From: Scott Woods [nittanylion96@hotmail.com]

Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 12:32 AM

To: Dan Hoelke; danhoelke@hotmail.com; Eric A. Drossner; Paul S. Rovner; Scott Woods

Subject: MBBC XV (2011) - Trip Report

The 15th Myrtle Beach Birdie Championship was probably the most anticipated tournament ever (at least until MBBC XVI).  Once again, outside factors forced a move from late May/early June to early August.  This time, it was Samantha Drossner's decision to carry her sister's baby.  So, the players had to wait about 2 months longer then usual for the annual pilgramage to the golf capital of the world.  The extra time allowed the players more time to prepare, as the foursome, collectively, played more warm-up rounds then ever before, led by Scott Woods, who played an inordinate number of warm-up rounds, despite the fact that his daughter was born in November.  There was a significant change to this year's MBBC... only 3 out of the 4 players flew, and for the first time ever, they flew into Wilmington International Airport instead of directly into Myrtle Beach.  Scott Woods took his wife and daughter to his in-law's new home in the Outer Banks, and after staying there for a night, made the 5-hour drive south to Wilmington.  For convenience, the other 3 players agreed to fly into Wilmington, so Woods could pick them up on the way to Myrtle Beach.  The flight to Wilmington was direct and cheaper for Drossner and Rovner.  Dan Hoelke agreed to route his trip through Philadelphia despite the fact that his direct flight into Myrtle would have been cheaper.  A few days before the trip, there was a development, as Hurricane Emily formed in the Atlantic Ocean and some projections had it bringing rain and strong winds to the Carolinas for the last 2 days of the MBBC.  Those projections proved to be incorrect as Emily quickly broke apart and never threatened Myrtle Beach.

After driving his family to the Outer Banks Wednesday night into Thursday morning, Woods stayed in the Outer Banks on Thursday night.  He awoke Friday morning at 5:00 a.m. having slept more then he ever had the night before an MBBC.  After getting his keys where he had left them the night before, in his daughter's room, Woods ran out the door, leaving his wife to deal with their now waking daughter.  His father-in-law drove him on the beach to where his vehicle was parked.  Woods arrived at his vehicle at 6:00 a.m., just as the sun was rising, and began his relatively easy trek to Wilmington, North Carolina.  By 7:00 a.m. the text messages were flying, as all of the players were up and beginning their respective trips.  Hoelke flew to Philadelphia, where he met up with Drossner and Rovner.  Woods misjudged how long it would take him to get to Wilmington, and actually arrived before the other players' flight out of Philadelphia even took off.  There was a minor scare in Philadelphia when the plane did not arrive on time, and an incompetent woman incorrectly informed passengers that their plane was still in Norfolk.  The plane arrived shortly thereafter, and the flight left approximately 10 minutes late.  Meanwhile, Woods was exploring Wilmington.  One of the bonuses of flying into and out of Wilmington was the fact that there is a Gumby's branch there.  It was believed that Gumby's did not open until 4:00 p.m., but there was still hope that it might open earlier.  Woods drove past the Gumby's in his travels and noticed an "open" sign blinking in the window, and naturally assumed that meant the store was open.  That would prove to be a mistake.  The store did not open until 4:00, and any hopes of Pokey Sticks for lunch were dashed.  Woods found a golf store, where he purchased a laser range finder.  As Woods was exploring Wilmington, heavy rains came, threatening the opening round of the MBBC.  He then went to the airport to pick up Hoelke, Rovner and Drossner.  By then, the rain had cleared.  Some of the excitement of arriving for the MBBC was "lost" due to the fact that the players flew into Wilmington, but it was still the MBBC.  Woods loaded the players' suitcases into a bag on the roof of his car to allow room for their golf bags in the back, and the players headed off for lunch.  They were unable to find a Burger King for their traditional arrival meal, and instead settled on McDonald's with all thoughts on the opening round of the 2011 MBBC...

Friday, August 5, 2011

Four-time defending champion Eric Drossner had originally pegged a return to River's Edge for the opening round of MBBC XV.  However, River's Edge recently underwent a conversion of its greens from bent grass to bermuda grass, and there had been some reports that the greens were not in very good condition.  Not wanting to ruin the opening round of the MBBC, the players elected to move the opening round to Cape Fear National Golf Club just south of Wilmington, North Carolina.  Cape Fear came highly recommended, and it would not disappoint.  There was fairly heavy rain as the players drove to the course, but the rain stopped as they arrived, and there would be no problems.  In fact, it was very overcast for most of the round, which kept temperatures rather comfortable.  One of the biggest discussions prior to the MBBC was when the first birdie would be fired.  The over/under had been set at 5.5.  The players had been scouting the course for weeks, and most believed that a birdie would come fairly early.  It did not take very long for the first birdie, and the player making that birdie was somewhat surprising.  On the Par 3 4th hole, Dan Hoelke hit a decent tee ball to about 15 feet.  He struck a "golden" putt that found the cup for the opening birdie of the tournament.  Hoelke doubled his tally on the Par 5 11th hole, when he drained another decent length putt for birdie.  The rest of the foursome struggled to find the range, and the scoreboard after the opening round had a retro look to it with Hoelke leading 2-0-0-0.

The players left Cape Fear National Golf Club shortly after 7:00 p.m. and headed south toward Myrtle Beach.  At 8:00, they finally decided to stop for something to eat at a sub shop in Little River.  Despite the fact that it was getting later, there was still a lot of enthusiasm to go out.  The group made it to Beach Vacations to pick up their condo keys and realized that Eric Drossner and Paul Rovner had been dealing with the same company when getting prices for the trip several months earlier.  Drossner was able to pick up the keys from the lock box.  Woods ran into CVS to pick up an 18-pack of Bud Light, that, not surprisingly, would go unfinished, and the players headed to their condo still intending to go out.  Everyone showered, and the cab arrived at about 10:15 p.m. to take the players to their favorite opening night location, Crocodile Rocks at Broadway By the Beach.  As usual, Rovner was very tired, and fell asleep in the cab on the ride down.  The players arrived shortly before 11:00 p.m. and paid the $10 cover charge.  They elected not to pay for table seating.  With only a little more then 2 hours until last call, Woods decided that shooters were the way to get everybidy hammered.  After about 30 minutes, the players were allowed to sit at a table, where they discovered the latest challenger for hottest Crocodile Rocks waitress.  Her name was Erica and after a brief discussion, it was agreed that she put old favorites Shelly and Leah to shame.  Despie being very creepy Woods convinced Erica to take a picture with him.  The players stayed until about 1:30 a.m., when they finally agreed they'd had enough and headed home.  Woods fell asleep on the ride home.  He awoke as they arrived at the condo, and decided to drop a construction cone from the 7th floor balcony and put a few more in the condo.  The players crashed around 2:30 a.m. with 2 rounds at Barefoot not long off.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

After what seemed like only a brief cat nap, the players awoke by 6:30 a.m., shook out the cobwebs, and made the short drive to Barefoot for what was expected to be 2 rounds.  Early morning temperatures were fairly comfortable.  Barefoot was fairly crowded, and there was mention of the dreaded "double tee" on the Love course.  The players were the first group off the first hole.  The first three holes were uneventful, and it was time for the most anticipated hole of any MBBC, the driveable Par 4 4th hole.  Woods hit a decent drive, that he pulled left.  It struck a wall and bounced back just short of the greenside pot bunker.  Paul Rovner pulled his drive over the wall toward the 5th tee.  Eric Drossner left his drive out there and ended up int he valley to the right of the green.  Dan Hoelke hit a poor drive.  Rovner hit a decent second shot onto the green but was unable to drain his birdie putt.  Eric Drossner hit a spectacular second shot to about 10 feet and drilled the putt for his first birdie of the tournament.  Scott Woods hit an excellent chip to about 5 feet.  He hit a weak putt that managed to find the cup.  The players continued to struggle around the front nine, and then smacked into the wall that is double teeing on the 10th hole.  Just before they got to the 10th tee, they discovered that one of the slowest twosomes in golf history had been placed in front of them.  The group was forced to wait on most of the holes on the back nine.  The waiting did not deter Eric Drossner, who showed his continued mastery of the Par 5 13th hole, by putting his second shot just off the green and getting up and down for birdie.  On the 14th tee, the players finally met up with a ranger and took the opportunity to express their displeasure at the double-teeing situation.  Paul Rovner had his first crack at the ranger, but the ranger seemed to sense Rovner's tone and did not appear to be interested in engaging in a debate with him about the pros and cons of double-teeing.  Scott Woods informed the ranger that the group in front of them was slow as sh*t and needed to be moved, but the ranger seemed equally disinterested in discussing the issue with Woods, and quickly left.  There were no further birdies in the round, and the group finished the morning round as temperatures began to climb.  After the morning round at Barefoot, the scoreboard still had Dan Hoelke on top with 2, Woods and Drossner with 1 and Paul Rovner hunting for his first.  All players were anxious to get out for the afternoon round on the Fazio course.

The foursome headed to their traditional mid-Barefoot rounds lunch at TGIFridays.  After a filling lunch, the players headed to the grocery store to pick up some essentials and then headed back to the condo for some rest and to wait for cooler afternoon temperatures.  Rovener and Drossner hit the pool while Woods and Hoelke relaxed.  The players headed back to Barefoot for the afternoon round on the Fazio course at 3:00 just as dark clouds started to roll in.  Radar apps. showed that the forecast was not very good.  The players headed out anyway and made it through 3 birdieless holes, before thunder and lightening forced them to go back to the clubhouse.  They arrived back at the clubhouse just in time, as the skies openned up for about an hour.  The foursome refused to give up, and there was some hope that skies might actually clear, so that they could complete the afternoon round.  By 5:00, they were the only ones left in the clubhouse, and it was very obvious that the Barefoot employees preferred that the group leave.  The group was offered a full 18-hole raincheck, but was still given the option of returning to the course.  After a slight break in the weather, the players finally decided to give it a go and head back out.  However, by that point, the Barefoot employees had already put all of the carts away, and the pro shop guy finally advised that the course was closed as he believed the weather would not improve.  He gave the group full refunds.  Eric Drossner was very bitter since his weather app showed that skies were clearing, and he would prove to be correct.  The players headed off to Martins, where Paul Rovner had his wedges examined and was informed that one of his wedges was not even close to the right angle.  Rovner bought a new wedge.  Night 2 is generally pizza night, and after a brief search for a pizza place, the players decided to try a restaurant in the Barefoot community.  It proved to be a decent find, as it's an out of the way, full service bar and restaurant that featured some decent pizza.  During dinner, it was suggested that the group try and make up the missed round by playing 54 holes on Sunday or Monday, but, at that point, no one seemed to really be taking the suggestion seriously... Paul Rovner and Dan Hoelke put on a display at the nearby driving range from free range tokens also given to the group by the Barefoot clubhouse guy, and the group headed back to the condo, and were in bed relatively early.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

After a fantastic night of sleep, the players awoke early for a much anticipated day of golf.  After years of trying to gain access to the Grande Dunes Members Course, the group had finally managed to make it happen.  But first, was a morning round at the Resort Course.  The players each received a box a Titleist Pro V 1 balls as part of their package.  Once again, double-teeing was an issue.  After hitting a few balls on he range, the players were the first group off the first hole.  There were a few birdie opportunities in the first few holes, but the first mark of the day came on the Par 5 4th hole from Stormin' Dan Hoelke.  Despie struggling with his game, Hoelke managed to put 3 solid shots together leaving himself with a short birdie putt that he drained for his third mark of the tournament.  There were threats of birdie on the relatively short Par 4 6th hole with Woods and Drosssner hitting solid drives, but poor second shots.  Another birdie appeared from out of nowhere on the Par 5 7th hole.  Scott Woods hit his approach shot just off the green and approximately 60 feet from the hole.  Just hoping to put it close, Woods' putt from the fringe somehow found the cup for his 2nd birdie of the tournament.  After the front nine, the foursome had to wait about 15 minutes on the 10th tee for the last of the double-teed groups to go off.  The wait seemed to affect the group as there were few birdie chances.  On the now highly anticopated Par 5 13th hole, there were no legitimate birdie opportunities.  It was not until the Par 5 17th hole that another mark was made.  Eric Drossner managed to get his second shot just short of the green, and hit a decent chip to about ten feet, and then drained the putt for his 3rd birdie.  Woods also had a decent look at birdie on the hole, but was unable to make the putt.  Drossner's birdie vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard despite being tied with Hoelke with 3 birdies by virtue of the champion's tiebreaker.  Woods was 1 back with 2 birdies and Rovner was still looking for his first mark.

The players had a quality lunch in the Grande Dunes clubhouse and then headed for their early afternoon round at the Members Course.  They were given a security code to get through a gate int he community and found the clubhouse.  The cars in the parking lot suggested that the players were a bit out of their element.  The players weren't able to find the bag drop.  They were welcomed by the staff and sent off right away with the course practically to themselves.  The temperature was approaching 100 degrees and it was definitely having an affect on play.  The cpourse was fairly unimpressive and certainly did not live up to the hype that had been built up over the years.  It was fairly straight forward and well conditioned, but lacked any pizazz.  Birdie chances were few and far between and there was some concern that the groups streak of consecutive birdies was in jeopardy until the Par 4 11th hole.  Dan Hoelke regained the lead by firing a dart to about 2 feet and tapping in for the birdie.  The next hole featured perhaps one of the funniest moments of the year.  Clearly unhappy with a chunk chop into a bunker, Eric Drossner sent his wedge flying about 25 yards, where it hit a cart and snapped in half.   The broken wedge did not seem to affect Drossner's lay as he parred 3 of the next 4 holes.  By this point, the players were simply trying to get through the round, with cold towels on every hole becoming a necessity.  On the Par 4 17th hole, Eric Drossner matched Hoelke's birdie and regained his lead.  After the members course the scoreboard was as follows:  Drossner - 4, Hoelke - 4, Woods - 2, Rovner - 0.

The players were back to the condo fairly early, showered and decided that it was steak night.  Surprisingly, the group elected not to eat at Outback, instead deciding to go to Carolina Roadhouse.  Calling ahead to get on the wait list proved to be a stroke of genius, as there was a huge crowd at the restaurant, and the group waited no more then 10 minutes for their table.  Once seated, the group entered into serious discussions about playing 54 holes the next day.  It was agreed that it could be done, and all members seemed excited about the ridiculous plan.  Food was excellent, and the players headed back to the condo to rest for the 54-hole marathon the next day.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Once again, the players got plenty of sleep and awoke with little trouble.  On the short ride to the Barefoot Clubhouse, there was still alot of excitement about the 54-hole plan, despite forecasts that the heat index was likely to hit 110 degrees.  Barefoot was much less crowded on a Monday morning, and the group was sent off on the Fazio course with little delay.  All eyes had been on the very easy Par 5 4th hole, but efforts on the hole were fairly weak.  Once again, the first birdie of the day would come out of nowhere from Woods.  The Par 3 6th hole always seems to involve a difficult club selection, and it was no different this time around.  Woods hit a poor 8 iron nowhere near the cup, but somehow managed to drain anouther 50+ foot putt for the birdie.  Eric Drossner increased his birdie total to 5 on the Par 3 8th hole, when he drained a decent length putt.  Paul Rovner finally got on the board in dramatci fashion on the Par 4 15th hole.  He hit a decent tee shot on the short hole, and then fired an absolute dart toward the pin.  His cart partner, Woods, insisted that the ball might have hot the pin, and upon reaching the green, the players found Rovners ball no more then a foot away.  Rovner still managed to make things dramatic as he took a practice putt and less then confidently struck his putt for the birdie.  After the morning round the scoreboard was as follows:  Drossner - 5, Hoelke - 4, Woods - 3, Rovner - 1.

The group ate a quick lunch in the clubhouse restaurant before heading back out for round 2 at 11:45 on the Love course.  It was definitely starting to get hot and there were few birdie opportunites.  Play on the 4th hole was less then stellar.  Woods hit a great drive but could not make anything out of it.  Paul Rovner had an opportunity to make history on the difficult Par 4 5th hole, after a quality approach shot, but he hit a poor putt, and the hole remains unbirdied by the group.  There were a handful of other opportunites and the group's chance of keeping its birdie streak alive appeared to be in serious jeopardy after Woods and Drossner choked away opportunities on the Par 5 13th hole.  Drossner found the fairway with his drive, while Woods hit an absolute bomb.  Drossner's approach with a wood found the green, and Woods hit a 7 iron onto the green as well.  Both were on the wrong side of the green leaving them with difficult downhill 2-putts for birdie.  Both left their first putts about 5 feet short, and both choked on their birdie putts.  Woods was able to save the day on the Par 4 16th hole.  His approach was off the green, but approximately 12 feet from the hole.  He hit a solid putt that found the side door for the birdie and kept the birde streak alive.  There were no other birdies and the scoreboard was 5-4-4-1.

The players returned to the clubhouse restaurant where they grabbed some appetizers before the third round.  The players seemed to be in decent shape with exception of Dan Hoelke, who looked like death warmed over.  Hoelke was likely reluctant to go back out for the third round, but he refused to complain and soldiered on.  The group teed off for the third round of the day shortly after 4:30 back on the Fazio course.  Not surprisingly, the overall play was less then stellar.  However, on the third hole, Eric Drossner managed to drain a decent length putt for his 6th birdie of the tournament.  Scott Woods pulled back to within one of Drossner on the Par 4 ninth hole, when he sank an uphill 10-footer.  There were a few other chances, but no one was able to find the cup.  The players dragged through the final holes and finished the 54th hole of the day shortly before sunset.  The scoreboard heading into the final round was:  Drossner - 6, Woods - 5, Hoelke - 4, Rovner - 1.

The players headed back to the condo and managed to shower 54 holes of sweat off their bodies.  Surprisingly, everyone rallied and they headed back to the Barefoot Restaurant they'd found a few days earlier.  Another round of pizzas hit the spot, and all agreed that while they were happy they could say they did it, 54 holes would never be played in one day in an MBBC again.  The playrs headed back to the condo to pack and sleep before the final round. 

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

The players woke early to finish packing and to make a the fairly long drive to the final round at Tidewater.  They arrived at the course in plenty of time, and were the 3rd or 4th group off of the front nine.  Pace of play was bit slow, but nothing major to complain about.  The big question was whether anyone could make a run at Eric Drossner for the title.  Drossner led Woods by 1 birdie, but because of the tiebreaker rule, Woods would need 2 birdies without Drossner making any in order to capture the title.  All was quiet on the front nine, as the group struggled with the difficult course and were likely feeling the effects of playing 54 holes the day before as well as the climbing temperatures.  Things quickly got very interesting on the Par 3 12th hole.  The 12th hole is now infamous in the MBBC because of what happened there several years before.  It's a difficult Par 3 that requires the right club selection to carry the water hazard all the way to the green.  The green slopes steeply from back to front, making putts very difficult depending on the pin position.  Several years prior. Paul Rovner had fired a dart inside of 2 feet.  He had a diffult downhill putt, that he abied and missed.  Some believe the putt might have rolled 10 feet away had Rovner not smacked it away and given himself par.  Regardless, it is believed to be the most famous miss in MBBC history.  The pin in the final round of the 2011 was in the same position as it was on that fateful day, although the tees had been moved up, making the tee shot much more manageable.  Woods hit a solid 9 iron to approximately 3 feet, leaving him with a similar putt as that of Rovner several years ago.  Woods read it well and struck it firm, drainign the putt to match Drossner atop the leaderboard with 6 birdies.  With 6 holes to go, Woods would need to find 1 more birdie to snatch the title from Drossner.  Unfortunately, Woods could not even muster a legitimate birdie chance as the holes dwindled away.  His last chance came on the Par 5 16th hole, when he was 120 yards out for his third shot.  His approach found the green, but was nowhere near the cup, and Woods was unable to produce anymore magic.  Tidewater took yet another bite out of Rovner on the Par 3 17th hole.  Once again Rovner fired a dart to within 2.5 feet.  While Woods was looking for a lost ball in the marsh fronting the green, Rovner debated whether he should go ahead and putt out or wait his turn.  He elected to putt, and by all accounts, once again hit a less than confident putt that didn't even hit the hole.  Rovner stormed off the green muttering that he needed putting lessons.  The foursome turned to the extremely difficult Par 4 finishing hole, with Woods hoping for a miracle.  Woods even resorted to taunting Drossner by suggesting that he shouldn't be happy about winning the title yet again by the tiebreaker rule, and he should feel such a win is tainted.  Drossner seemed to take the taunts to heart as he added to his history of impressive birdies.  He fired his approach shot to approximately 15 feet, and drained a difficult putt for his 7th birdie, leaving no doubt who the champion was.  Drossner's birdie on the 18th hole at Tidewater ranks up there with his birdie on the first hole of the tournament in 2004 at Wild Wing wih rented clubs and his final hole birdie at Man 'O War to win the titke in 2008.  The final standings:  Drossner - 7, Woods - 6, Hoelke - 4, Rovner - 1.

The players put their clubs in their travel bags and "showered" in the locker rooms, before heading north toward Wilmington.  They were looking forr a Quizno's  that apparently no longer exists and settled on Taco Bell for lunch.  They then headed toward the Wilmington airport for their flight to Philadelphia scheduled to leave at 3:30.  Upon arriving at the airport, they learned that the flight had been delayed to 5:30 due to weather in the Philly area.  Hoelke quickly changed his flight to go through Charlotte and then home to Pittsburgh and di not have any problems getting home.  Woods headed back to the Outer Banks leaving Rovner and Drossner to wait for their flights.  They would not catch their flight home until shortly after 8:00 p.m. as the Phioladelphia airport was closed for most of the afternoon.  All eventually made it home safely including Woods, who stayed int he Outer Banks for the rest of the week before heading home and bringing an end to the 2011 MBBC.