Have you won your Club Champ? Share your story....

[b.mattay]

I won mine once. Swing felt positively awful through the first few holes, so decided to have some fun and fire at every pin. Made some doubles but also 7 birdies to lead by one heading into the second day. Day two I made six birdies on the front and saw I was up by 11 shots after 28 holes. Knew tournament was over at that point-snoozed my way in, won by 7. 

[iknowbagu]

A thread where we are actually allowed to boast?!?! 

 

I've got 7 club championships across 3 different courses.  Unfortunately, none in the last ten(ish) years or so because life just kinda got in the way and I haven't been able to actually join a club in some time.  While I enjoy not feeling financially tied to one place and playing different courses, I really do miss the club events.  Obviously, club championship being the biggest, but even the random member-members, Saturday skins, silly charity scrambles, etc. 

 

One of the courses I was a member at back in the day did a Ryder Cup style thing against one of the other clubs in the area.  Came down to Sunday singles and I'm in the last group.  I birdie 15 and 16 to get to AS and then stuff a 5 iron on 18 to about 6 feet to win my match.  Honestly felt better than any of my club championships because it wasn't just for me.  You don't get that team feeling in golf very often. 

 

 

[PixlPutterman]

5th is my best in the champ flight. Its a wide open course so they set up the pins as ball buster as they can. Lots of GIR and then everyone has like 40 putts on the day lol.

 

My playing partner nabbed closest to the pin and then 4 putted lol

Edited January 20, 2022 by PixlPutterman

[golfortennis]

23 hours ago, iknowbagu said:

A thread where we are actually allowed to boast?!?! 

 

 

This is golfwrx.  You should always be boasting.  It's just that most have mastered the art of the humble brag.  

 

 

[bladehunter]

Lol. Why did I find this? 
 

 

 

the answer is no. Not yet.  
 

2020 - led the first day.  73 in the rain.  Second day I come out on fire.  I’m 4 under on 13 tee leading by 5.   The kid in my group and just behind me is a big hitting lefty who’s now moved on to a D1 college gig.  His mom etc is following us , and on 13 tee gets in his face and peps him up.  
 

Shortest version  is that  I start leaking oil and bogey 13-14 while he birdies both.  Then we both par 15 , and I have tp make a slick 12 footer for par on 16.  He makes birdie after a big drive greenside.   On 17 I muster up all my focus and pipe a bomb drive which leaves a flip lob Wedge in.  He’s left in the trees. I think I have him.  I hit the wedge to 5 feet , he hits a miraculous recovery and makes the putt and birdie . I lip the damn putt out.  Make par.  
 

We go to 18 tee and I’m leading by 1.     And there’s a wait.  It’s a forced 3 shot par 5.  So usually a long iron or maybe 3 wood off the tee.  I hit 3 hybrid. You tee off through a shoot that’s about 14 yards wide between old trees.  I pushed it a hair and clipped one tiny branch on the right and the ball makes a hard turn and goes right into the hazard.  Short version. I drop , make a double bogey.  He makes par putt and I lose by 1.  
 

 ***** It was the most positive defeat of my entire life***. I ended up consoling friends that were in shock that it went down that way.  I was actually happy.  I knew how well I had played for 13 holes.  I screwed up taking my foot off the gas on 13 tee. But I learned that valuable lesson. you see. I had shot 72 Yep. I was 4 under through 12 and making a kid who played every day look foolish.  Which isn’t supposed to be possible for a dude who picked Up the game at 35.  
 

then 2021.    It’s like whackamole.  That kid goes off to school. Another one pops up and joins.    I fire a 71 the first day , come in and expect to be leading.  I’m not.  New kid shoots 69.  Second day I come out with the absolute wrong mindset.  I’m now in the same group with new kid and I “ decide “ I have to birdie the first hole ( par 5) to “ put some pressure “ on him.  Idiot. Blanking idiot.  All I did was put pressure on me. What do I do. Blow the first tee ball OB and make a bogey.  
 

headcase after that ( pure rage inside ) and I just never recovered mentally.  I believe it was T4 at the end.  It’s a blur.  So I learned what not to do from ahead and behind.  Lol. Funny thing is I feel like a different player mentally at this moment…. For the better.  One of these days it will all fall my way. 

[Steele47]

2 times.  Just as we were coming out of the Disco era.

[mark m]

I have been fortunate to win quite a few CC’s and now Senior CC’s. The things that helped me:

 

1. Prove it all year. Go in as the lowest handicap - or among the lowest - in the field. This will give you confidence and often means playing “average” will keep you in contention with a chance to win. (The truth is you could win with a ‘B’ or perhaps even a ‘C’ game.) It’s much more difficult to win if your handicap is 3 or more strokes higher than the low guys and you think you can get to where you need to be with 2-3 weeks of intense practice. Yes it can happen, but not likely. (In this case, they would need a ‘A’ or ‘A+’ game.) Often these types of guys want it a little too much and it can lead to a train wreck. 
2. The putter is huge. It’s just hard to win at any level if you cannot make putts. Often CC’s have tougher hole locations, and firmer and faster greens. You need to convert good birdie chances. And you can end up with slightly longer putts for par. You just have to make a big percentage of those “make-able” putts to get it done. 
3. Play in at least a few bigger state/regional tournaments. You will become more comfortable playing tough courses/set-ups. And getting your butt kicked helps to identify weaknesses in your game under pressure. (I didn’t have to play against +4’s or better at my club.) Then work on those things. It also makes a competition at the club much easier on the mental side. Which is everything.  
 

There are much better players on this site, and hopefully they will chime in here. The above are things I have shared with friends at my club who have asked. 

Good luck this coming season.

Edited January 22, 2022 by mark m

[mark m]

We have a season long match play CC and a stroke play CC. One year I played my brother in the finals of matchplay no handicap. And the other guy in our group is a good friend - Tim - who is also a former champ. Anyway, my brother is playing really solid golf and is 2 up through 16. (I’m dormie.) We are in the seventeenth fairway and Tim asks me, “hey, does your brother have a bogey today?” No sir. “No wonder you’re getting your azz kicked!” LOL. We laughed. My brother was a little distance away and asks, “what’s so funny?” Nevermind, I’ll tell you later! More laughs. I played good. But he was better - shot 68. I was so proud of him. 

[Forged4ever]

Yah, 4-Times(1986, 1987, 1993, 1994). Our Championship flight format(2~ Cappers and under) was medal play to low 16 then Match Play down to the "Final Foursome," where we Played a 72-hole medal Finals(Thur, Fri, Sat & 36 hole Finals on Sunday). Oakmont and us were the only two clubs in PA that had 72 hole medal finals, though Oakmont has since dropped to 54 holes with my club going to a 36-hole, Saturday/Sunday "final foursome" medal finals. All of my Championships were in the 72-hole format, as the switch to 54 holes was made in 2004 and 36-holes in 2014.

 

I appeared in 14 "final foursomes" with 6 runner-ups & 4 3rds(I'm as proud of the fact that I never finished 4th as I am of the four Championships😂). Probably my most distressing finish was in 2012, when at the age of 52yo, I finished second with a 207(-3), which would have added 4 more Championships in those 14 appearances had it been shot in other years, though I finished one back(206, -4) to a 20yo kid from Fla who was the #2-3 man at South Florida. His freshly minted step father was a long time member, who had married the kid's mother the year before, so the kid was a member under his father, even though he basically had never lived in Pittsburgh, didn't even have a round at the club prior to that summer and never would following the tourney, lol.
 

His Playing created quite the stir, and ironically it came down to my vote(or I guess any of the other 5 who voted for his being allowed to Play), as even though it may have violated the spirit of the rules, it did not violate the letter of the rules. As I was one of two former Club Champions on the board, I just felt and voiced that I did not want a Championship if there was one other guy walkin around our club chirpin that had he been allowed to Play, I would've been second best. I'd rather lose to him, than have him sayin that, lolol. And lose to him I did😂😂(The other former Champion thought/voted the same way).

 

I actually threw away a few opportunities in the final round and then threw my Tiffany egg off of the clubhouse wall, shattering it in the parking lot on my stroll to my car, lol(pic below was about 30 minutes prior to that egg🥚 bein in pieces, lol). 

 

However, one month later would see me qualify T17(out of 73 Players) for one of 30 spots(The Prior Year's Champion & runner-up received a bye into the MP portion) in the 32 Player bracket), then make a four match run to win the then most prestigious Amateur Match Play Championship in the western half of the state, the Western Pennsylvania Inter Club MP Championship, where I would not only beat the kid who beat me by a stroke in the Club(2&1), I would also defeat a future USGA Champion(27 holes) in the Semis and a former DII AA & 6-Time Oakmont Club Champion who was young enough to be my son in the finals(1 up, bag tag below).
 

As things would turn out health wise, that would be my last competitive season, though all things considered, I wouldn't change a thing, even though it woulda been nice to add a final Club 25+ years after my first. 

Upon returning to my hospital room following a surgical procedure about a month after the MP Championship, my Mother & Maddison had set my bag, trophy and a rolled up putting mat in the corner of my room(picture below), thinking that it would cheer me up. Actually, it made me want to cry, lol😂😂, especially when my father and my oncological surgeon, both still in their scrubs, after discussing my prognosis, would each grab a putter, a couple of balls, lay out the mat and roll a few, lol. Then this surgical resident asked me if he could take some practice swings with one of my irons, lol. No sh*t, it was like a circus, though it did finally make me laugh🤣. Then I told Maddie to get the bag, putters and trophy the hell outa the room, lol.
 

Ya win some & Ya lose some🤷🏻‍♂️
 

Such is life...

 

 

Cheers🍻

RP

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Forged4ever

[OGrads13]

Played in the club championship for the first time in 2020. Stroke play qualifying and then match play bracket to determine club champ. Final match - easy par on 1. Topped 3 wood off the tee on 2 (par 5). Parred from there and halved the hole. Hybrid on 3 hits a tree right off the tee box and lands on the ladies tee. Competitor hits his tee shot in the water. Tie with bogeys.

 

Went on to win 3&1 from there but man it was a disastrous start. 

 

 

[Forged4ever]

On 1/17/2022 at 10:26 AM, Roody said:

Does winning the "A" flight (one flight below the official championship flight) count? If yes, then I did it at my old club in 2017. 

If no, then I'll see myself out 😛

 

Hell Yeh it counts!!

 

Congratz Brotha!!

 

Anytime that you're the last man standing, you've got a lot to be proud of👊
 

 Very Nicely Played🏆
 

May that be the first of many more🍻
RP

[Forged4ever]

On 1/17/2022 at 7:37 PM, wobgon said:

Thirty years between my first and last.

Now THIS is somethin to be proud of!!

 

Congratz Brotha👊
RP

[Forged4ever]

On 1/19/2022 at 2:09 PM, Sparty4202 said:

me and Greg Norman have a lot in common..🤦‍♂️

Nah Bro, you and Norman got nothin in common!!

 

You seem like a real good guy with a lot of heart🤙
 

Norman's a d*ck😉

 

All the Best👊
RP

[mark m]

Richard,

 

Thank you for your story. I recall you posting about it a few years ago. But your the best on this site by miles, and it was a great read. 
 

What month was your CC played? (August? Hot weather, etc.) It sounds very taxing. I am one of those that would be just wiped out - more mentally than physically (I think) - after a state open or CC. (I was in good shape too, walked and carried.) Just curious how you felt in your forties and until 52? Some here could learn from it. 
 

Thank you.

[lefthack]

I was never told when it was. There was only about 20 guys in the club and a beat a few of them when we played together. I don't think they wanted me to play, but that's fine. 

[golfandfishing]

I’ve never played in one as an adult, but when I was 16 or 17 I won the junior division, my dad won the senior and we tied in the overall for 4th I think. It was all played at the same time, from the same tees on a 9 hole course where you played the white tees on the front and blue tees on the back. I thought us both winning our deals and tying overall was cool. No one else has ever given a shi…….

[BCC1898]

I’ve won 7 of them at 2 different clubs. Always feels nice to win! 

[Wardonation]

2016

[Roody]

On 1/22/2022 at 7:41 PM, Forged4ever said:

Hell Yeh it counts!!

 

Congratz Brotha!!

 

Anytime that you're the last man standing, you've got a lot to be proud of👊
 

 Very Nicely Played🏆
 

May that be the first of many more🍻
RP

Alright then, I shall mention a few stories of my experiences in the "A" flight of club championships over the years. 

The one I mentioned earlier, winning in 2017 was a bit of a surprise. The first round I didn't play awful, but I didn't play great either. I think I was middle of the pack somewhere. I played pretty good in day two. I thought it was good enough to move me up the leaderboard, but I didn't think I'd win it outright. When I got done with my round, I went in for a beer and lunch. About a half hour later, the pro came in and told me I won. I said "you're messing with me, right?", Apparently everyone else had a bad round. 

One of my favorite club championships was from 2012. I was tied for first place after day 1, which got me into the final group for day 2. Right there, that was pretty cool. The guy I was playing against was steady Eddie all day long. Not a big hitter, but I don't think he missed a fairway. He got up on me by a couple strokes early on, but I clawed back to even with him through hole 16. It was so much fun, felt like a heavyweight battle to me.

 

Anyways, on hole 16 I piped a gorgeous drive down the fairway and left myself only 85 yards out on a par 4. He hit his 5-wood, also in the fairway, but much shorter than I. Like most of the day, he hit his second shot and was on the green. I get to my shot, and 85 yards would be a hard LW for me, or a 3/4 SW. I decided to try the 3/4 SW. I chunked it. Then I chunked the next shot. I tripled the hole, and it was over. 

What I am proud of from that day was making it into the final group, and maintaining my composure for as long as I did. I hit some great shots that day, under pressure. What I also learned in that moment is if I am faced with a full shot versus a 3/4 shot, I think hitting the full shot is the smarter choice when you're nervous. 

[MountainKing]

Never won a club championship, but I have a bunch of IJGA/AJGA and various city championships from the 90's/early 2000's under my belt.  I'm a total has been. 

[dcmidnight]

Won my first in 2020 of my club's B flight. 8 players per flight, 3 days of match play.

 

In my first round match, everything went wrong on the front 9. I mean put every bad bounce, every bad break, everything - combine that with my opponent draining every long putt in sight. If you've played match play tournaments of any kind then we've all been there - it was a complete train wreck.

 

I was 5 down after 11.

 

I won 1 up.

 

I think that match remains my greatest golf accomplishment. And frankly, after that, I played the rest of the weekend with zero f's left in my tank. I even won a stableford event that same season and dont consider it nearly as good.

 

 

[Obee]

I've won only a few. Have always played at courses with very deep below-scratch memberships and always one or two a bit better and ... I was a choker for a long time.

 

In almost 30 years of scratch/below golf, I probably have 15 - 20 2nd places if you count regular, senior, and match play. Used to always figure out a way to lose.

 

First one was at Canyon Crest CC back in 2000ish. Shot 69, 73, 70, 72. Course was 6,580, 72.0/132 back then.

 

Last one I won was our match play club championship at my current club a couple years ago. Won the final match in 20 holes. Needed an 15-footer to extend the match on the 19th hole.

[iknowbagu]

2 hours ago, MountainKing said:

I'm a total has been. 

 

Right there with you, brother.  I get the impression there's a lot of us here, actually.  But it's better to be a has-been than a never-was.

[Forged4ever]

5 hours ago, Roody said:

I get to my shot, and 85 yards would be a hard LW for me, or a 3/4 SW. I decided to try the 3/4 SW. I chunked it. Then I chunked the next shot. I tripled the hole, and it was over. 

What I also learned in that moment is if I am faced with a full shot versus a 3/4 shot, I think hitting the full shot is the smarter choice when you're nervous. 

Superb Post!!!

 

Thanks much for sharing🤙
 

What you learned was probably Sam's most spoken bit of advice to Ams, whether it was on the line, on the course or at the 19th. He ALWAYS told Ams to take one more club than they initially thought, then just take their regular swing, and he also told Ams more times than I could remember, that unless they had hit "tens of thousands(yah, he used the word, "tens," lol) of a particular 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 swing shot, to ALWAYS take the club that allowed them to take a full swing, when playing "under the gun," his phrase for playing under pressure. 
 

You've had some great experiences and a lot to be proud of👊
 

Continued Success Brotha🍻

RP

Edited January 24, 2022 by Forged4ever

[dennis4190]

Won the Club Championship 3 years in a row. 2007 2008 2009. Won the Senior CC 2011, 2012. Course closed at the end of 2012. Also won Match Play championship 2010. Won the State Senior Spring opener in 2008 also. Now I just play for fun with my friends. Getting old isn't for sissies. 

[br61]

I have been watching this thread but do not like to brag though. I have won 23 club championships in stroke and match play from 1988 to my last one in 2020. My last one in 2020, I played great but had 6 three putts over 36 holes but still shot 70-68 to win by 8 shots. 

 

I love playing match play though, it seems like a pure golf going mano to mano. At my club, they stopped doing match play maybe because it is too hard to get any p*ssies to stick to the schedule. In one year, I did not play in my final match until next summer because my opponent kept on begging off until June of next year. Geez.

[ZAP]

I've been lucky enough to win the "city" tournament at the local muni twice.   Been in the finals a couple of more times.

We play a qualifier round and the top fifteen scores and last years champ go into match play.  It really is a fun event and I feel fortunate to have been able to outlast the field a couple of times.  At the age of 50 I fee like I may have a few more years of competition left to try to win another.  

This year I began competing in the "senior" events at the muni as well.  Those are fun but they don't have the same attraction for me just yet.

Need to get my putting sorted out this spring and make another run.

Overall the thrill of competition has changed and I enjoy it so much more.  Wish I could have had this perspective a few years ago because I feel like I could have won a few more.

[driveandputtmachine]

Not in over 20 years now.  I won it once at a couple different courses in NC when I was younger.  The first club I was a freshman in college, and they decided after that year only primary members could play in it anymore, the other club was right before I moved, the next year at that club they decided that only full adult members could play, no more junior members.  They still allowed us to play in interclub matches.  They wanted to beat other clubs, but didn't want some just out of college punk winning their club championship.  Been a member at two private clubs here in Georgia, finished 3rd once and 8th another time, before my wrist injury, but nothing since.  I have noticed at both my clubs in Atlanta that more and more kids out of college are joining clubs that were college golfers and it will be really hard to beat some of them.

 

Finished top eight of the NC Amateur three times(two in my early and then once in my mid 20's after getting my am status back). Lost in the second round of the NC Mid Am a couple of times.  I played the Georgia Mid am since moving here a couple of times, but never made the match play. Did finish top 12 of the Georgia Pub Links in 2012.

 

Finished in the top 10 in a couple of college Div 1 tournaments.

 

Made it to stroke play finals in one US Am, a LONG time ago, never have made it out of locals in the US Mid am.  

 

I want to win something at my club in Georgia, and I would really like to win a non club event, but alas I don't want to practice either.

[Forged4ever]

4 hours ago, br61 said:

I have been watching this thread but do not like to brag though.
 

I have won 23 club championships in stroke and match play from 1988 to my last one in 2020. 

 

In one year, I did not play in my final match until next summer because my opponent kept on begging off until June of next year. Geez.

First, Congratz, as 23 Clubs is incredible!!

 

Strike that, it's friggin obscene😂😂🤙

 

Secondly, your golf committee/board should set a schedule, stick to it, and that is it. If the individual cannot adhere to that schedule and the scheduled matches, then, regardless of who they are, they forfeit the match. End of story. The tail should NEVER be allowed to wag the dog!!

 

Finally, it is not bragging if ya do/did it~

 

It is merely stating fact😉

 

Again, very nicely Played👊
 

Fairways & Greens 4ever My Friend⛳️
RP
 

 

Edited January 25, 2022 by Forged4ever

[MattyO1984]

This thread has got me all kind of motivated!!

 

Let me come back to you in June. Our Club Championship is June 15th to 18th. I am either coming on then miserable and exhausted after three days of work then golf before the 4th round on the Saturday or I am coming back a champion. I just want the props from you all, especially @Forged4everand @bladehunter