10th Annual Northern Michigan Golf Trip (2008)

Jay’s Post Trip Summary

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been making this trip for 10 years already. Time flies when you’re having fun! The 2008 trip to Garland was great. We had chilly, but good weather overall. There was light rain during the early holes on the Fountains course, but the weather cleared up quickly. Tee time temps were in the mid to upper 40’s, with daytime temps in the mid to upper 60’s. The sky ranged from cloudy to sunny. Everyone agreed that the courses were good, but not as good as the hype made them out to be. Also, the greens and pin placements were not favorable. Most of the holes were placed within 5-10 feet of the fringe and on crests of the undulated greens. Many puts that stopped forward motion close to the hole ended up feet from the hole (after rolling down hills). Looks like we may put Garland on the do not play again list along with Wilderness Valley and Black Forest?

Note: Since Jim and Monroe did not play the Reflections course, most of the statistics below are for the Fountains, Swampfire, and Monarch courses only unless stated differently.

Scores:

Fountains

Dave – 97

Bob – 99

Monroe – 104

Jay – 108

Jim – 110

Andy – 117

Swampfire

Bob – 96

Andy – 97

Dave – 101

Jay – 108

Jim – 110

Monroe – 115

Reflections

Bob – 88

Dave – 100

Andy – 101

Jay – 102

Monroe – DNP

Jim – DNP

Monarch

Dave – 95

Bob – 96

Jay – 103

Jim – 112

Andy – 115

Monroe – 118

Total Score Predictions and Results:

(+7) Monroe - (Predicted 330, Shot 337) – Congratulations!

(+8) Dave - (Predicted 285, Shot 293) – Same old sh!t.

(+9) Jay - (Predicted 310, Shot 319) – Close but no cigar (and knows his crappy game).

(+20) Jim - (Predicted 312, Shot 332) – New comer.

(+21) Bob - (Predicted 268, Shot 291) – Wishful thinking (as always).

(+21) Andy - (Predicted 308, Shot 329) – It’s been a few years since he played this game.

Skins:

Dave – 8

Bob – 6

Jay – 3

Andy – 2

Jim – 2

Monroe – 2

Skin Stats:

13 par, 2 birdie, 6 bogie and 2 double bogie pars.

Shot Stats:

Birdies: 34 pars and 2 birdies. Every thing else was a bogie or worst. We SUCK!

Lowest Round (good for bragging rights):

88 – Bob on Reflections (did not count for money prizes)

95 – Dave on Monarch

Highest single hole score (not good for bragging rights):

11 - Jim on Swampfire, hole 2.

Summary (and derogatory comments):

Highest Payout: Monroe with $65 (total score prediction and 2 skins)

Highest Round: 118 – Monroe on Monarch (at least he brought the money home).

Most Alcohol Consumed: Monroe, with Dave and Bob as runner ups. Monroe, we’ll keep the stories to ourselves. ;-)

Most Injured: Bob’s manly hood with the hot tub incident. I will not expand.

Loudest Snorer: Andy, especially since I had to bunk with him!

Farthest Club Throw: I did not witness any club throws this year. It must be a first! Although, we do have video evidence of a club slam from Bob.

Most Balls Lost: Not sure who won this title. Anyone care to confess?

Most Balls Found: Bob, as always. He also came to the trip with bags of balls he found during the summer, which he graciously gave to everyone as gifts. Thanks Bob!

The Loudest "!#$%!", I mean "fore": Bob, as always.

Most Notable Performance (or lack of): Dave. He spent 9 holes whining on the Monarch until Jay called him out. After that, he spent the following 9 holes, as Dave puts it, just stating facts about his performance. The rest of us still tagged it as whining. Dave still ended up with the lowest score. What’s up with that? Some guys are never happy!

Practice up for 2009!