The CLC Matchplay - Season 4: PODS are live... Get to playing those matches

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Pod 4 -SC 1 action continued today, with @BarnacleRob taking on @jtshelley42 at CC of Lexington. @Paden and @dbart presiding. Let’s go launch ‘em

Hole 1 par 5

R lands in left rough, J hits into the right rough. J skips his 2nd into the pond. R lands his 2nd 50 yards short of the green. J hits his 4th pin high left. R’s third is just long. Chipping and putting ensues. R comes out on top with a bogey R + 1

Hole 2 par 3

Both R and J roll off the front

R rolls his in for birdie, J’s 2nd lands a little short. R +2

Hole 3 Par 4

Both tee balls land within a foot of eachother jusst right of the fairway

R goes hole high right

J lands short and hits his 3rd over the green

R chips to a foot for a gimme par, J’s chip rolls past the hole, R +3

Hole 4 Par 3

R shanks his tee ball right

J overshoots the green but chips it to 10 ft. R ping pongs it back and forth and concedes

J takes one. R +2

Hole 5 par 4

J nukes one down the middle, R slices into trouble.

J puts his second to 40 ft. R slings a draw into a tree and lands 40 yards short. R’s 3rd is short of the green and rolls 40 yards back down a large, mean spirited hill. J 2 putts for the win, R +1

Hole 6 Par 4

R and J make the fairway

R hits his second to 15 ft, J lands in the left bunker. J puts his 3rd 25’ past the pin and misses the putt. R 2 putts for par, R +2

Hole 7 par 5

R blasts driver down the middle,

J out drives him with a nuked 3 wood.

Both players make the green in reg, both are above the hole by about 15 feet. J runs his 1st putt past the hole, R makes bird, R +3

Hole 8 par 4

Both players make par, R +3

Hole 9 par 4

R pulls his drive left, J pushes his drive right. R slings a 5 iron to the front of the green, J lands his approach pin high right. Both hit their 3rd 15-20’ short. R leaves his par putt short, J makes a great putt for par, R + 2

Hole 10 par 4

Both drives find the fairway, J hits his approach to 15’, R sculls a penalty 50 yards past the green. Yikes. R fumbles around while J makes par. R +1

Hole 11 par 3

J nukes his tee ball left into the snake pit :snake:. R hits a draw short. R wins with a bogey, R + 2

Hole 12 par 4

R hits 3 wood down the middle, J drives his into the right trees. R lands his approach 15’ short of the hole. J recovers well, but can’t save the par. R 2 putts for par, R +3

Hole 13 par 4

Both players slice into the right trees. Both take a couple swings to get to the green, but each have a 5-6 ft par putt. Both make deserved bogies. R + 3

Hole 14 par 4

R hits one down the middle, J’s tee ball goes right into the hazard. Hitting 3, J nukes one 190 onto the green into very makeable range. R’s approach is pin high right. R leaves his 3rd 5’ short. Both players miss their putts for par. Hole is halved. R + 3

Hole 15 par 5

Both R and J make the fairway. Both lay up in front of the creek (gasp). J hits his ball pin high. R cranks a wedge 20 yards left of the green then puts his 4th to 15’. J misses his bird, but makes par. R sinks his par putt. R is +3 with 3 to play.

Hole 16 par 4

R’s drive lands in the right rough. J slices his drive right of 17th tee. R leaves his approach 20 yards short. J puts his approach onto the green and two putts for par. R has a 6’ putt to clinch it and leaves it a dimple short. J wins the hole. R +2

Hole 17 par 3

J hits a strong tee shot 5 yards left of the green, but pin high. R hits his ball to 25 feet. J’s chip hits the pin, nearly goes in, but strays to 5 feet. R doesn’t play nearly enough break and leaves his putt 5’ away. Both players make their putts. R wins 2 and 1.

Great match, great company, and several moments of brilliance to keep us coming back.

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concurring in part, dissenting in part. this recap overlooks the wonderful day @Paden amd I had watching this whole match take place (some fairly decent shots between us). Cheers!!

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Some quick recaps of Bandon Pod 2 from my end.

Myself vs @jsteve15 took place on the Preserve during our arrival day. 3 club challenge, and I believe we both opted with 8 iron, wedge, putter. Based on typical caps for an 18 holer, I would have probably gotten 2 strokes. We instead opted for one call back shot which was perfectly executed on an 8ish foot par putt that lipped out on the second try on hole 9. I proceeded to go 1 up into hole 12 and capped off the 2&1 victory with a par.

@FAB7115 vs myself took place in the afternoon at Sheep Ranch with me getting 7 strokes. A bit of a back and forth front 9 gave way when I popped on 4 of 5 holes from hole 8 to 12. A 3 up lead was grabbed here that I held leading into the 15th. And that’s when @FAB7115 and his beautiful pink pants swept the win out from under me winning holes 15, 17, and 18 to end it in a tie.

Myself vs @tdaly took place on Old Mac. Conditties were not great, coupled with A LOT of wine the night before, and that led to a lot of net 6s beating 7s while cold and wet. A 1up lead was grabbed on the 15th hole (an actual par at least) and then closed out on the 17th for the 2&1 win.

All in all, was a blast to bring the CLC match play to the Oregon coast. With the 2-0-1 record we are looking forward to the knockout rounds!

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On the flip side, my Carolina match play record continues to be absolutely terrible. Despite playing decent golf throughout the trip (including a +4 to quota, without a birdie, on Trails) I played underwhelming golf vs everyone else.

What Cory failed to mention is that I lost about as many balls on Preserve as I did the rest of the week.

@FAB7115 took me to task early on Old Mac. Somehow dodged bullets to be “only” 3 down at the turn after a pair of missed 3-4 ft birdies from my colorful competitor. 3 straight 3 putts on 15-17 put an end to any potential comeback and he won 2&1.

Coming off a hot 79 on Bandon Dunes in the morning, @tdaly may have been heard griping on the Shuttle over to Sheep about “having to play me while I’m hot”. After hitting the infinity green and proceeding to putt it off of said infinity green I knew I was in for a rough day. Tiny Tim cruised to a 2&1 victory where I was uncompetitive and never really a threat.

@knewt, his brother, and I take it as a point of pride that we were the only ones to not skip any golf (175 holes in 5 days!) Great trip, and you’re welcome for the free points Bandon Pod 2!

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Cite your sources! Bad journalism! I recall saying something to the affect of “I know to play Jeff in the afternoons because his tee ball never holds up on a second 18”

Only match of Bandon Pod 2 not covered above was me vs @FAB7115 on Bandon Dunes Sunday afternoon. Fred was giving me 14 shots - we tied gross thru 9 with 41’s and I was 5UP, after draining a birdie putt from off the green left of 9. At that point it was inevitable and I closed him out 5&3 on the back, a thorough ass beating.

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Under no circumstances can you claim to have delivered a

when you are getting 14 strokes.

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Those were Frank’s Fred’s words, not mine :man_shrugging:

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Pod 4 action continued today with @MrRyPenn taking on @BarnacleRob at THE Santee National Golf Club, located in misty, gloomy (at least today, I am sure it is a fine place) Santee, SC. @dbart once again presided over the match, though spent much of his time shaking his head at how neither competitor apparently wanted to win. I will spare you the shot by shot because frankly, I am exhausted.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we had ourselves an exhaustive pillow fight. Ryan immediately went 2 up, and then Rob fought back to make it even after 9. Rob then went 2 up and then couldn’t hold on. There were birdies and doubles, and even a couple snowmen (on the same hole, fortunately). We had a great time otherwise chipping, slicing, chunking, and otherwise bungling our way to an 18 hole TIE. While wet from this weekends deluge, Santee was a decent track with plenty of interesting holes, and the greens rolled nicely. 4 stars.

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Sandhills Pod 1 Death Match recap. We all had too many weak excuses for not finding time to play our matches before now. But with time running out, we voted for a 1-day Death Match. 18 holes. 6 matches. Two will move on, two will slam trunks.
tl:dr: The low-caps had an off day, the higher-caps (@westerj12 and I) advance; @rkris (RA) had a tantrum on 8 and made an eagle on 14; @AirMailWedges (TH) (the best golfer), is left wondering what just happened here.
I may not do justice to summarizing 6 simultaneous matches, but I volunteered to give it a go,
Match Numbering [strokes]
(1) Harpo-JW[7];
(2) JW[12]-Rkris;
(3) JW[14]-AMW;
(4) Harpo[5]-Rkris;
(5) Rkris[2]-AMW;
(6) Harpo[7]-AMW;
Playing at Rkris’s home course, Longleaf from the #6 tee. We look like this to begin:

Boys
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  1. Everyone is in play but JW a little right. JW and AMW miss short; Rkris and I miss right. Ho-hum chips lead to tap-in bogeys for all, except me. My 12-footer finds the bottom of the cup. I draw blood on the other three; JW with a pop goes to +1 on AMW.
  2. Our eventual champion today, JW, is in the left trees this time but recovers nicely just over the right of the green. Ryan’s 3-putt leads to the only bogey in the group, while the rest of us make par. With pops, it’s: (1) JW-HC AS; (2) JW+1 to RA; (3) JW+2 to AMW; (4) HC+2 to RA; (5) AMW+1 to RA; (6) HC +2 to AMW.
  3. JW left, Harpo right; the other gents short. RA has a flub that leads to double. AMW and I with nice up and downs. JW misses a short one, making 4.
  4. Benign looking, but brutal par 3, especially into the wind. RA pulls his left into a tough scene but scrambles hard to get the next one on; two putts later it’s a 4. JW with an even tougher scene right and leaves with a 5. I hit my best shot of the day to 15 feet above the hole and get down in 2, tying AMW. No pops here. So it’s: (1) JW -2 to HC; (2) JW+1 to RA; (3) JW AS to AMW; (4) HC+4 to RA; (5) AMW+3 to RA; (6) HC +2 to AMW.
  5. Our eventual champion elects to play this hole from the deep, right pinestraw, while the rest of us try the fairway. AMW with a very sweet iron from long distance finds the back of the green in two; and after an unsatisfying 3-putt, it’s a 5 for him (which stings since RA’s par and a pop takes him down a notch). JW and I (both popping to the LCPs) card 6’s to their 5s (and more sting for AMW).
  6. Four pars here. No pops. No blood.
  7. Our eventual champion and Mini Driver once again fooling around with the right. It’s an OB, then yadda yadda for him, dropping one in all his matches. AMW finds the green has the only par to a very tough back right pin. I make a 3-putt for bogey which, with a pop, takes me to +5 on RA through 7 (a place a dared never dream about)(and this 3-putt began my fall from grace) So it’s: (1) JW -2 to HC; (2) JW+1 to RA; (3) JW AS to AMW; (4) HC+5 to RA; (5) AMW+3 to RA; (6) HC +2 to AMW.
  8. Who could blame our host for losing his deportment here? Game not there (yet—wait for it). Pulled drive into those nasty bunkers on the corner, and left it in there a time or two. I didn’t see it, but I heard something crash or break over in his direction (Shall not mention his score, but he fell one more back in all his matches)(and so began his rise from the grave). Meanwhile, I foozle one up the fairway, then leave my 3d short. AMW and JW tattooed their drives down the hill to the right. AMW caught a bad break with a buried pinecone, while JW put his 2d to pin high left. Nobody made a putt. JW leaves with 5, and AMW and I leave with bogeys.
  9. AMW has a stroll in the grass in front of #1 tee on his way to a tidy par. I find the fairway bunker right, leave the approach short, and just about caught one in the leg from the group behind as I set up for my 3d. RA plays the hole as intended, carding par. Our eventual champion fools about down the left side, somehow needing 7 to get down. At the turn, its: (1) JW -2 to HC; (2) JW+2 to RA; (3) JW AS to AMW; (4) HC+5 to RA; (5) AMW+4 to RA; (6) HC +1 to AMW.
  10. Karma came to the group behind for hitting into us, for as we let them through, they skanked it mightily as they played through. All four drives mid left and 95y or so to go. AMW and I hit the same hanging limb, but he hits his 3d to gimme range, while I manage a 6. RA with a poofy 3d leads to a 6. JW finds the green and cards a par; his game is looking up.
  11. Another long par 3 (178 today into the fan). Carnage abounds with ho-hum to uh-oh recovery shots. HC and AMW make bogey; JW and RA with doubles. Let’s get outta here.
  12. Super tee shots by all. Pars for everyone but me. I could only manage a 6 after thinning the stuffing out of my greenside bunker shot. No one was hurt; so let’s play on.
  13. Here begins a 3-hole stretch of pops all around. JW and RA with some momentum, AMW just can’t get anything to go his way; I’m going the wrong way after my tidy start. JW leads off with a scorcher up the middle. RA/AMW on the left near the trees. I’m on the horse track left. AWM foozles about, leading to his 6. RA steps on the gas, nearly holing out from the front bunker, but It’s a lovely par from him. I manage a five from over the green, but with a pop, JW brings our match to AS for the first time since #1. And now its: (1) JW AS to HC; (2) JW+3 to RA; (3) JW +3 AMW; (4) HC+5 to RA; (5) AMW+5 to RA; (6) HC +1 to AMW.
  14. RA lands the eagle here while the rest of us watch and toss throw pillows at each other. AMW with a par to JW’s and my bogeys. I nearly whiffed it off the tee, finding to tip-toeiest of the toe. One more of those and I’m benching that driver.
  15. Our eventual champion traipsing about the right once again, and leaves his approach short. I top the snot off my tee shot, thus benching my driver for the day. The low-caps play proper golf to the green, although AMWs putter fails him once again for another bogey (losing him perhaps my match-and a ticket out of the group stage). RA with a lovely par, JW and I with bogeys. But my stroke here makes it a push with RA, which is enough for a 4&3 win over him.
  16. JW finds the green in two and missed a short one for birdie. Alas, it’s a par, which is what AMW and I manage as well. Professor comeback nearly holes out for eagle from the left bunker, but makes a sweet 4.
  17. Matches have ended or are about to end here. Because its (1) JW up dormie 2 to HC; (2) JW+1 to RA; (3) JW has already won 4 and 3 to AMW; (4) HC has already won 4&3 to RA; (5) AMW+2 to RA; (6) HC +2 to AMW. Our eventual champion chose to take Mini Driver dancing on the bocce court next to 12, finding his way to a 5, losing to my 4, and leaving him up 1 on me with 1 to play, and closing out RA 2 and 1).

JW

Going for broke, TH drove it to the greenside bunker but could only manage a 4. My 4 closes out my match with him 2 and 1).
18. With only one match left between JW and I, I thought I had a chance with a good drive up the left. But he hit his pin high left, mine went short and into scrub grass right. He had a lovely par to close me out.

And, for the record, hats off to YHA who makes this game look oh so easy on the same hole her dad eagled a few hours before, and where the rest of us made a mess of it.

Annie
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Gents: As always, I’m here for the hang. And my favorite hang is with classy chaps like yourselves with a healthy sense of humor. Thanks for a great day out.

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Sums up the day pretty well, sparks from all here and there, missed chances and some future laughs. Personally, just didn’t have the game to compete with 3 fine gentleman today (can’t believe I’m calling one a gentleman)
I’m concerned for the well being of @rkris’s yeti mug after #8.
@westerj12 is still the best #shitstirrer I know and dresses better than people give him credit.
@Harper golfed his ball on the front to gain leads all around to make up for a few sketchy shots on the back.

Best of luck to our two survivors in the knockouts.

YHA grudge match is now my main focus for the summer.

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Hell of a write up. How you kept track of all those shots is beyond me @Harper

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Same here @BarnacleRob. I might remember a handful of shots from my rounds normally but that is about it. I sure don’t remember most of the holes either. It sucks but that is how it is lol.

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@Swing_hard_and_hope - Will have some Coastal Pod action this afternoon at the Wilmington Muni. @iPress and I will be playing a match so stay tuned for the results but a somewhat pathetic recap most likely.

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@Harper’s memory is remarkable! I told him on Saturday that I remembered most of my shots from Friday but could probably only piece together maybe one of the others shots on any given hole.

We had a great time on Friday and I’m shocked that I came out of it 3-0 but I hope to represent the Sandhills Pod of Death proudly moving forward.

I’ve read this recap 3 or 4 times and laughed every time at this line. This describes my game so well.

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I took on @ColoniusFunk at the Cheraw Showdown… This story wrote itself. I am going to skip to the end to save y’all the trouble.

Hole 16 - SHAH misses a 5-6ish foot birdie putt that would have ended the match. We go to the par 3 17th Dormie. SHAH 2up with 2 to play.
Hole 17 - Neither of us put a great swing on the ball from 164. SHAH misses more left than @ColoniusFunk though. Chip is not great 20 feet left for par. Colin strokes. Chipping has not been his strong point all day, but he commits from the grass bunker. Stays on the fringe 25 feet out. Colin makes the par putt. SHAH 1Up with 1 to play.
Hole 18 - Dogleg left par 5. SHAH put the driver away many holes ago. 4wood finds the right side of the fairway. @ColoniusFunk finds the right trees and takes an unfriendly bounce. We find the yellow supersoft, but it is in a precarious situation… THIS MAN proceeds to turn a wedge over and hit a 50 yard punch shot out of the woods left handed.

He gets back to the cart and I said “man I am going to enjoy the writeup where I talk about the left handed shot being the turning point.”

I hit a great 4wood up the hill leaving just 75 yards left to close it out. On and 2 putts should do it… That’s not what happens. I ICARITO off the back left, get in some pine straw, fluff a chip, and the rest as they say is history.

We both proceed to make double bogeys and walk out with a TIED match.

I hated to end it that way, but this man played great all day.

Some other highlights:

  • @ColoniusFunk was the only one to make par on the 13th hole, while playing with a +2, 2, and 5 handicap.
  • He proceeded to make a 9 on the following hole where @LukeBoatright informed him “oh you were doing well in the net scoreboard before that”
  • Reminiscing over Ireland adventures last June, everyone should freaking go!
  • Asking @ColoniusFunk how much it would take for him to shave his beard, everyone has a number folks.
  • And last, but certainly not least, understanding the wisdom of Mr. Boatright that I could be a lot better at golf if I just figured out how to control the club face.
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some could argue that you might become one of the top 5 players on this here internet site.

Hardest 165yd par 5 on the course, honestly.

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quite simply this is one of the top 10 shots I have ever seen. Ever.

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Sounds like it went better than @yungbunzz’s lefty attempt on No. 2

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For those who have not been paying attention group stage has just 25 days left!!!

Please make sure you get your matches in here is the particulars from the post above (916 if you need to check it out):

70 competitors across 16 pods will compete over the coming months. The expectation is that by July 1 you will have played each person in your pod.

Actions

  1. Update the [tracker] one person in your pod will need to create a new tab on the bottom to track your pod. (2023 CLC Matchplay Tracker - Google Sheets )
  2. Play your matches! Set up a match and battle it out.
  3. Provide a writeup, its more fun when you come back in here and share what happened in the match, this can be quick or detailed, but always good to see.
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Never a group to get too far out in front, the Virginia Pod (Pod 3) kicked off pod play with a three-way match on Wednesday. The site of this tilt was the Davis Love III renovated Birdwood in Charlottesville, VA. (Reports say it may be @Soly’s favorite Cville area course /s)

The day was an absolute exhibition of ball striking and smart play. But enough about @LPondgolf, she was not a match competitor. Her role was just to sherpa and make us all feel even worse about our abject lack of talent.

I don’t have the time (or the memory) for a hole by hole breakdown, so I will summarize.

I had a horseshoe firmly up my ass from the get go. Par on every hole where I didn’t need to pull driver. This included a par 3 that went - chunked iron into the ravine, pray & swing 58 at a ball in the middle of a clump of wire grass, 40+ foot putt with an absolute guess on break. That was pretty much my day. Closed out both matches 4&3.

When I arrived at the course, @JohnP was waiting for me on the range. Dressed in a great navy / navy & white script (with long pants!), with coordinated baby blue Air Force 1s (I think), I was immediately intimidated. Unfortunately, his short game was a bit less sharp than his fit, and his enormous distance advantage was not enough to save him.

@needforspieth was as always, a delightful opponent. He golfed his ball, but unfortunately fell victim to the cruelest of fates. While playing for his standard left to right ball flight, he repeatedly hit it straight. A few lost balls, and his hopes were dashed.

The aforementioned troubles not only cost them their matches against me, but also led to a pillow fight between them. We are not talking memory foam here. We are in down territory. Very fluffy.

The result was a tie ballgame coming off of 18. Dusty had come back from down 2 (I believe) to take it to extra holes. On the first playoff hole, Dusty found the fairway, and John got a very unfortunate bounce into the gnarliest bunker brow that DLIII could devise. The spring mixed greens salad got the best of his next attempt, and Dusty took the win.

The day was great. The weather was perfect. The course was a bastard. I was uncomfortable on every tee box that wasn’t a par 3.

Most importantly, the company was amazing. Thanks to Lauren and John for hosting. It was a great day.

Post round addendum
While waiting at the bar for a few beverages, Lauren was approached by a member. He was of course there to ask the “touring pro” (his words) if she could give him a putting lesson. She was very gracious in declining (much more so than any response I could have mustered). He was soon seen on the putting green, first, swearing at every missed putt, and then GIVING A PUTTING LESSON TO SOMEONE ELSE! Beautiful.

@papetras - We need to get you in this schedule very, very soon.

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