1999 Results
Color This Year Orange!
LA Soundly Defeated As Orange
Takes
The Cup Back
19 – 11
Too easy!! Orange finally won on the first day of the competition. It became the sign of things to come. After trailing early, Team Orange stormed to a 19 – 11 victory. The match totals counted 7 wins for the victors to 4 wins for the losers. In a Ryder cup first, we had one match that ended all square.
Orange County’s keys to success
were to ride their hot captain and
Use their stroke advantage
We were expecting the weather to become a factor with a high heat index. We were pleasantly surprised to find that cool weather was imported for the tournament. Rhodes Ranch country Club opened the festivities with the Two Man Better Ball. The private entrance gave us high expectations of things to come. The course layout was fair. However, we were all disappointed that the greens on the frontside were spray-painted green and were in basically terrible condition. Despite all that, we both had to play on the same course.
In a show of team unity, Captain Ken marched off his men in custom designed team shirts. Mitch and Harlan led off for the Orange team against Mel and Wade. This was the most even handicap match as three golfers in this group were 16 index. LA jumped out early and led at the turn 1 Up. From there, they increased their lead until they closed out with a 4 & 3 victory.
In Match 2, Orange sent out Mark & Norm versus newcomer Eric and Russ. OC won the first hole to lead 1 Up. After Russ tied the match on #2, Eric carried LA’s hopes by winning four holes for a 3 Up score before the turn. The back nine was back and forth with LA protecting its lead to finish 2 & 1.
The final match of the day was an indication of the outcome. Ken & Craig anchored OC for Better Ball against Tom & Donald. LA won the first hole and that is it. OC rattled off 7 out of the next 8 holes. It was over before the 13th hole by a score of 7 & 6. This marked the first points OC has won in Better Ball. It must have been the shirts except that Orange weren’t buying it yet.
The winners of the closest to the pins on Day 1 were Wade, Craig, Eric and Russ. After Day 1, the score was 4 to 2 LA.
Day 2 is 2 Man Scramble day at Angel Park, Palm Course. Another calm day was made to order. Match 4 pitted Mitch & Craig against Tom & Russ. In a very competitive match that was all square after nine. LA had a 2 Up lead going into 15. OC cut the lead down by one when a higher force made it known that he resides in OC. After Mitch & Craig teed off on 16, gale-like winds kicked up that affected LA’s tee shots. That gust of wind changed the outcome of the tournament. Mitch & Craig stormed back to win the next two holes and the match 1 Up.
Match 5 matched Mark & Harlan versus Mel & Donald. Again, Donald was involved in a lopsided match. Whenever LA would try a comeback, OC made the clutch shots when they needed to. The final result was an OC 3 & 2 victory.
The final Scramble match had two hot golfers paired off. Ken & Norm matched strokes with Eric & Wade. This match was a picture of contrast. OC dominated the front nine with LA mounting a big comeback on the back. When all was said and done, it came down to the 18th hole. LA needed the hole to tie the match and earn 1 point. Par was sufficient as we had our first Ryder Cup tied match.
Day 2 ended with OC leading 7 to 5. The CTTP winners were Mitch (2), Ken, Tom & Eric. OC’s magic number was 8.5 in the Individual match play.
Day 3 Coming back to a host site of the inaugural Ryder Cup, Paiute Golf Resort Snow Mountain Course was the site of the important Individual Match Play. OC sent off Mitch as its leadoff player against Wade. Wade broke out early with a 2 Up lead after nine, but fell apart after that. Mitch won 6 holes on the back to take a 2 & 1 victory for the men of the South.
Next up for the Orange men, Captain Ken strode out to meet the Mel man. Winning the first hole, Ken secured a 2 Up lead heading to the back side. Mel relied back to win 5 of the next 7 hoes to take his first lead of the match at 1 Up going into the 17th hole. Captain Ken never flinched as he wrestled the last tow holes from Mel to win 1 Up.
Match 9 lined up Norm versus Eric. This match was a see-saw affair with no player securing more than a 2 Up lead. After the fourth lead change, Eric string together four good holes as he went on to score LA’s first points of the day, 3 & 1.
Craig represented Orange in Match 10 against Russ of Blue. Craig led from the first hole on and he held off Russ. Russ tried to mount a charge on the back side, but ran out of holes. Craig walked away with a 2 & 1 win and the three pointes to secure the Cup for Orange.
In a momentous battle of putters, Mark was faced with the challenge by Donald. This was another match that Orange led from start to finish. Mark slowly built his lead to 3 Up and maintained this throughout most of the match. Donald closed to 1 Down, but lost the 18th hole to lose 2 Down. However in the count that mattered most at this time of the Cup, heavy favorite Mark could only manage a tie of 29 putts by failing to convert a one put on 18.
The final match of Ryder ’99 pitted Harlan against Tom. Ol’ Two Iron reverted back to form to smoke Harlan. Harlan had a rough day as he could only put together two holes that could muster wins against the fabled individual match player from LA. When all was said and done, Tommy closed the proceedings with a 4 & 3 win. The CTTP’s winners were Craig, Mitch & Eric (2).
The final score for the 1999 Ryder Cup series ended with Orange County on top 19 points to 11 points. This score poorly reflects the lopsided nature of the competition. Orange truly dominated with their stroke advantage and team play. LA’s lack of focus may have been due to the scheduling of the competition during fishing season. However, the spirit of Ryder Cup remained as the good natured competition still brought laughs and fun for all.
2000 Ryder Cup
Las Vegas, Nevada
JUNE 17 – 19, 2000
After much discussion, we have solidified our plans to conduct our Y2K version of the Ryder Cup. After a vode of dates and prices, we have settled on the above dates for the competition. The preference to hold down the cost of golfing prevailed over our tolerance of hot weather.
As usual, we held our pre-planning meeting during the previous tourney. This is a rundown of the decisions that were made at this meeting. Our first and easiest course of business was to elect our respective captains. Orange County elected Craig with LA turning to russ to lead them back.
Next, The responsibilities were doled out. The only chage that took place is with our historian/photographer. Tom by virtue of his self professed expertise in this area has been elected to take over this responsibility. It didn’t hurt when Craig’s camera seemed to malfunction at critical times. Mitch still has responsibility for the courses, Mark, the rooms and Donald, the newsletter.
We agreed to utilize the same format for scoring and the Saturday through Monday dates. The big news came in the form of expanding our teams to 8 man teams. Orange county has nominated Craig’s friend, Richard and Eric Hamasu as potential members. LA is recruiting Tom’s brother, Dale and the expected return of Dr. Uba to complete their teams.
Again, this is a reminder that the captains should ensure that all their team members are committed to play in Y2K match play as soon as possible.
2000 Responsibilities Orange County Los Angeles
Captain Craig Russ
Courses Mitch
Rooms Mark
Historian Tom
Newsletter Donald