Alex wins the 2023 American Freedom Open

After possibly feeling discouraged about his 3rd place finish at Airways, Alex comes out swinging and wins our 3rd Major of the year, the American Freedom Open. As we near the end of the BJG regular season, Alex has made the statement that he is not the Golfer you want to play in the first round of the Playoffs.

Veterans Golf Course:

We invited Rock, Jake, and Jon to help fill our three tee times. Welcome back, boys.

I get an unfortunate text from Cam late on Saturday: he will need to attend a wake on Sunday in NH. Cam, we are sorry for your loss.

It rains hard late afternoon on Saturday, but Sunday morning does not bring the expected thunderstorms, and the guy running the show at Vets was a hell of a lot nicer than the guy we saw on the 4th of July.

Yes, we lucked out without the rain, but it was still muggy as hell.

Veterans golf course is in beautiful condition, but the rough is just a little too deep for my liking (and my golf swing)

Front Nine:

Alex – 33 (51)

Adam – 34 (49)

Cody – 35 (40)

EJ – 35 (53)

Dustin – 36 (54)

Jason – 38 (47)

Joe – 40 (51)

Joe T – 41 (53)

Once again, the scores are tight, and it proves that our handicap system is working.

The front nine is easier than the back, so you needed to take advantage of the front scoring. Alex did just that by smoking the front nine, and that is with a 9 on the 2nd hole.

Adam was not the same man he was at Airways and is back to his old steady ways.

Everyone had a bad hole or two on the front except Cody. Jason helped his front nine score with the only birdie of the day on the 4th hole.

EJ and Dustin are playing good golf and are within striking distance IF they can play good golf on the back.

Joe and Joe T coming off their lowest scores of the season at Airway's, now look like they have never played golf before.

The first hole played the easiest at just over half a stroke over par. The hardest hole on the front was the 6th hole which played 2.25 strokes over par.

Back Nine:

Alex – 38 (56)

Jason – 38 (48)

Cody – 39 (44)

Joe – 40 (52)

Joe T – 40 (52)

EJ – 41 (59)

Adam – 42 (58)

Dustin – 57 (75)

Alex was by far the best golfer in group 3, while Joe & Joe T continue to see who can give away more strokes, but they are consistent with their front nine scores. Dustin has a brutal start on the back first five holes, and he knows his day is over. To add insult to injury, on the 13th hole, Joe T and Dustin find that they are each putting each other’s balls and must now add the 2-stroke penalties. Joe manages to hit 12 bunkers out of 18th holes (67%). That has got to be some kind of BJG record. Too bad that couldn’t have been fairways or greens in regulations.

Jason and Cody battle it out in the first group and grab a little luck at the same time. After they both have errant tee shots on the 15th hole, EJ notices a red marker, making their balls land in a penalty area instead of being lost.

EJ and Adam fall off the pace, but they manage to keep their back nine scoring close.

The 16th hole played the easiest on the back, at just 1.13 strokes over par.

The hardest hole on the back was the 11th hole which played almost 3 strokes over par.

American Freedom Open Final Score:

1st Place: Alex – 71 (107)

2nd Place: Cody – 74 (84)

3rd Place: Adam – 76 (107)

3rd Place: EJ – 76 (112)

3rd Place: Jason – 76 (95)

6th Place: Joe – 80 (103)

7th Place: Joe T – 81 (105)

8th Place: Dustin – 93 (129)

Cam - DNP

Alex wins by 3 strokes and is looking forward to defending his Fed Up Cup Trophy.

American Freedom Open Points:

1st Place: Alex – 37

2nd Place: Cody – 33

3rd Place: Adam – 24.5

3rd Place: EJ – 24.5

3rd Place: Jason – 24.5

6th Place: Joe – 16

7th Place: Joe T – 12

8th Place: Dustin – 8

Cam – DNP

Closets To The Pin: Jason wins the front nine Closest to the Pin for a whopping $60.00. No one could hit the green on the 15th hole, so that will increase to $60 at Tekoa.

Race to Big Y (Dubai) Points

1st Place: Cody – 151

2nd Place: Adam – 137

3rd Place: Alex – 115

4th Place: EJ – 108

4th Place: Jason – 108

6th Place: Joe – 84

7th Place: Joe T – 76

7th Place: Dustin – 76

9th Place: Cam – 37

Cody continues to dominate the Leaderboard, with Adam falling farther and farther back each week. Adam is just 12 points back from first place, but he is not playing in the Victory or Valhalla.

Alex makes a big move going from 5th place to 3rd place, while EJ and Jason remain tied, but fall to 4th place.

Joe takes sole possession of 6th place, with Dustin and Joe T now tied for the 7th spot.

At this point, I think it is safe to say that Cam will not make the playoffs and will move directly to the Legends of Tomorrow / Loser of Today. This leaves the other 8 golfers trying to figure out the seeding for the first round of the playoffs.

The question that should be on everyone’s mind is: Who do you want to play in the First Round, and who don’t you want to play?

The next event is the Victory or Valhalla. The Victory or Valhalla will be played on July 23rd at Tekoa Country Club in Westfield. Right now we have 8 golfers so we only need 2 tee times.

Respectfully.

Broken Joe

Commissioner