Vandyland

- 2001 McKinleyville Open  -

 "What Competition?"

A year for the record book again. There was no dramatic finish to the round, there weren't any spectacular drives or putts, there was just a good old-fashioned ass kicking! Josh was again the favorite at 4-1 and he showed that he should have been 2-1. He shot the best round ever at the Open, 46-44 for a total of 90. He waxed the competition, Micah and Carl finished tied for second merely 13 strokes back. Greg posted a 111. Josh didn't do anything great, aside from paring all three of the par three's on the back nine. He never trailed in the round, though he was tied with Micah for the first two holes. All Josh did was play a boring round of bogey golf, no bad holes and every hit seemed to go straight. Carl finished with a round of 103, one stroke better than the previous year. He really took himself out of the running after he posted a 55 on the front nine. Even his stellar back nine of 48 couldn't pull him even close to striking distance. A few bad holes again hurt him, plus the play of Josh on the front nine kept him playing catch up the whole round. Greg had another frustrating round, this time a 111. He used his pop's lob wedge when he shouldn't have, and didn't use it when he should have. Greg did have a great hole though. On the par three 14th, his tee shot went into a deep trench. He decided to play it where it lay, made a terrific stroke and landed it on the green. He then proceeded to sink his putt for his one and only "legitimate" par. There is always next year. Micah couldn't do anything to slow Josh this year. While the first tow holes went decent, Micah then struggled. Shanked his tee shot on the easy par three 3rd, then followed that with a 9 on the uphill par 5. He lost his share of the lead and never came close. He might have had a chance though. Micah had a chance to par the 8th, but 3-putted for bogey and gained no ground. He then made par on the 9th while Josh doubled. He had a chance, until he broke his 8 iron on the tenth leaving him only three irons in his bag. If it wasn't over when he broke the 8 iron, it was definitely over when he teed off the 160+ yard par three 12th with his 9 iron. His chances of getting the trophy back were finished.