From: Scott Woods
[mailto:nittanylion96@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 5:16 PM
To: Dan; Eric A. Drossner; Paul S. Rovner; nittanylion96@hotmail.com
Subject: MBBC XII - Wrap Up Report
The 2008 Myrtle Beach Birdie Championship may not have
featured some of the most exciting play ever, but it will likely go down as the
most exciting finish ever, a finish that is unlikely to ever be topped.
The twelfth installment featured the return of Dan Hoelke, after taking a 1
year break after a horrific knee injury. Due to Paul Rovner's purchase of
a new home, the tournament was pushed back 2 weeks to the weekend after
Memorial Day. Dan Hoelke made the somewhat controversial decision to
purchase a new set of irons just a few weeks before the tournament. The
players scheduled the courses. Paul Rovner, thrifty as alaways, managed
to find a website that provided discounted rates for several of the courses and
saved the players $70 each. Rovner, Hoelke, and Eric Drossner all booked
their flights on U.S. Air meeting up in Charlotte to make the final hop into
Myrtle Beach. Armed with a gift certificate from his fiance, Scott Woods
booked his flight on Delta, meaning he would be traveling through
Atlanta. Woods was the first to arrive in Myrtle Beach, with the other
three arriving shortly after noon. All clubs and bags arrived without any
problems, the players loaded up their mini-van rental from U-Save and were on
their way to the site of the opening round:
Friday, May 30, 2008 - Shaftesbury
Glen
Defending champion Eric Drossner had originally selected John Daly's Wicked
Stick as the site of the opening round, but maintenance issues forced that plan
to be scrapped and the players agreed to return to The Shaft.
Temperatures were in the mid-80's as the players started the tournament.
Shaftesbury Glen was actually rather crowded and the players were forced to
start on the back 9. The course proved to be the best conditioned course of the
2008 tournament. The greens had not yet been aerated for the season and
the fairways were immaculate. Many wondered how long it would take for
the scoring to open in the MBBC, especially since only Hoelke had put in any
significant practice time. Fans did not have to wait long as Scott Woods
fired on the just the second hole of the tournament, the second fastest mark in
MBBC history (second behind only Drossner's opening hole salvo in
2004). A 150+ yard Par 3, Woods fired a 7 iron, which struck the pin
on a hop, and the ball ended up approximately 8 feet away. Woods promptly
drained the putt for the opening birdie of the 2008 tournament. The rest
of the players gradually worked the cobwebs out. On the Par 4 17th hole,
Dan Hoelke was able to fire one close and drain the putt to pull even with
Woods. Two holes later, on the Par 4 1st hole (the players' 10th) Defending
champion Eric Drossner was also able to fie one close and drain the
putt. There were no more birdies over the final eight holes and the
opening day scoreboard ended at 1-1-1-0 with only Pual Rovner failing to mark
(something that would become a theme of the tournment).
After wrapping up the round at shortly after 6:00 p.m., the players were
hellbent on making it to the Pelicans game, which began at 7:00 p.m., but still
had to check in at their new accomodations and catch a cab to the game.
After much debate, the players agreed that it was still worth it to try and
make the game. The players drove to their new accomodations at the
Barefoot Resort. Clearly, the MBBC has evolved as Eric Drossner chose to
replace the traditional two-bed motel room for a downright lush
villa/condo. The players were overwhelmed to find a two bedroom condo
with TWO BATHROOMS and a kitchen overlooking the Barefoot Norman course.
Armed with two showers, the players were able to clean up quickly and catch a
cab to the Pelicans game. Initially, the cab driver indicated that he
thought that the game would be sold out, but that thought turned out to be
completely irrational. The players were somewhat stunned at the expense
of the cab ride, as it took $10 just to get out of the Barefoot complex and the
total fare was in excess of $40. The players finally made it to the game
after the 3rd inning with the majority of the scoring already done. The
Pelicans did push across 1 run while the players were in their seats, but there
only 0's the rest of the game, with the Pelicans putting it to the Orioles'
single A affiliate - Frederick Keys. Woods officially asked the other
members of the MBBCGA to be a part of his wedding party, which they
accepted. After several big beers and food, the players strolled over to
Broadway by the Beach and found Crocodile Rocks fairly crowded despite it
being relatively early in the summer. Another opening night at Crocodile
Rocks was not without a story, as some loser leering at some girl's breasts
offered Woods $20 to ask her if they were real. Woods took the bet with
little hesitation and it was discovered that after 12 years and finally getting
engaged, Woods actually has some game. The group was briefly
introduced to Amy, Tasha and Ashleigh (I'm guessing this is how she spells it
because she was white trash), three married hair dressers in Myrtle
Beach for a cosmotology convention. Prompted by Hoelke, Ashleigh
went on stage for a performance of Joy to the World. A table then opened
up and the guys sat down, but the girls passed on that proving that Woods did
not have the game that some thought he did. The lack of game was proven
even more, when somebody's grandmother sat down at the table. More beers
were consumed, and when it became clear that the bartenders were not going to
play the Pussy Song, the players left at close to 1:00 a.m. Another $40
cab ride back to their villa and the players were in bed at 1:45 a.m. for a
6:15 a.m. wake up call.
Saturday, May 31, 2008 - Leopard's
Chase (a.m.)/Sandpiper Bay (p.m.)
Difficulty with the alarm clocks would prove to be a constant on the trip as
the players could not figure out how to set the alarms. Apparently Hoelke
and Drossner's alarm went off every hour on the first night.
Miraculously, the players did manage to wake up on Saturday morning.
Clearly feeling the after-effects of a night of drinking, this writer would
have been more than agreeable to cancelling the morning round and going back to
bed if someone had suggested it. But no one did and the players piled
into the car, for what proved to be a relatively short trip to North
Carolina. Leopard's Chase is the newest course in Myrtle Beach, and the
players had the opening time at 7:00 a.m. The greens were in excellent
shape, but the fairways appeared to still be coming in. It proved to be
a difficult course, and as temperatures climbed Woods began to feel the
effects of the night before. By the 15th hole Woods was confident that he
would vomit and was eager to get off the course. The other players also
struggled through the round and no one was able to birdie. The players
climbed into their vehicle intending to grab lunch and head for the afternoon
round. However, Woods requested that the afternoon round be pushed back,
so that he could head back to the room for a quick power nap. The rest of
the foursome agreed and this proved to be a solid plan. Woods drove the
foursome home and headed to bed while the remaining three players went to the
grocery store for supplies. The ability to relax in the room for even
just an hour or two proved to be a huge benefit.
Woods awoke from a brief nap and the players headed back north for their
afternoon round at Sandpiper Bay. The course was difficult to find as the
cartoon map continued to be unreliable, but the course was finally
located. The course had apparently hosted a Member/Guest tournament,
which was wrapping up as the players arrived. There was no one at the bag
drop and there did not appear to be anyone there anxious to welcome the MBBC to
the course. The players finally found the pro shop and were told that
their bags would be loaded up on carts. However, the cart guy was not
there and he had to be called by the Pro Shop. He finally showed up and
took a solid 10 minutes loading up the carts, which, of course, resulted in him
receiving no tip. Sandpiper Bay proved to be a solid, yet
unremarkable, course. The course was in decent shape, but did not really
feature any memorable holes. Dan Hoelke struggled mightily on the course
that he had chosen and caught a major case of the shanks. Hoelke
threatened to walk off the course at one point, but fought through his
frustration. The rest of the players were not all that much better, and
there were no birdies scored for the second round in the day. Research
revealed that it may have been the first birdie-less two round day in the
history of the tournament.
The players ordered pizza from Hungry Howie's on the way home, and were
disappointed to learn that they were screwed out of a deal for an additional
pizza because the person on the phone did not tell them about the deal.
The pizza was average at best, but the players did not really care as sleep was
not far off. With the Penguins playing Game 4 of the Stanley Cup
finals down 2-1 to the Red Wings, the players crashed on the couch to catch the
game. Rovner and Drossner only made it through 2 periods with Woods and
Hoelke left to watch what was a fairly boring 2-1 victory for the Red
Wings. The players went to bed anxious for the next day's rounds at
Barefoot.
Sunday, June 1, 2008 - Barefoot
Fazio (a.m.)/Barefoot Fazio (p.m.)
The players awoke extremely refreshed after a long sleep. They had
breakfast and then made the very short trip to the Barefoot Resort for their
morning round at Fazio. The Fazio course had undergone maintenance
just short of two weeks prior meaning it was recovered for the
tournament. The same was not true of the Love course, which had been
aerated just a few days before. Despite being open the Love course was determined
to be unplayable and the players agreed to play Fazio twice. After paying
for the round, the players also signed up for some type of a raffle in order to
get afree sleeve of balls. Woods is believed to be the only player
to have given bogus information, so that he does receive any type of mailer
("You need my street... why do you need my street?" "We
like to send out a mailer.") The Fazio greens were not fully healed
from maintenance, but were still in solid shape. All was relatively quiet
in the morning round, as birdie chances were few and far between. Just
when it appeared that the foursome would go through their 3rd straight round
without a birdie, Defending Champion Eric Drossner, found the mark at the Par 4
18th hole to take the lead in the MBBC 2-1-1-0.
The players broke for lunch and headed to their traditional Barefoot Day lunch
at TGI Fridays. Former TGIF employee, Eric Drossner was bitterly
disappointed that TGI Fridays is now under new management, and that his bonus
points, which usually give the foursome free appetizers are no longer any
good. The players took their time at lunch, and then also made their
traditional stop at Martins. Intrigued by a ball hitting station, which
provided a computer read-out of distance, height, club head speed, etc., Woods
began testing a driver. Hoelke then began hitting a driver as well.
The players chatted briefly with an employee manning the station who claimed to
also work at Grande Dunes and denied that the players had any chance to play the
Members Course unless they stayed on the property. Struggling
mightily with his driver, Hoelke made the somewhat controversial decision to
test-drive a new driver from Martins. The players actually returned
briefly to their condo, not availing themselves of the fine Barefoot bathroom
facilities.
The players finally returned to Barefoot for a replay of Fazio and vowing that
there would be a birdie barrage the second time around. There would not
be a barrage but there would be a couple of birdies. Woods had vowed to
birdie the extremely short but elusive Par 5 4th hole, and he did just
that. Woods was able to get on the green of the 440 yard Par 5 in 2 and 2
putted for a tap-in birdie. In typical Woods fashion, he followed that
birdie with a 9. Two holes later, Woods struck again at the Par 5 7th
hole, this time, getting on in 3 and draining the birdie putt. The round
ended without any further marks and suddenly Woods was atop the scoreboard
3-2-1-0. Paul Rovner continued to struggle...
That evening would prove to perhaps be one of the most pathetic evenings in
MBBC history, possibly even more pathetic then the night many years ago when
the players took a cab to Broadway, ate appetizers, then took a cab home.
The players cleaned up and then headed for a feast at Outback Steakhouse.
It had been several years since the players had been to Outback. The
players agreed that an effort would be made to go out" but where was not
exactly clear. Unable to find a bar that was open on the ride home, the players
agreed that perhaps bowling would be fun, but could not agree on the location
of the bowling alley. They found one, which closed at 10:00 and then
Woods incorrectly thought another was further down the road. At that point, the
players gave up and agreed to head home. There was a brief stop at
Barefoot Landing to see if there were any bars there... there were not, and
then one last stop was made at the House of Blues. The crowd that was
there was apparently there for a dance club, so the players headed home for the
night.
Monday, June 2, 2008 - Grande Dunes
(a.m.)/Tidewater (p.m.)
The players awoke with little problem and headed to their second favorite
venue, Grande Dunes. They expected to tee off on the back nine, but were
pleasantly surprised to find that they were the first off the front. They
even had time to hit a few balls on the range. Grande Dunes featured some
new GPS systems in the cart. Somewhere on the range, Woods found his
stroke, and would end up playing one of his best rounds in Myrtle Beach.
It would, however, be a birdie-less round. Woods and Drossner both found birdie
opportunities on the Par 4 5th hole. Woods managed to fire his approach
to approximately 8 feet and Drossner fired inside of that. Woods missed
his putt and Drossner drained his to even up the tournament at 3. All was
quiet until the Par 3 11th hole, when Stormin' Dan Hoelke would make his
presence felt. Hoelke found the green but had only a fair birdie
opportunity. However, in typical Stormin' Dan Hoelke fashion, he drained
the lengthy putt and put himself back into contention. There were no more
birdies in the round. Woods did have a very good chance on the Par 5 17th
hole, but missed a 7 footer.
After the morning round, the players had to agree on where to play in the
afternoon. It had been assumed that the afternoon round would be a replay
at Grande Dunes, but Eric Drossner and Dan Hoelke quickly made it clear that
they did not want to do that. As usual, Rovner basically had no opinion.
Hoelke pushed for a replay at Tidewater, but both Woods and Drossner were
fearful of a difficult round. Rovner had no thoughts on the matter
whatsoever. There was also a suggestion that the afternoon round be
played deep south at True Blue. Rovner didn't care. The players
finally agreed to play at Tidewater. They scheduled the tee time, and
then went searching for Damon's. Drossner insisted he knew where it was
based on the cartoon map, but he is clearly an idiot as the Damon's was nowhere
near the mark on the cartoon map. After going up and down the highway,
the players finally found it, and headed in for an average lunch. They
then headed to Tidewater, and waited awhile longer before heading out for the
afternoon round with temperatures above 90 degrees.
Tidewater did prove to be difficult, with Woods and Rovner playing their worst
rounds of the week. Hoelke seemed to find his stroke and played pretty
well. In fact, Hoelke made things even more interesting at the Par 5 8th
hole. Hoelke got onto the green in two, but left himself a difficult
2-putt. His lag putt left a lot to be desired, and he was forced to drain
a difficult second putt to convert the birdie and even things up at the top of
the leader board at 3 with Woods and Drossner. Paul Rovner continued to
struggle, and it was never more evident then at the Par 3 12th hole. An
extremely difficult Par 3 with a long carry and a severely sloping green, on
the tee, birdie would not appear to even be a remote possibility. After
Woods and Drossner found the water and Hoelke found the green, up stepped the
struggling Paul Rovner. Rovner proceeded to stuff one no more than 3 feet
from the hole. His ball mark was next to the cup making it nearly an
ace. Rovner was left to stare at his putt for several minutes as Woods
and Drossner made 6 and 5 and Hoelke two putted for par. To be fair,
Rovner, did have a nasty downhill severely breaking putt, but it was certainly
the best chance of the tournament for him. Rovner proceeded to miss
the putt and storm off the green. Rovner gave himself par on the hole
despite never actually holing out, and some believe that his birdie
putt would have rolled 8-10 feet away had Rovner not smacked it
away... All was quiet until the Par 4 15th hole, an extremely short Par
4. Woods was playing lousy but would once again prove that score doesn't
matter. He had made 2 10's on the front nine and was not playing
significantly better on the back 9. He found the fairway with his iron
off the tee on the 15th. The players were then met by some guy and his
dog whose name this writer cannot recall at this time. Woods landed his
approach approximately 15 feet from the cup but was left with what could not be
considered a legitimate birdie opportunity. Woods smacked the putt and it
happened to drop for birdie. Had it not hit the cup, it might have
actually gone off the green. There were no more birdies, and heading into
the final day Woods held the lead 4-3-3-0, and the stage was set for the most
exciting finish in MBBC history.
Since it was the last night in Myrtle, and the Penguins were playing in Game 5
of the Stanley Cup, the foursome rallied and headed out, for what would turn
out to be a very long evening, although not overly exciting. The players
agreed to go to Ocean Annies, a beach-side bar recommended by Nicole Holeke,
despite some warnings that it was white trash central. It appeared to be
an older crowd at Ocean Annies, and there was no food being served, so they
went next door and grabbed burgers and beer. After a brief discussion
about whether or not to stay at Ocean Annies, it was agreed that they should
move on to a nearby Irish Bar. There was only family in the bar, who, big
surprise, happened to be from the Pittsburgh area. The players had a few
beers, played the Photo Hunt game and settled in for the hockey game. The
Pens tied it late, forcing overtime. With Rovner and Drossner nearly
falling alseep at the bar, the foursome left immediately after the second
overtime, raced home and arrived back at the condo, in time to see the
Pens net the winner and force Game 6 back in Pittsburgh (a game Hoelke would
attend and the Pens would lose).
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - Man O' War
Scott Woods headed into the final round with a 1 birdie lead over Drossner and
Hoelke and his sights set on his first MBBC title since 2003. Stormin'
Dan Hoelke looked to find his form and fire a couple of birdies to take back
the title, and Eric Drossner looked to birdie in an effort to win via the tie
breaker. Paul Rovner was simply looking for some respect. Each of
the players ended playing fairly well on a course that all would agree was not
as good as they remembered. Play was somewhat slow, as the course was
fairly crowded, but things got moving by the turn. There were no
significant opportunities until the back 9. As things got closer to the
end, it appeared that no one would birdie and Woods would capture the
title. Stormin' Dan Hoelke all but evened things up at the top with a
chip at the Par 4 12th hole. Hoelke chipped from off the green and
elected to leave the pin in. Hoelke's chip went straight for the hole,
struck the pin and bounced away, forcing him to settle for an extremely
disappointing par. Two holes later, Woods had an opportunity to all but
end the tournament, but was unable to drain a 9 foot birdie putt. On the
Par 3 15th hole, Drossner had a chance to tie for the lead, but was unable to
drain the putt. On the Par 4 16th hole, Woods thought he had birdied, but
his putt slid to the left. The Par 3 17th hole was rather uneventful, and the
players turned to the final hole of the 2008 MBBC, a 468 Par 5. Drossner
and Woods both hit solid drives, but it was Dan Hoelke, who hit what may have
been the biggest and certainly his best drive of the week, a rope down the center
of the fairway. All 3 players were in range to reach the green in
2. Woods sliced his second shot to the right eliminating any chance for
birdie and placing his fate in the hands of Hoelke and Drossner. Drossner
managed to hit his second shot just off the back of the green, needing to get
up and down for his birdie. Hoelke found the green from 180 yards out,
giving him a chance to birdie with a 2-putt. Drossner's chip toward the
hole was not his best effort and left him 10 feet for his birdie. Dan
Hoelke fared only a little better, leaving himself 8 feet for birdie.
Drossner would be the first to putt (because he was away) withthe opportunity
to win the title on his blade. Drossner struck his putt well, but it
appeared it would slide by the hole, before diving into the hole for a
birdie and a championship. Unfortunately, Drossner's birdie made Hoelke's
putt meaningless. Being the professional that he is, Hoelke drained the
birdie putt to even the scoreboard at 4. Drossner was declared the winner
as the defending champion. Paul Rovner was unable to birdie and
extended his birdieless streak to 254 holes.
The players went to Quiznos (now the traditional final day lunch) and raced
back to the condo with time to shower, pack, check out and head to the
airport. Woods was the first to leave, although his flight was ultimately
delayed due to thunder storms. All of the players arrived home
safely, Drossner with the Big Woody back on his mantle...
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