The Rinker Rodeo

Player	Gross	Handicap	Net	Match adjustment	Team adjustment	Total	TGS Points
Bryan Norris	74	7	67	3	3	61	24
Greg Younger	90	22	68	3	0	65	19
Bob Albright	84	12	72	3	3	66	18
Seth Harris	80	9	71	3	0	68	17
Tim Tyvand	102	26	76	3	3	70	16
Jason Wold	79	7	72	0	0	72	14.5
Rich Wold	85	13	72	0	0	72	14.5
Tim Halle	94	16	78	1.5	3	73.5	13
Jim Rader	99	19	80	3	3	74	11
Charlie Broadfoot	85	8	77	0	3	74	11
Dave Charbonneau	102	22	80	3	3	74	11
Jeff Albright	89	10	79	3	0	76	9
Tommy Berry	91	11	80	0	3	77	8
Dave Epperson	103	22	81	0	3	78	7
Nick Mann	86	3	83	1.5	3	78.5	6
Lance Meyerink	97	16	81	1.5	0	79.5	5
Tal Wold	105	24	81	0	0	81	4
Dave Younger	90	7	83	1.5	0	81.5	3
Andy Rader	99	17	82	0	0	82	2
Brendan McMullen	108	24	84	0	0	84	1

Portland, OR -- The Rinker Rodeo was the final regular season event on the 2008 Tailgate State Tour and nerves were understandably on edge as it would be the final opportunity for players to earn points prior to the season ending playoff next month. The largest field of the year was set at 20 players, meaning that the 2008 Rinker Rodeo champion could make a big move up in the standings. Some of the players were initially skeptical at playing such an important event on one of Portland's less-heralded courses. However, tournament host Lance Meyerink proved the naysayers wrong once they experienced the challenging course layout and pristine conditions that would await them.

In an unusual twist, the field was divided into two teams of ten players each and would play individual matches that could potentially improve their score. The head-to-head action was incredibly intense, very close and provided even more intrigue into an already exciting day. Among the groups, there was a definite "familial" atmosphere as three sets of brothers were in the field, as well as a father/son duo. Only Tommy Berry's brothers were missing from the reunion "slash" golf tournament.

The two players with the lowest handicaps led things off first with Dave Younger jumping to an early lead after besting Nick Mann on each of the first three holes. Though neither was playing very well, they had a spirited match that was made all square by Mann's birdie on 17. Each made par on 18 and glumly walked to the clubhouse bar to drown their sorrows and discuss how two single-digit handicap players could barely break 90. The other duo in their foursome was made up of Meyerink and his competitor, Tim Halle. Interestingly, they didn't tie a single hole on the front nine with Meyerink winning 5 holes and Halle the other 4. With back-to-back triple bogeys on 16 and 17, Meyerink allowed his opponent to square things up going into 18, where a pair of pars by the players meant a halved match and solid performance by Halle in his tour debut.

The Rader brothers (Jim and Andy) played against each other in the next group along with Dave Epperson and the ever unpredictable Greg Younger. Jim was hot from the start and won the first three holes. His younger brother fought back but couldn't overcome the quadruple bogey he made on the 14th hole and ultimately lost 2 and 1. Formerly a regular at Tailgate State golf outings and softball games, Greg Younger was rumored to have spent the last three months at David Leadbetter's golf academy in Florida in order to shock the easily shock-able Tailgate State crew. His game showed plenty of improvement as he shot 90 on the day and thoroughly routed Epperson, 6 and 5.

Charlie Broadfoot faced the unknown Seth Harris in group three. Other famous unknown players in Tailgate State cup history have included Thatch Moyle, Scott Soles and Jason Phillips. Curiously, all were winners in their inaugural tournament on tour. After witnessing Harris swing his club on the first hole, the rest of the field only hoped that his handicap was accurate. Broadfoot and Harris were all square through 15 holes but double bogeys by Broadfoot on 16 and 17 would hand the match to Harris. Rounding out their foursome were the two oldest competitors in the field: Rich Wold and Bob Albright. Despite their limitations, it was determined that they would indeed join the rest of the players by teeing off from the blue markers on each hole. Albright's steady if unspectacular game was particularly frustrating for Wold and his bold, theatrical style of play. The two would battle up to the final hole with Bob's bogey on 18 beating Rich by one stroke.

The fourth group of the day featured the matchups of the higher handicap players in Tim Tyvand versus Tal Wold and Brendan McMulllen facing Dave Charbonneau. Tyvand jumped out to an early lead and was up by three holes at the turn. Tal Wold didn't lose, he just ran out of holes as his furious comeback was ended with both players making bogey and Tyvand holding a one hole lead. Charbonneau and McMullen had a great match as well with neither player ever going ahead by more than one. In the end, Charbonneau's double bogey was better than McMullen's score of eight on the final hole and Dave walked away with a "one up" win.

In the final pairing were Jeff Albright and Tommy Berry. Perhaps with a game not well suited for match play, Berry lost each of the first three holes and would go on to beat Albright on only two others while the match was still in question. After toppling his opponent 6 and 5 -- and with concentration lapsing -- Albright made a quadruple bogey on 16 and a quintuple bogey on 18 to effectively take himself out of consideration for the title.

According to spectators on the course, the best match of the day was the final one that pitted Bryan Norris against his aging mentor, Jason Wold. The two players waged war at one another, trading holes as if they had a "two-for-one" coupon at a brothel. Norris made birdie on the par-3 11th to go up by one, only to watch Wold make a birdie of his own on the next hole to draw square though 12. Norris made another birdie on the 17th to take a one hole lead going to the 18th tee. On the penultimate hole, both competitors missed the green with their approach shots and had par putts in excess of 15 feet. Playing first, Wold made his downhill putt and gave an icy stare to his opponent, hoping he could intimidate him into taking three putts and thereby win the match. Much to the delight of his teammates on the "Black" squad, Norris calmly sank his putt as well and punched the sky with his fist to celebrate his "one up" victory over Wold.

Norris' score of 74 combined with his match victory and his team's overall victory (each good for a three-stroke deduction from his net score) meant the championship was his and he vaulted to the top of the Tailgate State Cup standings despite only playing the minimum number of four events during the year.

The rest of the field anxiously awaits the trip to the Columbia Gorge in September to learn their fate. The top four players in the standings (Bryan Norris, Jason Wold, Tim Tyvand and Tommy Berry) have to be considered the favorites at this point. Hope for the rest of the competitors lies in their ability to attract others to play as more points will be available to the victor as the size of the field increases.