2005 Newport Cup Recap

The inaugural playing of the Newport Cup has come to a close, and with it, an 11½-8½ Blue Team victory. Though we’ll have coverage of the event in later posts, this story will share with the world some of the scoring.

As many know, our first two rounds at Talamore and Pine Needles were played in two-man best-ball competition, while our final round featured singles matches at Davis Love III’s Anderson Creek. Each member of the Newport Cup played with every member of his team and against every member of the opposing team at least once, and we all had a great time getting to know each other.

Round One: Talamore

Dave flipped a tee and it pointed at him, so he had the honor of hitting the first tee shot in Newport Cup history. Like the rest of the competition, it went right. 🙂

            1 E E               1 1 2 2 3 3 4 3 3
Rafi/Don    5 5 4 5 3 4 3 4 3   3 5 4 3 3 4 2 4 4
Dave/Ed     6 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 4   4 5 5 3 4 4 3 3 4
                  1 1 2 2 2 1

After pulling out a 1-up victory on the front nine, Dave and Ed succumbed to the Red Team’s tremendous ballstriking (and Don’s putting) to lose the back by four.

                1 2 1 1 E 1 1
Josh/Cody   5 3 2 5 3 4 4 3 3   3 5 4 4 5 3 3 3 3
Erik/Jeff   5 3 4 6 2 4 3 5 3   3 4 4 3 4 2 4 4 4
                                  1 1 2 3 4 3 2 1

This match started well for the Red Team with a one-up victory on the front, thanks in large part to Josh’s half-round of one-over. Unfortunately for the Red Team, Josh and Cody found themselves four down with three to go on the back. Needing only to to halve one of the final three holes to win 2-1, Erik and Jeff parred in while Cody and Josh birdied the final three holes to close the gap and even the match, 1½ to 1½

Round One Totals
Blue: 2½
Red:  3½

Round Two: Pine Needles

                                   1 E E E E E 1 1
Rafi/Cody    6 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 3   5 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 4
Dave/Jeff    6 3 2 4 4 4 4 4 4   5 5 3 4 3 4 3 6 4
               1 2 2 2 2 1 1 E

The Red and Blue teams sent their first- and fourth-ranked players out in the afternoon at Pine Needles, host of the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open. The greens befuddled plenty, but thanks to a 50-foot putt by Rafi off the pinestraw, through the fringe, across the green, and into the cup, the Red Team held out for a very close victory, 2½ to ½ points. Things weren’t looking good for the Blue Team at this point.

Fortunately, Erik and Ed managed to even the score:

                   1 E 1 1 E E
Josh/Don     5 3 2 3 3 2 3 5 4   5 5 4 4 4 5 4 3 3
Erik/Ed      4 3 3 4 1 4 3 3 4   5 3 4 4 3 4 3 5 4
             1 1 E                 1 1 1 2 3 4 3 2

After splitting the front, Erik and Ed ham and egged it on the back nine, eventually winning 2½ of the 3 available points. Particularly devastating to the Red Team was the par-3 16th, a must-win hole. Ed and Erik hit into the left and right greenside bunkers at the 190-yard hole while Don and Josh found the green. Erik and Ed both got up and down from the sand while Don and Josh both three-putted, closing out the match and squaring the afternoon matches up.

Red Team would take a slim one-point lead into the Sunday Singles matches, where eight points would be up for grabs.

Round Two Totals
Blue: 5½
Red:  6½

Round Three: Anderson Creek

The third round began on a chilly, windy morning as dew covered the fairways. The Red Team, having a substantial lead, teed off first and put the pressure on. Rafi couldn’t maintain the momentum from yesterday’s rounds, and he was beat rather soundly by both Erik and Dave. This gave the Blue Team a one-point lead.

Rafi (4)     5 6 5 3 4 5 4 5 5   6 4 3 4 5 4 4 5 7
Dave (0)     4 6 4 3 4 5 4 4 5   5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4
             1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3   4 4 4 4 5&4

Rafi (4)     5 6 5 3 4 5 5 6 5   6 4 3 4 7 4 5 4 7
Erik (6)     4 5 5 4 4 5 3 4 4   5 5 3 5 5 3 4 5 7
             1 2 2 1 1 1 2 3 4   5 4 4 3 4 5&3

Scoring Update
Blue Team: 7½          Red Team: 6½

Josh, who had been playing well all week, put up quite a fight. Getting ten strokes from dave and four from Erik, Josh fell down three and four holes to Dave and Erik respectively, but fought back gamely to earn a half-point from Erik and to fall to Dave only after a brilliant birdie at the difficult par-5 18th.

                                             1 E
Josh (10)    5 4 5 5 5 4 3 4 3   5 4 3 4 5 2 4 5 6
Dave (0)     4 6 4 3 4 5 4 4 5   5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4
             1 E 1 2 3 2 1 1 E   E E E E 1 E     1up

Josh (10)    5 5 6 5 5 4 3 4 4   5 4 4 4 5 3 4 5 7
Erik (6)     4 5 5 4 4 5 3 5 4   5 5 3 5 5 3 4 6 7
             1 1 2 3 4 3 3 2 2   2 1 2 1 1 1 1 E E

Scoring Update
Blue Team: 9          Red Team: 7

With the first- and second-ranked players for both teams in, the matches fell on the shoulders of the third- and fourth-ranked members of the Red and Blue team. Don played well at various times throughout the round, but never felt comfortable. At the turn he found himself four down and two down to Ed and Jeff, but fought back for a half against Jeff and succumbed to Ed 3&1.

Don (11)     7 7 5 4 6 5 4 6 7   4 5 2 6 6 3 4 7 8
Ed (14)      4 8 5 4 4 5 3 4 5   5 5 4 6 4 3 7 6 5
             1 E E E 1 1 2 3 4   3 3 2 2 3 3 2 3&1

                 1 2 1 1 E                   1 1 E
Don (11)     7 7 5 4 6 5 4 6 7   4 5 2 6 6 3 4 7 8
Jeff (26)    6 X 6 5 4 5 3 5 4   6 4 2 6 7 4 6 7 7
             1 E           1 2   1 2 2 2 1 E

Scoring Update
Blue Team: 10½          Red Team: 7½

With only 20 points in the inaugural playing of the Newport Cup, Ed and Jeff had managed to clinch a Blue Team victory. How close would the competition be in the end?

Cody (12)    5 9 6 2 5 5 4 6 8   5 7 4 5 6 4 6 5 6
Ed (14)      4 8 5 4 4 5 4 4 5   5 5 4 6 4 3 7 6 5
             1 2 3 2 3 3 3 4 5   5 6 6 5 6&4

             1 2 2 3 3 3 2 1 E   1 E     1 1 1 2&1
Cody (12)    5 9 6 2 5 5 4 6 8   5 7 4 5 6 4 6 5 6
Jeff (26)    6 X 6 5 5 5 3 5 4   6 4 2 6 7 4 6 7 7
                                     1 E

Cody, without his best stuff, managed to hold off a charging Jeff to earn a full point, off-setting his loss to Ed.

The Final Tally

The final tally does not indicate how closely the matches were, and it certainly can’t attest to how enjoyable they were. With a three-point margin of victory, the Blue Team captures the inaugural Newport Cup.

Blue Team: 11½          Red Team: 8½

Individual Records

Individual records are scored as the number of points won, lost, and halved (tied). Nassaus provide three points (front, back, and total) while singles matches are valued at only one point. A total of eight points per contestant was available.

Name    W-L-T    Points
----    -----    ------
Dave    3-4-1    3½
Erik    4-1-3    5½
Ed      5-2-1    5½
Jeff    1-4-3    2½

Name    W-L-T    Points
----    -----    ------
Rafi    4-3-1    4½
Josh    1-4-3    2½
Don     2-3-3    3½
Cody    4-2-2    5

With 5½ points in a winning effort, Ed and Erik will share possession of the Newport Cup until the rematch in 2006.