What up Feller,
Happy Tuesday, sorry for the delay in getting this out, I am sure everyone was busy with the holiday!
Any who, hope everyone had a great weekend and to those of you who got out, what a beautiful weekend for it…. Also, Fuck little Mountain hole number 11. Also, Also, was nice to have the original commissioner Augy back for the weekend, I believe he got a couple of rounds in with some of you.
Please see re-cap below and be sure TO GET YOUR MONEY IN FOR THE WEEK!!!!! (if you plan on patricipating in the gambling games).ALSO, ALSO, ALSO, thank you everyone who came out to the first Cleveland Cup Happy Hour, was a great time, and finally nice to put some names to faces I am sure.
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The intrepid golfers of the Cleveland Cup braved the wilds of Concord Township to do battle with Hurdzan and Fry over Memorial Day Weekend at Little Mountain, a top-11 regional track.
Some of us, it would appear, avoided the deepest and most menacing bunkers for which the course is (in)famous. Others weren’t so lucky. I, for one, walked off two greens with a quadruple and quintuple bogey, respectively, sand in my ears, my eyes and I shit-you-not my taint, as near to God as the U.S. commandos at Normandy.
Tyler Deming and Michael Finnerty continued their piping-hot early-season play, with top gross scores of 80 and 81 on the par-70 layout. Finnerty’s astonishing birdie on the 450+ yard par 4 18th, a league-leading three skins, and only 28 putts to his name make him our Player of the Week.
“Some days you feel the greens and some days you don’t,” Finnerty told your Cle Cup Comms Dept.
But it was Tyler who hoisted the trophy in Week 6 with a stupid net score of 64, adding to what’s becoming a frankly annoying resume of success.
Top 5 Gross (Net)1. Tyler D. 80 (64) 2. Ryan H. 91 (65) 3. Colin M. 92 (69) 4. Cory K. 89 (69) 5. Michael F. 81 (69)
The wind off I-90 often asserts itself at Little Mountain, but the weather for the holiday weekend was by and large sublime, and 20 total Cle Cup golfers carded official rounds, fresh off the camaraderie of the first league Happy Hour last Thursday.
The enticing short par 4s and interspersed par 3s made for excruciating pace of play during peak hours, and the bunkers yielded an extreme variance in scoring from hole to hole. But week 6 was another strong outing for this league of extraordinary gentlemen, not to mention for games of chance, as nine foolhardy gamblers tempted fate in the money games.
Let’s see how we fared.
PuttsThe aforementioned Finnerty took home this week’s putting crown with a grand total of 28 (1.55 per hole.)
“The keys to me at Little Mountain are always the same,” Finnerty explained, when probed about his elite performance with the flat stick. “First off: Keep the 60 in the bag. On fast and hard greens with low cut fairways, I resort to chipping with a 46 degree wedge and using a bump and run to minimize the risk of chunking the chip or coming up way short of the pin.
- “Next, I always try to play more break than it seems and ensure that if I do miss, that I miss above the hole. The ball won’t snap as much when it slows down, so your follow up putt should be easier and shorter.”
*NOTE: For those in the money games, this is your regular reminder to hit that practice green in a concerted way before your round. Given the snipers in the field, nothing above 31 putts is likely to take the top spot week to week.
PinsIn what I’ve just been informed is a clerical error, commissioner Dalton Rimbert did not — I repeat: did not — shoot a dart to within 1.4 feet on #2 and fail to sink the birdie putt. (Dalton rushed to correct the record with Chief Data Officer Gabriel Baird, having mistakenly entered his pin placement in feet, not inches. His honor remains unbesmirched!)
No immediate word on whether the same clerical boner befell Shawn Zbasnik, who at the moment appears to have striped a tee shot to within about a foot on #4 and walked away with par.
Even once those measurements are converted, Dalton and Shawn should still be close enough to secure pins, with Comms Dept. Editor in Chief Vince G. narrowly coming closest on 12, beating rival foursome member James Stubbins at ~13 feet to James’ ~15 feet.
I myself might have had more luck taking a putter off the tee on that fucking hole. Sweet Philippe, visiting from New York state, got to see me skull a lob wedge into the woods, overshooting the green with my most lofted club by no less than 75 yards.
SkinsAfter the shellacking by Cory W. at Seneca, a more even distribution in Week 6. Michael F.: 3 (11, 14, 18) Gabriel B.: 2 (3, 10) Niel H.: 2 (5, 15)Dalton R.: 1 (4) Sam A.: 1 (9) Vince G.: 1 (12)
Player ProfileCourse knowledge, strategic lines and impeccable short game play contributed to Finnerty’s handsome round. He lives only 15 minutes from the course and said he plays it regularly, (second only to Chardon’s. St. Denis, where Finnerty carded the Cleveland Cup’s top gross round (82) in Week 2.)
“The key I find to scoring well at Little Mountain is to look at each hole and know where the bail out spots are,” he said. “For example, on hole 18, instead of trying to hit a drive down the middle of the fairway and possibly going left, it’s better to aim to the right side and go into the right rough. Your second shot may be 10-20 yards longer, but it’s a direct shot to the pin and takes the bunkers and gorge completely out of play.”
- “On number 10, the fairway goes OB much faster on the left side than it appears from the tee box. You can play to the #9 fairway and still have a safe shot to the green. There is pretty much a bail out spot on each hole to aim for to keep your score down.”
Mission accomplished.
Current RankingsMay is now under our belts, fellas. The rankings below reflect total points in April and each player’s top two rounds from May.
Top 5 (Pt. total) 1. Colin M. (769) 2. Cory K. (765) 3. Tyler D. (740)4. Zach P. (705) 5. Cory W. (678)
Next Up
Blue Tees at Medina’s Bunker Hill, (which alert viewers will recognize as the name of the dicey short par 4 #14 at Oak Hill.) This is the penultimate “Additional” event, before the Tour season heats up with big-money slugfests at Northeast Ohio’s premium golf destinations in June, July and August.
After the misadventures in the beaches of Little Mountain, these Medina “bunkers” will be eminently conquerable. And with seven (7!!!) par 4s of 340 yards or less, wedges must be dialed in and birdies will likely be necessary for skins. Will we see the Cup’s first eagle this week? Number 16 beckons.
Prof. Sam AllardMiddle East Correspondent Cleveland Cup
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Sam Allard
sam.joe.allard@gmail.comC: 216-402-9849
@SceneSallard
Any questions, please reach out to myself, Gabe or Stetson!
-Commish
