Hat’s off to Mitch for a well played round. For all the gibberish nonsense talk of “oh, Fetter he choked”, (although truth be told, I stank it up on the back nine), it was Gibson’s consistent play that wore me down. I was one swing away from being even par after the first 5 holes, and could easily have been 3 or 4 up, but Mitch just trodded along, making putts and saving pars to match. By the time he staked his hybrid on the Par3 #4 East, and then drained the putt for birdie, the match had decidely turned in his favor.

…so, it’s the end of an epic run to the semi-finals for Fetter. Good luck to Powell and Gibson in the finals.

Powell beats Uncle Dino 5&3 and awaits the winner of the Gibson-Harry Potter affair.  Whoever wins can look forward to playing Hunting Creek.

The 2014 KAGT Goat Ranch Open was nothing short of spectacular.  Course conditions were ideal & if you hit the fairways (especially on 1,9,10,&18) you could expect to get a ton of roll.  The course ranger did not drop an F-bomb on Dino, and balls were not stolen on the 18^th by a group of dudes who looked like they got lost on the way to the basketball courts.  There was definitely not a fat chick whose golf attire was a smoking hot, skin-tight, neon pink dress (yummy).  Nor was there an Uncle Si look-alike who not only freaked me out on the course, but provided just enough of the stink-eye to freak me out in the clubhouse, too.

Congratulations to KAGT rookie Mitch Gibson for his first victory on tour.  His work on the greens was precise, his ball-striking was clean, and the pressure rolled right off of his back down the stretch as he cruised to a 3-stroke victory at net 4 under.  The Rookie of the Year race between Mitch and Dino just got a lot tighter.  Dino had held the upper hand for most of the season, but Mitch is the first of the two to win an event.  Dino did get a 4^th place finish this weekend, as he continues to rack up the points event after event.  Keep in mind that both Gibson and Dino are alive and well in match play, which could make for an interesting all-rookie final.  It’s Dino vs Powell and Gibson vs Fetter in the final four.

Second place went to Powell (net -1), who is having his best season ever on the KAG Tour.  Steve Brown did what Steve Brown does and ended up in the money with an even-par third place finish.

Congrats to our winners and thanks to Powell and Holtzmann for hosting a top-notch event.  Whoever says golf is a game for elitists and yuppies should come to Shawnee and bear witness.  God bless America and nobody else!

Good afternoon Kagers. Sorry for the delay but it has been a busy day. The pre-playing by Tindall and Kremer definitely set the pace for a challenging round at Chariot Run. As usual the turnout was stupendous (6 players for two threesome (strong showing)). The course was difficult but it definitely played fair if you could putt which I can’t so who cares. For those that did not play I strongly suggest you do at some point in the near future because the course is immaculate. Congratulations to Robby Tindall with a -2 finished to come in first and to Peter Kremer and Adam Rone with a strong 2^nd at even. Cummins finished out at 4^th thus cementing his strangle hold on the Kager Tour / Points Champion for 2014.

1^st Tindall / -2

2^nd Kremer / Even

2^nd Rone / Even

4^th Cummins / +2

5^th Brown / +4

6^th Dino / +8

6^th JQ / + 8

8^th Fetter / +10

9^th Buzz / + 14

10^th Nacrelli / +15

Mitch Gibson won 3 and 2. Mitch jump out to an early lead winning the 1^st 4 out of 5 holes. I battle back to get it to down 3 at the turn but could never get over the hump. I was 3 down sitting on the 14^th green 2 feet from the cup putting for bogie par when Mitch drains a 50 foot putt for bogie. Game, set and match. Kudos to Mitch for playing a solid match and good luck to him in winning this event. I will help ease the pain if he does J. Good luck to you gents that still remain!

In what was heralded as “the most important match of the day in Louisville”, Fetter and Weining got the Second Round of Match Play started at Quail Chase on Monday. A last minute stint by Weining and an un-named ISCO co-player to switch the match off the scheduled, (blessed) South/West, over to the (adjective of your choice) West/East was meant to throw off Fetter’s game plan, but he still took an early lead on the front. Weining would charge back to even it but it was Fetter sitting one up at the turn. Weining’s tee game began to fail him on the back 9 and when Fetter dropped a birdie-par-bogey-par stretch starting on 12, it proved too much for Weining to overcome and he succumbed 4&3.

Fetter advances to the Quarter Finals for the first time and awaits the winner of Gibson/Buzzell. Weber/Camomot are scheduled during vacation week and will meet the winner of Powell/Tindall; as the June 8 Round Two deadline looms.

Yikes, those tee times were early!  But, what a beautiful day at the Meade.  The wind was uncharacteristically calm, but the morning dew seemed to linger for an eternity, making the course play longer than it might have with a slightly higher temp.  The rough was legit, so if you weren’t finding fairways, you probably weren’t scoring.

Congrats to Cummins for his second victory of the year.  His back to back birdies on the final two holes put him in as the leader in the clubhouse.  There was still some drama in store for Cummins, as Herp, surrounded by a huge KAGT gallery, barely missed a long birdie putt on 18 for a share of the lead.   Other contenders were Fetter and Tindall, who tied with Herp for a share of second place.

Cummins start to the season, two 1sts & a tie for 2^nd, have to be the hottest start ever for a KAGTer.  If not for his early exit in match play, he would almost be out of reach for the KAGT Points Championship.  He currently holds a 100-point lead over the next in line, Rone.  Somebody needs to step up or we’ll all be playing for 2^nd place.

Or next event will be the Road Warrior Invitational, hosted by Cummins and Buzz.  The weekend will be the 21^st/22^nd of June.  More details to follow.

“I have brought much shame to the KAGT Tour and the Holtzmann name.  Alas I will sulk for days. The only thing that could bring me comfort is if all of you called for new policies.”  –Rob Holtzmann

In a rematch of 2013 Round 1 in which Holtzmann waxed Fetter at Oxmoor, this match seemed destined down the same path early on. Fetter got a stroke on each of the first three holes and, after what could only be coined “brilliant play”, somehow emerged 1 down to Holtzmann. The lead would grow but as the weather started to deteriorate so did Holtzmann’s game while Fetter somehow managed to play better (like, respectable bogie golf…). With the rain coming down, a careless OB shot on the final hole of regulation allowed Fetter to draw even and force the playoff. The stage was set at #10 at Seneca for an explosive finish and after Holtzmann lagged to 4ft from deep, Fetter played a similar line from over 60ft. In what will forever live on in the horror of Holtzmann’s nightmares, the putt took off downhill at a trepid pace but then started back up the slope, meandering ever so gingerly, before dying directly in the heart of the cup. Fetter held the #9 high in the air and released a victorious shout.

Later in the clubhouse he was quoted, “The playoff hole was a defining moment. And when a defining moment comes along you either define the moment, or the moment defines you.”

For Hotzmann that moment will be Seneca golf course April 28^th, 2014 when he hit that driver OB to take a 7, when a 6 would have advanced him to the second round of Match Play 2014. That was a defining moment, and the definition was… shit.

First off, a big shout out to the tournament hosts, Rone and Quintana.  They set a new precedent with the swag, one that will be nearly impossible to match.  You just can’t go wrong with shots on the first tee,  barware gift bags,  and Bang Bang shrimp gift certificates.  Which reminds me, if any of you fools are not going to use your Bang Bang shrimp cards, I will gladly take them.

Congrats to first time KAGT winner, Adam Rone.  Not only did he co-host a killer tournament, he also won the darn thing with a net -2.  Cummins was in position to win or at least tie on the 18^th, but a costly 3-putt dropped him back into a tie for 2^nd with Weber at net -1, and gave the victory to  Rone.  Steve Brown rounded out the money winners with a strong net even-par showing.

We could not have timed the weather any better, as the rain started to fall just as the final grouping reached the clubhouse.

Wow- what a KICKOFF to the 2014 Matchplay- 5 matches completed, 4 of which went to the final hole and 3 that went to playoffs- with 3 distinct playoff formats.

Buzz over J.O., 4&3: match was close until early on the back 9 when Buzz was able to capitalize on a couple mistakes by Osborne and take control of the match.

Weber over Rone, 1up: came down to the last hole as both players fared well at Nevel. Weber led through the back nine but could not put away the pesky Rone until the final hole

Powell over Quintana, playoff: Q buried a putt on 18 to force a playoff. The two hiked back to 100yrd marker and played in: Powell hitting the green and carefully 2 putting as Q went long and nearly recovered but couldn’t get his first putt down.

Dino over Brown, playoff: a complete blood bath as the first 14 holes resulted in one player or other winning with par, birdie, or (net) eagle. Finally 2 holes were halved and Dino went dormie coming off 16, but Steve came roaring back with a clutch par on 17 and birdie on 18 to square the match. Exhausted after 18 holes of inter family warfare, the two took their playoff to the putting green where Dino eventually send Steve home packing.

Weining over Cummins, playoff: Upset of the year as the unheralded Weining came blitzing out the gate with a strong opening 43 to take the early advantage. Cummins, coming off his HC victory last month, came storming back with a KAGT record setting 34 on the back nine to pull even on the last hole. The two kept throwing punches through a 3-hole playoff format with Weining able to sink the clutch putts down the stretch.

Great day of golf action.