ALEX WINS THE VALHALLA

Alex wins the Valhalla by playing smart and avoiding too much trouble.  When the day was over, I think Alex shot a 98.  This is Alex’s 3^rd win of the season, and this win follows his win at The Time Travelers.

As I reviewed the weather forecast for the week, the rain percentage continued to increase.  As luck would have it, Keney Park was just south enough that we received relatively little rain compared to cities north of Hartford. 

Match Play is a unique and interesting game that consists of 18 mini-games.

I choose the pairings based on relationships, but if we do Match Play again next year, I will definitely do the pairings by Handicaps, with the extra strokes kept to a minimum.

Before we tee off, the starter gives us some information about Keney Park.  He tells us that every green is different, and he was not joking; every green was different.  While the course may be a Par 70, and the yardage is just over 5600 yards, the greens really made the course what it was: challenging.

Group One:  Adam vs Rachelle (+14)

Group Two:  Iron Mike vs Magic Mike (+5)

Group Three:  JT vs James (+1)

Group Four:  Rey vs Stephen (+2)

Group Five:  Matt vs Eric (+9)

Group Six:  Joe vs EJ (+8)

Group Seven:  Joe V vs Alex (+28)

Front Nine:

Group One – Rachelle takes a 2 point lead after nine (10 / 8)

Group Two:  Iron Mike takes a 4 point lead after nine. (11 / 7)

Group Three:  JT and James are tied at 9 points each after nine. (9 / 9)

Group Four:  Stephen takes a 2 point lead after nine.  (10 / 8)

Group Five:  Matt takes a 4 point lead after nine. (11 / 7)

Group Six:  EJ takes a 4 point lead after nine. (11 / 7)

Group Seven:  Alex takes a 10 point lead after nine. (14 / 4)

Back Nine:

Group One:  Rachelle increases her lead by 6 more points on the back. (12 / 6)

Group Two: Magic Mike comes storming back, earning 4 points. (11 / 7)

Group Three:  JT takes the lead by 6 points, but it did come at a cost after a tragic cart accident. (12 / 6)

Group Four:  Rey also makes a strong comeback and takes 6 points on the back. (12 / 6)

Group Five:  Matt takes another 8 points from Eric, but Eric is playing with a last-minute set of Frankenstein clubs. (13 / 5)

Group Six:  EJ takes 2 more points from Joe.  Joe’s new driver did not play as well as it did at Airways, and he was hoping that EJ was still working out the kinks of his brand new driver.  In the end, it was EJ’s hot putter that made the real difference. (10 / 8)

Group Seven: Alex takes another 4 points from Joe V. I did ask a lot of Joe V after giving Alex 28 strokes.  It was a daunting task when Joe V could not win even while scoring birdies. (11 / 7)

Final Scores:

Group One: 

Rachelle – 22

Adam – 14

Group Two:

Iron Mike – 18

Magic Mike – 18

Group Three:

JT – 21

James – 15

Group Four:

Rey – 20

Stephen – 16

Group Five:

Matt – 24

Eric – 12

Group Six:

EJ – 21

Joe – 15

Group Seven:

Alex – 25

Joe V – 11

Congratulations to the Matich Play winners:  Rachelle, Iron Mike / Magic Mike, JT, Rey, Matt, EJ, and Alex.

Valhalla Match Play Points:

1^st Place:  Alex – 33 Points

2^nd Place:  Matt – 31 Points

3^rd Place:  Rachelle – 29 Points

4^th Place:  JT – 26 Points

4^th Place:  EJ – 26 Points

6^th Place:  Rey – 23 Points

7^th Place:  Iron Mike – 19 Points

7^th Place:  Magic Mike – 19 Points

9^th Place:  Stephen – 16 Points

10^th Place:  James – 13 Points

10^th Place:  Joe – 13 Points

12^th Place:  Adam – 10 Points

13^th Place:  Eric – 8 Points

14^th Place:  Joe V – 6 Points

Rachelle adds to her $40 win from a couple of weeks ago by winning the front CTTP, and Magic Mike picks up his own $40 by winning the back CTTP.

We also gave the Newlyweds their BJG wedding present.

Race to Big Y (Dubai) Leaderboard:

1^st Place:  Adam – 339 Points

2^nd Place:  Magic Mike – 307 Points (32 points back)

3^rd Place:  Rachelle – 296 Points (11 points back)

4^th Place:  James – 288 Points (8 points back)

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5^th Place:  EJ – 282.5 Points (5.5 points back)

6^th Place:  Joe – 281.5 Points (1 point back)

7^th Place:  Iron Mike – 281 Points (0.5 points back)

8^th Place:  Alex – 258.5 Points (22.5 points back)

9^th Place:  JT – 253.5 Points (5 points back)

10^th Place:  Rey – 242.5 Points (11 points back)

11^th Place:  Joe T – 212.5 Points (30 points back)

12^th Place:  Stephen – 189.5 Points (23 points back)

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13^th Place:  Eric – 166.5 Points (23 points back)

14^th Place:  Rob – 153.5 Points (13 points back)

15^th Place:  Matt – 153.5 Points (0 Points back)

16^th Place:  Joe V – 132 (21.5 points back)

The points have tightened up even more than I thought possible.  There are just 26 points between 2^nd place & 7^th place, and all six golfers are looking for that first-round bye.

Currently, Adam has a comfortable 32-point lead, but the final Major, The BJG Championship, is worth a whopping 952 Points, with 112 points awarded for first place and 7 Points for Last Place.  With those kinds of points, anything can happen.

After the smoke clears from the BJG Championship, we will know who the Race to Big Y (Dubai) winner is and claim the Big Check.  We will know who gets the first round bye, who will move directly to the Legends of Tomorrow, and what the first round Match Ups look like.  We will also know who our Captains are for the 2025 BJG Presidents Cup.  There is a lot on the line coming up during our Final Major and the end of the BJG regular season.

Respectfully,

Broken Joe

Commissioner