Archives for May 2013

The 2013 Match Play Championship got started with a bang on Saturday, as 3 matches were decided at Oxmoor Country Club.  Holtzmann defeated Fetter 4&3.  Weber defeated Brown 3&2.  Kremer defeated Herp 5&4.

2012 KAGT Champion Jeff Cummins provided the highlight of the day on the front nine, when he neglected to engage the brakes on his pull cart as we approached the green on #6.  Gravity took over & his clubs went careening down a 6 foot ravine.  Thankfully, none of his clubs were damaged b/c the impact was softened by a foot and a half off creek water.  His smokes did not come out so well.  Of course, Cummins tried to play it all cool, like it was his plan to clean his clubs that way & all the popular kids are doing it.  To his credit, he shook of the embarrassment, bummed a few smokes from Fetter, and proceeded to finish his round by playing the type of championship golf that we have grown accustomed to seeing from him.

Tradition.  Honor.  Prestige. These words are synonymous with The Bluegrass.  If there were ever any doubts, The Bluegrass most certainly cemented its status as the most highly regarded non-major after a change in venue to Kearney Hills.  To think that The Bluegrass could out-class a tournament that dares to have “prestige” in its title (Schroeder/Wolf Prestige aka the Southwest Prestige) was inconceivable  at the genesis of the KAG Tour.  The rise was not by mistake; countless hours spent on meticulous planning,  sponsorship deals, and swag  procurement have vaulted The Bluegrass into a category all its own.

Special thanks to CH Robinson for sponsoring some swag and to all of those who made the trip.  We had fantastic weather & I heard nothing but positive feedback on Kearney Hill.  The rough was unforgiving, but the track was great.

I was lucky enough to witness a performance on the course that may go down as one of the best ever in KAGT history.  While there was some chatter that Cummins’ preplay at +2 might just be enough to win, Brown dismissed the notion with ease and a certain steadiness that only Steve can deliver.  Congratulations, Steve!  You join some pretty heady company, as a Bluegrass Champ (Weber ‘10, Balbach ‘11, Tindall ‘12).

Here is some commentary on Brown’s round from the tour’s very own chronic underachiever, Brian Fetter:

Record Setting Performance:

1) Low Gross Score in Tour History: 73

2) Largest Margin of Victory in Tour History: 7 strokes

3) Tie Low Net Score in Your History: -6

Steve would have tied for 1^st even without his handicap strokes.

He did in typical SBrown01 fashion hitting nearly every fairway (even used Driver more times than 3 Wood, I think) and a bundle of GIRs. No Double Bogeys, No Three-Putts, only 27 putts on the day total, and 3 Birdies (including a statement birdie on #18 when the Tournament was already locked down- No Fear on lowering the hdcp a little more!)

Seems to me Steve had grown tired of the talk on Tour- that he was washed up, a has-been, that he dominated the Tour back when the caliber of player was lower than today’s challenging fields, that he couldn’t beat Cummins… NO MORE… this statement victory will surely set off an unprecedented race to the Season Title. It’s already tight at the top with Cummins, Buzzell, and Holtzman battling out in the top three slots. Kremer and Tindall remain strong and you never know when Fetter could make a run (oh, wait…). Brown’s victory catapults him into (or nearly into) the Top 5 and obviously secures his presence at the TC- where anyone within 150pts should have a chance.