 |
Captain Bob Maine accepts 1st GPN
Bank Bedlam Cup. Robert Garton
Alex Alvarez pose pose with him. |
The
Inaugural GPN Bank Bedlam Cup Matches came to an end, and so did our 2011 tournament season.
It all ended in a good note for Elk City members. |
Cory Smith & Sean Cowan
combined for 136 & 137
respectively with partners. |
Although
Mangum came back with better scores on the second day (their four score total improved from 281 (67, 71, 71, 72) to 276 (68, 68, 70, 70), and won one of the flights, the lead that
Elk City Golf & C.C. had built on Saturday proved to be very difficult to overcome. The final score was 543 (272 - 271) to 557 (281 - 276), a fourteen shot difference.
 |
Josh Milner & Jay Cross,
MVP's Mangum (67-68) |
In the end, the difference may have been on the greens, as I witnessed when I rode around the course taking pictures on Saturday, and more closely on Sunday, when I substituted for one of our members who had an emergency:
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| Jymmy Martin putting on #7 |
Keith Hulen and myself, were paired with
Zac Zachary, a former assistant golf pro now in the car business, and
Travis Reese, a school principal (the best school principal I have ever played with!), both of whom are very accomplished players. As an example, in their club championship, Zac shot 65-63 only to be beat by Travis who closed with a 58! As it turned out, in Elk City they had a great day tee to green, but were clearly disappointed with a score of 70, which could have easily been several shots better had they been able to read the greens.
 |
Jeff Rule, "I'm still shaking!"
after a scary moment when
his ball almsot hit Joe Wynn. |
 |
Not everything went wrong
on the greens for our guests! |
The best comeback score of the tournament belonged to
Kirk Towe and playing captain
Robert Garton from Mangum, a team that shaved 10 strokes from their opening score in the
"Life Begins at 40" flight (40-49 years old). Their comeback score, combined with the steady team of
Rusty Rickerd & Matt Monroe (71-70), helped Mangum win their flight 3 points to 1 (in each flight, the winners were determined by points, not by adding scores). Another team that had a great comeback was
Craig Martin & Jack Christian, who shaved 8 strokes from a 74 to a 66 and had the best of Sunday's scores.
Jay Cross & Josh Milner were from Mangum, were the best pair of the weekend with scores 67-68.
 |
Jack Christian: I bet the 1st thing
you notice is that this is #11 tee;
the 2nd thing is the great impact
position... nothing else stands out |
In retrospect, and although Elk City posted the best 2-Man team score each day (64 by
Paul Gunkel & Ronnie Smith on Saturday, and a 66 by
Craig Martin & Jack Christian on Sunday), the win was based on the steady play of
Cory Smith, Sean Cowan, Jordan Williamson, Brad O'Hara and
Tyler Windsor, below are their scores:
 |
| "Am I reading this right?" |
Cory's teams (paired with Sean on Saturday, and with Jordan on Sunday) shot 69 and 67; Sean (Cory and Dusting Gunkel) shot 69-68, Jordan's teams had scores of 69-67 (Brad & Cory), Brad's teams had 69-70 (Jordan & Tyler); and Tyler had two 70's (Keith Hulen & Brad). All of these scores counted each day in addition to the 64 and the 66, both posted in the "Wise Fellows" flight (50-59 years of age).
 |
Terry Nichols & Bob Miller
confer about each other's
partner's putt on #6. |
In the "Wisest Fellows" flight (60 years of age and over), the best one day score belonged to
Craig Phelps & Carrol Anderson, the second best best score was a 76, twice posted by
Terry Nichols, he was paired with senior club champion Harry Payne on Saturday, with
Leon Stuart on Sunday.
 |
Dave Bank & Don Andrews
paired for 2 points |
In the end, and of more significance for the spirit of the game and the growth of the GPN Bank's Bedlam Cup, was the
spirit of competition, sportsmanship and graciousness of all players in both teams, something that somehow carries to one's personal lives with family and work. SEE YOU ALL NEXT YEAR!
 |
Carrol Anderson (R) & Craig
Phelps, could only play one
day, but made the best of it.
Low score of the weekend in
the 60+ flight. |
A special thanks goes to
Bob Maine (Team Captain) and
Mark Russell (President) from Elk City's GPN Bank and their staff for their support and help with this tournament, as well as to: Robert Garton and
Jymmy Joe Martin (both from Mangum);
Bob Miller, Ann Cowan and
Joe Wynn, all of whom used their persuasive means to make this tournament happen by promoting and persuading friends to participate. Thanks to
Myra and staff for the well organized and excellent food served during the tournament, and to
Ed Hughes and staff for the course set-up, which everyone agreed was great.
And last, but not least,
a very special thanks to all of those members who took the time to represent their club. See, you were all presented a nice gift Saturday, both OSU and OU won their football games!
See you at the club!
