2003 Tournament Results MYRTLE CUP MATCHES
May 24-27, 2003

Short Game Competition

A fun time was had by all on the 9th green at Possum Trot and especially for the semifinals and finals at the 9th green at Tidewater. 

The elimination round at Possum Trot involved chipping (off the green to a pin 20 feet away), bunker play (greenside bunker with 25 feet of green to work with) and lag putting (60 foot putt).  The victors, and moving on to the semifinals, were Willcox, Giles Trimarchi and Boone. 

Giles took first place in the elimination round, with a chip to 15.5 inches, a bunker shot to 6 feet, and a lag putt to 20 inches.

Trimarchi (what??! The words "Trimarchi" and "short game" are like oil and water, but hey strange things happen) finished second, helped by a gorgeous bunker shot to just over 2 feet.

Boone was third, with an even better bunker shot to a foot and a half.
Willcox squeezed into fourth place with a beautiful lag putt to 11 inches, after having made 0 points in the chipping contest with his best effort stopping 300 (!) inches from the hole!  He barely beat out Tsambasis, who whined about it later (sorry John). 

With cheering throngs and Fortune handling the betting cage up on the Tidewater patio, beers flowing, the semifinals pitted Willcox versus Giles and Boone versus Peaches Trimarchi.  The contest?  Well the 9th green at Tidewater is a sharply sloped green from right to left, with a marsh to the left of the green; on the right side of the green is a raised bunker.  On this day, the pin was on the left side of the green.  So the Semifinals consisted of 3 bunker shots to the pin; a treacherous bunker shot to a very fast green sloping severely away from the player, with perhaps 30 feet of green to work with, with a marsh lurking behind the pin!

Clearly the players were nervous.  Everyone botched at least one shot.  Willcox, who had turned a shade of green, sailed his first attempt into the marsh.  Giles had brown spots on his pants.  Peach's goggles were all fogged up.  Boone's bald pate was beaded with sweat.  When all was said and done, Giles bested Boone, who went into a funk that lasted the rest of the trip (wouldn't talk to anyone, bit people's heads off whenever they made a sound, allegedly raped Kiesel, etc.).  And in the other semifinal, there must have been an alignment of certain planets because Trimarchi, he of the chunked chips, a guy who can reach the apron of a 420 yard par 4 in two and then can't figure out how not to skull the ball over the green, beat our hero Willcox.  Part of it was that Willcox's steely exterior obviously masks deepseated fears of success and perhaps a slight cross-dressing tendency.

The final involved 3 pitches from about 30 yards out, and was anticlimactic.  Partly because Fortune, who had been yelling and screaming and placing bets all through the semifinal, had now fallen into a Miller Lite-induced coma on the patio, and noone wanted to wake him.

I don't remember how close the pitches were, but somehow Pete "I Break My Wrists On The Chipping Follow Through Because I Like It" Trimarchi won the competition over Giles and came away $120 richer.  If he still had that shitty Porsche he could have used the $120 to get the trunk to open.

Match Results

The Myrtle Cup matches were a stirring affair, with Tan edging out Blue 20 to 18.  Tan and Blue were deadlocked throughout the entire final round, and the tournament came down to the final 2 singles matches before being decided.

After the first day of competition played at Tidewater, the fourball matches,  Blue had taken the lead at 3 to 2.  Highlights included Palin and Singhvi's 7&6 demolition of Kiesel and Fortune, Tsambasis and Cutini's 5&4 win over Weiss and Giles, and Kilduff/Zweig's tight 1-up win over Cragg and Goldstein.

The second and third rounds were played back to back at Heather Glen and Glen Dornoch, with 10 singles matches followed by 4 fourball matches and one further singles match between Tsambasis and Manna. 

The Heather Glen round saw Tan tie Blue for the Cup at 7.5 points total.  Cutini continued his stellar play with a 7&5 win over Boone, while Singhvi did the same for Blue earning his 2nd point with a 2&1 win over Heckerling and Willcox the same after a 7&6 drubbing of Gerardi (who was still smarting from having shot a career best round in the handicap setting Possum Trot round, sorry Mike).  Tsambasis earned a hard fought 1-up victory over Cragg, also earning his 2nd point for team Tan.

The Glen Dornoch round was an important one, with the fourball matches counting for 2 points instead of one.  The round saw the tight play continue, with Blue and Tan sharing 4 points each leading into the final singles match of Tsambasis versus Manna.  Zweig earned his 3rd and 4th points for Tan with his and Trimarchi's 1-up win over Weiss and Singhvi, while pals Carr and Goldstein enjoyed a 1-up win over Cutini and Kiesel, but not before the latter had stormed back from 6 down to make it interesting.  The match was tied at 11.5 with only the Tsambasis/Manna singles match to be decided.

Manna took the lead early and never relinquished it until the 17th hole, building a 3-up with 4 to play lead after 14.  Tsambasis then won 3 straight holes to square the match going to the 18th, with Manna tripling the treacherous par 4 16th after a senseless 3-putt from 10 feet and getting a terrible break when his well struck tee shot on the difficult par 3 17th bounced over the green and into the marsh for a double bogey.  The match was decided on the 18th green, with Manna putting for par from 15 feet and Tsambasis having chipped his 3rd to within 6 feet. 

With the boys looking on over beers on the Dornoch patio, Manna barely missed his par attempt, sliding just right of the hole.  Tsambasis coolly knocked in his six-footer, earning the critical 2 points for Tan and staking them to a 13.5 to 11.5 lead heading into the final round at Rivers Edge.

The Rivers Edge round involved 4 fourball matches and 9 singles matches, each worth 1 point for a total of 13.   Lots of points up for grabs with only 2 points separating the teams.

After the first foursome (Tsambasis/Trimarchi for Tan, Singhvi/Cragg for Blue), Blue was still up by 2 (15-13).  In that group, Tsambasis/Trimarchi squared against Singhvi and Cragg with some nervy play by Singhvi/Cragg to square the match after being down 3 with 4 to play.  2 critical holes were 15 and 16, with Cragg winning both for Team Blue with a par and a bogey, and in the process securing his singles match against Peaches on 17, final 2&1.  Both singles matches were tight affairs, with Trimarchi and Cragg being either one up or all square for most of the match, and Tsambasis and Singhvi were locked in a tight seesaw battle right to the end with Tsambasis finally prevailing 2&1 as well.

The second foursome featured Weiss/Goldstein for Blue versus Gerardi and Heckerling for Tan.  Blue made up a point in this one, with score Tan 16 Blue 15 by the end, thanks to a solid 5&4 fourball victory and Weiss's 2up win over Gerardi.  Weiss had gone dormy, at 3 up with 3 to play, but Gerardi won the next 2 holes and was in a position to tie the match on 18 before Weiss secured the win 2up with a solid net par.  As for the singles match between Goldstein and Heckerling, Heckerling preserved one point for Tan, playing solid throughout in earning the 2&1 win, and Goldstein came as close as 1-down through 16 but Heckerling slammed the door with a gross birdie, net ALBATROSS on the par-5 17th! Nonetheless, Goldstein had played a major role in the fourball victory, at one point earning 3 straight hole wins for his team during the fateful stretch through the turn where Blue won 5 straight, and parring (net acing) both par 3s on the front nine.

So Tan 16 and Blue 15 at this point.

Blue then roared ahead thanks to the stellar play of Boone and Carr versus Wyttenbach and Zweig, earning 2.5 of a possible 3 points and staking Blue to a 17.5 to 16.5 lead, the first lead of the day for Blue.  Boone's par net eagle on the par 4 16th secured the victory against Zweig 4&2 and also preserved a halve for the fourball match by sending that match dormy, before Carr won it with a bogey net birdie on the par 5 17th.  The Wyttenbach/Carr match was a close one all the way, although Wyttenbach did take a 3up lead late on the front 9 before Carr cambe back to tie it on 11 and then take a one up lead with a gross birdie net ZERO on the par 3 12th.  From that point on though, the match was locked one never more than one hole leads being exchanged, ending all square.

So Blue 17.5 to Tan 16.5 coming into the last 6 players.

The 2nd to last foursome involved Manna/Giles for Blue v. Kilduff/Kiesel in the 2nd to last, and then the final twosome (which involved only a singles match) saw Palin (Blue) v Cutini (Tan).

Tan scored 2.5 unanswered points in those two groups, taking the lead by 19 to 17.5 when the 2nd to last foursome was finishing up on 18.  That's because Kilduff had already secured the fourball point versus Manna/Giles back on 16 (4&2) after parring net eagling 15 and 16, and Kiesel had finished off Giles on 17 for his singles point; this coupled with Cutini guaranteeing the halve of his match against Palin going dormy with 4 holes to play, although Palin was mounting a comeback and threatening to square the match.

Kiesel had played brilliantly for Tan in the final round after 3 lacklustre prior rounds, shooting the low net round of the trip, a 5-under 67, which included 7 gross pars.  Giles fought hard though.  The match was tied after the front nine, and then Kiesel took a 3 up lead after 12 and maintained it through 15, making 4 gross pars over 6 holes in the process. So Giles succumbed even though he scored (gross) par-birdie-par-bogey from holes 13 through 16, eventually losing the match on 17 after Kilduff brainmelded him into using a driver on the par 5 17th even though Kiesel had just hit what appeared to be out of bounds!  The combination of Kiesel's play with Kilduff's occasional net birdie thrown in was too much to handle for Blue in the fourball match.

The Kilduff/Manna match was a battle from the start, with Manna being up by 2 only twice in the match, the rest of the time the match was either squared or Manna one up; final net score of 69 for Manna and 71 for Kilduff attested to how tight it was.  Manna took a 2up lead into the back nine, after a solid par on the tough Rivers Edge par 5 9th, and was back to 2 up with 4 to play before Kilduff's par-par (net ace-eagle) on the 15th and 16th squared the match.  This was all the more remarkable given that Kilduff was playing without his 7-iron, having tossed it into the woods in a (characteristic?) fit of rage on the par 5 11th.  Manna's bogey net par on the par 5 17th gave him the 1up lead and set the stage for the final hole.   

The Palin/Cutini match was a strange one.  Cutini had roared ahead by 5 after the front nine, shooting a gross 4-over 40 for an unbelievable net 8-under 28!  Underscored by a brilliant gross birdie net albatross on the tough, TOUGH par 5-9th.  Palin was playing well, eventually shooting a net 71, but Cutini's rampage was making it academic.  Then Cutini came back to earth and Palin responded, coming back from being 4-down with 4 to play by winning the 15th, 16th and 17th, making par net ace on the par 3 15th and par net birdie on the par 5 17th, resulting in Cutini's lead shrinking to 1up with only the 18th to play.

So with the only matches left being Kilduff Manna on 18 (Manna 1-up), and Cutini Palin approaching the tee on 18 (Cutini 1-up with 1 to play), Tan was ahead by 18.5 to 17.5.  Just the kind of finish we, the organizers of the Myrtle Cup, love to see...

Manna and Kilduff both split the fairway with their drives on 18.  Kiesel and Manna approached a ball in the fairway, and Kiesel indicated that it was Manna's ball, so Manna played it just short of the green.  Meanwhile, Kilduff had hit the green in regulation, setting up a possible birdie putt for at least a halve and possibly a win.  He three-putted however, which coupled with Manna's eventual bogey apparently secured the point for Blue that tied it at 18.5 to 18.5. 

But wait… in fact Manna had played the wrong ball (Kiesel's ball), and so was penalized with loss of hole in the match.  This meant Kilduff squared the match and secured the crucial half point that gave Tan the 19.5 and guaranteed the win!  Ironically, Manna's own ball was 25 yards ahead of Kiesel's only 75 yards from the hole!

If the loss of hole had not occurred, then the Myrtle Cup would have come down to the final pairing, with Palin needing to beat Cutini to secure the halve and tie up the Myrtle Cup.  It didn't turn out that way in any event, with Cutini making bogey to Palin's double, making the final result Tan 20 Blue 18.

Congratulations to Tsambasis, Kilduff and Carr, with the best records each at 4-0-1 for 4.5 points.  Tsambasis and Cutini won all their singles matches, going 3-0 and 2-0 respectively.  Other notables were Boone at 4-1 with 3 fourball victories, Willcox at 2-0 with a big singles win.

Low Net Tournament

The low net tournament was a high scoring affair, with even par proving enough for the win.  Tsambasis was the defending champion, having finished at 1-under besting Still by 3 strokes and Manna by 6 in the 2002 installment.

Tsambasis started out strongly again in this year's tournament, shooting 69 at Tidewater in Round 1 and a stellar 4-under 68 at Heather Glen in Round 2.  This 7-under total propelled him into a 5-stroke lead over Cutini, his nearest rival, who had shot 72 and 70 to sit at 2-under. 

Alone in 3rd place was Zweig, 10 strokes back at 3-over after shooting 74, 73.  "Moustache" Palin's 76, 72 start had him sitting in 4th at 4-over, tied with Singhvi (71-77) and followed by Giles at 6-over after a pair of 75s.

Manna, coming off a 3rd place finish last year, had started strong with a 71 at Tidewater, but had fallen apart in the 2nd round shooting an 80 at Heather Glen.  That 7-over total left him 14 shots clear of the lead, tied in 7th place with Weiss (74-77) and ahead of Cragg at +9 and Boone at 10-over.  Also at 10-over was Kilduff, who opened with a disastrous 83 at Tidewater followed by a solid 71 at Heather Glen.

The 3rd round at Glen Dornoch saw even higher scores.  Low round was Boone's 69, followed by Manna's 72.  Tsambasis had his first round over par, shooting 78 for a 3-round total of 1-under 215, still good for the lead by 3 over Cutini, who had shot a 4-over 76 to close to within 3 shots at 2-over for the tournament.  Boone and Manna sat in 3rd place, 8 shots behind at 7-over, while Palin shot another 76 leaving him alone in 5th at 8-over 224.  Giles, Cragg and Weiss rounded out the top-8 at 10-over 226.

The final round saw a beautiful sunny day at Rivers Edge, which was in near perfect condition.  The greens were in great shape.

This was a 2-man race all the way.  The closest anyone else came to the lead during the round was Manna, who after 16 had closed to 4 shots but ran out of holes.  Cutini's 3 birdies in the first 4 holes had him tied with Tsambasis, who was even par for the round after 4. 

At that point, Tsambasis stumbled, bogeying the 5th, 7th and 9th and making double at the tough driving hole par 4 6th, while Cutini really caught fire.  He took the outright lead at 5, birdying the gorgeous par-3 for a two shot swing over Tsambasis, who had bogeyed, and then surged ahead with 3 more consecutive birdies to build a 6-stroke lead over Tsambasis after 7. 

After a hiccup at the par 3 8th, Cutini came to the treacherous par 5 9th at Rivers Edge at 5-under for his round, 3 ahead of Tsambasis who was 1-over for the round.  Cutini promptly GROSS BIRDIED the 9th, hitting his third shot on and making the 20-footer for birdie net double eagle moving him to 8-under for the round and 6-under for the tournament.  With Tsambasis bogeying the 9th, Cutini's lead after his stellar 28 on the front side was now a seemingly insurmountable 7 shots over Tsambasis, and 13 over Manna, 14 over Boone and 15 over Palin.

It was not to be.  Cutini tripled the par 4 10th and never quite regained his touch.  He nonetheless retained the lead, although it had shrunk to 4 after the 12th, and then just 1 after the short par 4 13th, which Cutini bogeyed while Tsambasis rammed in a birdie net eagle putt to move back to 1-under for the tournament.

The lead remained at one going into the 16th hole, with Manna having closed to within six of the lead and Palin to within nine.  The 16th at Rivers Edge is a 370-yard par 4 with a marshland carry and marsh all along the right side of the hole up to the difficult green.  Tough hole, which Cutini doubled and Tsambasis bogeyed, with the tournament lead shared for the first time at even par, with 2 to play.  Manna had parred and was now within 4 of the co-leaders.

The tournament was decided on the beautiful par 5 17th, a short par 5 with marshland left and a small green jutting out into the marshland.  Tsambasis played conservatively and was rewarded with a birdie, dropping him to 1-under for the tournament and just 1-over for the round.  Cutini made a disastrous triple, dropping him 4 shots behind and effectively ending his hopes. 

Tsambasis' bogey on the 18th was irrelevant.  He finished with a 1-over 73 to win the $360 paycheck and his second consecutive Myrtle Low Net victory, by 3 shots over Cutini (who also shot 73) and 4 over Manna (69).  Palin had shot a solid 71 to move into sole possession of 4th at 7-over for the tournament, with Boone rounding out the top-5 at 9-over after a final round 74.

Low round of the day was Kiesel's stellar 67, including a 5-under 31 on the back nine.
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Until next year, signing off!

Santo