Captain Ackerman Leads His Team to Victory for an “All Square” 2021 Validation Cup / Dion Carver and Carl Poposki Go Undefeated

Captain Ackerman Leads His Team to Victory for an “All Square” 2021 Validation Cup /

Dion Carver and Carl Poposki Go Undefeated

Buddy’s Ballers had to wait three months before they could get payback for their 17-10 loss to GHIN ‘n Deuce in the spring Validation Cup. The Baller’s thought the final score was a lot closer when they looked at their number of one-point losses in the singles matches.

GHIN ‘n Deuce was sounding confident and looking for the sweep to go undefeated as a team in the VC this year. (Plus, they had worked out their unform issues.)

Both teams got to play in the cooler October temperatures during the entire weekend. Turned out to be the best weather the Validation Cup has been played to date in without the usual massive amounts of rainfall. The Watters Creek course was in great shape.

And Buddy’s Ballers came out on fire that Saturday morning.

RESULTS from the October 16th – VC Team Matches Match One Team Best Ball –

The first “Best Ball” match of the morning had the VC Captains squaring off against each other. Buddy Ackerman and Jordan Montague each had a bridie on the front nine for a four-up lead thru nine holes. John Stephens and Emanuell Garibay, who birdied #12, fought back on the back nine. Ackerman’s birdie on #14 led the Ballers to a 4/3 victory.

Match Two Team Best Ball –

Another marque match involving the low handicappers facing off against one another. It was Billy Martinez (2) and Glenn Staley playing against the team of Donnie Griffin (2) and Doug Ward. While Billy and Donnie played to their handicaps, Glenn and Doug made numerous contributions as this was the only match of the morning to go all the way to the eighteenth hole. All square

heading to seventeen, Glenn won the crucial number one handicap hole while Billy made par on #18 to secure a 1/0 victory for GHIN ‘n Deuce.

Match Three Team Best Ball –

Kurt Liles and Carl Griffith ran into a buzz saw in the team of Chance Young and Will Jenkines, who dominated the Par Three holes winning all four of them. WillJ had two birdies teaming up with Chance for a 4/2 win for Buddy’s Ballers.

Match Four Team Best Ball –

The scorecard for this match had the team of Jason Johnston and Corey Lehmen leading by one from hole #7 all the way to hole #14. That’s when the Ballers went to work as Dion Carver birdied #15 to square the match. Then Mike Allcorn took over winning #16 and #17 to put another point in the win column for Buddy’s Ballers.

Match Five Team Best Ball –

The GHIN ‘n Deuce team of Fred Buchman and Trey Wilkerson won the first hole with Fred’s par and never trailed in their 2/1 win over Brad Ausdemore and Ismael Ortiz. Fred and Trey “brother in lawed” well getting to a three up lead several times during the match before Trey closed out the win on seventeen.

Match Six Team Best Ball –

In a match full of former VC Captains, Bruce Sult and Carl Poposki were paired up against Frank Mata and Brian Cano. Concentrating on keeping the ball in play, Bruce and Carl made a couple of birdies between them to put Frank and Brian away for the biggest margin of victory in the morning best ball matches for a 6/5 victory.

Match Seven Team Best Ball –

The captains picked two steady teams to represent them in the always crucial anchor match of the morning. It featured Ric Rodriguez and Joe Bissa versus Stephen “PH” Ramirez and Vince Iglesias. Joe birdied #1, Ric birdied #2, and then then they teamed up to both birdie #7 and #12. On the other holes, Ric made putt after putt to earn a 5/4 win to wrap up a very successful

Saturday morning for Buddy’s Ballers, who earned a 5-2 lead over GHIN ‘n Deuce.

RESULTS from October 16th – VC Alternate Shot Matches

Match One Team Alternate Shot –

The afternoon Alternate Shot matches began with Frank Mata and Brian Cano winning the first hole of their match against Donnie Griffin and Doug Ward. The Ballers comeback began immediately on the second hole and then Donnie & Doug birdied the always difficult sixth hole. Donnie and Doug won the first match of the afternoon 3/2.

Match Two Team Alternate Shot –

VC newcomers Emanuell Garibay and Corey Lehman drew Will Jenkines and Chance Young in a match that would go all the way to the eighteenth hole. WJ and Chance birdied #2 only to see the newcomers birdie #3. Both teams birdied #9 with Emanuell and Corey being one up thru the first nine holes. They led by as much as two holes after fifteen but lost #16 & #17 to have it all tied up going to the tee box on Eighteen. (Leading up to hole #15 was a huge trend this VC as the last three holes at WC proved to be pivotal in several matches.) Both teams made par on #18 for a half point.

Match Three Team Alternate Shot –

Vince Iglesias and Stephen “PH” Ramirez came out in the afternoon “making putts” to win four of the first five holes in their match against Jordan Montague and Buddy Ackerman. Vinnie and PH birdied #2 and #10 to cruise to a 6/5 victory for GHIN ‘n Deuce.

Match Four Team Alternate Shot –

“Bolognia Sandwiches” were an unlikely source of energy and strength for Bruce Sult and Carl Poposki against Fred Buchman and Glenn Staley. Bruce made several crucial putts as they birdied #3 and #11. Bruce and Big Funky C went on to win the first three holes on the back nine on their way to a 3/2 win for Buddy’s Ballers.

Match Five Team Alternate Shot –

Mike Allcorn and Dion Carver won the first five holes including birdies on #2 and #3 against the team of Kurt Liles and Carl Griffith. Mike and Dion won for the second time this Saturday cruising to the “second biggest margin of victory” in VC history with a 8/7 victory.

Match Six Team Alternate Shot –

Captain Stephens reunited the team of Billy Martinez and Jason Johnston as a team to go up against Buddy’s team of Joe Bissa and Ric Rodriguez. Billy and Jason won holes four, five, and birdied number six to take a commanding lead. Playing steady “Par Golf” the rest of the way, Billy and Jason earned an important 4/3 win and another point for GHIN ‘n Deuce.

Match Seven Team Alternate Shot –

Talk about Fireworks, the anchor match saw a ton of them. Not one, not two, not three, but SEVEN birdies in the alternate shot format is just spectacular golf from John Stephens and Trey Wilkerson. Brad Ausdemore and Ismael Ortiz shot a solid team score of 37 on the front nine. John and Trey’s score of 33 was just too much and don’t forget their seven total birdies in a 5/4 win. More importantly for GHIN ‘n Deuce, this point evened the afternoon’s Alternate Shot matches at 3.5 points for each squad.

Despite the tie in the afternoon, Buddy’s Ballers took a three-point lead (8.5 to 5.5) into Sunday’s singles matches thanks to their numerous strong performances in the morning’s best ball competition.

RESULTS from the October 17th – VC Singles Matches

Match One Singles —

VC Captains always want to get off to a fast start with their first picks to allow good news to spark momentum throughout the rest of the lineup. Billy

Martinez and Joe Bissa drew the opening assignments. This was an exceptional back and forth match that went all the way to the eighteenth hole. Joe was plus two after fifteen holes, only to see Billy win #16 and #18 to earn a half point for each team. Billy finished this VC at 2-0-1.

Match Two Singles –

In a little-known VC historical fact, Jason Johnston has played in “three VC singles matches winning all three matches”. Jordan Montague drew this pairing. Jordan played well birding number six, but a strong back nine by Jason produced a 3/2 singles victory and the first full point of the day for GHIN ‘n Deuce.

Match Three Singles –

Dion Carver, a Captain’s pick, and Stephen “PH” Ramirez played an interesting match. Dion hit a ton of greens from everywhere winning three holes in a row twice on both nines. Dion’s 5/4 victory produced the first full point of the day for Buddy’s Ballers. The win moved Dion to 3-0 in this VC (and win half the pot in their team’s private undefeated pool).

Match Four Singles –

Mike Allcorn also had an opportunity to go undefeated, but Vince Iglesias had a lot to say about Mike’s quest. Vinnie’s clubs did the talking with birdies on #2, #3, and #11 to go along with four consecutive wins on holes nine thru twelve. A solid 5/4 win and point for GHIN ‘n Deuce.

(All four players gave their opponents lots of props for the tremendous sportsmanship and love of golf on full display for the four hours of competition.)

Match Five Singles –

Frank Mata and Brad Ausdemore squared off with Frank holding the lead after the front nine at plus three. Brad battled back to even the match after fifteen holes. Winning sixteen and seventeen, Brad produced a “FLIP / critical turnaround” point in the team competition with this exciting 2/1 win.

Match Six Singles –

Fred Buchman and Ismael Ortiz battled each other in match six. Fred jumped off early to go up three on the front nine. Ismael whittled it to a one down

deficit only to see Fred go another run himself for a 5/3 win for GHIN ‘n Deuce.

Match Seven Singles –

At the halfway point, GHIN ‘n Deuce had made up two points on their three- point deficit going into singles thanks to Brian Cano’s 1/0 win against Bruce Sult. The former VC Captains were all even after sixteen holes with “four lead changes” up to that point. Cano won the always important seventeenth hole and made par on eighteen to secure the win.

With seven matches to go, GHIN ‘n Deuce had shaved Buddy’s Ballers lead down to one point.

Match Eight Singles –

See Below

Match Nine Singles –

Kurt Liles and Doug Ward went at it in the ninth match. Right off the bat, Doug won the first five holes. Doug kept doing what Doug does ‘Hitting his Ball Down the Middle” for a 7/5 singles victory. Doug’s victory started a run of five singles victories out of six matches for Buddy’s Ballers to turn the tide in the last seven matches back in their favor.

Match Ten Singles –

In what has been called “the Upset of this VC”, Carl Griffith took down his good friend Ric Rodriguez. Carl shot 38 on the front nine to take a four-up lead. Ric worked hard cutting the deficit down to two twice on the back. Fireball, a VC rookie, won #17 for the 3/1 upset victory and point for GHIN ‘n Deuce.

Match Eleven Singles –

Chance Young was matched up against VC newcomer Corey Lehman. This was yet another back-and-forth match that was all square thru fifteen holes. Chance won sixteen and seventeen for an important Ballers’ point with a 2/1 singles victory to finish this VC without a loss at 2-0-1.

Match Twelve Singles –

Future VC Captain Will Jenkines drew the third VC rookie, Emanuell Garibay. The two competitors were all even after eight holes until WJ won the ninth to go one up. Winning four of the next five holes on the back cemented a 3/2 win for WJ and the Ballers. (WJ also finished without a loss at 2-0-1.)

Match EIGHT Singles –

Two good friends, Glenn Staley and Carl Poposki, squared off in what turned out to be a crucial match. It went all the way to eighteen and turned out to be the 15th point to secure the VC Trophy. Carl went up three thru seven holes, but Glenn won the next two holes to be down only one at the turn. Carl went up two thru sixteen, but Glenn won seventeen once again. Neither player would like to talk about how they played eighteen. Carl, a Captain’s pick, gutted it out on #18 for the winning VC point for Buddy’s Ballers in front of a large crowd under the shade of the tree drinking cold Coors Lites. (Carl also went undefeated at 3-0 joining Dion Carver as the winners of the private Buddy’s Ballers’ pool.)

Match Thirteen Singles –

Captain Buddy Ackerman faced off against Trey Wilkerson in the next to last match of the day. Trey jumped out to an early two up lead only to see Buddy rebound to take a one up lead after nine holes. The back nine saw good golf until Buddy won that hole (seventeen again) to win 2/1 and the final point this day for his team. Plus, Buddy had the satisfaction knowing his Captain’s Picks Carl, Jordan, and Dion (to replace those who could not play in October) went 7-2.

Match Fourteen Singles –

The anchor match had Captain John Stephens going against Donnie Griffin. The match was even after nine holes. Donnie then won the next three holes to go up three. Despite hearing the other team had more than enough points to take the VC trophy back, Stephens kept playing – making a birdie on seventeen to win the last match 2/0.

BUDDY’S BALLERS – 16 points GHIN ‘n Deuce – 12 points