The teams, GHIN ‘n Deuce and Buddy’s Ballers, were all tied up in May of 2021 after the Saturday fourteen team matches. Unfortunately, the Singles got rained out last May with a three-inch rain downpour on Watters Creek. All twenty-six players committed and showed up for the replay on Saturday July 24th.
Experts and long-time observers were predicting a very close outcome for the thirteen singles matches with maybe a one-point margin of victory between the evenly matched teams. They were to be proven wrong by GHIN ‘n Deuce on July 24th.
Match One –
The first match was much closer than the final result as Will Jenkines and Fred Buchman each shot in the seventies. WillJ birdied number seven to help take a three-up lead on the front nine. Then WillJ held on to win the day’s first point for Buddy’s Ballers 3/2.
Match Two –
The winner of the second match never hit a driver during his sixteen-hole match as he proudly told everyone all afternoon (after six beers). Plus, Vince Schlueter hit a bunch of greens to take a big early lead in defeating Chance Young 3/2 for the first GHIN ’n Deuce point of the day.
Match Three –
Captain Buddy Ackerman birdied number three on his way to shooting a 77 in route to a 4/3 victory over Kurt Liles. Unbeknownst to everyone at Watters Creek at the time, that was to be the last full point victory Saturday for Buddy’s Ballers. As Captain Ackerman’s team would only half two of the remaining ten matches.
Match Four –
Brian Warburton and Joe Bissa battled all the way to eighteen, which Brian won to earn a half a point. Joe won the first four holes of the match, but Brian threw two birdies on the card and then won #17 and & #18 to half the match.
Match Five –
Three of the next four matches turned out to be “Plus One” victories for GHIN ‘n Deuce. Twice during the Doug Ward / Mike Brock singles match, Brock opened a three plus lead. Doug kept battling back forcing Brock to win #17 and make par on #18 to secure the 1/0 win and the full point for GHIN ‘n Deuce.
Match Six –
In yet another match that went back and forth all morning, neither Stephen “PH” Ramirez or Ric Rodriguez had their best stuff till the back nine. Certainly, was stunned to see both players have a “snowman” on their scorecard for the fourth hole. PH won #17 and #18 for a very significant 1/0 win and full point for GHIN ‘n Deuce.
Match Seven –
Frank Mata jumped out to a “plus five” lead after six holes against Ismael Ortiz. But Ismael battled back (between Frankie’s puffs) to be just two down thru fourteen holes. Frank won number fifteen to regain control of the match and earn a 2/1 victory for GHIN ‘n Deuce.
Match Eight –
Neither player played well on the front nine with Jason Johnston opening a two-hole lead. Mike Kohl fought back from that deficit to be only one down thru fourteen holes. Jason was able to play steady, strong golf over the next four holes to secure yet another 1/0 victory for GHIN ‘n Deuce. The win made Jason Johnston 3-0 for this Validation Cup. Congratulations!!!
Match Nine –
Buddy’s Ballers got its last bit of good news when the “Italian Stallion” Oscar Diaz fought Billy Martinez (the heavy Favorite) to a draw by winning the last two holes of the match. Oscar played the Par Fives and the stroke holes very well for the half point victory. Billy Martinez finished this VC 2-0-1.
Match Ten –
Dean Boyd maintained a two-hole lead through the first six holes of his singles match against Vince Iglesias. Then Vinnie turned it on winning seven, eight, and nine to head into the back nine with a one up lead. Vinnie extended his lead to “plus four” to withstand a furious comeback by Dean to secure a 2/0 win and full point for GHIN ‘n Deuce. Vince Iglesias finished this VC 2-0-1.
Match Eleven –
Unbeknownst to everyone at the time (word of the day), the eleventh singles match was going to turn out to be the VC point clincher for GHIN ‘n Deuce. Trey Wilkerson was up to the task jumping out to a three-up lead on the front nine against Tom Young. Trey had three birdies on the day for the biggest victory of the day 5/4 plus winning the clinching VC point for his team.
Match Twelve –
In a rematch of the singles match between our 2020 VC Captains, Brain Cano and Bruce Sult clashed yet once again. Cano jumped out to a two-plus lead on the front nine and built upon his lead on the back nine. Cano gained retribution for his 2020 singles loss to Bruce with a convincing 4/2 win for GHIN ‘n Deuce.
Match Thirteen –
Captain John Stephens and Donnie Griffin had a donnybrook of a battle in the last singles match of the day. All square thru fourteen holes, Stephens won number fifteen and then birdied seventeen for a 2/1 win and the last point in a decisive 17-10 win for GHIN ‘n Deuce to capture the coveted Validation Cup!!!! John Stephens finished this VC 3-0. Congratulations Captain!!!
Great Sportsmanship was on Display by Both Teams throughout this Extended Validation Cup. Says a lot when all twenty-six players show up nine weeks later to finish this VC the right way with 100% participation.
GHIN ‘n Deuce’s 17 – 10 victory matched the seven point victory by “Team Mata” in October of 2019, VC II!!!
RESULTS from the May 16, 2021 — VC team matches—-
Match One Singles –
Because we had twenty-six VC players, a singles match was played before the six team best ball matches began. Saturday at Watters Creek saw great golf weather all day.
Captain John Stephens took an early lead to take the all-important first point of the fifth VC with a solid 3/2 victory over Will Jenkines.
Match Two Team Best Ball—
The first “Best Ball” match of the morning saw VC veterans Stephen “PH” Ramirez and Vince Iglesias facing off against Bruce Sult and Donnie Griffin who won the front nine plus one. During a tense back nine, PH & Vinnie won the 17th hole to even the match and then held on to earn a half point for each side.
Match Three Team Best Ball –
Chance Young and Ric Rodriguez combined for six birdies to beat Mike Brock and Fred Buchman for the first VC point for Buddy’s Ballers with a 4/3 victory.
Match Four Team Best Ball –
In another great match that went all the way to the eighteenth hole, Joe Bissa won Holes #17 and #18 with Mike Kohl to defeat Brian Cano / Brian Warburton 1/0 for Buddy’s Ballers. Joe and Mike won the match despite the two Brians having a five to two advantage in birdies.
Match Five Team Best Ball –
The eighteenth hole saw more action as a terrific match between Ismael Ortiz and Oscar Diaz versus Vince Schlueter alongside Kurt Liles went all the way there. Vince and Kurt battled back from a three-hole deficit thru thirteen holes with three birdies in a row only to lose 1/0 due to Ismael’s excellent par on the eighteenth.
Match Six Team Best Ball –
Dean Boyd and Tom Young continued the momentum for Buddy’s Ballers with a 2/1 victory over the new team of Frank Mata / Trey Wilkerson. Dean and Tom had three birdies together to build a four-hole lead thru twelve holes despite four birdies from Frank and Trey.
Match Seven Team Best Ball –
In a crucial match for GHIN ‘n Deuce Saturday morning, Billy Martinez and Jason Johnston stepped up to defeat the veteran VC team of Buddy Ackerman / Doug Ward 3/2 to win the first best ball point for their team. Jason had key birdies on #13 and #14 to swing the match over to his side to wrap up the morning’s competition with a 4.5 to 2.5 lead for Buddy’s Ballers.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON Results for Team Alternate Shot –
Match One Singles –
GHIN ‘n Deuce needed a fast start in the afternoon. Vince Iglesias delivered that victory with a strong 4/3 singles showing against Oscar Diaz.
Match Two Team Alternate Shot –
Captain Stephens took Trey Wilkerson under his wing as they shot a team score of 74 with two birdies in the Alternate Shot format to win 2/0 over Chance Young and Will Jenkines.
Match Three Team Alternate Shot –
After a productive talk with Ismael Ortiz and Ric Rodriguez about ‘keeping up with the group in front of you”, Buddy’s Ballers team set a quick pace with three birdies rolling to a decisive 9/7 win over Brian Warburton and Stephen “PH” Ramirez.
Match Four Team Alternate Shot –
With a Team score of 73 and two birdies in the alternate shot format, Bruce Sult and Donnie Griffin defeated Kurt Liles and Mike Brock 6/4 for the second point of the afternoon for Buddy’s Ballers.
Match Five Team Alternate Shot –
Dean Boyd and Tom Young went two up after two birdies then went two down on the back nine against Fred Buchman and Vince Schlueter. Shooting even par over the last four holes, Dean and Tom rallied to even the match against Fred and Vince. Each team earned a half point for their teams.
Match Six Team Alternate Shot –
Coming down the stretch the two teams were tied up in these afternoon matches with two matches still out on the course. Frank Mata and Brian Cano shot a terrific alternate shot team score of 75 to earn a full point for GHIN ‘N Deuce with a 3/2 victory over Doug Ward and Captain Buddy Ackerman.
Match Seven Team Alternate Shot –
The last match of the day was a back-and-forth competition between Billy Martinez / Jason Johnston and Joe Bissa / Mike Kohl. Billy and Jason birdied #5 and #6 to go three up thru the front nine. JoeB and MikeK immediately birdied #10, #11, and #14 to square the match up. Billy and Jason were too strong winning #16 and #17 for a 2/1 victory to give GHIN ‘n Deuce a 4.5 to 2.5 total in the afternoon.
The Validation Cup Saturday ended just as it started in the morning all tied up 7-7 after fourteen intense matches.