The 2018 Broken Joe Golf Fed Up Cup was played at Cedar Knob Golf Course. The top four golfers fighting for the championship were Chris, Jake, Joe, and Rock.

After 23 weeks it was nice to be in the finals. The day was overcast and foggy. In fact, our range finder did not work for the first 5 holes.

The Front Nine:

It wasn’t pretty with all of the 7s, 8s and even a 9. Who would have thought that these were the top four golfers? For the first 5 holes, we didn’t even sniff a par, let alone a birdie. Finally on the 6th hole, 3 of us get a par and then we are right back to the 7s and 8s. On the 9th hole, Joe hits a great putt for birdie and kind of saves his front nine score.

Front Nine Scores:

Joe – 49

Jake – 52

Chris – 54

Rock – 55

The Back Nine:

There is a big pond on the 10th hole and Joe goes first and as usual, his drive drifts right and he is in the water. The other 3 clear the water and Joe suggests that he will take his drop where the ball went into the water. Jake argues that it a “lost ball” and that he needs to hit a provisional. Jake makes his point buy telling Joe that “if it isn’t a lost ball, go get it and show it to me”. Joe understood that Jake was frustrated, after all he was already down by 6 but really, read the rules… Joe hit another ball from the tee but how bad can it get? Well, that answer would be a 9. Jake makes par.

(Note: After careful review the Commissiner rules that Jake is correct, not because of what he said but because this was not a lateral water hazard and therefore there are only 2 choices. 1. Hit the ball from the same spot or hit the ball from behind the water hazard and in direct line with the hole. If this was a lateral water hazard (red markers) then Joe could take a drop 2 club lengths from where the ball went into the water, no closer to the hole.)

On the 11th hole, everyone has trouble getting off the tee. Chris and Jake go left and Joe and Rock go right. In both cases, I hear “It opens up over there”. I certainly hope so because by the time Rock and Joe get to and find thier first balls they are hitting 6 or 7 with thier provisional balls. Chris is the big loser on this hole with an 8, Jake and Rock get 7s and Joe saves some strokes with a 6.

On the 12th hole, Joe and Chris’s drives go left, even the provisional drives go left. Interesting enough the only balls that were not found that day were the balls that ended up in the water. Our fellow golfers were always more than willing to help us find a wayward golf ball. Chris and Joe’s balls are under some kind of tree and the branches were all the way to the ground. Chris somehow gets his ball through but Joe has to go backward in order to eventually go forward. Joe is the big loser on this hole with an 8, Chris with a 7, Rock with a 6 and Jake with a 5.

On the 13th hole, Jake and Joe have a couple of good drives (finally), Rock goes long down the left side but there is water down there. Chris goes short and left and plays the hole the entire length down the left side near the trench. Jake and Joe need to hit their next shot over a small pond. Jake goes first and put it right in the middle of the pond, Joe knows that this is his opportunity but we also know that water is Joe’s kryptonite. Joe also goes into the water (surprise!). Rock ends up in a very wet area but no one is going to give him any relief at this point so he just has to play on. Chris gets a 9, Joe, 8 and Jake and Rock get 7s.

On the 14th hole, Par 3 – Chris finally gets his par, Jake and Joe get a bogey and Rock has a 5.

On the dog leg right 15th hole, Jake’s drive goes LONG, twice. Joe and Rock place there drives right in the middle of the dog leg and are set up nice for their second shots. Chris goes hard right and into the woods. Rock and Joe find two balls (Jake’s?) up against the nasty tree line. Chris finds his ball and decides to keep playing through the woods. Chris swings like the “Mighty Casey” and there is a loud crack. I’m thinking that his ball must have hit a tree. Rock and Joe leave to go play their balls. Rock and Joe’s 2nd shot land on the green and as they are going to the green they see a ball just in front of the green. This ball turns out to be Chris’s ball and can only be described as an incredible shot. Jake isn’t so lucky, only one of the found balls is Jake’s and it is his second ball. Jake has to take a drop and finally catches up with the rest of us. Jake tells us that it is lucky he is an honest player otherwise he would have played the other ball. Joe hits his birdie putt, Rock 2 putt for par, Chris gets a bogey and Jake finishes the hole with an 8. Jake believes that he has now given the championship to Joe but there is still a lot of golf to be played and no one is safe from an 8.

On the par 3, 16th hole, Joe has a terrible drive and Jake is on the green. Jake hits his long birdie putt, Chris and Rock make bogey and Joe scores a 5.

On the dog leg left, par 5, 17th hole, Chris hits a great drive right down the middle and puts him in a great position at the corner of the dog leg. Rock and Joe are down the hill, a little left but close to the turn. Jake goes hard right, over the trees and is now in the other fairway making this hole a lot longer. Joe tells Rock to play it smart because he thinks that the scores are close. Rock takes a gamble with his second shot but it works out for him. Joe, believing that the scores are close and with Jake on the wrong fairway, takes a chance with his 3 wood. It is a narrow gap between his line line to the fairway and a tree on his left. Joe strikes the ball well but it hits the tree on the left side and his ball goes back up the hill!!! 2 shots later, Joe is back where he started but with a little better look. Jake gets back to our fairway and we play on. Joe finishes the hole with an 8, Chris with a 7, Rock with a 6. Jake says he got a 6 but Rock, without missing a beat, calls him out . Jake re-counts and realizes it is a 7.

The final hole: This hole dog legs left at the end and goes over water. Chris has another bad drive left, Joe, Jake, and Rock are ok but not as long as they would have hoped. Rock and Joe decide to lay up in front of the water and Jake debates going for the green but in the end, decides to lay up. From where we were on our second shots it turns out that we had a more fairway before the water then we thought. Rock lays up again. Joe goes for the green but he drives his club into the ground and luckily, the ball stops before the water. Jake goes way left of the green and Chris follows him. By the time we finish, we all have 7s. Jake thinks Joe has won he Championship by one stroke.

At this point Joe didn’t care who won, he just didn’t want to have to play a playoff hole. Rock counted the scores while Joe went into the bar to buy drinks. Chris came in a few minutes later saying that he had to go home to get his Fanduel team together. At the time I thought it may have been because of the pain in his love handles or his poor performance on the golf course. Turns out he really did need to get his FanDuel team in. Joe came out with the drinks and Rock shows him the scorecard. Initially, Joe thinks it is a 3-way tie but after he re-looks at the score card with the BJG handicaps it is clear that Rock was the winner.

Truth be told, as I looked at the scorecard closely on Sunday afternoon, Rock, with his BJG handicap, was winning or tied for the lead starting on the 12th hole, All this time Jake thought the battle was between him and Joe.

Back Nine Scores:

Jake - 52

Rock - 52

Chris - 56

Joe - 58

Final score:

1st: Rock – 104 (107)

2nd: Jake – 107 (104)

2nd: Joe – 107 (107)

4th: Chris – 110 (110)

What did I learn from this Final?

1. With friends like this, you will never lose a ball.

2. A ball that goes in the water is a lost ball.

3. We are lucky that Jake is an honest player.

4. You can win with a 104.

Congratulations to Rock and playing for the win.

2018 Fed Up Cup Final Standings

1st - Rock

2nd - Jake & Joe

4th - Chris

5th - Dan & Joe T

7th - Adam

8th - Jon

9th - Dave

10th - Bryan

Our next round of golf is scheduled for October 7th and it will be our version of the "RYDER CUP". Two teams of 5 players each will compete in three separate matches. The team who wins 2 out of 3 matches will be the winner. Adam and Jon will be the Captains. Stay tuned for more information.

Also, we still have the "WINTER CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP' which is scheduled for Oct 21st at St Annes.

Respectfully,

Broken Joe

Commissioner