[David Stamm]

Great tournament, Jamie! Congrats on a great effort!

[Michael J. Moss]

Boy, that was one hell of a hex TEPaul put on Blumenfield! I usually don't believe in that stuff, but...

Tom,

I've been short crude oil all the way up from $80.  It's a pinch under $135 a barrel as we speak. See what you can do hex-wise, will you? We'd all benefit!

 

[Matt Bosela]

Congratulations Jamie on a terrific tournament.

As someone who just got humbled in our Provincial Mid-Amateur championship this week, I am very envious of those numbers you posted in a similar competition.  Very well done!

[Jay Flemma]

Go get 'em Jamie...as Dan Jenkins would say, rip off the head and suck the lungs out!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Good tournament Jamie.

Congratulations TomG!!

Jamie, I figured one of you Tavistock guys right behind Blumenfield might pull it off. I remember playing with Tom Gramigna in something like a Mason Dixon Match that seems like eons ago. How old is he these days?

TEPaul,

He's 36.

And, you played with him last month.

Your brain is turning from turnips to marshmellow

[JohnV]

Good tournament Jamie.

Congratulations TomG!!

Jamie, I figured one of you Tavistock guys right behind Blumenfield might pull it off. I remember playing with Tom Gramigna in something like a Mason Dixon Match that seems like eons ago. How old is he these days?

TEPaul,

He's 36.

And, you played with him last month.

Your brain is turning from turnips to marshmellow

Marshmallow.  Tom's not the only one who is losing it.

[Garland Bayley]

...
Your brain is turning from turnips to marshmellow

TEP marshMELLOW? I don't think so. Marshmallow maybe. But not marshmellow.

[TEPaul]

"Boy, that was one hell of a hex TEPaul put on Blumenfield! I usually don't believe in that stuff, but...

Tom,

I've been short crude oil all the way up from $80.  It's a pinch under $135 a barrel as we speak. See what you can do hex-wise, will you? We'd all benefit!"



Michael J:

My hex has only been tried on golf courses and it's pretty much been infallible. If I take it to the world of international economics I probably should do a little controlled lab testing first. I'd hate to create a world-wide catastrophic readjustment by accident.

You're short oil at $80?  Ouch and Double Ouch!   

[JSlonis]

Guys,

Thanks for all the good wishes.  This was the first time I've checked into GCA since the tourney ended.  I've gotta run now, but I'll check back in later and give you a recap of the event and what made it so difficult.  Any of the local guys that know Little Mill will know that the "Pines" had a lot to do with the high scores.

I will give a short golf story to start...basically a "Horror Story" on how not to start a big tournament....

On my first tee shot of my first round I had the craziest thing happen to me since I've been playing competitive golf.  During my downswing, just prior to impact I had a flying insect of some kind come straight up and hit me in the corner of my eye/nose.  Lacking Tiger's skill of bailing out of a shot at the last possible moment, I obviously flinched a great deal and sent my 3 wood head high, dead left, about 150 yards  and straight OUT OF BOUNDS.  A lovely triple bogey start.

More important commentary later.

Thanks again!

TEPaul,

Tom Gramigna is 38 years old.  He and I played High School golf together, he was a year behind me in school.

[JNagle]

Jamie -

Is that two years in a row for Tavistock?  Didn't Billy win last year?

Congrat's to Gramigna.

[Patrick_Mucci]

JVB & Garland Bayley,

Marsh mellow

[JSlonis]

Jim,

Yes, that's two years in a row for TCC.  Your restorative efforts at our club must have been a help in prepping us for the State Am.

For those that have asked,

There are a few factors that make Little Mill a tough course...

1.  Course is cut out of the Pine Barrens.  Fairly tight playing corridors on both sides of most holes with many Jersey Pines to deal with if you hit it out of play. 

2.  Unfamiliarity with this course by a large number of players.  This was the first State Am in the South Jersey area since the 1970's.  For some reason, the rest of the State forgets about us.  If I was betting man, I would have made a pretty good wager that someone from either Little Mill or Tavistock would win this tourney.  With the tightness of the course, it is a big help in feeling comfortable to those that have played the course many times.

3.  Setup was tough but not brutal.  The first round was extremely difficult, the course was very firm and fast all the way through.  Unfortunately we got a good bit of rain overnight after the first round and after the second round.  If the conditions of the first round would have held throughout the week the scores would have been very high.  The rough wasn't too bad, but with the firmness of the greens in the first round, it was very hard to keep a ball on the green from the rough.  The rain made it easier in subsequent rounds.

Overall the course provided a fair challenge for all.

[Matt_Ward]

Can someone explain something to me -- I was told on the grapevine that Jay B's opening tee shot hooked to the left and entered a water hazard. However, again being told by a 3rd party, that the official who was in the area turned away from the shot itself and never saw it enter the water hazard although evidence suggest otherwise.

The official informed Jay B that dropping by the H20 hazard would not be permissible and the only option would be to return to the tee under stroke and distance. This same source mentioned to me this seemed to unnerve him but given his experience I found it hard that someone with a multiple shot lead going into the final round would come unglued through such a faulty interpretation of the rules.

If anyone can either add, refute or provide any other info I'd be especially appreciative.

Thanks ...

[Dean Paolucci]

Matt - I was told by a witness that the drive on the dogleg left was NOT observed entering the hazzard by anyone.  Not the rules official, spotter, marker, players, or spectators.  The interpretation was that if there was not conclusive evidence of the ball entering the hazzard it was deemed lost.  He was instructed to go back and re-tee. 

Jay has enormous experience on the state, national, and international level.  I find it hard to believe that this event caused a melt down as well.

DEAN

[TEPaul]

Matt and Dean:

"Reasonable Evidence" interpretation can get into some pretty tricky shit and the best thing for a player to do, particularly an experienced one, is to just stay calm and ask any questions on the interpretation or decision making at the time as he sees fit. Eventually 6-7 will come into play but any good player understands that too. Immediately over-reacting and locking yourself into some course of action is not the way to go in those situations and most all good players seem to understand that even if intuitively.

By the way, does anyone know when Blumenfield hit that particular shot? I'd really like to know because it may've been the same time I put that ultra hex on him to help Jamie Slonis win. Now I'm sort of sorry and pooh-faced that I did that to Blumenfield. Jeesus, I mean I never even met the guy. He might be a great guy. Why did I do that? Does anyone know of any good shrinks I can see about this? Do any of you think maybe I should write Blumenfield a letter and apologize to him?

[Patrick_Mucci]

TEPaul,

I'll be with Jay Blumenfeld a week from tomorrow.

I'll convey your fellings of remorse.

I'll also provide him with your home address and license plate number.

[Chris Cupit]

Matt and Dean:

"Reasonable Evidence" interpretation.......

"reasonable evidence" went down the crapper with the latest rules revision.  The phrase now is now "known or virtually certain"

You had better be 98% sure at least!!  Or 98.5%, I'm not sure which.

[Doug Siebert]

So let's say I play a hole with a pond to the left of the fairway that's circled by a few feet of high grass, and the pond is blind from the tee.  If I hook my drive in that direction I can't see what happens to it, so it sounds like now I must play this as a lost ball since 5 minutes of searching couldn't guarantee my ball isn't still somewhere in that long grass and no amount of searching will find it if its underwater.  Does one need a forecaddie to avoid undeserved lost ball penalties on holes such as this?

[TEPaul]

Doug:

A situation like you just described would almost never been considered "reasonable evidence" that the ball was in the hazard unless of course someone really did see the ball land like in the middle of it (depending on its size). As has been mentioned on here, these days, it needs to be a virtual certainty it can't be somewhere else.

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