West Defends the Cup!
Team West became the first Team in 7 years to successfully defend the Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday. In a match for the ages that saw several firsts in Cup history, Team West broke out on top big on Day 1 with a 8-2 lead. Four of their teams swept the day, leaving Team Central with a “what have we got to lose” attitude going into Day 2. A loose Team Central dominated Day 2, taking 7 matches. Afternoon wins by the teams of McCue / Klipa and Markel / Lardin kept Team West in front for the final day. On Day 3 the unthinkable looked not only possible but likely as Captain Kline’s first 6 competitors out swept their matches without even getting to the 18th hole. That left 4 close matches on the course with Team Central needing only a 1/2 point to close the miracle comeback. The next two matches featured the father – son Floyd duo for Team West. Son Tyler won the 17th to go up 1 and held serve on the 18th with a generous concession to halve the hole after Bill Gordon over cooked his drive and was left out of position and eventually unable to convert a long par putt. Simultaneously on the 17th, father Rick Floyd was defeating Dan Gubachy to keep Team West alive. As West Captain Corey McCue and opponent Mike Prieskorn stepped the the 18th tee, behind them Tim “Major” Markel was completing a 4-1 weekend with a win over Ken “Ace” Westerman on the 16th green. McCue was 1-up and needed to halve the hole to secure defense of the Cup. Both players got off the tee clean, but Prieskorn clipped a tree on his 2nd leaving an awkward 3rd out of tough rough that he left short in a bunker. McCue played solid shots to the fairway and front of the green. McCue ran his long birdie putt to 5 feet while Prieskorn, making sure he wasn’t short again, put his 4th just over the green and well above the hole on a steep slope. His Par chip missed just right. McCue stepped up and sank the Par to take the final hole and the Cup. The match is the first in 16 Commissioner’s Cup events to finish in a tie. More remarkable was that none of the 30 matches played on the weekend ended in a halved match. Captain McCue and ‘Major’ Markel led Team West with 4-1 records while Rick Floyd, Brian Lardin and Jeff Klipa also had winning records for the weekend. John Raymond led Team Central with a 4-1 weekend while Bill Gordon, Keven Gregoire, and Eric Birkle posted 3-2 marks. This is Team West’s 7th Cup win, tying them with Team Central for most all-time.
A thriller to the end!
Central rallies on Day 2 to make it interesting. Ken ‘Ace’ Westerman repeated his feat of earlier in the year by holing out on the Par 3 12th hole using the same 7 wood that found the hole in July.
West dominates on Day 1
Notable from Thursday practice round: Helen Puffenberger holed out from 150 yards with a 4-hybird on the 18th hole for a rare Albatross. Team Central thanked her for using it up in practice.
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