Stephen WINS The Pretenders

Broken Joe
May 22
6 min read

After more than two years with BJG — and after winning the 2025 BJG Journey Award — Stephen has finally captured his first trophy. Stephen officially proved he is no Pretender.

But before we celebrate that, we need to talk about the absolute cluster that was Gillette Ridge.

The day started with me driving to the course when, at 6:00 AM, I got a text from Alex saying he couldn’t play. With Dustin already out, we were suddenly down to 14 golfers.

Then, at 6:32 AM, Joe V texted saying he was sick and couldn’t make it either. Now we were sitting at 13 out of 16 golfers — an awful number for both the course and us.

That news came moments before the guy at the counter informed me it would cost $96 to play golf… with a cart.

I had to ask him three times to repeat it because, 1. I couldn’t believe the number, and 2. I was actively debating whether I could afford to skip the round altogether. In the end, EJ and I paid the ransom.

After the major price difference at Agawam, I texted the group about the “pay-to-play” pricing. As it turns out, if you were already in their system, the price magically dropped to $88.

Naturally, the next issue was that some people who weren’t driving somehow already had cart keys.

With 3 Golfers out, I moved Matt up to Group 2 and told Rey he’d be riding solo in Group 3. The groups should have been set up as: 3, 3, 3 & 4. Simple enough, right?

As people arrived and Group One headed toward the tee box, we met the Starter. While we were riding up, he started waving his hands around like a State Trooper running a DUI checkpoint.

At first, I expected him to be a grumpy old man, but instead, he acted like we were long-lost relatives at a family reunion. He took our cart information, sent us on our way, and suddenly everything felt fine again. After all, this was our first round of the season with genuinely great weather.

I should’ve known things were headed downhill when Magic Mike got shuttled over to us like a lost child trying to find his parents at Kmart. I had to send him back to find Joe T.

Then things really went sideways.

As Group One teed off on Hole 2, I noticed Group Two somehow had four golfers… including Rey.

For some reason, the Starter decided that Rey couldn’t ride by himself. That decision completely wrecked the groupings. That’s when Rey informed me that Group Three ALSO had four golfers.

Now, for those of you keeping score at home, that's 3 + 4 + 4. That’s 11 golfers total, meaning Group Four had only TWO golfers.

At this point, I had absolutely no idea what was happening behind me, and there wasn’t much I could do while trying to survive Hole 2.

After my second shot found the water's edge, I saw the Ranger pull up to talk to James. I went over and explained how the groups were actually supposed to be arranged. To his credit, the Ranger listened and promised to fix the issue.

Then, by Hole 3, the Ranger told me there were supposedly 14 people in our group. I knew Dustin, Alex, and Joe V never showed up, so the number 14 was another massive red flag.

Eventually, the Ranger got the groups back into the correct sequence, but I’m sure the chaos affected a few scores. On behalf of both BJG and the golf course, I apologize for the mess.

Gillette Ridge is a beautiful course, but after this experience, I don't know that we will be returning.

Anyway… moving on.

Front Nine

1^st Place: JT – 34 (42)

2^nd Place: Stephen – 35 (45)

3^rd Place: James – 36 (44)

4^th Place: Iron Mike – 37 (41)

5^th Place: Adam – 38 (42)

5^th Place: Matt – 38 (49)

5^th Place: Rob – 38 (46)

8^th Place: Joe – 40 (51)

8^th Place: Joe A – 40 (46)

10^th Place: Magic Mike – 42 (49)

10^th Place: Joe T – 42 (53)

12^th Place: Rey – 44 (53)

13^th Place: EJ – 45 (59)

JT led the way early, but it was surprisingly close considering all the drama during the opening holes.

Meanwhile, EJ may have set a new BJG record with a 15 on Hole 2 while attempting to clear the water. Trust me — I know the feeling because that was me last year.

Iron Mike carded three birdies on the front. Without one disastrous 9, Iron Mike's story might’ve been completely different. JT and Adam also added birdies of their own. We also saw plenty of 8s and 9s floating around.

Easiest Hole: Par-3 8th Hole
Hardest Hole: Par-4 3rd Hole

As a group, we shot: 40 (49)

Back Nine:

1^st Place: Matt – 35 (46)

2^nd Place: Stephen – 36 (47)

3^rd Place: Joe – 39 (50)

4^th Place: Adam – 40 (45)

4^th Place: Iron Mike – 40 (45)

4^th Place: Rey – 40 (50)

7^th Place: JT – 41 (49)

7^th Place: James – 41 (49)

9^th Place: Joe A – 43 (49)

10^th Place: Rob – 44 (52)

11^th Place: Magic Mike – 46 (53)

12^th Place: EJ – 50 (65)

13^th Place: Joe T – 53 (65)

Now the heat started kicking in — something we really hadn’t experienced yet in 2026.

Matt took over on the back nine, but Stephen stayed right behind him in second place. Meanwhile, EJ and Joe T continued to struggle.

Iron Mike added two more birdies, while Matt and Rob each recorded one of their own. We also witnessed some truly ugly numbers like 10s, 11s, and even a 12.

Easiest Hole: Par-4 13th Hole.
Hardest Hole: Par-4 16^th Hole. (Honestly, nobody should be surprised by that.)

As a group, we shot another 40 (50) with a Final group total of 80 (99)

Final Score

1^st Place: Stephen – 71 (92)

2^nd Place: Matt – 73 (95)

3^rd Place: JT – 75 (91)

4^th Place: Iron Mike – 77 (86)

4^th Place: James – 77 (93)

6^th Place: Adam – 78 (87)

7^th Place: Joe – 79 – (101)

8^th Place: Rob – 82 (98)

9^th Place: Joe A – 83 (95)

10^th Place: Rey – 84 (103)

11^th Place: Magic Mike – 88 (102)

12 Place: EJ – 95 (124)

12^th Place: Joe T – 95 (118)

The Pretender Points

1^st Place: Stephen – 66 Points

2^nd Place: Matt – 62 Points

3^rd Place: JT – 58 Points

4^th Place: Iron Mike – 52 Points

4^th Place: James – 52 Points

6^th Place: Adam – 46 Points

7^th Place: Joe – 42 Points

8^th Place: Rob – 38 Points

9^th Place: Joe A – 34 Points

10^th Place: Rey – 30 Points

11^th Place: Magic Mike – 26 Points

12 Place: EJ – 19 Points

12^th Place: Joe T – 19 Points

Stephen also wins $40 for the Closest to the Pin, and Adam gets his first Longest Drive $20.

RACE TO BIG Y (DUBAI) LEADERBOARD

1^st Place: Matt – 153 Points

2^nd Place: James – 150 Points

3^rd Place: Joe A – 141 Points

4^th Place: Iron Mike - 134.5 Points

5^th Place: Magic Mike – 126.5 Points

6^th Place: Stephen – 119 Points

7^th Place: Joe – 117.5 Points

8^th Place: Rey – 116.3 Points

9^th Place: JT – 114.3 Points

10^th Place: Rob – 94 Points

11^th Place: EJ – 82 Points

12^Th Place: Joe T – 79.3 Points

13^th Place: Adam – 76 Points

14^th Place: Dustin – 61 Points

15^th Place: Alex – 34 Points

16^th Place: Joe V – 33 Points

Yes, we have another change at the top of the Leaderboard. Matt moves from 4^th to 1st. James moves from 3^rd to 2^nd, but James will not be playing in our 2^nd Major, so he will fall in the standings. Joe A falls from 1st to 3^rd. Iron Mike moves up from 6^th to 4^th.

There are just 12 points separating 5^th through 9^th place. Rob is sitting in a gap at 10, but he, too, will miss the 2^nd Major, meaning he will also tumble down the leaderboard.

There are just 6 points separating 11th, 12th, and 13th place. And no, Adam is not staying at 13, but someone will be.

With Dustin missing another week (Major), we can assume he will not make the playoffs, and Alex, in 15th Place with 34 Points, and Joe V, in 16th place with 33 Points, will most likely join him.

Next on the schedule is our 2^nd Major, The Tin Cup Championship, on May 31^st, 2026.

Just a heads-up: after some issues with pricing at our past golf courses, I am going through and updating the 2026 green fee list. Don’t be surprised if I change some of the upcoming golf courses.

Right now, I know that Dustin, Rob, and James will not be playing in the Tin Cup Championship. Please let me know if you cannot play.

I hope you all have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.