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Prologue
The 2006 Open saw the return of the team format feauring Josh and Greg versus Carl and Micah and the results were the same as the last times out; a victory for G&V. Josh pulled in the Round of the Century by shooting an 87 and Carl pulled the Notsoround of the Century with a 111. You can read more about the open by clicking
here.
Many things have already been set in stone for the 2007 Open. First, it has been confirmed that all four players will be in the tournament and B, the Open will take place the week of July 8th - July 14th. Some other things are likely for the Open. The Axel Lindgren trophy will have a facelift, the Open will again be in the team format, and the Open will actually ake place on July 10th, one day prior to the Open in 2006.
In addition, the McKinleyville Open Board of Directors voted unanimously to take on a new board member. Noah Joshua Van Der Kamp was inducted on January 25th, 2007.
What will the Open 2007 bring? Beer? Wind? Rain? Argyle pants? Purchase your ticket now so you can find out!
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Odds
- June 6th, 2007 - The early, "opening-gate" odds are as follows: Carl-105; Greg 103;Josh-94; Micah-96
- June 26th, 2007 - Carl shoots a 54 at Cherry Island.
- July 1st, 2007 - Carl, Greg, and Micah head out to Wildhawk for the official McKinleyville Open tune-up.
Carl plays par...for him...and shoots 54-47-101. Greg pulls out one of his greatest rounds
ever by shooting 44-43-87. Micah plays well and shoots 43-42-85. Josh shoots 0-0-0 because
apparently softball is more important than the open. Is he taking the McKinleyville
Open trophy for granted? Gotta respect the trophy, and speaking of which...
- July 1st, 2007 - Greg confirms that the trophy has undergone a successfuly fase-lift thanks
to the gifted Dr. 90210. We are all looking forward to its unveiling in 8 days.
- July 1st, 2007 - New odds: Carl-105; Greg 102;Josh-95; Micah-97
- July 2nd, 2007 - It has been confirmed by Don Harling that the 2007 McKinleyville Open
will take place on Tuesday, July 10th at 7:50am.
- July 5th, 2007 - Josh hits the range and gets blisters and doesn't complete his session. He
also had trouble with the heat, dirt in his eyes, a stinky golfer next to him, planters
fasciatus, and carpal tunnel syndrome, but he said he should be ready to go but doesn't
expect to shoot as well as last year, what the the aforementioned difficulties and
his new Nee-K clubs and all.
- July 5th, 2007. Pairing alert, pairing alert! The Board of Directors has finally
come to a decision for the pairings for this year's Open. For the first time in the
team format, Greg and Micah will be paired together with Carl and Josh making up the
team. The Board had a difficult time this year but in the end it was felt that last
years scored required that a change be made. Stay tuned for one more update
prior to the open.
- July 7th, 2007. Final Odds...the odds have not changed. Carl-105; Greg 102;Josh-95; Micah-97.
Good luck to all.
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Epilogue
Always hot off the presses, here is a review of the 2007 McKinleyville Open...
The 2007 Open played out much differently than anticipated, and much differently that other years, save a few things, but in the end the team of Greg and Micah ousted the father son combination of Carl and Josh by three strokes to take home the newly revamped McKinleyville Open trophy.
The teams were changed for the first time in the 4 year history of the team format as the Board of Directors was greatly influenced by the outcome of the 2006 Open in which Greg and Josh smashed the competition by 19 strokes. The tournament started out great for all the contestants as two pars and two bogeys were posted on the difficult opening par 4, but it could have been much worse had Micah gotten a bad bounce off the tree on the left hand side of the fairway. The players came back to Earth on #2 as the best score was a double bogey. As expected, at least one ball ended up in the water and another ended up on the 18th tee box. But, the players soon settled down and after three holes C&J were up by two strokes.
The best shooter in the open showed why he is number by hitting his tee shot on the par 3 fourth within inches of the cup and finished with a birdie, although its benefit was not seen as Carl tripled the hole. Josh continued his exceptional play by shooting par on #s 5, 6, and 7, and got an amazing lift from the Open gods as his tee shot on the short par three 6th was destined to fly the green by 30 yards but was instead knocked down by a heavenly tree branch and placed within 15 feet of the cup. The same gods were not at work for Greg as his tee shot went left, down the hill, and he struggled to get back on the green and posted a quad.
Greg and Micah were able to put up some decent numbers on holes 7-9 and only trailed Josh and Carl by three strokes. It was a well played front nine, lead by Josh's record setting 41, as all of the players were able to post decent numbers and keep their respective teams within striking distance in the chase for the cup.
The beer wasn't flowing at the turn as the players sped right past the clubhouse on their way to the par 5 10th. The players had some difficulty on the long and straight par 5, and a par and a bogey for Greg on Micah on the 11th put them up by 1 stroke. After a triple and a double on the first two holes on the back, Josh was able to regain control as he made par the next two, and with Carl shooting bogey-par the pair was able to pull back in front by three thanks to Greg's double on #13 and triple on #14.
But, Greg would soon make up for his gaff in a big way by stepping up more than he ever has in the Open. He started off with a par on number 15 which, coupled with Josh’s triple, put team GM up by a stroke. Greg teed off to the right on #16, Micah followed with a worm burner, and Josh and Carl both teed of nicely to put the pressure on. Team CJ had their sites on a possible 3 stroke swing, but Micah was able to recover by getting on the green in 4 and one putting for bogey and Greg was able to notch his second straight par. Neither Josh nor Carl was able to take advantage as they both finished the hole with a bogey as Greg and Micah increased took the lead by one stroke.
With their first lead since the 11th, Greg and Micah headed into the par 3 17th with some confidence. Carl had some trouble as his tee shot was short and landed in the water, Micah finished with a bogey, Josh shot par (again), and Greg completed his trifecta as G&M increased their lead to 2 going into the last hole. Two strokes can definitely be made up in the team format on one hole, especially in the unpredictable McKinleyville Open, and there was not a fat lady to be heard of or seen so the trophy was still up for grabs. Josh almost killed the chances of a comeback by nearly hitting a tree on his tee shot; put Greg and Micah put the pressure on by hitting solid shots. Carl, however, could not duplicate the others shots as he teed off into the trees on the left. Josh had a great approach shot and finished with a par, Greg finished with a bogey, Micah tried to blow it and finished with a double, but Carl wasn't able to pick up any strokes as he finished with a quad, and Greg and Micah won by three strokes.
Looking back on the Open, the Board of Directors made a very wise choice with the pairing for 2007. They took a lot of flak for the pairings in 2006, but the bold decision to change the teams made this year’s Open the most competitive since 2002. Hopefully the board will be able to make the 2008 Open just as competitive.
Tournament Notes
With an amazing 43 on the back, Greg broke 100 for the first time in the documented history of the Open...Micah shot a 93 for the third time in his career...Josh became the first person to shoot the same score in back-to-back years by shooting an 87, which happens to be the lowest score ever (again)...the under 100 Greg-jinx may have passed to Carl, had he not dropped his tee shot on #17 in the water or finished with a quad, he may have been under 100...Josh broke records by shooting 41 on the front nine and shooting 8 pars...Josh shot par on both par 5s on the front nine, but was three over on each par 5 on the back.
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