Hacker Page
Results June 7, 2024
Does this look familiar?
Did anyone else feel like this at any point during the round?
Yet another windy one, as we encountered the edge of that fast-moving system that moved through just to our south and east (I think anyway, I get turned around out there on the course). It settled down a little bit after a couple of holes, with some thunder in the distance (must’ve been just outside of Gloria’s evacuation zone), and a little bit of rain spritz now and then.
Only 1 handicap went up following the round, while 8 went down, and 7 remained the same. Despite the sketchy playing conditions, only 4 players had net scores above par. Seems like we are all settling into our comfort zones on the course.
There were 3 gross skins out there, as Dan Fusco took a 4-hole skin at the 4th, followed by Mark taking another 4-hole skin at the 8th, while Andy took just a 1-holer (not to be confused with an outhouse seat) at the 9th.
In the net skins, Bette took single skins, first at the 1st hole and then again at the 7th. Pete took 1 on the 2nd hole, while Bob took 4 at the 6th, and Mark took 1 at the 8th.
With Tommy’s return to action, we had our first week without a sub. Welcome back Tom!
Now for the matches:
Not surprisingly, with the low
net for the night, it was Bette taking top points. While Bette started
out winning the first 2 holes against Dan Palmerino, an unfortunate triple
at the 3rd hole brought her lead back to just 1-up. A series of tied
holes kept the match there until the 7th hole, where Bette
turned up the heat to win the remaining 3 holes and close out the match 6½ - 2½
. Nice round Bette! Dan, what can I say? We’ll add your name to
the long list of Bette’s victims ☹
As a side note, the conversation in this group took an unusual turn, when Brian
made a comment about Bette’s bogey putt on the 5th hole.
Something along the lines of it “looking like her ball did a pole dance” as it
fell into the hole. The conversation quickly took on a PG-rating, as questions
arose about Bette’s past, and does Tommy know about this side of
her? 
OK, now that I’ve stirred THAT pot, on to the next set of matches.
Three matchups fell into the 5½ - 3½ range, starting with Dan Fusco taking a wire-to-wire win over Dave. On his way to low gross for the night, Dan had a 3-up lead after the first 5 holes. Dave cut into that lead with a win at the 6th, but Dan quickly re-took it on the next hole, guaranteeing himself the win. Dave held fast though, with a tie at the 8th, and a win at the 9th he was able to hold Dan to a 2-up win. Way to hang in there Dave! While both players shot better than their handicaps, Dan was 1 stroke lower to take the bonus point. A couple of nice rounds gents!
Next up was Sue vs Bob. It was another tight match, with Sue shooting 1 below her handicap, and Bob just 1 higher than his, both players led at some point in the match. Bob started out taking a 1-up lead at the 1st hole. The lead remained there until Sue won the 4th and 5th holes to get it to all square and then 1-up. Bob squared things back up on the next hole, but from there on it was Sue’s win, as she took 2 ½ of the final 3 points. Well done, Sue!
Playing in the same group, it was a slightly different story for Tom and Pete, as both players struggled equally, as evidenced by their 7-over handicap net scores. As a result of this, the match turned out to be close, with Tommy starting the 5-hole back-and forth win pattern, leaving him 1-up through 5. A tied hole at the 6th kept the match there until Pete squared it back up with a win at the 7th. Tom then rattled off wins at the final 2 holes for the 2-up win. Had either player shot at or near their handicap, it would have been a much different story. Alas, what might have been.
Another three matches finished just ½ point lower at 5-3, starting with Mark and Matt in the lead group. In what was a back-and-forth sine-wave style match, it was Matt starting off with the 1-up lead after the first hole. A tie at the 2nd kept in there until the wave went back to Mark’s favor win 2 hole-wins to go 1-up. Then Matt scored 2 wins to bring the wave back to his side and a 1-up lead for HIM at the 6th. From here, the wave cycled back to Mark as HE scored 2 wins to get to a 1-up lead going into the final hole. Matt needed a win at the final hole to tie the match, but the best he could manage was a tie to finish 1-down to Mark. Well fought fellas!
Tim pulled off an admirable come-from-behind win against perennial powerhouse Marty. After never leading, and trailing by as much as 3-down, Tim squared the match at the 8th hole and went on to win the final hole to take the narrow 1-up 5-4 victory. Both players shot 1-under their handicaps, thereby splitting the bonus point in this hotly contested match. Well done!
The final 5-4 match was another close, back-and-forth match as Brian took the early 1-up lead over Andy. With a little help from one of the multitude of twigs and other debris blown onto the 2nd green, Andy lipped out a birdie chip, going on to make a par to get the match to all square. A win at the 3rd hole got him to a 1-up lead that didn’t last long, as Brian squared up the match and then took back the lead at the 5th and 6th holes. A win by Andy at the 8th hole knotted the match going into the final hole. With both players on the green, Brian had about a 12-footer down the hill for a chance to force Andy to make his own putt to end the match in a tie. Brian’s putt just barely slid past the hole, opening the door for Andy’s putt to win the hole and the match. We were reminded of Bette’s earlier pole-dance putt, as Andy’s putt just caught the bottom of the cup and spun in for the win. Great match Brian!
Which brings us to the only match that ended in a tie (and was lucky to reach a conclusion at all, as we were all waiting to see Gloria skedaddling back to the clubhouse when the distant thunder started rumbling). Gloria started out great, with a win at the 1st hole, but as the sunshine faded and the winds picked up, things swung back to Jim’s favor as he squared the match up at the 2nd hole and went on to take a 2-up lead through the 7th hole. Oddly enough, as the weather had now moved out of the area, Gloria’s game seemed to re-emerge, as she went on to win the final two holes to end the match all-square. In looking at the net scores, I may have been remiss in discounting Gloria’s play during the bad stretch of weather, as she ended up shooting her handicap after all. Jim played well too, shooting 2-below his handicap, to capture the bonus point. Nice rounds you two!
Final note:
I’d just like to remind everyone that, while it is considered good sportsmanship in match play to concede a putt to an opponent who has no chance to win or tie the hole, please keep in mind that in our format we also need to protect the rest of the field when it comes to net scores. Please remember that everyone’s net score has an impact on Hacker Cup points for the entire field. While we don’t have any sort of set rule for acceptable lengths of gimmees, IMHO a putt should only be given if you truly feel that it is easily makeable by your opponent.
League Standings
The top 3 spots were retained by last week’s leaders, Mark, Dan Fusco and Marty. Moving from their previous 4th and 5th place spots respectively, Dave and Tim joined each other in a tie for 4th place.
Hacker Cup
Dan Fusco and Tim held onto the top 2 spots, while Andy and Mark swapped positions, with Andy moving up to 3rd and Mark down to 4th. Bette made a Dolly Parton move, going from 9 to 5, while Matt fell out of the top 5 into 7th place.
The Numbers:
Low Gross
40 – Dan Fusco
41 – Mark, Andy
42 – Marty
Low Net
32 – Bette, Dan Fusco
33 – Dave
34 – Jim, Andy
Knock-out Contest
This week’s knock-out win goes to Sue, as she outlasted everyone, including besting Marty on the 8th hole to take the best finish of the night. Nice round Sue! Meanwhile, Dan Fusco moved up into the season-long lead, just 4/10ths of a point ahead of cousin Jim.
Eagles and Birdies
Just one birdie was found, coming at the final hole for Andy.
Closest-to-the-pin
It was Tim’s turn to take the prize this week, knocking it to just 8’ 1” on the always difficult 6th hole. Great shot Tim!
|
Week # |
Player |
Hole # |
Prize $ |
Distance |
|
1 |
Jim |
3 |
$10 |
15’ 1” |
|
2 |
Bob |
14 |
$10 |
6’ 1” |
|
3 |
Mark |
6 |
$10 |
22’ 1” |
|
4 |
Marty |
17 |
$10 |
17’ 1” |
|
5 |
Mark |
3 |
$10 |
8’ 4” |
|
6 |
Bette |
14 |
$10 |
15’ 5” |
|
7 |
Tim |
6 |
$10 |
8’ 1” |
|
8 |
|
17 |
$10 |
|
|
MID |
|
|
$10 |
|
|
9 |
|
|
$10 |
|
|
10 |
|
|
$10 |
|
|
11 |
|
|
$10 |
|
|
12 |
|
|
$10 |
|
|
13 |
|
|
$10 |
|
|
14 |
|
|
$10 |
|
|
15 |
|
|
$10 |
|
|
TBD |
|
|
$10 |
|