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With a ton of rain a couple days before our 9/11 Never Forget tournament, I was not sure we would be able to play.  4 of us went out to Heritage Isles the day before the event to play, and the course was extremely soggy.  Fortunately, God smiled down on us, and they got no rain on Friday or Friday night, and Heritage Isles dried up quite a bit from the day before.  It wasn't bone dry, and balls did not roll out much at all after they landed.  But it wasn't the swamp it was on Friday.

We had a nice group of 47 players, 1 shy of 12 full foursomes.  44 members competed, and 3 new players joined in on the fun.  We took a moment to honor all those thousands of people we lost 20 years earlier, and thanked all our military, law enforcement, first responders and front-line workers.  God bless America!

Now, on to the golf.

After a blistering start, with 3 birdies in the first 5 holes, I felt that I finally had a chance to put together a round that would compete for 1st place.  So, I never checked my points, and never worried about what my score was.  I did add up the totals after 9, and had shot a 37 by making a triple on #6 from 144 yards out in the middle of the fairway with a 9-iron in my hand.  Still, no reason to panic, as triples don't count against your points total.

The back 9 was not as impressive, but I played well, making another birdie along the way.  I had a lip-out for birdie on one hole, and had about 12' for birdie on 18.  I had a great line, but left the putt a couple inches short, dead center.  Don't do that, guys.  Jack Coffey had said on the tee, "I think if you make par, you'll win."  I still had no idea how many points I had.

David Harris and I compared scorecards, and everything was matching.  Jack then took our scorecard, and went to his car to put his clubs away.  He told me I was +8, and I still thought I had a chance.  When I got into the clubhouse, I heard players were at +9, and I knew then I was not going to win...again.

Last night, after watching the Gators play the USF Bulls on DVR, I made myself a drink, and settled in to enter everyone's scores.  Our group's card was one of the last ones I entered.  I've added a feature where I see how much + or - a player is after I enter their score on 18, before I click submit to enter it to the database.  I was shocked when I saw my score was +10.  I felt I had entered a score incorrectly, because Jack said I was just +8.  So, before I entered the final 2-3 cards, I manually went over my scores and points.  I did it 2 times just to be sure, and realized I was really +10.  So I text Jack, who is at a local watering hole, and ask him to add my scores again.  He responds that he's 3 sheets to the wind, but sends me a pic of our card.  Sure enough, still +10.  He refuses to believe it, of course, sure that he's correct.  He is not.

So, with that long and boring description of the events that led up to realizing that +9 did not win, here are the results.

Tres "El Presidente" Fenton, aka "Rollerboy" by "Kingpin" Tony Ambrose, has finally crossed over the pirate bridge of honor to join all the past champions, and is named Jose Gaspar for September 2021.  Tres shot a 76, with a triple bogey and 4 birdies, for his lowest Gaspar Invitational round to date.  First place prize money was $284.  He also earned $21 each for 2 A Flight Skins, and got one of the Closest to the Pins for another $31.  El Presidente's total prize money was $357.

We had a 3-way tie for 2nd place, so we go to the scorecards, and compare scores for the hardest handicap hole.  Mike Hauch, Rocky's son, made a chip-in eagle on the hardest hole to earn Skallywag honors, and won $95.  He also earned an A Flight Skin for $21, and a Closest to the Pin for another $31.  Mike's total earnings for the day were $147.

3rd place, and Deckhand honors was then between the other 2 players tied at +9, Ric "Dallas Bull" Yambura and Mark "Tugger" Blandford.  Again, comparing scorecards, Ric made par on #11, the hardest handicapped hole, and Mark made a bogey.  Ric earns $31 for 3rd place, and another $31 for his Closest to the Pin on #16.

The green eyed Puerto Rican, Frank Perez, had requested to play with the 3 ladies in this event.  "It'll be fun," he said.  They took him to the woodshed, feeding him Fireball, and helping him to shoot an improbable 94 to take home the dubious honor of The Wench!

A Flight Skins - $21

We had a bit of controversy on the CTP for hole #8.  Eric Delgado had hit his shot to just outside the Captain's shaft band, which is about 19".  Someone must've moved the marker, and didn't replace it in the proper spot.  Cindy McGrath hit a great shot at the pin, and Group Captain, Frank Perez, said it was about 5 feet from the hole.  Because the marker had been moved, Cindy put her name on the card, and thought she had perhaps won a CTP.

This is not the first time this has happened.  Someone did it to me many months ago, and I've heard that at least one other time it happened.  This completely spoils the integrity of the CTP contest.  We are now going to require all Group Captains to bring their own tape measure to every event, and we will use them to MEASURE the CTP.  Captains will write the measurement of the CTP player's shot on the card, and only the tape measure can determine if someone is closer.

I am going to take $31 out of the Gaspar Golf marketing fund so that both Eric and Cindy receive $31 for the CTP.