Vandyland

- 2003 McKinleyville Open  -

 "Clear the Mantle"

- Prologue - Odds - Final Scores - Epilogue - Full Scorecard - Pictures -

Prologue

The 2002 McKinleyville Open proved to be a success; a new player currently has the coveted and as of yet unnamed trophy. The trophy currently sits on the mantle of Carl Van Der Kamp. though it is slated to make its move to the apartment of Micah Van Der Kamp soon. The board has decided to keep the format the same for 2003 as it was for 2002, but the teams are still yet to be determined. Will the dynamic duo of Carl and Micah stay together or will the current play of some of the players require a change to be made...that is yet to be seen.

To recap, Carl and Micah won handily last year shooting 108 and 98 respectively, together a 206. Greg shot a 109 while Josh came in at 104 for a total of 113. The match was close until the last few holes. For a full recap click here.

There is another significant change that will take place at this year's Open, the date. Since the beginning of time the tournament has been held in August, though this year it will be in July. It will take place between July 7th and July 14th. Will the weather be the same??

What amazing things will transpire at this years Open? Will Carl hit a monster drive on the par 5 7th and be within 130 yards of the green and make double bogey? Will Josh choke and shoot another 104 as in 2002 or will he be in true form and shoot a 90 as in 2001? Will Greg continue his hot shooting as of late or will he post yet another score over 100? Will Micah ever get a picture taken of himself or will he continue to be always the photographer, never the photgraph-e? Will all of the players even make the trip to play in the Open? These questions and more will be answered in the 2003 McKinleyville Open at Beau Pre Golf Course.

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Odds

• Jan 2003: Greg gets married, the fellas all play a round at Sterling Hills. Micah shoots 85, Greg 97 or so, Carl an even 100, and Josh...98 or so.

• As of January 27th, 2003, Carl is projected to shoot a 101, Greg a 99, Josh a 97, and Micah a 93. If the pairing were the same as last year, Carl and Micah would be favored to win by 2 strokes. If 1st and 4th from last year played against the 2nd and 3rd from last year, Greg/Micah vs. Carl/Josh, Greg/Micah would be favored by 6 strokes.

• March 8, 2003: Three of the contestants play golf at Dry Creek. Micah plays decent and shoots a 96. Josh plays well but some how ends up shooting a 103. Carl was....uh....just messin' around. Yeah, messin' around, that's the ticket. He shoot 58-62-120. No big deal. Like I said, he was just messin' around.

• As of March 12, 2003, Carl is projected to shoot a 105, Greg still 99, Josh 98, and Micah 94. If the pairings remain the same as last year, the Greg/Josh team would be favored by 2 strokes.

• It has been confirmed that Micah will be playing in the McKinleyville Open '03. He will be arriving at Patrick's Point...er...Prairie Creek on July 7th and will leave on the 14th. Carl has already confirmed his attendance, but we are still waiting on final confirmation from Greg and Josh.

• March 29, 2003: Greg has confirmed his attendance at the Open. Due to his confirmation, the Open has been tentatively scheduled for Thursday, July 10th.

• April 05, 2003: Greg, Josh, and Micah go out to play Diamond Oaks.  Josh and Micah shoot 46 while Greg comes in with a 52.

• As of April 7th, 2003, the odds change a little: Carl 105, Greg 100, Josh 97, and Micah 95.

• April 26, 2003: Carl and Micah played Rio La Paz - Dad shoots a 113 and Micah a 101. They both played terrible, as their scores indicate. Recently, Dad shot a 101.

• As of April 28, 2003, the odds change again: Carl 105, Greg 100, Josh 97, and Micah 96.

• May 10^th, 2003: The McKinleyville Open Board of Directors has come to a decision on the pairings for the 2003 Open, they are as follows: New father Micah Van Der Kamp will be paired with new Grandfather Carl Van Der Kamp. This leaves soon-to-be father Josh Van Der Kamp to be paired with newlywed Greg Werner. The decision is based upon the fact that this is only the second year of the new format. It is believed that altering the pairings too much in the first years of this new format could be detrimental to the tournament. Therefore, it may be safe to assume that the pairings will be the same for the 2004 and 2005 Opens, unless something dramatic takes place. Keep in mind, the Directors have the right to make changes as t(he)y see fit.

• May 31, 2003: Carl and Micah play Wildhawk. Micah shoots an amazing 85 with 8 pars and one birdie...Dad shoots 112.  The previous week, Dad shot a 99 at Micke Grove. Also earlier in the month, Greg shot a 99 or something like that. Odds change, kinda. Micah down to 95, Dad up to 106, Greg and Josh stay at 100 and 97.

• 07/07/03 - Final Odds: The 2003 McKinleyville Open is just a week away, thus the final odds are now available.

  Josh thinks he is playing well. He got some tips from some guy and all of a sudden Josh thinks he is striking the ball well. He shot a 95 ("But the front nine I was figuring out my swing!") at Woodcreek last week.  He's been playing a lot of golf lately, is he trying to buy the Open trophy? He is fairly consistent throughout his rounds, so if he puts up a small number on the front he's liable to do it on the back as well. He might as well just play the front nine and we'll just double his score to obtain his total.

  Carl is his usual erratic self: 120 one day, 48 another day. He's been playing a lot of golf as always, but the question is will he keep big numbers off the scorecard? Last year he had 3 quads and 5 triples - that's a 98 by itself. That cannot happen again. He usually plays better on the back than the front so hopefully he'll be able to get off to a good start. If he can shoot 50-53 on the front he should be in good shape.

  Greg has a couple of rounds scheduled for this week. He played Santa Barbara Golf Club a couple of weeks ago and reportedly shot a 98. If he does shoot a number close to that then the open trophy could find its resting place in SB, however that is a big IF. The closest Greg has come to 100 in the past four years is a 104 in 2000. History tells us that he puts up big numbers on the front nine, so he'll need to keep that under control. Perhaps he should start drinking as soon as he arrives.

  Micah has had some great rounds this year, two 85's, some mediocre ones and a bad one. As of late, he has been hitting the ball well. His driver has been his best friend, which is a big change from past years when it has been his worst enemy. Much like Josh, Micah usually shoots the same on the back as he does the back; though last year was an exception (53-45). If Micah doesn't beat Josh then he won't retain the trophy so it is necessary that he match Josh or come close to matching Josh on the front nine.

  So, how will the open turn out? Micah and Carl won in 2002 only because Josh posted such a high score, something that wasn't expected. The projected scores last year were fairly close to the actual scores except for Josh.  Greg was +3, Carl +4, Micah -1, and Josh +10. So, here are this years projected scores: Josh 96, Greg 102, Carl 104, and Micah 95.  Based on these scores, Josh and Greg will win by one stroke, but it's anyone's tournament. The winner will be the team with the player who shoots surprisingly well or the team that doesn't shoot surprisingly poor. Either way, it will be a great Open, or at least it should be.

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Final Scores

 - Carl: 53/57/110 - Greg: 53/47/100 - Josh: 46/51/97 - Micah: 52/43/95 -

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Epilogue

Clear the mantle, the McKinleyville Open Trophy has a new home; Carpenteria. The duo of Josh and Greg takes the title of 2003 McKinleyville Open Champions, a title they will hold for the next year, a title that Greg has been waiting for forever.

The many questions were of course answered. Carl didn't have any monster drives, though he did have a few double bogeys. Josh didn't choke like he did last year, though he didn't play great as he did in 2001. It can be said that Greg continued his hot shooting and he didn't post a score above 100, though he did post a score equal to 100. Micah did finally become the photograph-e, though will those pictures ever surface?

Now to the important stuff, the scores and analysis. Carl shoots 110, six off his projected score. Greg shoots a 100, two off his projected. Josh shoots 97, one off his projected. And Micah shoots 95, right at his projected. Josh and Greg win by 8 strokes instead of the projected 1. 

At first thought sight you would think that Carl and Micah lost the Open because of Carl's poor score but for the real reason you would have to look a little deeper. The player's all started off the first hole rather poor, but Josh and Greg took the early one stroke lead. A birdie by Josh on number 2 extended the lead to 4 strokes but a quad and triple by Greg and Josh brought the lead back to one. Two pars by Carl and Micah on the par 3 4th moved the lead in their favor by one. It was soon after that everything unraveled.

Carl and Micah still lead by one after five when the mistakes began. Micah teed off on the par 3 6th and launched his ball about 30 feet. The rest of the players would then tee off and finish with bogeys. Six strokes later Micah would finish the hole as well. The lead was now two strokes and in the Greg/Josh team's favor; Micah and Carl would never again see the lead.

Two strokes wasn't too bad, but Micah then quadrupled the par 5 7th just as he did the 6th. Greg and Carl double bogeyed and Josh bogeyed...the lead went to five. A par on the 9th by Micah could have lowered the lead, but Josh sunk a putt from off the green to match Micah's par. The lead after nine was 6.

Movement was made on the back nine however, Carl and Micah weren't out of it yet. They picked up a stoke on the 10th, 11th, 13th, and 14th thanks to 3 pars from Micah. The lead was down to 2. They lost a stroke on the par 5 15th and then tragedy struck on the 16th.

Just as the hole was important in the 2002 Open, the 16th was even more important in 2003. Three players teed off fine, but Carl shanked it to the right. He found his ball, in pretty good shape still, took off his sweater, and shanked his second shot. After shanking a few more, he finally finished the hole with an 8. The lead grew to six and the Open was all but over. Legend has it that Carl's "reverend" title was stripped after this hole was over.

Greg shot par on that 16th and followed up with another par on the 17th. The lead was then 7. Greg was then informed that all he needed on the 18th to shoot a score under 100 was a 7 or less. He teed off, hit a tree, and lost his ball. Needless to say, Greg finished the hole with an 8 and and even 100 for the round. Nice try though, maybe next year Greg. For the second straight year Josh was able to close his round out with a birdie; thus giving Josh and Greg an 8 stroke victory.

You could answer the question of, "Why did the 2003 McKinleyville Open turn out the way it did?" several ways.

Whichever way you answer it, you will have to dwell on in for an entire year until the 2004 McKinleyville Open.

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