It’s getting close to J&A Weekend, quite possibly my favorite weekend of the year. Thanks to this tournament falling on the Saturday after Labor Day every year, it’s like getting a bonus week of summer! Plus, since I take the Friday off before the tournament to play even more golf, it’s a three day work week every year. How glorious!
But enough of that. I’m here to announce a MAJOR change to this year’s tournament. Since we are rolling with 23 people, the tournament is changing format to a 2-man scramble. Players will still be slotted into A, B, C and D groupings; A players will be randomly drawn with D players to form teams, while Bs and Cs will pair up. This will allow for some in-group competition as two twosomes will be going off together; plus, having 11 teams seems a lot better than having five foursomes and a threesome. (Yes, there will be one threesome this year, but that’s just what happens when you have a prime number of entrants. Damn math.)
With the change to twosomes, there will be two other major rule changes:
- Each twosome must use THREE tee shots from each player per nine holes.
- If your handicap index is single digits, you’re playing from the blues. Everyone else plays the whites.
These changes were made in an attempt to reduce the influence of a dominant A player- as is the case every year, the spread between the top and bottom of the A flight is much larger than any other flight. There’s not a lot of difference between the blues and whites at Frederic…#8 is the only hole I can think of that’s significantly more difficult from the blues. (Look to your right after leaving the 7th green instead of to your left.)
In order to promote in-group competition, there will be a small prize to the winner of each pairing. What that prize will exactly be has yet to be determined, but it’ll likely be along the lines of a drink token. Win your group and you get two drink tokens; lose and you get nothing. Essentially, you’re playing your opponents for a drink at the clubhouse. If you draw, you all can have one token and sit around complaining about how you left an easy birdie out there on #3. Of course, any additional wagering between groups is not only allowed, but it’s encouraged.
So, groups. The draw for the groups will take place on Wednesday evening and I’ll post the results of the draw as soon as it’s complete. I’d like to say the J&A draw will be a lot more noble than a FIFA event, but I guarantee nothing. Our first tee time is at 11:18am; we go off in 8-minute intervals until our last one at 11:58am. There will be a burger bar at the turn and then a taco buffet after the tournament is over. $40 for the golf, cart and taco bar; the burger bar is $3.50 if you choose to partake.
The Joe and Angie Classic 