All-Star Team

During 2004 - 2009, either myself or Annie Sperandio or Ally Dunn or Rob Lynch was a winner of the Men's or Women's Club Championship. The four of us teammed up for the Play for Pink Tournament at Lexington GC yesterday. Its an annual 'pink' event to support a fight against breast cancer. All the girls come out with dazzling pink outfits. A few guys sported some pink as well; i'll leave opinions open to my followers on whether or not guys should wear pink. The tournament included 18-holes of golf, raffles, mulligans, pink tee gifts, dinner, and team prizes.

The tournament format is two best ball of four. A typical format in most cases, however, this tournament adds a big twist. Each team receives a pink ball (a Precept Lady which is suprisingly a good ball) that MUST be counted as one of the two best ball scores. Each player must use the pink ball at least 4 times during the round. The player who tees off with the pink ball is required to finish the hole regardless of their score. Pink ball = added pressure = added attention. I found myself looking at the pink ball differently than the white ball and turning my head multiple times a hole --- whos got the pink ball? where is it? what does it lie?

So how did we do??

We cleaned up on the Gross prize by shooting a team total of 151. The next best gross team score was 159. All four of us contributed to the victory. In fact, we had a side match between us that came down to the final hole (all-square after 17). It was Rob and Annie vs. Me and Ally. On the par-3 14th, Rob made a clutch 8-footer for par to halve the match. I'm all too familiar with Rob making putts (for those who don't know, Rob won this year's club championship). As a group, we played steady throughout the day. We didn't find ourselves in a stretch of bad holes or string of great holes. The pink ball caused us a few heartaches, but we didn't lose the ball and even made a birdie with it! My shot of the day was a lefty shot on the 2nd hole. I was pinned up against an out of bounds fence and proceeded to punch it out lefty. I didn't get back to the fairway, but I was able to give myself a third shot to the green (2nd hole is a par 5).

This was my first mixed event of my career. It was an awesome day. I'm looking forward to a repeat performance in 2010.

Thanks to Eileen Flanagan, John Flanagan, and the rest of the Social Committee for running the event. The show of support was solid and I'm sure we raised some good money for breast cancer.

I'm in full preparation mode for the Dennis Four Ball and Mass Mid-Amateur over the next two weeks. See you all soon for more inside the ropes.

K

Ticket to the Mass Mid Am

Today's event was the Massachusetts Mid Amateur qualifier at Highfields GC in Grafton, MA. Its an 18-hole stroke play qualifier. The Top 20 qualify for the Massachusetts Mid Amateur Championship at Haverhill CC on Sept 15-17. The golf course is public; a par 72 7,000 yards; slope 140; course rating 74.5. It plays shorter than the yardage, but the difficulty level is true because of well placed hazards, out of bounds, and firm greens. Its the type of course that will eat at you if you don't drive it well. The temperature was hot, probably low 90s, feeling like high 90s.

I'll cut right to the chase...the two highlights of the day were: 1) having my brother caddy for me (first time!) and 2) qualifying for the championship. The second highlight was a result of having my brother on the bag. He really turned my mental game around after I made consecutive double bogeys on the 6th and 7th holes. He basically lowered his shoulder into me (at least once) and said snap out of it, you are stiff as a board out here (I was tense, this happens frequently when i get under tournament conditions and it causes me to make poor transition moves, leading to both pull and pushes)...this game is a dream...think about it, you gotta enjoy this or else go sit in the office; the words came out a lot better out of my brother's mouth. It worked and we had a great time together. I responded by going 1 under on my last 10 holes. Fired a 35 on the back nine to shoot 78 (tie for 12th place). (Check out the results at http://www.ghintpp.com/mgalinks/TPPOnlineScoring/results.aspx?id=8 or http://www.mgalinks.org/championships/midamateur/midamateur.html)

My brother was even close to Y.E. Yanging the golf bag on 18, but I missed the birdie putt to justify it.

The low score of the day was 74 by three players. It was proof of a challenging golf course. Typically, someone shoots par or better in these events.

I played with two fine gents today, Jeremy Benedick and Walter Riley. Both were enjoyable and friendly playing partners (makes a difference in a round). Walter used a minature golf putter and made everything. He qualified by shooting 76. Fun to watch!

My friends Mike Murphy and Chris Bates were in the field. It was neat because both of them were in the groups ahead of me and we all played a practice round together yesterday. I did get to see Mike's shots on a few holes. He had a tough round and didn't qualify. Knowing Mike and his game, it was a fluke day for him and he will easily come back with better results. We are playing together in the Dennis Four Ball in less than a month. An absolute blast of a tournament and can't wait to compete with Mike.

Awesome job to my brother today. One other thing he did was keep my energy levels high throughout the day by good hydration and good nutrition (clutch stuff on a 90 degree day). I was eating food every 4-5 holes. It surely helped me make solid golf swings down the stretch.

I'm really looking forward to a big golf month in September. Its my chance to make a statement against the Frank Vanas of the world.

Celebrate with me...

Cheers
Kurt

Back-to-Back Bentley Cups

The 3rd Annual Bentley Cup took place at the Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, MA on August 10, 2009. The event is run by Greg Maynard and the Bentley Alumni Association each year and they do an amazing job with sponsorships, golf, food, and prizes. Its a bramble format. Each player in the foursome hits a drive and the group selects their best shot. From the best shot, each player plays their own ball into the hole. The group takes its best score. The golf course is a gem. I know it for hosting the 2004 U.S. Women's Open. Meg Mallon won the tournament at 10 under par and Annika Sorenstam finished two shots back.

My team consisted of three powerhouse partners, each of whom I played golf with at Woburn High School. (Mike Murphy, Kevin Heimlich, and Mike O'Brien) We dazzled the field last year with a one-shot victory in our first appearance at the 2nd Annual Bentley Cup. Our team score was 8 under par. Note: Steve Aguiar was the fourth player in 2008. He was replaced by Mike Murphy in 2009.

This year, my team and I had full confidence in ourselves to repeat. And guess what? We pulled it off in more dazzling fashion. We rallied to shoot 6 under on the last 9 holes (birds on the final 3). Our total was 8 under par, tying one other team and then claiming victory in a card-off. I don't like card-offs, but I'll take being on the winning end. Two years in row with Team Bentley/Team Woburn. I'm already excited for next year. Where are the challengers?? Note to interested competitors: guests are welcome if accompanied by a Bentley alum.

Oh, and my teammates introduced me to the John Daly drink. Its an Arnold Palmer w/ vodka. Tastes similar to a sweet tea. Cheers to Murph for selling his Callaway golf bag (one of our prizes) for $11 and a beer.

It was awesome seeing familiar faces from school, including faculty members. I caught up with Professor Cross, my former marketing teacher and Gary Kelly, who I worked with during Summer Orientation. This tournament will be an annual mark of my calendar for many years to come.

p.s.: thanks to my teammates for another great performance and never ending laughs...hanging out with long-time friends makes me realize that good memories are carried on forever and they never get old

Keep on enjoyin' the summer weather

KF

MGA Father-Son Tournament

My Dad and I improved on our score by 3 shots compared to last week's Winchester Father-Son event. In yesterday's round, we shot 41-39 = 80, including only one three putt that came on the first hole (last week we had six three putts). We didn't let that 3 putt discourage our chances and bounced back with par, par, par, birdie on the next four holes. Unfortunately, we hit a bad streak of golf between holes 6 thru 10, going +7. Both of us butchered drives like Charles Barkley, me following my Dad left off the tee, then right off the tee, then both going different ways off the tee. Talk about frustration! Looking back, we realize we need to make more conservative tee shots if our partner is in trouble. This strategy will apply to holes that have narrow landing areas. Many of the holes at Segragansett CC did not provide generous landing areas.

Note: The MGA Father-Son Tournament took place at Segragansett Country Club in Taunton, MA; a par-72, 6,700 track. Its a fairly flat course with well manicured fairways, fair, but penalizing rough, and medium speed greens. The par-3s are difficult and many tee shots require precision over length. For example, the 530-yard par 5 2nd hole requires a 200-215 yard drive to avoid a hazard that runs the left side of the tee shot and cuts across the fairways; then you must lay up with a 150-170 shot to leave a short approach the green. The tournament takes place over two days, with each Father-Son team playing one round. We competed in the senior division (sons 18 years or older). A portion of the senior division competed on August 4th and the remaining teams compete today. The format is selected drive alternate shot. To see our results yesterday and to find the final results, go to http://mgatpp.org/results/Results.aspx?ID=165&FID=95 or http://www.mgalinks.org/

Going back to our round, my Dad and I finished the final 8 holes at +1. We had multiple great chances at birdies, only capitalizing on one at the 11th hole. My Dad hit his best shot of the day on the 11th hole. I hit my hybrid down the middle, leaving him a 90 yard approach to a tightly placed front hole location, surrounded by bunkers. Prior to the round, I watched some groups come through the hole and noticed the best play was to land the shot 20 feet by the pin and let it feed back down a tiered slope to the pin. Well, my Dad executed it perfectly, landing the shot 20 feet by the pin and it settled to within 4 feet for birdie. Picture perfect swing and result! Go Dad! This got us going again. Our only other blemishes on holes 12-18 were two bogeys, including a missed 3 foot putt (by me) and failure to par from 90 yards on a par-4 (bad approach and bad chip).

Overall, we are fairly pleased with our first appearance in the MGA Father-Son event (75 or better is really where we should be). We played with Lenny and Ryan Devane out of Wayland CC. They were a pleasure to play well. Lenny is 80 years old and hits it 200+ off the tee with driver, down the middle every time. Great inspiration to stay young regardless of age on paper! My Dad and I look forward to competing again next year. We expect better results and will be working on our games between now and then.

After our round, we grabbed a quick lunch at the 19th hole. Segragansett makes a solid steak and cheese sandwich. The bar is a fun setup, good for chatter amongst the competitors. Also, a nice HDTV to catch up on the latest sports news. Food menu is limited but it covers all the good ones such as a burger, grilled chicken, and salads. (I might have to start a 19th hole review column - I got some good ideas for LGC's 19th hole) I caught up with Dave Falcucci for a few minutes, former collegiate rival at Bryant. We will be competing against each other in the Mid-Am in two weeks.

My Dad and I then followed Chuck and Mike Murphy for their final 5 holes. Mike and I have been close friends since 6th grade and I've known his Dad the same amount of time. Chuck was looking good out there with his straw hat and deft putting stroke. Mike is always impressive was with a moonshot ball flight and nice touch around the greens. Hope we didn't put too much pressure on them. I enjoyed being on the spectator side, rooting for my friends to succeed. My Dad and I were able to relive some shots from the sidelines, many with smiles and laughter.

Route 44 in Taunton is quite different than the outskirts of Boston; its an area that has a country/hard nose blue collar feel, the houses are big and old and the businesses appear to be of old local descent. I say country mainly because there is a lot of open grass and we heard roosters on the 12th hole.

Thanks Dad for a great day.

After Party

Took place at Halfway Cafe in Watertown with my brother and friends Brandin and Tracy. We answered correctly on trivia questions about the New Testament, quotes by John Adams, baseball statistics, and many more. Let the good times role...

Not sure if I'll have a blog update prior to the Bentley Cup...I have some practicing to do and a wedding on Saturday

Be happy and healthy

KF

Final Round Aberration

Part I

My number was a 68 and my result was an 84. I'm going with an aberration on this year's final round of the Lexington Club Championship. I can't think of anything else more appropriate. According to Wikipedia, aberration is something that deviates from the normal way. Well, I deviated from my normal game today. I hadn't made a score higher than bogey thru the first 54 holes and today I made 3 doubles and 1 triple bogey. I whiffed on a chip shot and double hit a chip shot on consecutive strokes. I four putted a hole! This just doesn't make sense. It was an aberration. I wasn't nervous. I felt great in the morning and really felt 68 was achievable, not just a number. (wonder if anyone else was in the field was on pace to make no doubles or higher).

I will admit I need to improve on managing my adrenaline and not overvaluing the first few shots of the day. I think its huge to stripe one down the middle on one and make par or better. However, you can't let a 3-putt bogey on the first hole take the life out of your game.

Congratulations to Rob Lynch for a very impressive win, shooting a final round 73 to finish 285 (+1) for the championship. He deserved it. He won by 6 shots over Peter Scully. Rob's tournament total is one of the best in club history. I finished in fifth place (303) behind Chris Barry (3rd - 301) and Steve Champagne (4th - 302). I was paired today with Rob, Peter, and Lee Smith; another good group. I didn't keep score for either Rob or Peter, but according to the winner, Peter and Rob were tied after the 12th. This wasn't confirmed with Peter, but I believe it. Peter made a strong charge and birdied 12 to tie things up. How did Rob respond? Eagle on 13 folks. Yep, that's how to do it. More impressive he did that after watching me whif, double hit, and sink a 6 footer for 8 on the same hole.

Again, great galleries on the 18th hole. BIG LOVING THANKS to my Mom, Brother, and Mike for coming out to watch my final round. My family and friends are so much bigger than game. I am very happy they saw me compete regardless of the outcome.

Part II - After Party

The post tournament events included hours of laughter and drinks on the porch, Scott Carroll ordering every appetizer on the menu, Rob Lynch and Peter Scully (senior champion) filling up their trophies with beer and drinking it all themselves (Rob's trophy needed at least 5 beers to fill), Kenny Collina revealing his final-round nutritional secret of a microwaved hot dog on wheat bread, a 3-club tournament, and Jack Finalyson leaving the course before I did (another aberration).

The 3-club tournament took place after many hours of drinks. The participants were Chris Barry, Scott Carroll, Anthony Modoono, Tim Diskin, Kenny Collina, and myself. We played 4, 5, and 6. The winner was Scott Carroll (+1). Shot of the tournament goes to Tim Diskin's opening tee shot on 4 with a 3-wood. He popped it up, like a lob wedge, to the right. It went approximately 15 yards, hit a pine tree, and popped out. Remind you, he swung at least 90+ mph at this ball. Props to Scott for making 3 on the 4th and Chris for making 2 on the 5th with a 3-wood(?).

We are all waiting for the reprimanding letters from the club.

What do I take from all of this? Chalk it up as a 'toughen me up' failure. Sounds bad, but its going to make me better and I'll come back stronger next year. In the meantime, as I digest this final round aberration, I'm pysched to be able to immediately reset and start fresh Tuesday morning in the MGA Father-Son Tournament. As one of my colleagues says, theres nothing like the present.

By the way, here are some key facts. Tiger Woods has won roughly 25% of his major championships (I calculated as 14 out of an 55). I've got 33% (3 out of 9) at Lexington. Fred Funk beat Tom Watson by 22 shots at the U.S. Senior Open. Rob Lynch beat me by 18 shots this weekend. Tiger Woods won his 69th PGA Tour event today. He has lost over 175 professional events. Failure is part of the game.

See you on the practice tee

KF

Anti Moving Day

It was the third round of the club championship, known as 'moving day' on the PGA tour. However, Rob Lynch made it anything but moving day. He fired a 71; a nicely manufactured round with multiple clutch putts and birdies (for those who are not regular followers - both good putting and birdies are two of my keys to winning the club championship). Peter Scully, Steve Champagne, and myself all made good golf shots but couldn't gain any ground as we shot 73, 75, and 72, respectively. It was a lot of fun out there. Pars were no good to get honors in this group. I have to say today's round was true club championship golf. You felt the tension. You felt the competitiveness. You felt the sportmanship. You felt what it takes to win this thing.

One of the best moments of the day was coming up 18 with the gallery behind the green. Its exciting when other members come out to support you. Theres not enough words in this blog to give shouts out to all my friends I see before, during, and after each round. (however, I want to give one to Walter Scott for keeping me on my toes at all times) Steve and Peter had the crowd pleaser shots on 18; both of them almost holed out their second shots from the fairway!

I was pleased with my effort today despite a few three putts and a 'make me want to cry' bogey on the par-5 13th. Seriously, why do I make 6 on a par-5 from 185 yards out on my second shot. This was a true measure of patience (i have to give my Dad props for picking me up here as I almost fell over in disgrace - THANKS). I managed to bounce back with 2 birdies on my last 5 holes. My nines were 37-35=72. (35 putts today vs. 29 putts in the 2nd round)

Today's pairing was a blast. Peter, Steve, and Rob are great guys; they also bring gritty competitiveness and true camaraderie!

After 3 days the top scores are:
Rob Lynch - 212
Peter Scully - 216
Kurt Flionis - 219
Chris Barry - 225
Lee Smith - 225
Steve Champagne - 225

The place will be rocking tomorrow. Everyone has their work cut out to catch Rob. The final round kicks off at 7:24am and the final group tees off at 8:36am. Bring your 'A' game everybody.

Happy resting,
KF

p.s.: for all of you who are disappointed with your rounds today, think about John Daly's 88 in the second round of the Buick Open...from what I heard, he gave up out there...don't put yourself in that category, keep pushing forward