid |
Twenty-three players teed it up for the most recent edition
of The Hideaway’s Sunday Morning Quota Skins Game (QSG), including three women,
and five first-timers.
 |
| Betty Portor drives for show |
Of those 23, just eight were in the money (made their point
quota) when the green was exchanging hands, and quite a few more pocketed some
moola for skins. I’m sad to say that I was among neither group.
It was very cool to see Jeff Ashby back at the helm. Jeff
does a fantastic job of running both the Thursday and Sunday games.
 |
| Jeff Ashby |
If you
haven’t played the Sunday or Thursday QSG at The Hideaway, it is a
come-one-come-all proposition for anyone who loves to play the game and would
like to opportunity to get some cash back for playing. On Sunday you pay $35
for 18 holes, and on Thursday you pay $20 for nine holes.
We play a modified Stableford format, and to get paid you
have to exceed your points’ quota, which is determined by your handicap, or the
score you shot the previous week.
 |
| Mo money |
If you play bogey golf or better, and/or can
make a birdie every now and then, you have a good chance of slipping something
back in your wallet at the end of the game.
 |
| Gordy showing his short game prowess |
This past Sunday, Gordon Byrd proved to be the top points
earner, posting nine points above his quota, and pocketing $27 ($3 per point)
for his efforts. I’m guessing Gordon’s quota should be considerably higher next
time out. Scott Lovecchio, who has been a solid performer thus far this summer,
had a nice day as well, posting seven points above his quota.
 |
| Gotta work on my technique |
I thought I would be doing some collecting myself after a
decent start. I posted two points with a par on the not-so-easy (4th
hardest for men, 15th for women), par -3, 15th, but
started having some vision issues, over and above my normal blindness, by our
third hole. Even though I posted another par on our third hole, that left eye bugged
me for the next several holes. I still managed to get at least one point on
eight of the first nine holes.
 |
| Elaine knocking in the par while Hideaway pro Dave Bartoe looks on |
I finally ripped the contact out of my left eye after trying
to hit my second shot from the middle of the fairway with one eye and carding a
double bogey on No.7, our 11th hole. It stung a little when I replaced
it, but I felt that I could actually see what I was trying to do out there from
that point forward. I didn’t do a whole lot better, posting just 10 points in
the final seven holes, but hey, I felt better.
 |
| I think that one just missed |
The real story of the day, however, was Chris Capps, who,
after failing to post any significant points on the first few holes, ended up
cashing in on five birdies, each of which resulted in a skin, and notching two points above his quota.
 |
| Chris & Elaine Capps |
I’m going to
chalk-up Chris’ uncharacteristic start on the presence of his wife Elaine, who joined us
for the first time, and the pressure of performing with his brand new set of
Wilson Staff FG Tour V2, with Fujikura Rombax 9E05 TM-27 X shafts.
 |
| Josh Musselman of Josh Musselman's Golf Express |
You see, Chris had just been fitted by Josh Musselman, of Josh Musselman’s Golf Express about a
week prior (a birthday present from his lovely bride Elaine), his brother
Courtney had sent him the club heads, and Musselman’s had installed the new
shafts this past Friday.
 |
| Josh's Club Fitter of the year awards |
Josh has been listed as a “World’s Top 100 Clubfitter” for a
half-dozen years, and after being fitted, Chris wrote, “Josh really knows his stuff…Never in a
million years would I have
thought I would play with what he recommended but I
can see big improvement in my ball flight and consistency. Never again will I
buy without a proper fitting. Thanks Josh." You think Chris
was excited to unveil those clubs on Sunday?
 |
| Elaine's replacement? |
I’ll just tell you that I got a text on Saturday, totally in
jest of course that said, “”Looks like Elaine has to find a new place to sleep,”
along with photos of his new sweethearts lying on the bed, I presume, on Elaine’s
side. You have to make birdies and score points after all that don’t you?
Well, Chris’ birdie barrage didn’t begin until Hole No.2 (our
sixth of the day) the uphill, par-3 with a stiff right-to-left breeze.
Once he
got going though, he dropped another on the challenging No.4 (a par-4 rated the
2nd hardest for men, 4th for women), another on the par-5
No.8 (despite missing the fairway long), yet another the par-3 11th,
with the final tweeter coming on our last hole, the par-4 14th (the
6th hardest for men, 3rd for women).
 |
| Chris sinking another |
 |
| T. A. missing another |
I did have a chance to drop one in on top of him on the
final hole, but typical of my day, my putt lipped out.
Given my exercise in futility
for most of the round (although 8 pars isn’t too bad for me, despite falling one
short of my quota), I was happy to close out the Sunday morning fun with a par.
 |
| Thank you very much. Champions Tour next |
As for Chris, those five birdies at $10 per, plus the $6 for
the two points over his quota took care of his and Elaine’s rounds. Elaine was Considering
Elaine’s Bloody Marys and Chris’ celebratory brew, I think they may have just
broken even. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning.
 |
| World Am Day 2 Leader Board |
As for me, I’m thinking it may be time for another fitting
session with Josh. It has been three years since I last saw him for my fitting,
and it might just be time to fine-tune for our next run at the World Amateur
Handicap Championships in Myrtle Beach later this summer. Being atop the leaderboard
on Day 2 is just not enough. May as well shoot for the whole enchilada I say.
 |
| Steph & Elaine celebrating with Chris |
Meanwhile, congrats to Chris, Gordy, and Scott for their
Sunday morning performances. Kudos to Curt Conrad and Jeff Shiggy, both of whom
posted positive points and claimed skins as well. Thanks to Steph for wielding the
camera better than I wielded the clubs, and see ya’ll Thursday…
Definition of Golf: “A passion, an obsession, a romance, a
nice acquaintanceship with trees, sand, and water.” ~Bob Ryan
.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.