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Sign needs a powerwashing. Or is that by design to keep the exclusivity?
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The sign only looks good on the Shaker Heights side
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I think it’s probably actually just shitty photography, place looks 
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I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to wear and what head covers / set up I wanted to go with for Sunday and it kind of came to me. A lot of the stuff I’ve been gaming already has Nest ties to it, so why not go all in?
For the Final on Sunday, I have the following:
- NLU Evans Scholar headcover was my first purchase after joining.
- OATW 3 wood headcover from @nohio
- putter headcover from @GGates18
- r7 driver to remind me of @jobu415
- sun sleeves courtesy of @Cody
- tees from @methridge
- ball maker and bag tag from @flanwilder
- and finally, blue NLU polo from my man @GooseTrego
I’ve used most of these for most of my matches, but I’ve especially worn the blue polo from Jake the last 3 or 4 out of support for him and a bit of superstition for me.
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That’s the seldom-used back entrance to the club I believe. Brett is right, the other side of the sign is probably pristine. Beachwood coming up short again.
The guys in the finals should use this entrance to check out pin placements on #"s 15 and 18, could be crucial down the stretch.
Using the main entrance is a pretty nice way to make an entrance too… get to check out pins on 8, 9, and 12.
Such a great place.
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I don’t have any golfing accomplishments to speak of, so I would say, yes, making the finals of the NLU OATW Match Play event would top the list. How about yourself, @golf4miami?
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For me, the only thing that beats getting to the Final of the Match Play would be the single round -1 I shot in college to medal at a tournament. Still the only round I’ve ever posted under par. But it’s a close race because to get to the Final here I had to go toe to toe with a lot of good competition.
Now, if I’m able to somehow win the hardware on Sunday, this would easily take over the top spot for me.
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Hell yeah, bub! Play well!
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@pjsutherland sounds like we should play as matches next week. Lets start getting some points on the board!
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One final question for you @MDM before we tee off on Sunday. It’s looking like we’re going to have $700 to donate to charity at the end of this year’s version of the tournament. If you’re to win, where would you like to see that money donated?
If I win, I’m going to have the money donated to Youth On Course.
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Love that idea!
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Redemption match, @Twowaymiss?
I have a feeling this new format is going to turn into an absolute fall golf free-for-all and I couldn’t be more in.
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That was kind of the idea since we know some people may have more time available in the Fall than they do the Spring.
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I would donate the contributions to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) in honor of a patient I used to take care of who unfortunately passed away from leukemia. It’s an awful disease but typically treatable in kids, though not 100% of the time.
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We have a champion! Full write up coming tomorrow, but I can say this, teeing it up with @MDM and @Browcoww77 today was a delight. The weather was spectacular, the course was spectacular, and the company was fantastic.
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Hello Friends. It’s time for the recap post of The Ohio State Matchplay Finale which took place yesterday at Canterbury Golf Club.
We start the story with myself arriving at 10am after a three and a half hour drive hoping to get in a few swings on the range to loosen up and find a groove before heading to the first tee, only to be told that thanks to heavy rain that had moved through the area on Saturday, the range was CLOSED. Matt and I would have to settle for warming up by chipping, putting, and swinging a few free swings around the first tee before heading out. The weather seems like it was threatening to turn on us as we teed off.
Tees: Blue
Strokes: @golf4miami getting 5.
Hole 1: Dogleg right par 4 with myself getting a pop right off the bus - Matt wins the tee toss and goes first and pumps one down the left side of the fairway skittering just into the rough. I do well just to find the club face and push, cut it down the right and into the trees. Matt’s second shot from the rough finds the green and I’m forced to punch out, get lucky with the ball going through a tree and my ball ends up just short of the green. I leave my chip about 8 feet short. Matt two putts for par and my par putt slides by just low. After a testy three footer for bogey, we tie the first hole and Matt survives a pop.
Hole 2: A shorter dogleg left back up the hill, a lovely hole - Matt thins his three wood, but gets enough of it that it slides down the hole into a solid position, even if into a awkward lie in the rough. I cold top my three wood. After talking it over with my caddie about the aggressive line through the trees or the pertinent play down the fairway I decide on the layup and position myself well. The deliberation turned out to be absolutely superfluous though as Matt absolutely flags his approach shot up the hill to about 8 feet. Even with me hitting the green and solidly two putting, Matt was under no stress with his easy par to win the hole. @MDM 1 up.
Hole 3: A beauty of a shortish-par 3 - Matt hits a solid and safe tee shot safely to the right side of the green. Ryan misses the green to the right. I chip it up to about 5 feet, not giving the the chip enough break. Matt leaves his birdie putt about 5 feet short and on the high side. We both give our par putts good runs, but they slide by and we tie the hole with bogey. We walk off the green saying either of us could have won that one. Matt stays 1 up.
Hole 4: A longer dogleg left par 4, @golf4miami gets his second pop - Matt hits a beautiful drive right down the middle of the fairway, continuing to apply pressure. Ryan cold tops his driver this time. Nerves are fully in play for me now as I feel like I’m about to throw away my second pop of the day. Another prudent play for me as I poke a 6 iron down the hole, but still into the left rough. Matt throws another absolute DART to the back pin location. The beauty of his shot here could not be overstated. The pin was on the back and over the green was DEAD and he hit his approach between the pin and the back of the green.
My thought process here was that with my pop I needed to two putt in order to make him make birdie to win the hole. My par putt slid by and ran a bit long. Leaving me outside of Matt’s approach still. Under the gun, I’m able to slide in the 6 foot right to left down hiller for bogey and apply the pressure back to Matt. @MDM steps up to his putt and hits a decent putt, but just a bit too hard as it rolls by the hole leaving him a 3-4 foot tester coming back, which he lips out for an unfortunate 3 putt bogey. Ryan wins the hole with his pop. Match AS.
Hole 5: A shorter 4 with a severely uncomfy tee shot with the way the fairway pinches with bunkers - Ryan finally finds the clubface with his driver and pokes one down the left side of the fairway, just into the rough. Matt just pushes his down the right. Two solid drives. Matt’s approach shot ends up on the bottom right portion of the green thanks to a ridge that bisects the green. With the pin back left I attempt to hit it close, but push it and wind up down with Matt. I call out “Putting contest” and am feeling pretty good about it. I hadn’t hit a green yet, but I also had hit some solid putts. However, I’m unable to two putt from below the ridge, and Matt is. Running in a good 4 or 5 footer to win the hole with a par. @MDM back 1 up.
Hole 6: A getable par 5 downhill slightly - Two great drives from our competitors down the fairway leaves Ryan 205 and Matt 185 into the green. Ryan pulls his second shot to the left of the green leaving a difficult up and down. Matt places his second shot just short, but in the fairway. A fine touch on my chip shot left me with a 6 footer for my birdie and put some pressure on Matt for his putt from just in front of the green. Matt gave his eagle bid a good run, but it came up just short for a conceded birdie. Pressure on to avoid going two down, I made my 6 footer for my own birdie and the hole was halved. @MDM remains 1 up.
Hole 7: Long-ish par 4 over a ravine - Matt flared his tee shot off to the right. The better miss than left, but still a tough up and down. I hit probably my best 7 iron of the year to about 20 feet right in the middle of the green. Matt’s chip from above the hole runs out to about 10 feet past the hole. I nestle my birdie bid up next to the hole giving me a good feeling about potentially squaring the match. But it’s not to be. Matt in what I can only assure you was the most “I’m going to hit this hard to take out the break” way I have ever seen SLAMS his ball against the back of the lip and it drops in for his par. Leaving @Browcoww77 to call for maintenance for cup repair. @MDM remains 1 up.
Hole 8: A risk-reward downhill par 4 - Matt hits a solid drive down the left center of the fairway, and I push my drive out to the right again finding myself in the trees. Matt chunks his approach changing my calculus on my shot which allows me to be a bit less aggressive. I’m able to poke my shot out of the trees and run it across the green to the left side. Matt’s chip shot gets some sauce on it and checks up about 10 feet short after looking really good off the club face. My birdie putt nestles up to about 6 inches for a conceded par forcing Matt to attempt another try at ramming a putt home. This time though, it slides by. Match AS.
Hole 9: A long, up hill par 5 that curves right to left the whole way. @golf4miami’s final pop on the front as well.- I pipe my drive down the right, but into the rough. Matt pulls his drive to the left and into a bit of tree trouble. He’s able to get a solid punch out back to the fairway. Wanting to go for the green, but not having a good lie, I decide to lay up and chunk a 7 iron down the fairway. Matt hits a great approach shot from a long way out and it bounces onto the front of the green but catches the ridge that bisects and rolls out to the extreme front right, with the pin in the back left it’ll leave a long putt. I step up, and chunk my 7 iron again to just in front of the green. At this point, we’ve both played three shots. Wanting to run a low skipping chip up the ridge, I stub my wedge and do neither of these things. Matt’s birdie putt runs about 5 feet past the hole and my par putt rolls up with good weight to about 2 feet forcing Matt to make his comebacker to tie the hole. His putt slides just by and I win the hole with a 6 for 5. @golf4miami 1 up at the turn.
Hole 10: A short 4 with a creek that cuts across the fairway about 250 yards out. Two solid tee shots from both competitors leave wedges in their hands into the perched green with a false front. A false front that ALL FOUR players in our group would find/leave their approaches short of. Matt’s chip up the ridge gets a little too nippy and runs off the back of the green into the rough and my short game bails me out as I chip it up to about 3 feet for a conceded par and the win of the hole after Matt’s chip runs past the pin. @golf4miami 2 up.
Hole 11: Another beautiful short 3. Reminds me a lot of Springfield #9. Of note all of the par threes at Canterbury are all world. A sick collection of par threes at this course - My wedge off the tee leaks to the right and catches the back of a bunker short side. Matt for some reason follows me, but slightly further right into the rough instead. Matt, playing it safe chips up past the hole to about 15 feet which puts the pressure on me to at least get the ball on the green. It was at this point our host tells me if I can get up and down, I’ll win a free beer which highlighted for me the difficulty ahead. Nipping my bunker shot, it came out perfectly and rolled out to 6 feet from the pin. Matt’s putt slides just by the hole on the right for a conceded bogey and I step up and roll my left to right putt into the hole for the up and down free beer and the hole win. My short game is heating up and @golf4miami takes the lead 3 up.
Hole 12: A tricky little par 4 that is blind on the tee shot - I hit a solid three wood down the middle of the fairway and Matt pulls his tee shot left into the rough making for a blind approach. His second shot bounces long of the green giving me an opportunity, but I leave my wedge into the green just short onto a tricky lie on top of a bunker. From an awkward stance, I’m able to chip the ball onto the front of the green to have it roll out to 3 feet again. My short game is officially on fire now. From the back bunker Matt catches just too much of his ball as it skitters over the green. His attempt at chipping in for par gives the hole a look, but misses. @golf4miami leads 4up.
Hole 13: A getable par 5 with an uphill tee shot, but a severe downhill second shot - Nerves starting to set in for Ryan here as he pulls and hooks his drive a bit toward OB. Matt hits a great drive right down the middle and just to be safe Ryan re-tees and blows the provisional way right. We’re in a, “find the ball in bounds or concede the hole” situation for Ryan, and the caddie is able to find it, somehow, just in bounds in what looks like a literal pile of shit. If the ground hadn’t been so soft, it would have been out. After a prudent punch out from the trees for me, Matt doesn’t quite get all of his second shot and leaves it just short. My 3rd from the fairway safely finds the green which puts the pressure back on Matt to get up and down for birdie, which he is able to do with a very solid chip and well struck 4 footer to win the hole. @golf4miami leads 3 up.
Hole 14: A twisty par 4 that plays shorter than it looks with a giant false front that reminds me of 18 at Springfield CC - Two very solid drives from our playing competitors here makes it another approach contest. I hit my second shot solid, but it just didn’t carry the five extra yards it needed and it rolled back down the false front. Matt’s second shot unfortunately was caught a little fat and we’re back to a chipping contest like hole 10. Both of us not wanting to leave it short on the false front make the prudent play and blow it by the hole about 20 feet. I’m first to putt and I very underestimate how downhill it is and nearly de-green myself. Matt’s putt, even after seeing mine, runs out past the hole a solid 6 to 8 feet. Neither of us are able to make our comeback putts and Matt very generously concedes a 3 footer for me to tie the hole with two pillow fighting doubles. @golf4miami remains 3 up.
Hole 15: A short downhill tee shot followed by a severe uphill second shot par 4, and @golf4miami first of back to back pops on the back nine - Matt’s tee shot is perfectly down the middle and my tee shot is pushed into some tree trouble on the right. Matt is up first from the fairway and he pushes/wipes his approach to the right. I have a window to maybe go up the hill, but knowing I was getting a pop, I chipped it out. My third from down below is solid and just long into the fringe to a back pin. Matt’s third from the bunker front right is super classy but rolls out a little long. My putt/chip for par is given a bit too much gas and rolls out to about 6 feet pass the hole. Matt’s putt for par slides just by for a conceded bogey, making my putt for bogey (with the pop) to win the match. Which honestly, I wasn’t even sure of at the time which I think helped as I stepped up and made the putt to win the hole, and thus the match 4 & 3.
After the putt went in I looked to the back of the green to see my playing partners/competitor smiling and taking their hats off and that’s when it really hit me. Honestly, truly flabbergasted. Having been eliminated in pod play last year my only goal was to make it to the elimination bracket this year. If nothing else, this should be a sign to anyone that if they play just well enough and get just lucky enough they can go on a run like I did this year.
It’s been so much fun running this tournament the last two years and I’m extremely excited about the new format for next year. Expect that announcement/sign up post sometime this week so that we can kick off the 2024 edition this weekend if y’all want.
Also: We are in search of a host site for the 2024 Final. Since we’ve done Dayton and Cleveland, preferably something in Columbus, or maybe even Toledo or Cincinnati would be ideal. Please reach out if you or someone you know would like to host.
Finally - After some thinking about it and @MDM’s post about the charity he would have donated to, I decided to change up my answer and honor our good friend @GooseTrego. The polo I got from him grounded me and helped see me through the last 4 matches or so of the tournament so I cannot think of a better way to thank him than donating to Fight CRC.
If anyone knows how to make sure this gets tallied in the NLU donations tally that would be great info to have so we can make sure it gets counted. @jgolf1?
Pictures from the day below.
Truly a memory I’ll have forever. Thank all of you for participating. I look forward to trying to defend in the 2024 edition!
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I’ll see what I can do about adding the $700 to the tally somehow.
Also, we might be able to arrange Toledo or Cincy fairly easily.
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We may have found one in Columbus.
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