On this 240th birthday of American freedom , Joe finally wins his first individual trophy and now knows the taste of victory. He joins his fellow individual winners Dave, Chris and Leon.

After looking at the handicaps I really though Dave had the best chance to win but I thought that about Easy Mountain too. Dave used to beat us by at least 10 strokes but yesterday he was happy to win outright by just 4 strokes. To go from a 15 stroke handicap to an 18 handicap and still be the best Golfer that cannot win a Major in 2016 must be a tough pill to shallow.

I also thought Chris had a good chance of winning. We split the golf wins in NH and he was kicking my ass on a regular bases on the NASCAR & motorcycle racing video games. He even beat me by one stroke at Pine Knoll when we got back from NH (I did win the Championship of the World). I thought I saw the fire of competition in his eyes but maybe it was just indigestion.

Dan has been on a tear over the last two Majors. He tied for 2nd place at The Father’s Day Cup and came in a strong 3rd at the Freedom Cup. Things may have been different at the Freedom Cup had Dan not hit Leon’s ball and gained an extra 2 stroke penalty.

Jake was one stroke away from being the 2016 Freedom Cup Champion. After 9 holes Jake was up by one but Joe had one stroke to give because of my handicap so we were tied. Jake gets another stoke on the 10th. 11, 12 13 and 14 they go stroke for stroke. On the 15th hole Joe gets 2 back and we are tied with 3 holes left. We tie on 16 and 17. Jake and Joe are all tied at 93 going to the 18th hole. At the end of the 18th Jake gets a 5, Joe gets a 4 and Jake lose by a stroke (2 with the handicap).

Leon had a tough day with Dan hitting his driver really well and then losing to Dan by 2.

Rock has a good game but loses to Leon by one stroke. Rock does beat Matt by 10.

Matt finally has a week where he isn’t shooting 130 or 140 so he must have gotten some lesson from someone.

Actual Scores:

Dave – 93

Joe – 97

Jake – 98

Dan – 109

Leon – 111

Rock – 112

Chris – 122

Matt – 217

Handicap Scores:

Joe – 71 (-1)

Jake – 73 (+1)

Dan – 74 (+2)

Dave – 75 (+3)

Leon & Rock – 76 (+4)

Matt – 91 (+19)

Chris – 96 (+24)

I think this proves that the handicap system does work but you still have to come to play.

I don't know who is more happy, Joe for winning or Leon for not winning 4 trophies in a row. And then there is Chris showing support for Joe's win (while wearing his father's boxers.

Weekly Points (Double):

Joe – 16

Jake – 14

Dan – 12

Dave – 10

Leon – 7

Rock – 7

Matt – 4

Chris – 2

Total Points:

Leon – 116.5

Joe – 106.5 (10 points from 1st Place)

Dave – 78 (28.5 points from 2nd Place)

Jake – 70 (8 Points from 3rd Place)

Rock – 69 (1 Point from 4th Place)

Dan - 67.5 (2.5 Points from 5th Place)

Chris – 60.5 (7.5 Points from 6th Place)

Matt – 44 (16.5 Points from 7th Place)

Here is an example of what the weekly handicaps look like :(& compared to average handicap)

Chris – 48 (+22)

Dan – 36 (+1)

Dave – 22 (+4)

Joe – 26 (Same)

Jake – 27 (+2)

Leon – 38 (+3)

Matt – 53 (+17)

Rock – 39 (+3)

Handicaps for Southampton Country Club

Chris – 27

Dan – 35

Dave – 18

Joe – 26

Jake – 25

Leon – 36

Matt – 36

Rock – 36

The next match is on July 10th at Southampton County Club. Tee times are 6:24 and 6:30

Group A

Cart 1: Jake & Matt

Cart 2: Chris & Dan

Group B

Cart 3: Rock & Leon

Cart 4: Dave & Joe

The next Major is the "3 Club Challenge" and it will be held the first weekend of Aug. Chris is the 2015 defending Champion.