RMGC Masters Tournament Final Recap.
Hopefully this tournament will have its own traditions in future years. I enjoyed being the tournament director for this event. Thanks to all the RMGC players for their participation and special thanks to our awesome golf pro at Rossmoor, Brent Mulanax for his guidance, patience and support in helping administer this event.
So first day results were what we expected- a number of low scores, tightly packed teams all vying for a first place finish along with plenty of golf banter about good and bad golf shots. Thankfully, we had great weather, along with a hamburger lunch served by Creekside Grill at the Dollar clubhouse. Trying to add some levity to the time needed to finalize scoring, a two buck Chuck cash trivia session held at the patio was tried and probably won’t make the cut in future events.
The Nicklaus flight had 1 team leading after day 1 with a net score of 64. Thankfully, there was a RMGC past president and current board member on the team so no audit was needed to verify their score. Lurking in second place were two teams with net 65 scores.
The Palmer flight had 3 teams all tied for first place after day 1. However, it was reported, but not verified that Fred Sun had a $10 bet on Draft Kings that his team would win day 1 and was looking for anyone to buy the bet for $5.
The Player flight had a load of teams that have dominated past RMGC golf team events so there was no surprise when 2 teams tied for first place with net 64 scores.
The Watson flight had fewer teams in the flight, but one savy team kept their game intact and posted a remarkable net 60 which at the time looked like not only a first place day 1 result, but a sure fire win for day 2.
After lunch and scoring results announced by Mark Heptig and Brent Mulanax, a seasoned group of liars dice players headed off to play and lie their way into Moran’s endless supply of $2 bills.
The “wrinkle” to this event is the inclusion of a Masters professional linked to each team, who’s Thursday opening round score would be added to the RMGC teams score from Wednesday to produce a 36 hole score to finalize team scoring for day 2. Brent and I expected volatility in the scores and final results and we got it in spades!
In the Nicklaus flight, the leading team of Brad Smith, Chuck Benson, Pat Iacullo and Bill Keeley from day 1 were linked with Patrick Reed who shot a respectable 71, for a 2 day total of 135. However, it wasn’t good enough to hold on to first as the 2nd place team of Moran, Amos, Kelly, and Marchetti were blessed with a random draw and got Jon, low round of the day, Rahm posting a 65 and blew past all the teams in their flight for a combined score of 130. Who says all luck is bad??
In the Palmer flight, with 3 teams tied after day 1, there was no way this flight would not be a slug fest to find out who would prevail. All teams were expecting their Masters pro to bring them into the victory circle. As hoped for, the defending Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler’s strong round of 68 thrust the team of Sun, Burnett, Wheeler and O’Dea into the victory circle and a load of pro shop credits.
In the Player flight, 2 teams were tied for first place with net 64. No one wins without a good Masters professional shooting a good score and the team of Blotzer, Benshoff, Graff and White got that from Jordan Spieth with his 69 from Thursday and easily kept first place for them.
The Watson flight had a first place team after day 1 with a commanding 5 shot after posting the overall low net team score of 60. As we all know, no lead is ever safe and sure enough, having the right pro makes all the difference in the final score. The team of Robert Birss and Art Hastings drew Jon Rahm with his incredible 65, for a combined 130 score while the day 1 leading team of Poulin, Hammerle, Bodnar and Agius had the misfortune of drawing Tiger Woods who’s 74, added with their team score of 60 gave them a combined score of 134 and a 2nd place finish.
John McDonnell, the RMGC tournament director felt this unique format was a success, and so plans are being made to have another tournament like the Masters, but it will be the “Wanna Make It” tournament to be held on Wednesday, May 17, which will coincide with the start of the PGA Championship where the Wanamaker Trophy is awarded to the winner.
Enjoy your golf at Rossmoor as we make plans for the May 17 event. More details will be available in the website, newspaper, and through golf genius.
