2011 TGS Cup Championship

September 17-18, 2011

Tetherow Golf Club (Bend, OR) & Aspen Lakes Golf Course (Sisters, OR)

Format:  net stroke play

Rich Wold's lead seemed insurmountable.  Even if he played poorly, there were only a few players capable of overtaking him in the standings.  He specifically chose to spend his evenings away from the rest of the group so they couldn't ply him with night time debauchery and cloud his thinking.  It would take a massive meltdown in order for anyone else's name to be engraved on the cup as 2011 Tailgate State Cup Champion.  Ultimately, he did his part (had a meltdown) and his nearest pursuers did their part (Jason Wold, Tal Wold and Jake Miller all finished in the top four) but it came down to a few strokes by a few players that allowed Rich to claim his greatest athletic accomplishment:  TGS Champion.

If Rich had played one stroke worse -- or if both Charlie Broadfoot and Kevin Nufer had played one stroke better -- Jason would have taken home the Cup for the third time in five years.  (It probably didn't ease Jason's pain in hearing that Nufer missed a few putts inside of two feet during the weekend.  Or the pre-tournament banter about handicap accuracy.  Or that Broadfoot's mind was probably more concerned with the Red Sox implosion rather than on his own golf game.)

In spite of it all, Rich sweated through a prolonged and agonizing awards ceremony on the patio at Aspen Lakes Golf Course where most of the other players were certain that someone else's name would be announced as the 2011 Champion.  It has been said that the Tailgate State Cup is the hardest trophy in golf to win.  Rich fought through a field of over 80 players during the course of the season, winning the two tournaments with the largest fields.  He is a worthy champion.

Other notes of interest (or non-interest but they deserved to be memorialized on the internet for eternity):

• If chosen to order wine at dinner, Jim Rader does not look at the price before making his selection

• Jim's expletives and cursing on the golf course carry well in the thin Central Oregon air

• Tetherow is a hard, hard golf course that no one seemed interested in playing again any time soon

• Caddies at Tetherow fall somewhere between the range of "Goofy stoner brah" and "Aloof, 'I'm better than you' guy"

• Bob Albright is from Central Oregon (in case he didn't remind you of that fact)

• Bob was not a fan of Tetherow

• Kevin Nufer came ridiculously close to making a hole-in-one on the seventh hole at Tetherow

• Nufer's bar tab had he made the hole-in-one would have approached four figures

• Nufer missed the 18-inch putt for birdie

• Tim Tyvand and Charlie Broadfoot went out for ice cream on Saturday night

• Tommy Berry deems it appropriate to yell out baseball scores while lying in bed

• Berry takes enjoyment in confusing drink cart attendants with his beverage instructions

• Brett Hamel has no problem falling asleep in a room with eight other guys loudly watching football

• It might be impossible for Hamel to make a score higher than 6 on any golf course, anywhere in the world

• Jason Wold justifies his low handicap by telling you how many putts he missed but neglects to mention how many fairways and greens he hit in regulation

• Jake Miller won "Comeback Player of the Weekend" by improving his score by 14 shots on Saturday

• Most of Miller's improvement on Sunday came via not hitting three balls in the water like he did on hole #3 on Saturday

• If Tal had made par on the 16th hole at Aspen Lakes, he would have been the 2011 TGS Cup Champion

• Tal made a 10 on the 16th hole at Aspen Lakes

• If not for some unfortunate big numbers on the back nine at Aspen Lakes, Andy Rader should have won the weekend tournament

• Poor service in restaurants it the hot button that infuriates Tim Tyvand

• Tyvand found a way to make a 12 on the tournament's finishing hole at Aspen Lakes

• The waitress serving Tyvand dinner at The Cedars on the way home was "atrocious" (the previous two points might be related)

• Jeff Albright brought a bottle of bourbon, a bottle of gin and a case of beer for the "party house"

• Jeff went home with 75% of a bottle of bourbon, 50% of a bottle of gin and an 18-pack of beer

• The "party house" did not party

• Rich had a 10, two 8s and a 7 on Sunday and still won the Cup

• If you had asked Rich if he would rather win the TGS Cup or sell two houses over the weekend, he would have to think about it first

• Seth Harris is a popular "dark-horse" pick for 2012 champion

Congratulations to Rich Wold on adding his name to the list of 2011 Tailgate State Cup Champions.