2015 Newport Cup Matches Thread

[Club Rat]

I joined a couple of friends this morning at Seville CC while still in Phoenix for another great day of golf in the Valley of Fun.

Then started my travel home by driving US highway 60 which is an incredible scenic drive.

I left Phoenix and the temp was 104. Three hours later and 5000 feet higher in elevation, it was a cool 68 degrees.

Aaaaahhhh, felt great.

One more day of driving and one more round of golf in Tulsa with a friend, then it's just another half day drive, I'll be home.

I'll post a summary of the matches and my thoughts of playing Moon Valley CC.

What a great time golfing and the tours of Pure Grips & Ping ...... and making new friends ......

Club Rat

[mchepp]

Here is my round up for the Newport Cup.

As others have said, the event would not have been what it was with the organization effort of @iacas and @mvmac . They did a great job with everything. Every detail was covered, from the lodging to the food, to the golf, to the competition. Getting 12 guys to do everything they are supposed to and on time is not easy. They make it look effortless. I heard zero complaints (except maybe the 17th hole) which is a testament to how great a job they did. I have participated in a great number of these and almost all of them had something that didn't go right, everything in the Newport Cup went perfectly.

Sadly, I missed the first day. I really wanted to go but work was not cooperative so I missed the Pure grip and Ping tours. I am really bummed that I missed because every player to a man raved about what a great experience it was.

My flight to the Newport Cup was a total disaster. The plane that was suppose to take me to Phoenix on Wednesday night was suppose to travel from Sacramento to Santa Ana then up to San Jose then up to Portland. The flight left Sacramento on time but as it was trying to land in Santa Ana the airport was experiencing a thunderstorm and was unable land. Worried about fuel, they diverted to San Diego. They fueled up and headed out to Santa Ana. Once there another thunderstorm moved in and one bolt of lightning hit the control tower and shut down all the computers. They were stuck there. So my flight got to Portland 3 hours late so I didn't land in Phoenix until 1:30am. Get my bag and rental car and I was in the house about 2:30am. I fell asleep until everyone in the house was up and Adam at 5:30am to head out to the course.

In our first match Barrett ( @Bechambo ) and I were a perfect team. He birdied the first, I birdied the second, and we never looked back. Vince ( @SavvySwede the co-MVP of the Newport Cup) and Hunter ( @jbishop15 ) played really well but Barrett and I perfected the ham and egg act. When I struggled he played great, when he was struggling I was doing my thing. For me playing with a zero handicap is very comforting. They typically do all faucets of the game well and it frees me to feel like even if I make a mistake he will be there as air coverage. I felt great the entire round and played accordingly. All 3 points and I was on my way.

The next round was alternate shot. Captain Mike paired me with Kyle ( @kpaulhus ). After a morning of ham and egg with Barrett, after lunch it was mostly egg and egg. When Kyle hit a good shot, I would blow it and hit a terrible one and vise versa. Very solid play from Jamieson ( @jamo ) and the always steady Dave ( @DaveP043 ) had us losing the front nine. On the back Kyle and I found a groove and we not only won the back but turned the overall around as well to get 2 more points. Don't ask me what we found on the back, because really I don't know, we just gelled. The most memorable shots for me was Kyle's pitch on the 15th hole. He hit it to a foot when the blue team was in trouble. It was a turning point.

Day 1 in the books and I had 5 points and I was exhausted. We had dinner and almost as soon as we got to the house I fell asleep.

Day 2 opened with alternate shot again and Colin ( @Big C ) was my partner and we were a very formidable partnership. Colin is good golfer and he hits the ball very solidly. We went out against Dave and Vishal ( @GolfLug ) and we all had a great time. Colin and I came out of the match 2.5 to 0.5 and not getting all 3 because Dave and Vishal never give up. Never. They battled out a 0.5 on the back and it was well deserved.

The afternoon match pitted myself and Drew ( @Golfingdad ) against Jamieson and Matt ( @saevel25 ). This was my first experience with Matt and all the hoopla about how far he hit the ball is true. Both of these guys are competitors and Drew and I knew it was going to be a tricky match. Drew was not playing his best coming into the match but I had feeling that playing with me would change his fortunes. I was right. He played really great including the best clutch putt I have ever seen in my life on the 17th hole. It broke their backs. I have never seen anything like it. We lost the front because the Matt owns the 8th hole, but Drew's putt on 17 sealed the back and overall for us. 2 points for the red team.

At the end of day 2 I had 9.5 points and really I owed that to having such great teammates. Just a bunch of great partnerships.

The final day I played Dave and when the match ups were set the night before both us knew what kind of match we were going to get...a grind. Both of us are grinders. We beat guys by wearing them down. We are very similar in that sense. Our match was the complete opposite of the other one staged in our foursome, Kyle and Vishal. Those guys were all over the place, searching the desert for their drives, tying holes with double bogies, all sorts of wild antics. Our match was nothing like this. We had pars, lots of pars. Solid play from both of us and due to my stroke I prevailed on the front. Dave quickly got back to even with a great birdie on 10. The match went back and forth and Dave made a great 5 footer on 18 to win the back and tie the overall. 1.5 points for each of us.

I finished with 11 points and was very happy with the week. I know that there were some people who wanted a play off, but I would have been useless. It was an exhausting week in 100 heat, 90 holes, under some intense pressure, I had nothing left in the tank. I felt a tie was a worthy conclusion to one hell of a week. Absolutely nothing to separate us.

My top 10 highlights for the week:

1. Getting to meet everyone and put a face with the name.

2. Watching how far Hunter and Matt hit the ball. They are the only guys I have played with who can truly boast internet forum distance.

3. Listening to how Kyle tell me how much mustard costs and also how he met his fiance. He is a great story teller.

4. Convincing Kyle, Drew, and Colin to hit less club on a hole where they had been hitting it out of bounds. And they listened to me.

5. Getting a pep talk from Mike before my singles match. Not had one of those before. I wish I had it on video.

6. Getting all sorts of awesome stuff from Ping, Linksoul, Mission Belts, True, and Kick X.

7. Listening to Vishal at dinner admit what all of us were thinking, that alternate shot is really really hard.

8. Watching Kyle in his singles match do stuff I couldn't imagine - Left handed shots, pitch out into water hazards, drives that went for miles, he is like the energizer bunny and a box of chocolates all rolled into one. He just keeps going and going and you never know what you are going to get.

9. Sitting at the airport bar with Drew and Colin talking strategy and what we would have done differently (Surprisingly very little)

10. Watching Barrett hit a ball across a bridge on the 9th to 3 feet.

It was really great meeting everyone. Everyone was really friendly and generally awesome. The sponsors of the event were great Ping, Linksoul, True, Pure Grips, Kick X, and the great Moon Valley CC. Big thank you to all of them.

[kpaulhus]

Quote:

8. Watching Kyle in his singles match do stuff I couldn't imagine - Left handed shots, pitch out into water hazards, drives that went for miles, he is like the energizer bunny and a box of chocolates all rolled into one. He just keeps going and going and you never know what you are going to get.

LMAO

[jbishop15]

So, I decided to stay up all night so that I'd sleep on the plane ride home; not only did I sleep for only like an hour, I went to bed at 5 PM and woke up about an hour ago.

Now that I am properly rested, I think its time for a recap!

TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY

Tuesday was a hot mess. Got off the plane and immediately went any played golf with Matt ( @saevel25 ), Vince ( @SavvySwede ), and John ( @Club Rat , who graciously picked me up from the airport). We played at Ironwood, and it was HOT. I played well for about seven holes, and the heat just torpedoed me. It wouldn't really bother me like that again, but man, this first day was brutally.

Wednesday was AWESOME. We went to PURE first, and got to see the inner workings of the factory and ask questions about the process and whatnot. We got free grips and had them installed on our clubs right there! They feel great, and the way they install grips takes so little time compared to traditional grip companies. They really are great.

At PING, we got to try out clubs and talk to engineers and even see the PING gold putter vault, which was a special special treat. Here is really stupid picture of me holding one of Tiger's amateur putters:

A clearer picture of the putters:

In front of the PING Gold Putter Vault:

The Matches:

THURSDAY MORNING

First things first on THURSDAY, we started out with Four-ball; Vince ( @SavvySwede ) and I were partners. We came out the gates firing; I chipped up from left of the green to inches for par. Barrett ( @Bechambo ) and soon-to-be-christened "Magic Mike" ( @mchepp ) were in a position to par the hole. I thought.

So, of course, naturally, obviously , Barrett drills a long putt for birdie. And so it goes.

Vince and I shoot 2 under on the front and lose by three holes. And as for the "Magic Mike" moniker?

Well, ask him about the thirty-five footer for birdie on the fourth hole :-P

THURSDAY AFTERNOON

We all went in for lunch, except for Vince, who was... not happy about his play, and elected to hold off. I had some really dope fajitas, and because we were short for time I ate all of them in legit three minutes. Maybe my best performance of the week, to tell you the truth.

We faced off against Barrett and Drew ( @Golfingdad [who was just luring me into a false sense of security for our Friday singles ;-)]) in the alternate shot format. Both Vince and I were displeased with our format, and we vowed to stay focused and play as well as we could. And, man, did we ever.

Barrett and Drew weren't super-sharp, but Vince and I were. We were perfect partners; I don't think one of us really hit a truly bad shot all day. We were both bombing drives, pure-ing irons, and hitting good chips. The only thing we weren't doing well was putting, and we shot a gross 80. Vince and I were henceforth "pod partners" for the rest of the week.

We ate dinner at the club after, and it was really, really good. I had the cheeseburger, and it was legit one of the best burgers I've had in my life. We had a picturesque view of the course behind us. We also finished like an hour before everyone else, and Drew, Vince, Barrett, and I had a good time filling up on chips and stale popcorn, haha.

FRIDAY MORNING

Friday morning, 530 AM wake up call. Felt good, ready to play. We switched formats around: alternate shot in the morning, four ball in the afternoon. Good warm up session, better chipping/pitching, okay putting. Vince teed off first, so that I could hit the tee shot on the par 5s. As it was the day before, we couldn't miss. Facing off against Barrett and John ( @Club Rat ),

we were on fire again. No mis-hits, not missed shots; I made a few putts early to help keep things going, and then Vince turned it on. We shot a gross 78, and suddenly we'd won 6 straight points. At no point, over any shot, was I ever nervous. I had a tough wedge into the green on #9, over a tree, and before it was halfway there I turned around and got in the cart. Two putts later, we had won the front, and on it went. 3-0.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

After lunch (THOSE FAJITAS WERE SO GOOD), Vince and I took on Barrett (hi again!) and John once more. We had a tighter match than the scored indicated; we split the front, and while we won the back and the overall, they were never far behind. Vince and I were still rolling, and just couldn't miss a shot again. If he faltered (and he didn't often; dude deserved to be co-MVP with his play), I was right there. I was driving the ball really, really well, and just generally stepping up when I needed to. It was a fun match.

We ate dinner at the club again, but this time we got our own special room. I had the unlimited fish and chips, but jokes on me; there was so much Cod on the plate on the first go-around, I only had one plate!

SATURDAY MORNING

9 AM tee times. Only 18 holes.

Drew is a very good player, and I knew that if I wanted to win, I'd have to be super sharp all day long. And I just wasn't. I stayed with him at first; a lucky push on the first, and a good chip on the second lead to another one, but Drew wasn't going to be denied. He played so, so well, and even if I had been playing well, I still probably would've lost. He got up and down from everywhere; time after time, he'd be in danger, and just come back to halve or win a hole that I thought I had locked up. It was really, really impressive.

After the 15th hole, it was over. We watched as Colin ( @Big C ) and Vince went head-to-head, and that was a tight, fun match. Back and forth all day.

In the end, it was a tie. 27-27. A perfect ending, in my estimation; what more could you ask from the Newport Cup, especially your first time?

We went to In-and-Out for dinner, which was a treat for an East Coaster like me. It really was pretty damn good, though I think you West Coasters are just starved for good food more than anything :-P. Later that night, Dave ( @DaveP043 ), Vishal ( @GolfLug ), Kyle ( @kpaulhus ), Matt, and I all went to get sushi and watch football. That was some of the best sushi I've ever had, and a great experience.

Thanks to PING, PURE grips, Linksoul, TRUE, KickX, and Moon Valley for all they did for us.

Hope to do it again.

[kpaulhus]

Overall, the golf was great, the visits to ping and pure were great, the swag was great, but the people is what made this such an awesome trip.

Erik and Mike did a fantastic job picking the teams and other than the clan of engineers, we were all pretty different individuals who all shared a love for the game.

[jbishop15]

Overall, the golf was great, the visits to ping and pure were great, the swag was great, but the people is what made this such an awesome trip.

Erik and Mike did a fantastic job picking the teams and other than the clan of engineers, we were all pretty different individuals who all shared a love for the game.

Can't agree with this enough. This was my thoughts exactly.

[saevel25]

Finally got home from Phoenix. First thing is, it's cold in Ohio. 54 degrees is about 50 degrees cooler than what we played in ;)

Also to anyone who says that a 100 degree dry heat isn't that bad. Go play 36 holes of golf. I think people in Arizona say that because they stay inside from dawn to twilight ;)

I first want to thank Erik @iacas and Mike @mvmac for setting up this outing for all of us. I would also like to thank all the sponsors who supported the Newport Cup and really made this a special event.

On Wednesday we first visited Pure Grips and learned a about their history and their company. They also hooked us up with new grips. I had the Pure DXT grips installed on mine and love them. It was cool to see the inside of a small business who is doing well in the golf industry. Then we went over to PING and visited them. They showed us the process they use to make their clubs and how they want to have complete control over the quality of their product. Their attention to detail is second to none in the golf industry. Their R&D; department is amazing. I had an awesome time seeing one of the big names in club making up close. Thank you Pure Grips and Ping for allowing use a look at your operations. Thank you Mike and Erik for setting these visits up. I am looking at a Ping G30 driver in the future. I really liked those Ping-i irons.

I would also like to thank all the other sponsors for providing use with awesome swag. The Linksoul clothing was fantastic. The Truelink's shoes were great as always. It was fun to try out the KickX golf balls again.

Now onto the golf.

The Thursday Morning matches had Jamieson @jamo and I versus Colin @Big C and Drew @Golfingdad .

Jamieson and I got out to a quick start. Then we struggled a bit through the middle holes of the front nine. My moment came on hole 8 when I hit my first tee ball OB. I stripped the second ball down the middle and hit a 7 iron to 12 feet and drained it for par. Then we clenched the 9th hole to win the front nine. The back nine was a lot of up and down. With red taking a lead early. Jamieson and I scratched back and on the 18th hole I drained an 18 FT putt for par to force Colin to make his birdie putt to win the hole and force an overall tie in the match. This allowed Jamieson and I to win the overall score.

The Thursday Afternoon was Vishal @GolfLug and I versus John @Club Rat and Colin.

This is a match was an up and down match on the front nine, which ended up all square. Then the wheels fell off on the back nine. Neither Vishal and I could keep the ball in a good position to get a decent shot at the green. In the end we were closed out on the 16th hole for the overall score and the back nine.

Friday Morning Alternate shot had Jamieson and I versus Drew and Kyle @kpaulhus
This was one of those close matches again. We jumped out to an early lead only to let it go. The red team was able to take a 1 UP lead into the 8th hole. The 8th and 9th hole were in our favor again as we were able to push the match to all square for the front nine. On the back nine Jamieson and I were able to lock up the match by paring the 18th hole going 2-UP.

Friday Afternoon Fourball had Jamieson and I versus Mike @mchepp and Drew
Another very competitive match. In the end the four of us went a combined 5 over par on the front nine. Jamieson and I were being pushed around by Mike "The Machine". Then we came again to the 8th and 9th holes where Jamieson and I were able to take the front nine 1 up. On the back nine Jamieson and I went 1 down and tried to crawl back. On the 16th hole I hit a iron to about 10 yards short of the green. I then was able to chip it in for birdie to bring the match back to all square. Then on the 17th hole, Drew hit is drive into the water and hit his 3rd shot to about 45 feet. He proceeded to drain the putt for par to take the 17th hole. The red team was able to par the last hole and take a 2 UP to win the overall. This was one of those very competitive matches where all four of us showed up in someway to try to win. Drew showed up the most at the end with two clutch pars.

Saturday match had me versus Barrett @Bechambo
This is where the game fell apart. I just could not get anything going. After scratching back to 1 Down going into the 9th. I had to lay up after skying my 3-wood short right. I was able to pitch it to about 25 feet. Barrett drained a birdie putt on me. I barely missed the par putt to halve the hole and went 2 Down on the front. Then the back nine happened. My driver left me. I 3 out of 4 3-wood drives were skied. I wasn't able to hit any greens at all. I took about 3-4 extra short game shots. Even then I was only 1 down. On the 17th hole I jacked my first putt 12 feet past the hole. I was able to make that for par. Barrett missed his 4 foot birdie putt to keep the match alive for me. I was able to bogey the last hole and secure a half a point for my match.

In the end I feel like I left a lot out there on the course. I had a great time and will be looking forward to trying to compete for another spot on the next Newport cup in a few years.

Once again a big thanks for Erik and Mike for setting this up.

[RandallT]

In case people need a final scorecard to follow along with all the narratives above. Great recaps, guys. I believe this is correct. Not sure I got a final score on Drew/Hunter, but I know they picked up with a couple holes to play, so i just entered "V" as a placeholder (victory).

[jbishop15]

In case people need a final scorecard to follow along with all the narratives above. Great recaps, guys. I believe this is correct. Not sure I got a final score on Drew/Hunter, but I know they picked up with a couple holes to play, so i just entered "V" as a placeholder (victory).

Drew beat me four up with three to play, Randall, I'm pretty sure. Our match ended on the 15th green, and he had me dormie at that point.

Also, thanks so much for your work with creating a scoreboard and the like. It was really, really awesome, and it made it feel really special. Thanks again!

[Golfingdad]

In case people need a final scorecard to follow along with all the narratives above. Great recaps, guys. I believe this is correct. Not sure I got a final score on Drew/Hunter, but I know they picked up with a couple holes to play, so i just entered "V" as a placeholder (victory).

I won 15 to go 4up for the back with 3 to play.  Then we teed off on 16 but decided to pick up after that point because Colin and Vince's match was getting tense and we were just going to be in the way.  We called "good-good" at that point and then on the tee of the last two holes as well.  Since Hunter got a stroke from me on 16, he won that hole so the back finished 3up as well.

Also, thanks so much for your work with creating a scoreboard and the like. It was really, really awesome, and it made it feel really special. Thanks again!

1000 times yes to this.

[Pretzel]

So now the real question remains: Where is the trophy now if nobody won?

[jbishop15]

So now the real question remains: Where is the trophy now if nobody won?

I think John has it, if I'm not mistaken.

[RandallT]

Drew beat me four up with three to play, Randall, I'm pretty sure. Our match ended on the 15th green, and he had me dormie at that point.

I won 15 to go 4up for the back with 3 to play.  Then we teed off on 16 but decided to pick up after that point because Colin and Vince's match was getting tense and we were just going to be in the way.  We called "good-good" at that point and then on the tee of the last two holes as well.  Since Hunter got a stroke from me on 16, he won that hole so the back finished 3up as well.

Hey, I enjoyed it every bit as much as you guys. Thanks to you guys for making it seem so damn fun there.

I'll update my copy here, in case anyone needs it in the future. It's amazing that 5 of the 6 singles matches were All Square for either the back 9 or the Total. That means to me that in any of those 5 matches, the slightest little change in how a ball rolled would've sent the cup to one side or another.

That's competitive team golf, I suppose, but I've never played competitive tournaments like this, nor followed a match so closely, so I was stunned at the twists and turns in that last hour or so.

West had the board looking pretty good as the tallies were deep into the back 9, but the East quietly and quickly put themselves in striking distance as several holes went their way very late in the match on the back 9, in time for the last foursome to eke out the tie.  In fact, John had to win the 18th just to even things up for the West, as we know. I'm still stunned about the back 9 ups and downs.

Tip of the hat to everyone for enduring the heat, and keeping your cool!

Edit: I guess this is a big lesson for me (and anyone watching) that you gotta keep your nose down and grind it out. You never know if your match can be the decider. Just focus on what you can control and let the numbers just work out. No brainer for you guys who do this all the time, I suppose, but it certainly opened my eyes.

[jamo]

In case people need a final scorecard to follow along with all the narratives above. Great recaps, guys. I believe this is correct. Not sure I got a final score on Drew/Hunter, but I know they picked up with a couple holes to play, so i just entered "V" as a placeholder (victory). [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/131969/] [/URL]

Something I just noticed: I won 7.5 points in 3 matches not playing @mchepp and 2 points in 2 matches playing @mchepp . Gotta tip my cap to that.

[saevel25]

Something I just noticed: I won 7.5 points in 3 matches not playing @mchepp and 2 points in 2 matches playing @mchepp. Gotta tip my cap to that.

Yep, Mike "The Machine" was a tough opponent ;)

[newtogolf]

Congrats to all the competitors, sounds like you all had a great time and played some good golf.  Thanks for making us all feel like a part of it.

[saevel25]

Just some thoughts on the format.

I loved the alternate shot. It's just cool to actually play golf as a team like that.

I am not sure I liked the Nassau format. I almost wished it was just front and back only. I kinda felt like the Nassau took out aggressive play to win the front. If you are two down with two to play, if yo have a Nassau it was almost better to try to maybe win one out of the two to get it close for the back nine. If there was no Nassau then you would go supper aggressive in trying to win the front nine. I think the Nassau kinda took away trying to really win the front instead of just trying to set up for the back nine. In the end you still could tie it up at 1.5 to 1.5 or go 2 to 1 if you win the back nine by a lot. I think the Nassau made the front nine a tad less important.

[Hardspoon]

I loved the alternate shot. It's just cool to actually play golf as a team like that.

Yeah, that seems like a lot of fun...that was always my favorite multi-player mode on Tiger Woods PGA Golf...

EDIT: Deleted a dumb comment since I apparently can't read tonight.