From the moment the Morgan Cup was announced, I thought it was too good to be true. Having come home and collected some thoughts, it was simply the best event I could have possibly been a part of. I apologize for the length of this (but I kept it under 2500 words…just barely).
Day-to-day Thoughts –
Resort Thoughts –
Sponsor Thoughts –
Competition Thoughts-
Individual Comments -
Team Paradise –
Biggsy – Even though I had met John before, I spent more time talking to him this weekend than I had in the past. I too really appreciated the amount that this event meant to him, and I enjoyed getting to know him better through this process and weekend.
One-T – I always enjoy being around my man Jarret. Has always been the kind of guy to come up and put his hand on your shoulder and not let someone get down. I enjoyed our round Saturday very much.
Ddec – Dean is one of several guys that I wished I lived close enough to so that we could tee it up more often. We figured we would be playing in the singles match since the teams were announced, and while I knew I would get trounced, I couldn’t wait. I wish you and Jenn all the best buddy. You were right btw…Voldemort and I met the same end :act-up:
P4B – Jake has been a great sport through this entire process. Played the role of JB’s foil perfectly and created some of the funniest videos of the entire MC. I know he get’s crap for having a patented adjective, but he has the perfect attitude for an event like this. Kind of like Biggsy, another guy that I got to know a lot better through this process.
Belbs – Almost died as the target of one of the legend’s drive, but how can you stay mad at such a goofy Canuck? Definitely plays a game with which I’m not familiar. Another guy who was such a great sport at being the target of and playing along with the trash talk and banter. I’d be glad to play with Belbs anytime, but JB/GG, if you’re reading, I won’t play in the two groups in front of him again :act-up:
Esox – Kevin is an awesome player with a magical short game. This is a man anyone could learn a lot from about golf and life (not an age dig, man). I really hope he gets to join us at more events in the future.
Ary – You could always locate Amol on the course, just follow the golf cart train. I give him a lot of credit for being able to concentrate with having a gallery for every shot. Really is a nice guy, and through this whole process was often an easy target and he just played along…all while knowing he would just destroy us all on the course. The whole family was very enjoyable and I know our wives talked for a long time.
Yoccos – What can you say about Tina? I think we spent so much time together that we would be a common-law couple in most states (sorry Ike). Always smiling, always joking, always a blast to be around. If you and Dean keep doing the Shovel Bros show, call me up, I’ll be a guest.
Team Hackers –
TC – Lucas has been a friend since the first day I met him last year. We didn’t spend all that much time together this weekend, but he and Jarret have always treated me as almost a brother, and I think of them both very much the same.
OEM Kevin – It’s really funny, every time I go to a THP event, I say I’m going to spend more time talking to Kevin. Every time I somehow fail to do so. Kevin is a great guy though, and I’ll talk to him more next year…I swear.
JRod – Really impressive watching this man hit a golf ball. I do have to thank him for hitting the first tee shot the way he did as it removed all the pressure from the rest of us. Another one of the guys I had not met before, and another I want to hang out with more in the future.
CG13 – I hope Matt’s back is healing after he had to carry me for 6 holes after my near death experience. I think Matt is a guy who would go out of his way to give you the shirt off his back. Enjoyed our round together, and I won’t ever forget our near comeback.
Coolbreeze – CB was running in every direction possible throughout Media Day. I’m pretty sure I heard him cut a promo for CAT5 Cable. One of the best sense of humors I’ve ever encountered. Thanks CB for all the tech help you provided to the event.
DirtyDawg67 – Ryan was absolutely the ideal partner for me in the opening scramble. Very even temperament, even when struggling on the course. Really helped me get comfortable with the event quickly, and had we not run into Team Quesadilla (and if my putter hadn’t revolted) we could have beaten a lot of teams that round. Another guy that I wish I could tee it up with frequently.
JB – Third event attended, and I’ve still never played with the Legend himself. I wish the circumstances had allowed you to enjoy the fruits of your labor a bit more, but there are not words to express this golfer’s gratitude at what you and your awesome wife have given all of us.
Others –
Conclusion –
Day-to-day Thoughts –
Spoiler
Thursday (8/18):
I wish I could have gotten down there a day earlier so that I could have gotten out to the course with everyone. As it was, I got into town, and swung by Casa de THP. After Ellie decided that I posed no threat to Morgan, I received all the remaining goodies provided to me by TaylorMade/Adidas/Ashworth: my R11 irons, two dozen custom numbered Pentas, a R11 glove, Tour360 ATV shoes, three shirts, three pairs of shorts, a surprise rain/wind jacket, a white belt, and a hat. It was better than Christmas.
I went on to the hotel, and checked in, checked out all my gear, and decided I had to head over to the villas to see everyone. Drove on over, and it was like a family reunion. Even the guys I hadn’t actually met were like relatives since we had all spent five months in the Morgan Cup thread together. Torrential rains set in. Beer flowed. All was awesome. As they were ready to eat, I called it a night.
Friday (8/19):
Media Day – I can honestly say that while I knew this was one of the ways that we could begin to repay the kindness and trust of our sponsors, I wasn’t looking forward to this day. However, the promos were a lot more fun and rewarding for me than I could have imagined. This gave us an opportunity to put onto video all the cool technologies both companies supplied to us. Charlie from TaylorMade and Scott from Callaway were both great as they talked us through the technologies that were helping us out. After lunch, Scott Walker was kind enough to come speak to us individually as we cut our final promos. As is probably becoming obvious already, I’m a bit wordy, and I probably could have talked for 10 minutes in that final promo that was supposed to be kept to 90 seconds. Throughout this day, we were all talking to each other about our equipment and I know more than one of us had to fight some urges to try out the other sponsors equipment (since it was there and all).
THP Dinner – After being out in the sun all day, it was fantastic to get to all go hang out at Casa de THP for a delicious BBQ dinner. Actually, I’m hungry again just thinking about it…BBQ for lunch tomorrow (which won’t be nearly as good). Anyway, the dinner was a great chance for us to relax, socialize with each other, and drool over all the technology toys Morgan lets Josh purchase. My wife started holding court with the other wives, and pretty much just shooed me out of the way.
Saturday (8/20):
Morning came early to Reunion Resort as we had 36 holes to play. The tee box introductions were a really cool touch. I applaud Ddec for leading us off in style. I played the morning scramble with DirtyDawg against Esox and Yoccos. Early highlights include Yoccos hitting houses on two consecutive holes, and DD and I missing multiple 10 foot birdie putts while Esox and Yoccos kept stuffing pitches inside gimme range. It was a fantastic match where birdies halved holes twice, and our -2 score lost to a -4 score on the 17th green. I was very surprised when I heard Team Hackers had gotten ½ of a point out of a possible 4.
After a delicious lunch, we headed out to the Watson course for our Best Ball matches. This time CG13 was my partner against One-T and Yoccos. We made it to the second hole before rain came in, which gratefully only lasted 20 minutes. Matt played really well to keep us in the match as I was clearing the cobwebs out after Belbs almost killed me with one of his massive drives. I could hear the ball buzz by my head as I was approaching my fourth shot on Hole 4 (yes, he yelled Fore, and yes he apologized profusely :act-up: ). Anyway, we got four down with four to play and made the valiant attempt at the comeback that ended with a lip-out on the 18th green.
Sunday (8/21):
With the Morgan Cup competition all but over, it was just time for a friendly singles round back on the Watson course with Ddec. I managed to hang with him for a while, but eventually the cat tired of playing with his prey, and I couldn’t match the 5 pars out of 6 holes he hung on me. When he birdied 14 to finish me off 5 and 4, the Morgan Cup was officially won. We had a great time chatting and decided to play in anyway. I still hung a 90 on the Watson course that day, which is good for me, but Ddec blazed an 81.
At the trophy presentation, it really set in to me that this fantastic journey was over. I won’t lie, I was choking back some eye moisture as I had to tell all my friends good-bye. At least most of the guys are coming back to the 2012 outing, so more fun is a mere nine months away.
I wish I could have gotten down there a day earlier so that I could have gotten out to the course with everyone. As it was, I got into town, and swung by Casa de THP. After Ellie decided that I posed no threat to Morgan, I received all the remaining goodies provided to me by TaylorMade/Adidas/Ashworth: my R11 irons, two dozen custom numbered Pentas, a R11 glove, Tour360 ATV shoes, three shirts, three pairs of shorts, a surprise rain/wind jacket, a white belt, and a hat. It was better than Christmas.
I went on to the hotel, and checked in, checked out all my gear, and decided I had to head over to the villas to see everyone. Drove on over, and it was like a family reunion. Even the guys I hadn’t actually met were like relatives since we had all spent five months in the Morgan Cup thread together. Torrential rains set in. Beer flowed. All was awesome. As they were ready to eat, I called it a night.
Friday (8/19):
Media Day – I can honestly say that while I knew this was one of the ways that we could begin to repay the kindness and trust of our sponsors, I wasn’t looking forward to this day. However, the promos were a lot more fun and rewarding for me than I could have imagined. This gave us an opportunity to put onto video all the cool technologies both companies supplied to us. Charlie from TaylorMade and Scott from Callaway were both great as they talked us through the technologies that were helping us out. After lunch, Scott Walker was kind enough to come speak to us individually as we cut our final promos. As is probably becoming obvious already, I’m a bit wordy, and I probably could have talked for 10 minutes in that final promo that was supposed to be kept to 90 seconds. Throughout this day, we were all talking to each other about our equipment and I know more than one of us had to fight some urges to try out the other sponsors equipment (since it was there and all).
THP Dinner – After being out in the sun all day, it was fantastic to get to all go hang out at Casa de THP for a delicious BBQ dinner. Actually, I’m hungry again just thinking about it…BBQ for lunch tomorrow (which won’t be nearly as good). Anyway, the dinner was a great chance for us to relax, socialize with each other, and drool over all the technology toys Morgan lets Josh purchase. My wife started holding court with the other wives, and pretty much just shooed me out of the way.
Saturday (8/20):
Morning came early to Reunion Resort as we had 36 holes to play. The tee box introductions were a really cool touch. I applaud Ddec for leading us off in style. I played the morning scramble with DirtyDawg against Esox and Yoccos. Early highlights include Yoccos hitting houses on two consecutive holes, and DD and I missing multiple 10 foot birdie putts while Esox and Yoccos kept stuffing pitches inside gimme range. It was a fantastic match where birdies halved holes twice, and our -2 score lost to a -4 score on the 17th green. I was very surprised when I heard Team Hackers had gotten ½ of a point out of a possible 4.
After a delicious lunch, we headed out to the Watson course for our Best Ball matches. This time CG13 was my partner against One-T and Yoccos. We made it to the second hole before rain came in, which gratefully only lasted 20 minutes. Matt played really well to keep us in the match as I was clearing the cobwebs out after Belbs almost killed me with one of his massive drives. I could hear the ball buzz by my head as I was approaching my fourth shot on Hole 4 (yes, he yelled Fore, and yes he apologized profusely :act-up: ). Anyway, we got four down with four to play and made the valiant attempt at the comeback that ended with a lip-out on the 18th green.
Sunday (8/21):
With the Morgan Cup competition all but over, it was just time for a friendly singles round back on the Watson course with Ddec. I managed to hang with him for a while, but eventually the cat tired of playing with his prey, and I couldn’t match the 5 pars out of 6 holes he hung on me. When he birdied 14 to finish me off 5 and 4, the Morgan Cup was officially won. We had a great time chatting and decided to play in anyway. I still hung a 90 on the Watson course that day, which is good for me, but Ddec blazed an 81.
At the trophy presentation, it really set in to me that this fantastic journey was over. I won’t lie, I was choking back some eye moisture as I had to tell all my friends good-bye. At least most of the guys are coming back to the 2012 outing, so more fun is a mere nine months away.
Resort Thoughts –
Spoiler
Simply stated, I thought Reunion Resort was an awesome host for the event and our group. Everyone (except the Watson course starter) treated us extremely well. They managed to keep Ary and CG supplied with range balls all day Friday – which was no small task. The food in the clubhouse was very good (even if we overwhelmed the service a bit).
The courses and yardages, were fair and were well suited for match play. Even moving up to the white markers for the singles round was a perfect decision.
Being someone who plays different courses whenever I could, there was enough variety hole-to-hole and course-to-course that it would take me a while to get tired playing those courses day after day. Personally, I had a much better time golf-wise at Reunion Resort than I did at PGA National.
The courses and yardages, were fair and were well suited for match play. Even moving up to the white markers for the singles round was a perfect decision.
Being someone who plays different courses whenever I could, there was enough variety hole-to-hole and course-to-course that it would take me a while to get tired playing those courses day after day. Personally, I had a much better time golf-wise at Reunion Resort than I did at PGA National.
Sponsor Thoughts –
Spoiler
I obviously had the great privilege of being sponsored by TaylorMade/Adidas/Ashworth Golf. Before I elaborate on that, I want to thank Callaway Golf for sponsoring eight gentlemen in this competition. There were many moments in this sponsorship where TaylorMade exceeded even the lofty expectations that were established in the initial posts. These were all touches that TaylorMade were not expected to make, and these were the moments where all of our jaws dropped an inch further: sending us letters welcoming us to their brand, stamping our initials or names on the putters, opening up the world to us with woods, hybrids, and wedge options, allowing us to choose pre-release irons, supplying us shoes that were weeks away from being publically available, throwing in rain jackets to the clothing, and sending us limited edition staff bags with our names embroidered on them.
Competition Thoughts-
Spoiler
It’s always a possibility in events of this format, but I hate that the scoreboard was so lopsided after day one. It would have made for more suspense for the forum and event if Team Hackers could have kept it closer, but Team Paradise just took advantage of every opportunity and earned every point
Even though the overall scoreboard had a lot more Team Paradise flags than Team Hackers flags, one thing that really struck me were how close all the matches were. Half of the matches went to the 18th hole. From a purely competitive side of things, many matches could have had different results based on single strokes…that to me is a much better indication of how even these teams were than the final tally indicates.
All Square – 3 Matches
1 Up – 5 Matches
2 and 1 – 2 Matches
3 and 2 – 3 Matches
4 and 3 – 2 Matches
5 and 4 – 1 Match
Even though the overall scoreboard had a lot more Team Paradise flags than Team Hackers flags, one thing that really struck me were how close all the matches were. Half of the matches went to the 18th hole. From a purely competitive side of things, many matches could have had different results based on single strokes…that to me is a much better indication of how even these teams were than the final tally indicates.
All Square – 3 Matches
1 Up – 5 Matches
2 and 1 – 2 Matches
3 and 2 – 3 Matches
4 and 3 – 2 Matches
5 and 4 – 1 Match
Individual Comments -
Spoiler
Team Paradise –
Spoiler
Biggsy – Even though I had met John before, I spent more time talking to him this weekend than I had in the past. I too really appreciated the amount that this event meant to him, and I enjoyed getting to know him better through this process and weekend.
One-T – I always enjoy being around my man Jarret. Has always been the kind of guy to come up and put his hand on your shoulder and not let someone get down. I enjoyed our round Saturday very much.
Ddec – Dean is one of several guys that I wished I lived close enough to so that we could tee it up more often. We figured we would be playing in the singles match since the teams were announced, and while I knew I would get trounced, I couldn’t wait. I wish you and Jenn all the best buddy. You were right btw…Voldemort and I met the same end :act-up:
P4B – Jake has been a great sport through this entire process. Played the role of JB’s foil perfectly and created some of the funniest videos of the entire MC. I know he get’s crap for having a patented adjective, but he has the perfect attitude for an event like this. Kind of like Biggsy, another guy that I got to know a lot better through this process.
Belbs – Almost died as the target of one of the legend’s drive, but how can you stay mad at such a goofy Canuck? Definitely plays a game with which I’m not familiar. Another guy who was such a great sport at being the target of and playing along with the trash talk and banter. I’d be glad to play with Belbs anytime, but JB/GG, if you’re reading, I won’t play in the two groups in front of him again :act-up:
Esox – Kevin is an awesome player with a magical short game. This is a man anyone could learn a lot from about golf and life (not an age dig, man). I really hope he gets to join us at more events in the future.
Ary – You could always locate Amol on the course, just follow the golf cart train. I give him a lot of credit for being able to concentrate with having a gallery for every shot. Really is a nice guy, and through this whole process was often an easy target and he just played along…all while knowing he would just destroy us all on the course. The whole family was very enjoyable and I know our wives talked for a long time.
Yoccos – What can you say about Tina? I think we spent so much time together that we would be a common-law couple in most states (sorry Ike). Always smiling, always joking, always a blast to be around. If you and Dean keep doing the Shovel Bros show, call me up, I’ll be a guest.
Team Hackers –
Spoiler
TC – Lucas has been a friend since the first day I met him last year. We didn’t spend all that much time together this weekend, but he and Jarret have always treated me as almost a brother, and I think of them both very much the same.
OEM Kevin – It’s really funny, every time I go to a THP event, I say I’m going to spend more time talking to Kevin. Every time I somehow fail to do so. Kevin is a great guy though, and I’ll talk to him more next year…I swear.
JRod – Really impressive watching this man hit a golf ball. I do have to thank him for hitting the first tee shot the way he did as it removed all the pressure from the rest of us. Another one of the guys I had not met before, and another I want to hang out with more in the future.
CG13 – I hope Matt’s back is healing after he had to carry me for 6 holes after my near death experience. I think Matt is a guy who would go out of his way to give you the shirt off his back. Enjoyed our round together, and I won’t ever forget our near comeback.
Coolbreeze – CB was running in every direction possible throughout Media Day. I’m pretty sure I heard him cut a promo for CAT5 Cable. One of the best sense of humors I’ve ever encountered. Thanks CB for all the tech help you provided to the event.
DirtyDawg67 – Ryan was absolutely the ideal partner for me in the opening scramble. Very even temperament, even when struggling on the course. Really helped me get comfortable with the event quickly, and had we not run into Team Quesadilla (and if my putter hadn’t revolted) we could have beaten a lot of teams that round. Another guy that I wish I could tee it up with frequently.
JB – Third event attended, and I’ve still never played with the Legend himself. I wish the circumstances had allowed you to enjoy the fruits of your labor a bit more, but there are not words to express this golfer’s gratitude at what you and your awesome wife have given all of us.
Others –
Spoiler
GG – What can be said that hasn’t been said about Morgan? Thank you so much for everything you continue to do for JB and for all of us. You did a tremendous job coordinating all the events of the weekend, and all the activities that preceded our arrival. Thanks to both of you for welcoming us into your home and giving us the opportunity to be members of the THP family.
SethO, Tadashi, SW, Caleb, and Spank – Thanks to all of you for coming over to the event and helping us with the cameras, videos, and interviews. You all did a great job in getting us to talk and provide information, even when it wasn’t easy to do so.
SethO, Tadashi, SW, Caleb, and Spank – Thanks to all of you for coming over to the event and helping us with the cameras, videos, and interviews. You all did a great job in getting us to talk and provide information, even when it wasn’t easy to do so.
Conclusion –
Spoiler
There are not enough “Thank Yous” to properly express what this experience has been for the past six months. From the vision of JB to the execution of GG to the sponsorship by TaylorMade and Callaway to the hosting by Reunion to the camaraderie of the 15 other guys that feel like my fraternity brothers, all I can leave with is that if I had to hang up my clubs right now and was never able to hit another shot in my lifetime, I would be able to say that the best golf experience that any amateur could possibly have was lived by 16 of us over an outstanding three days.
