This year’s Ryder Cup was held in Columbia, MO, at the Albert Oakland Back Course (Round 1) and Indian Hills (Round 2) disc golf courses. The first round format was Best Shot Doubles Match Play and the second round format was Heads-Up Singles Match Play. The weather could not have been any better, as temperatures started out around 55 degrees and maxed out around 75 degrees at mid-day. Awesome stuff!
Right around 9AM, both teams assembled near the parking lot and exchanged pleasantries before the competition ramped up. Dave McCormack provided some sweet custom stamped Eraser Wizards for everybody…thank you Dave! I know for a fact that I saw a few people putting the discs directly into their bags after they gave them a few flexes. Sometimes a commemorative disc just feels too good in your hands to hang it up on the wall!
Keith Amerson/Mark Ehlert (Columbia Co-Captains) and Justin Bunnell (STL Captain) then got down to the task of setting up the morning matches. The visiting team always throws out the first selection, so Justin jumped in head first, putting up Bryan Johnson & Zach Williams. Columbia countered with Phil Bates & Daniel Buttner. After this, it went back and forth until all of the teams were set (see the attached Excel spreadsheet). Everyone headed out to their holes and the competition was underway.
After the round was completed, there seemed to be a bunch of long faces on both sides. As you can see from the results, pretty much either you swept the other team or the other team swept you. I can tell you personally that Francis and I had our hands full from the very first hole, as Mark Ehlert and Aaron Mooney birdied the first 6 holes and ended up double digit under par (-12?) when it was all said and done…very humbling I must admit! As desperate as it may have seemed, the teams were only separated by 3 points after Round 1 was in the books. After some friendly “ribbing” from teammates and competition alike, it was time to move on to Indian Hills for Round 2.
Once again, Keith/Mark and Justin got down to the task of setting up the afternoon singles matches. Justin started off by throwing out one of his top seeds, Bryan Johnson. They countered with their top seed, Fred Garver. After this it went back and forth until all of the matches were set (see the attached Excel spreadsheet). Everyone headed out and got down to the task of securing their team’s lead or making the comeback a reality.
The tight fairways and blind shots at Indian Hills certainly served as an evening factor for the out of town STL players. This course is one of those that can make a local player look like a first timer any time you play it…sometimes the trees just won’t get out of the way! Taking a look at the results, you would have to assume that STL had a little bit better luck at avoiding the trees and tough lies. STL made the comeback by posting some solid play up and down the board for the most part.
The 2012 Ryder Cup proved to be an awesome competition that provided plenty of drama and knee-knocking situations. Although I didn’t personally play my best this year, I felt like the competition was ready to go 100% from the first hole of the day…if you were going to take any points home this year, you were going to have to earn them. This is exactly what a Ryder Cup competition should be all about!
A BIG “THANKS” goes out to the Columbia team for providing the venues, Dave Mac for providing the commemorative discs, and both teams Captains for making this year’s competition such a memorable one! I always enjoy meeting new people and making some friendships at the Ryder Cup, and this year was no exception. Columbia once again proved that I need to make it out there more often for some disc golfing!
Next year’s St. Louis captain will be Jerry Barklage.
Hope to see you all next time!
2012 Ryder Cup — 11/10/12 — Columbia, MO |
|||
Round 1 doubles — Oakland Back | |||
Visitors | Hosts | ||
Bryan J / Zach W |
2.5 |
0.5 |
Pil B / Daniel B |
Justin B / Dave M |
3 |
0 |
Jerome D / Keith A |
Aaron W / Gary S |
0 |
3 |
Jake S / Roy S |
Jimmy M / Chris G |
3 |
0 |
Shawn K / Fred G |
Robo / Tim L |
2 |
1 |
Tony D / Jerrad C |
Justin W / Roger R |
0 |
3 |
Rusty M / Jason S |
Francis A / Greg D |
0 |
3 |
Mark E / Aaron M |
Jerry B / Tim S |
0 |
3 |
Adam M / Grant H |
Total Round 1 |
10.5 |
13.5 |
Total Round 1 |
Round 2 singles — Indian Hills | |||
Bryan Johnson |
3 |
0 |
Fred Garver |
Justin Workman |
2.5 |
0.5 |
Daniell Buttner |
Justin Bunnell |
3 |
0 |
Rusty McGrath |
Chris Gore |
1 |
2 |
Jason Stone |
Aaron Walters |
3 |
0 |
Jake Squires |
Jimmy M |
0 |
3 |
Phil Bates |
Gary Saurez |
2.5 |
0.5 |
Roy Skeen |
Roger Reyes |
1.5 |
1.5 |
Adam Morrison |
Zach Williams |
1.5 |
1.5 |
Grant Hughes |
Robo |
3 |
0 |
Jerrad Chaney |
Tim Lewis |
1 |
2 |
Tony Drennan |
Jerry Barkledge |
0 |
3 |
Aaron Mooney |
Dave McCormack |
2 |
1 |
Mark Ehlert |
Greg Doh |
1.5 |
1.5 |
Jerome Dubinski |
Francis A |
2.5 |
0.5 |
Shawn Kelsay |
Tim Sullivan |
0 |
3 |
Keith Amerson |
Total Round 2 |
28 |
20 |
Total Round 2 |
Total for Event |
38.5 |
33.5 |
Total for Event |
casey kemmerer says
David,
I am from Idaho and we were talking about doing the Ryder cup format play. How did you guys like the format and how did you deiced on who was on the teams?
david says
There are lots of formats,,,email me at david@gdstour.com and I’ll send you some documents