Buchman, Dean, Griffin, and Martinez – Undefeated 3-0 in the Seventh VC.
Yes, we have now had two Validation Cups in a row with great golf weather. Two new teams with two new captains in 2022 as “WillPower” captained by Will Jenkines and “EnPhuego” captained by Stephen ‘PH’ Ramirez led 32 VC players into battle. As you will read below, there was great competition throughout all thirty-two matches coupled with excellent sportsmanship on full display by everyone.
Watters Creek was in great shape especially with the nice weather.
Special thanks to our “Fore Caddy” volunteers, Dan Thorne, Glenn Staley, Mike Brock, and Jordan Montague, who kept the matches moving both days. Here we go………….
Validation Cup #7 / May 21-22, 2022
Results of ALTERNATE SHOT MATCHES
Match One / Alternate Shot
Wanting to get their teams off to a fast start, the VC Captains sent out two strong teams to grab the “all important momentum” for the next thirty-one VC Matches. Carl Poposki & Chance Young of EnPhuego birdied holes 4,5, & 6 to shoot a 33 on the front nine at Watters Creek (which is probably the best nine-hole AS score in the VCs). This led to a robust “plus seven” win over the veteran team of Doug Ward & Buddy Ackerman. (7/6)
Match Two / Alternate Shot
WillPower bounced back in the second match of the morning with Mike Gold & Jason Johnston shooting a 35 on the front-nine with birdies on #7 & #8 to secure a “plus six” victory over EnPhuego’s Dion Carver & Mike Kohl. (6/5)
Match Three / Alternate Shot
Three VC veterans Vinnie Iglesias, Ric Rodriguez, and Ismael Ortiz along with VC rookie, David Castillo ran into trouble in this the third match of the morning. Maybe it was the early morning starting time or Frank’s exhaust fumes hanging over the entire front nine, no one will ever really know. The four gentlemen failed to follow the guidelines for Alternate Shot beginning on the first hole playing something resembling a “shamble format”. It was pointed out to the players on the fourth hole by Glenn Staley. The VC commissioner got out there by hole number six to pronounce their actions as “That’s Not Good”. The final decision was the first ever “DISQUALIFICATION” in Validation Cup History.
Match Four / Alternate Shot
WillPower continued their morning alternate shot win streak with a 3/1 victory by Joe Bissa & Bruce Sult. They won holes #16 & #17 for the win over Oscar Diaz & David Lake of EnPhuego.
Match Five / Alternate Shot
Captain Will Jenkines teamed up with Carl Griffith to make birdies on hole numbers 2, 3, 11 & 12 to overcome several double bogeys to win the third straight match in a row for WillPower. Brian Cano & Frank Mata used all their VC experience to hang in against all the birdies being thrown against them but fell 7/5 to the WillPower duo.
Match Six / Alternate Shot
Team EnPhuego began their comeback as Fred Buchman & Billy Martinez played well together in their 4/3 victory over Trey Wilkerson & Mike Allcorn. Fred & Billy birdied #15 then won #16 to secure this important victory for EnPhuego.
Match Seven / Alternate Shot
Captain Stephen ‘PH’ Ramirez teamed up with the Mark Dean III to birdie holes #3 and #12 in this match. But WillPower’s Emanuell Garibay & Kurt Liles had two birdies of their own before losing holes #16 & #17 in a 3/1 loss to Ramirez & Dean III for Team EnPhuego.
Match Eight / Alternate Shot
WillPower’s team of Vince Schlueter and Dean Boyd won the front nine despite losing the first two holes of the match to Donnie Griffin and Brian Warburton. The front nine was highlighted by Schlueter and Boyd winning four straight holes (#6, #7, #8, #9) to go up two up on the front nine. Donnie and Brian began chipping away at the lead winning holes #10, #12 and #15 to even up the match before winning the last two holes to flip the match for the last all-important point of the morning matches for EnPhuego.
Alternate Shot Totals – enPhuego — 4 WillPower — 3 (One DQ)
Results of Team Best Ball Matches
Match One / Team Best Ball
The match between the teams of Dion Carver & Mike Kohl versus Mike Gold & Jason Johnston had a total of seven birdies in it. Dion & Mike were up three after nine holes. They held on despite a furious rally by Gold & Johnston to win 2/1 for EnPhuego thanks to a dramatic birdie on #17.
Match Two / Team Best Ball
After the Saturday morning Disqualification, Ismael Ortiz & Ric Rodriguez came out gunning for redemption. They shot even par through 14 holes as a team to earn a 5/4 WillPower victory against Brian Cano & Vinnie Iglesias.
Match Three / Team Best Ball
In a tremendous match, Joe Bissa & Bruce Sult battled all afternoon against Frank Mata & Brian Warburton. Bruce birdied number nine to even the match. Only to see Frank & Brian go two up going into #17 where Bruce once again birdied to bring the deficit to one down for WillPower. Playing the always tough eighteenth hole, all four players made pars giving EnPhuego the 1/0 victory.
Match Four / Team Best Ball
Doug Ward & Buddy Ackerman were determined to avenge their morning loss in alternate shot. The team of Oscar Diaz & David Lake gave battle but found themselves down three after the front nine. Doug & Buddy stayed in control on the back to give WillPower a much-needed 3/1 victory.
Match Five / Team Best Ball
This match turned out to be the only “all square” result on Saturday which was contrary to the other Validation Cups. The WillPower team of Vince Schlueter & Dean Boyd jumped out on the first three holes to immediately go up three and were up four after nine holes. Captain Stephen ‘PH’ Ramirez had three birdies to lead the comeback alongside Chance Young. PH & Chance went into #18 one down until Chance made a dramatic birdie to even up the match in which neither team deserved to lose.
Match Six / Team Best Ball
Billy Martinez & David Castillo put three birdies on the board against Mike Allcorn & Trey Wilkerson who also played well throughout the match. Billy and David were just too tough that afternoon posting a 3/2 win for EnPhuego and giving David Castillo his first VC point.
Match Seven / Team Best Ball
In another well played Best Ball Match, Emanuell Garibay & Kurt Liles took the team of Carl Poposki & the Mark Dean III all the way to the eighteenth hole. Kurt won #17 to push the match to eighteen. But Carl & Mark both made pars for a hard fought 2/0 win for EnPhuego.
Match Eight / Team Best Ball
After winning their morning match, Captain Will Jenkines & Carl Griffith faced a difficult draw against Fred Buchman & Donnie Griffin. Birdies on #2, #7, #9 had Fred & Donnie up two after nine holes. On the back nine, Fred & Donnie poured it on winning four holes in a row for the third Best Ball victory in a row for EnPhuego on Saturday afternoon with a 6/4 victory.
Team Best Ball Totals – EnPhuego — 5.5 WillPower — 2.5
Alternate Shot Totals – EnPhuego — 4 WillPower — 3 (One DQ)
Saturday Final Totals – EnPhuego — 9.5 WillPower — 5.5 (One DQ)
Results of Sunday Singles Matches (5/16/22)
Match One / Singles
Billy Martinez vs. Ric Rodriguez
Billy birdies #1 in route to shooting even par on the front nine and even par through fourteen holes to defeat Ric for a 5/4 win and the first point for EnPhuego Sunday.
Billy went undefeated 3-0 in this our seventh Validation Cup.
Match Two / Singles
David Castillo vs. Doug Ward
In a very even match between VC veteran Doug Ward, and VC rookie David Castillo, producing a lot of pars and bogeys with no birdies. David rallied on the front nine after being down three thru seven holes. The wily veteran Doug won #15 & #16 to get the 3/2 win and first Sunday point for WillPower.
Match Three / Singles
Dion Carver vs. Joe Bissa
Dion put an excellent score of 35 up on the front nine to take a big lead over Joe. Dion didn’t let up on the back nine finishing even par thru fifteen holes resulting in a 4/3 win for EnPhuego.
Match Four / Singles
Mike Kohl vs. Carl Griffith
Mike went up two early on the front nine only to see Carl come back to make it all square going into the back nine. Carl won sixteen to go one up and then birdied the always difficult eighteenth hole for his second straight singles match upset. This kept the team score even after the first four matches Sunday morning.
Match Five / Singles
Brian Warburton vs. Jason Johnston
Brian and Jason traded blows all the way to the eighteenth hole. It began with Brian winning three of the first five holes on the back nine after being one down at the turn. Jason responded by winning #15, #16, & #17 to retake the lead. Brian’s bogey on #18 evened the match up with a half point for each team. Jason’s VC Singles record now stands at 3-0-1. All Square. Warburton finished 2-0-1 in this Validation Cup.
Match Six / Singles
Frank Mata vs. Mike Allcorn
In a battle between high school friends, Frank won the first three holes. True to VC history, Mike battled back to be only one down going into #10. Frank then reeled off three straight wins to produce a 4/3 win and point for EnPhuego. Frank is now tied for on the third most all-time VC points list with 11 points.
Match Seven / Singles
Brian Cano vs. Ismael Ortiz
Ismael lost the first hole to Brain but charged ahead winning six of the next eight holes to go up five up at the turn. Braian won #10 & #11 to cut into the lead. Ismael responded by winning #14 & #15 for a 5/4 victory for the WillPower point column.
Match Eight / Singles
Captain Stephen ‘PH” Ramirez vs. Emanuell Garibay
Another classic back and forth match between PH and Emanuell who held a one up lead after nine holes. The match stayed that way until Captain Ramirez took charge winning holes #16, #17, & #18 to post an important point for his team with a 2/0 win.
At this halfway point in the matches, EnPhuego stood at 4.5 points against WillPower’s 3.5 points.
Match Nine / Singles
Oscar Diaz vs. Buddy Ackerman
Buddy won holes #8 & #9 to go two up and increased the lead to three after twelve holes. Oscar stormed back to reduce his deficit to only one taking the match all the eighteenth hole. Both players made par on #18 with Buddy claiming the 1/0 victory and point to tie up the Sunday match totals for WillPower. Buddy is now tied for third on the all-time VC list with 11 points.
Match Ten / Singles
Carl Poposki vs. Kurt Liles
The front nine was another back-and-forth match between Carl & Kurt with Carl taking a one up lead. Carl played well on the back nine to earn EnPhuego a 4/3 victory.
Carl went undefeated this VC with three victories driving his all-time best VC point total to 13 points which makes him number one.
Match Eleven / Singles
Vinnie Iglesias vs. Mike Gold
Mike jumped out to an immediate plus four lead until Vinnie won #8 & #9 to be only two down at the turn. The players exchanged punches on the back nine until Mike won #13 & “eagled #14” to produce a much-needed 4/3 WillPower victory.
Match Twelve / Singles
Chance Young vs. Bruce Sult
There were several birdies made by Chance and Bruce in this match. Chance’s score of 39 produced a two-plus lead at the turn. Team EnPhuego got a 4/2 win thanks to Chance’s strong play.
Chance went 2-0-1 to go undefeated in this seventh Validation Cup and now sits alone in second place with twelve all time Validation Cup points.
Match Thirteen / Singles
David Lake vs. Trey Wilkerson
Team WillPower needed a victory and Trey stepped up putting three birdies on the board. Trey was up four after the front nine. David battled back taking the match all the way to the seventeenth hole until Tray was able to post a 2/1 win for WillPower.
Match Fourteen / Singles
Fred Buchman vs. Captain Will Jenkines
It’s a strange world we live in when Fred and WillJ are paired against each other for a third straight time (in a blind draw). Fred won the first two holes and Captain WillJ then won the next two holes. Fred took a two-up lead after nine building it to a plus three after #14 for a 3/2 EnPhuego point. Fred got revenge for his 2021 singles loss and went undefeated in this seventh VC at 3-0.
Match Fifteen / Singles
Mark Dean III vs. Vince Schlueter
Lots of birdies by both men in this match-up with Mark going one up at the turn. Vince kept the deficit at one all the way thru #13. Only to see Mark record three straight birdies on #14, #15, & #16 for a 3/2 EnPhuego point.
Mark went undefeated at 3-0 in this seventh Validation Cup (and his first VC).
Match Sixteen / Singles
Donnie Griffin vs. Dean Boyd
Dean jumped out to a quick lead on the front until Donnie bounced back to go two up at the turn. Donnie kept his foot on the pedal to keep the pressure on Dean and then finished with a birdie on #16 to secure a 4/2 win for EnPhuego.
Donnie went undefeated at 3-0 in this seventh Validation Cup.
Final Single Match Totals enPhuego – 9.5 WillPower – 6.5
Saturday Final Totals – EnPhuego — 9.5 WillPower — 5.5
VC #7 Spring Final Totals EnPhuego 19 WillPower 12
Congratulations to
“EnPhuego” & Captain Stephen “PH’ Ramirez
