Karl Wins 2011 Player Of The Year!!!!!!!!

Karl used a 60 degree wedge to hole out an eagle on #1 at The Jackson Country Club today to automatically win this year's Provisional Mulligan Cup. However, the first eagle in the recorded history of The Friday Fivesome was only the beginning of what would become the greatest round ever played by any of the five. LT was absent from the match and Sam was on his way to Panama when Karl shocked Ron and Mike with his new game. "I consulted with by team of Doctors who concluded that the torque on my torn meniscus required that I switch sides and play left handed. When the Doc's informed me that unless I changed my swing I would be forced to retire I was left without any other options but to give it a try. As my fans know, I am naturally a southpaw. In fact, several years ago my partner tried to get me to play left handed. I still remember his encouraging advise that it couldn't be any worse than my right handed swing." After hitting four or five practice balls, Karl felt confident enough to challenge Ron and Mike to a match. Karl played from the tips, played it down, and played without any mulligans. He allowed Mike and Ron to play regulation LT Rules Golf from the senior tees and to scramble. After his eagle on #1 Karl missed 3 birdie putts inside 5 feet but settled for his second eagle on # 5. He finished the front with 4 straight birdies and an 8 under 28. The only fairway that he missed all day was on the short par 4 #7 when his drive rolled off the back of the green. Felling froggy after the front, Karl joined an elite club when he easily flew the ditch on #10. Although he still struggled with his putting, he had 4 more birdies as well as a double eagle(#17) on the back. Meanwhile Ron and Mike were able to scramble a respectable 93. Scores-birdies-eagles-double eagles Karl-28/30-58-8-2-1 Team M/R-45/48-93-0-0-0 Notes Of Interest: Happy April Fools Day!!!

"I DO Not Understand What I Do"

Quoting Paul from Romans chapter 7 as he walked off # 18 at Jackson National last Friday LT mumbled these words: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." LT wasn't talking about sin as Paul was in Romans but about taking Sam* on as a partner. "Why do I keep giving Sam* a chance? From now on my new motto is ; just say no to Sam*. The old rule with this fivesome was if anyone ever eagles a hole that they would be automatic Player Of The Year. My vote is that Karl should be declared the winner right now for his win with Sam* as a partner." Ron and first time guest, Chris, teamed up for an easy win over team LT/S*. It has been reported that Karl could make an appearance at this week's match. Hope to see everyone Friday.

Scores/ Birdies
S*-39/39-78/2
R-45/41-86/0
LT-48/WD/0

"Forty Days"

After being inspired by Jeff's sermon last Sunday, Karl has begun a forty day fast from golf. The current front runner for the 2011 Provisional Mulligan Trophy had his fans baffled by his decision to abstain from golf during the Lent season. "I know that I am jeopardizing my commanding lead for player of the year and that my partner will be lost without me, but it was something that I felt like I needed to do."
Meanwhile, in Karl's absence last Friday, M,S*,R, LT, and Mike's friend Rusty played at Falcon Ridge. It appeared to be all Darby on the front as he was even after 8 holes and if it weren't for his triple on #14 he could have tied Sam* and Mike for medalist honors. Two triple boggies were costly for LT, who otherwise was double boggie free. Sam* was 2 down to Mike after 12 but pars on #13 and 14 squared the match and that's how they finished. TFF urges that all cards as well as any news of interest be turned in ASAP.

Scores/birdies:
S*-39/39-78/0
M-38/40-78/0
R-37!/44-81/1
LT-43/44-87/0

Miracle On Grass

Thirty one years ago this week the US hockey team defeated the Russians in the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid in what became known as The Miracle On Ice. Many argue that it was the greatest upset in sport's history. This past Friday, TFF witnessed perhaps an upset of such historic proportions that it could rival the US hockey team's win. In case you forgot that team K/M was having some internal strife, please refer to the last post. In the absence of LT as K,M, S*, and Ron drove to Falcon Ridge last Friday, Karl negotiated a partnership with Sam* in the backseat of The LTmobile. Karl later stated that it was the first time he had made a move in the backseat of a car in over 38 years. R and M quickly agreed to the guaranteed victory and the match was on. Sam's* history of team play in TFF matches is well documented and costly to any golfer willing to take him on as a partner. However, from the start, team K/S* dominated. After the match, Sam* had this to say: "This was my first time to ever partner with Karl. From my first drive to the final putt, I felt a sense of comfort and peace that I had never experienced on a golf course before. To know that Karl was behind me on every shot is indescribable. My only hope is that Karl will drop Mike and we can become a permanent team. In fact, I'll offer Karl right now to become my PFL(Partner For Life). After playing with Karl I can't understand how he and Mike ever lose." The first player rankings for 2011 came out this week and the obvious leader after captaining Sam* to his first team victory in TFF history was Karl. TFF caught up to the front runner for the 2011 Provisional Mulligan Cup Trophy and Karl had this to say;" I love a challenge and taking Sam* on as a partner looked like an impossible victory. Many experts said it couldn't be done. They also said that the human body could never run a sub 4 minute mile, but on May 6th 1954 Rodger Bannister did it. That's how I want to be remembered, as the Rodger Bannister of golf. In the future someone else may win with Sam* but I'll always be the first. I would like to thank Sam* for giving me this opportunity to make history. Besides, some of the credit should go to Sam, he made some occasional contributions to the team." Karl was perhaps referring to Sam's* 4 birdies and 33 on the front( he went on to shoot a 73 with 5 birdies). In other action, K lost to M and R in individual matches(R parred the difficult #18 to secure the victory by 1). Ron lost to Mike and seemed somewhat confused for most of the day about whether to give Mike putts or not. The latest rumor to be reported to TFF is that K is claiming to have a knee injury but most are speculating that it's a ploy to buy some time to negotiate a partnership with Sam*.

Scores-Birdies
S*-33/40-73-5
M-40/38-78-1
R-43/46-89-0
K-44/47-91-1

2011 Player Rankings
1. K
2. S*
3.R
4.LT
5.M

LT + RD = PFL

TFF Blog has uncovered evidence that Karl recently offered both LT and Ron an undisclosed amount of cash for one of them to leave their team and become his partner. To stop all such breakup rumors, team LT/R has officially announced that they are Partners For Life (PFL). Undefeated this 2011 season, team LT/R has developed a chemistry that has been unobtainable to team K/M. So, why can't team K/M reach the bond that LT/R have? The answer might be found in the March 2011 edition of Golf Magazine. In an article entitled "How To Be The Perfect Partner," the author (Josh Sens) describes what it takes to develop the type of synergy that we see with LT and Ron. You can't read the article without constantly thinking of how R and LT have come together. Paraphrasing (I mean really paraphrasing) the opening remarks we read; "Who says golf is a solitary game? Batman has Robin. The Lone Ranger has Tonto. LT has Ron, a middle aged insurance salesman with the pace of play of a snail on Ambien . But never fear! with LT and Ron combined, they can win any match. Why, because they are perfect partners!" The article talks about such topics as; how to pick the right partner, how to be a master at team strategy, how to cheer on the team when your game goes south, how to give your partner advise(useful), and how to lift a struggling teammate. When Karl was shown the article, his eyes teared up dreaming about what it would be like to have a partner that puts team first." If our team is getting killed but Mike is playing well, you can bet he's happy and singing that *#$% song he sings, but if the team is doing well but Mike isn't, then it's an entirely different story. I can't count the times in a close match that Mike has tried to quit just because he's not playing well. I think that one of the most important tips of team play comes from A.J. Bonar who states 'I don't care if he just duck-hooked it into some one's swimming pool - during a round is not the place for a lesson. It only makes him micromanage his swing, a recipe for disaster.' How many times have I addressed the ball for an important shot only to hear Mike start singing: Swing Slow Sweet....." When Mike was made aware of Karl's complaints, he was shocked; "I've supported Karl 100% throughout our partnership. If you ask the question why would LT and Ron agree to become Partners For Life the answer is simple, if they were to break up, one of them would have to be Karl's teammate and who wouldn't avoid that at all costs! Just read the section on How To Play Good Cop - Bad Cop And Psych Out Your Opponents, LT and Ron have PHDs in the mind game. However, when your partner has the mental game of a cantaloupe, it doesn't take much to shake him up." TFF will be following the next several team matches closely to see if K/M can overcome the internal team dissension and reunite to put up any challenge to the LT/R machine. Well we won't find out this week, as LT has gone south (Fla). The weather finally looks good as the first trip to Falcon Ridge is planned. In the absence of LT, the question is will anyone ignore his history of team play and pick up Sam* for a partner?

First Month Of Play Comes To An End

January play ended this past Friday at Jackson National on a sunny, pleasant day. However, the weather this month has been harsh and has limited TFF to only 2 matches. Ron, who thinks his play in the first match of the year was good enough for Player Of The Year, skipped out on the fivesome to go duck hunting. This left his partner LT in somewhat of a dilemma. Would LT pick up Sam* as a substitute partner? Two time Player Of The Year, Sam*, although a dominate force as an individual player, has the worst record in team match play of all the fivesome. However, LT was confident in not only his play, but in the lack of game of team Karl/Mike and agreed to the match. Sam* proved his worth on the first hole as his birdie gave the team a 2 point lead. Mike answered with a birdie of his on on #2 and squared the match. Karl's par on #3 was good for 2 points and when his 2nd shot on #6 stoped 3 inches from eagle, team K/M went up 7 and cruised on to victory. Karl was zoned in on the pins for most of the day, which explains his 8 one putts. After the match a frustrated LT talked to the press. "I don't understand it! Between Sam* and I we own The Provisional Mulligan Cup, but whenever he plays with me we lose. Next time I consider Sam* as my partner remind me that it would be easier to just tell Karl that I owe him another lunch." TFF wishes Sam* a safe and successful trip to Panama. The forecast doesn't look good for this Friday, but at least the groundhog didn't see his shadow.

Results:
S*-41/39-80-2(birdies)
M-38/44-82-1
K-41/43-84-2
LT-44/48-92-0

Notes of interest:
LT owes K 2 and gets 2
K owes R 1 and gets 1
M owes R ? and R gets ?
Team K/M give 13

Ron (The Comeback Kid)

The first match 0f 2011 was played at Jackson National last Friday. The two stories of the day, were Ron's start and Ron's finish. Ron began the day with a 5 over 9 on the #9 handicap first hole. At this point he was on track to shoot a ninety over par 162. After one hole, Ron was 5 strokes behind Karl, had to play Mike even for the rest of the round, and was 2 down against team K/M. When his par putt rolled in on #18 he secured three victories, beating K by 3, M by 1 and a team victory(team victory actually occurred on hole 16 where Ron parred the tough par 4). Other than Ron's comeback, the day was uneventful as the wind and cold were used as excuses for the fivesomes scores. All five look forward to better playing conditions and looking for other reasons to blame their poor play on.
Scores/Birdies
Sam*-41/40-81/2
Mike-41/44-85/2
Ron-47/42-89
Karl-45/47-92
LT-44/49-93

Notes of interest:
M owes R 2 from today plus ? from last year R only gets 4
K owes R 1 and gets 1
LT and K even and LT gets 1
Team LT/R will get 14

Sam Wylie*

Happy new year!!, and welcome to the 2011 TFF season. Have you made your new year's resolutions? I'm sure it's the same as mine, to take home The Provisional Mulligan Cup! This brings us to the topic of this blog, who won the 2010 award? First, a quick review of the season. Well, all five of the fivesome can best be described by one adjective: unimpressive!! With this in mind, TFF voting committie (Karl) went to this blog spot to review the year and all the reliable statistics that this site is famous for. Unfortunately, he was startled to find that the last post was in August. What happened? TFF investigative force is currently looking into this matter. Early discoveries have been that it appears that Karl sold TFF scorecards on EBay to fund his extravagant Pacific Northwest trip. It appears that these scorecards from September to December are lost forever. As a result TFF voting committee (Karl) has made his decision. The 2010 Provisional Cup Winner is Sam Wylie*!! Congratulations to Sam, but you may have noticed the * behind Wylie. What's the * for? The symbol * is an Asterisk. An asterisk is a typographical symbol whose origin is from the Greek word "asteriskos" which means "little star". The asterisk is used to call out a footnote. In sports, an asterisk is used to indicate that a record is somehow tainted by circumstances, which are putatively explained in a footnote supposedly referenced by the asterisk. This usage arose after the 1961 baseball season in which Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's 34-year-old single season home run record. Because Ruth had amassed 60 home runs in a season with only 154 games, compared to Maris's 61 over 162 games, baseball commissioner Ford Frick announced that Maris' accomplishment would be recorded with an asterisk. The NFL, NBA, and NHL have all had increases in the amount of games they play each season, yet no player in any of these leagues has ever had an asterisk put next to his name for breaking a record of some past great star. Hank Aaron did not have an asterisk put next to his name when he broke Ruth's career home run record despite having some 3000 more at-bats. So, what is the footnote that the * behind Wylie calls out? The footnote read's: "Due to the lack of impressive play by any of The Friday Fivesome in the 2010 season, the trophy will remain with Sam. Thus Sam's record of consecutive awards will remain tainted throughout eternity." Well, there you have it, the answer to what will surly become a frequently asked trivia question, "Name the only two players with asterisks behind their records?" Wylie and Maris. Hopefully for both Sam and Roger, perhaps the steroid era will be loaded with asterisks behind such names as Barry Bonds etc. and Sam's name will be lost in the crowd. Well, there you have it. Good luck to all members of TFF as the 2011 season hopefully begins this Friday.

Karl Seeks Sympathy Strokes

It is rumored that all 5 will be teeing it up at Jackson National this Friday after a long hiatus from play. Karl (The Krapper with a K) would like to thank the other four for their prayers during his current bout with what appears to be a 24 hour stomach virus that is at this time in it's 441st hour(8/26 at 6pm). As much as Karl was touched by the fasting and praying, he would like to suggest that strokes would also be accepted. The following scores are from the last two official rounds that were both played at Jackson National. Unofficially, it has been reported that Danny Walker led team Danny/Sam to a thrashing of team M/R last week at Humboldt.



S-39/43-82-1(birdie)

M-41/42-83-0

R-44/43-87-1

K-44/51-95-0





The Next Week

S-38/39-77-3

R-41/41-82-0

K-43/47-90-0



Notes Of Interest:
M and R even and R gets 7
K and R even and K gets 3
LT owes K 1 and LT gets 3
Team LT/R get 18

2010 Stats To Date

Jackson National Results:

S-36/40-76-3

M36/42-78-1

R-40/39-79-1

K-47/41-88-1



Notes Of Interest:

R and M are even and M gives 8

K and R are even and R gives 1

LT owes K 1 and gets 3

Team K/M give 18



2010 Stats to Date:



Rounds Played:

1.M-16

2.S-15, K-15

3.R-13

4.LT-10



Scoring Average-(2009 average)
1.M-79.2-(79.2) -0
2.S-79.4-(78.53) +.87
3.R-86.4-(87.65) -1.25!!
4.LT-88.4-(89.65)-1.25!!
5.K-88.9-(88.8) +.1(115 at Falcon Ridge didn't help)

Birdies(per round)
1.M-17(1.06)
2.S-13(.87)
3.R-8(.62)
4.K-6(.4)
5.LT-2(.2)

Team Records
1.K/M vs. LT/R-5-3 (not as dominate as thought)
2K/M vs. LT/S-1-0
3.K/M vs. R/S-1-0

Individual Records:
M vs. S-7-6-2
M vs. R-12-0
M vs. K-13-1
M vs. LT-7-1
S vs. R-13-0
S vs. K -13-1
S vs. LT-7-0
R vs.K-6-6
R vs. LT-5-2-1
K vs. LT-5-3

Please Review These Stats And Let Me Know of Any Corrections. Only 5 Months For 2010 Season. Good Luck To All In Their Quest For The Cup!!

Team LT/Ron Have Big Win At Chickasaw, Overheat At The Farms

Three weeks ago Ron took the short cut to Chickasaw. Although he saved 6 minutes and was able to get Karl car sick, the time saved was quickly lost with slow play. In fact, Karl was forced to withdraw after 15 holes. "When I started playing this game I promised Martha that I'd limit my time on the course to no more than 9 hours a day. Recently Mike and I played 54 with plenty of time to spare but today I had to leave the other 4 players in order to keep from going over the 9 hours." Team LT/R had revenge on their minds and dominated their opponents from the first hole, closing out the match on #13. At the turn: S-37, R-38, LT-39, M-39, and K thanks to being 7 over on the 2 par 5's:48. LT carded another 39 on the back to beat Mike straight up with a 78! Sam matched his 37 on the back for a 74.

Scores/birdies:

S-37/37-74-1

LT-39/39-78-1

M-39/43-82-1

R-38/46-84-0

K-48/48-96-0



This past week the 5 traveled to Dyersburg to play the always well conditioned Farms. All 5 played the front close with a low of 37 by Mike and a high of 41 by LT and Ron. Team K/M were able to overcome their recent defeat at Chickasaw and get back to their winning ways. LT, however was not only overcome by K/M, but also by the heat as he was unable to play the last hole. Although team K/M will surely remain hot, hopefully the weather will cool down some before next Friday.
Scores/Birdies:
M-37/39-76-1
S-38/40-78-2
K-40/40-80-1
R-41/45-86-0
LT-41/47-88-1

Notes of interest:
M will give R 9 and R owes M 1
K and R will play even and R owes 1
LT will get 3 from K and owes K 1
Team LT/R will get 18

Missionaries Fall To "The Machine"

As Karl(with a K) strolled off #18, it started with a gentle murmur that crescendoed into a deafening roar: "M-V-P!!, M-V-P!!" The fan favorite at Falcon Ridge had this to say:"The fans love me here, until recently this course has treated the average blue collar fan well. Then they enclosed the pavilion behind #18 allowing only the elite to enter. It's been a personal agenda of mine to break down these windows and open the pavilion to everyone." Why would the fans be chanting MVP to a player who recently recorded a 115 on this very course? Well, we'll discuss that later, first let's recap the last couple of TFF matches.

Several weeks ago newly reinstated member to The Jackson Country Club, Mike, invited TFF to play there. The course was in pristine condition and well worth the $584 per round average Mike will pay to play there this year. All five of TFF made a rare appearance for the match. Karl got off to a slow start and was 8 over after 5 holes allowing team LT/R to take an early lead, however, "The Machine" as team K/M have become known as, began to click and were up 2 at the turn. They cruised on to victory closing out the match on #16. Mike and Sam battled to a tie at 80 while the "little 3" played close with Karl edging out LT and Ron with a long 28 foot par putt on #18 for an 86 to their 87's.

Scores/Birdies

M-40/40-80-1

S-41/39-80-1

K-46/40-86-1

LT-43/44-87-0

R-44/43-87-1(Ron had 8 5's on the front)



The following week M,LT,and R went to Jackson National, where team LT/R agreed to play team K/M giving K an 86 in his absence. Despite Mike's impressive 74(4 boggies and 2 birdies), it was the consistent play of Karl that once again carried "The Machine" to another victory. LT couldn't get his game going but when Ron holed his sand shot on #13 for his second birdie of the day, he was only 3 down to Mike and in great shape for a victory. However, a 4 putt Shotsky on #16 did Ron in and Mike went on to victory.

M-37/37-74-2

R-41/46-87-2

LT-45/46-91-0



Then last week fresh from their trip to Panama, Ron talked Sam into partnering up with him in place of LT and "The Missionaries" took on "The Machine". LT was absent once again, this time due to an alleged injury to his good shoulder ( it was really his bad shoulder until he hurt his good shoulder which made his bad shoulder his good shoulder, or something like that). There has been some speculation that perhaps LT has been practicing self-injury similar to many soldiers over the years who have injured themselves on purpose to avoid going to war. "The Missionaries" came out playing "inspired" golf and when Sam followed Ron's birdie on #3 with a birdie on #4, they went up 6 after only 4 holes. Once again. "The Machine" began to roll and picked up a point a hole on 5-9 to only be down 1 at the turn. Of note, it was the first time ever that all players broke 40. Although the match remained close, Karl's string of 11 straight pars on holes 2-12 helped carry "The Machine" to victory and with Ron's Shortsky on #16 "The Missionaries" didn't have a prayer. "The Machine" has become such a dominate team that there has been some discussion of a rule's change. Although no one has ever dared to consider changing "LT Rules" golf, "The Machine" may force the rule's committee, (Karl), to consider LT and Ron's plea for help. In the past, there have been players that were so dominate in their sport that rules were changed. Take basketball for example. When George Miken began to dominate the area around the basket to such a degree, the NBA widened the free throw lane and initiated the 3 second rule. When Wilt Chamberlain was in high school, and was shooting a free throw, he would stand at the top of the key, throw the ball up toward the basket, take 2 steps, jump toward the rim and dunk the ball. Basketball was forced to change the rules to state that a player cannot cross the plane of the free-throw line when shooting a free-throw. Then of course there was the "Alcindor Rule" which forbid dunking in college games. After Lew graduated the rule was rescinded and the dunk was once again allowed. Has "The Machine" reached the point of dominance that rules must be changed? In the next match, team K/M must give 18, if they win what happens next? Do they give 2 strokes on the #1 handicap? TFF rules committee has decided at this time to continue the usual adjustable wager, but will be open to discussion if the points go beyond 18. After the match, when Karl was asked about his 37 stroke improvement from his last round at Falcon Ridge(over 2 strokes a hole improvement), he had this to say: "All you can ask for in golf is consistency and as long as I'm in the 78-115 range, I'll be happy." After the match, the four dined at the newly opened Coyote Blues where Sam was forced to buy Karl's lunch.

M-37/38-75

S-38/38-76-1

K-37/41-78

R-37/47-84-1

Karl Finally Gets A Break

As the first quarter of 2010 play came to an end this past Friday, Karl(with a K) finally got his first break of the season. However, the break didn't occur until the 18th hole. It has been a frustrating season for Karl who has often been just one break away seemingly ever round from stepping his game up to the next level. Before we report on Karl's Big Break 2010, let's recap the day at Falcon Ridge. LT was unable to play this Friday due to Casey Jones dying unexpectedly in a train wreck.(Casey's wreck was mild compared to the crash Karl was about to experience.) TFF welcomed back Ron (Don Ho) Darby who was back after a 2 week absence from play. Ron(Real Golf) Darby insisted that in the absence of his partner LT, that we play it down with no mulligans. Historically, TFF has lived and died playing "LT Rules" and "LT Rules" are the only official rules of TFF. Although all four agreed to play by "Ron's Rules", one anonymous player has already retained the services of an attorney to dispute the legality of the round and is demanding that all scores, etc. be stricken from the 2010 records. Until this case is settled, TFF will report the results of Friday's action but will not add the stats to the 2010 totals. Mike had the shot of the day when he left himself a 3.5 foot putt for a birdie on #1. When Mike birdied #9 he took not only a 1 under par 35 to the back, but a 9 stroke lead over Sam! Ron had a 44 also and his 43 on the back was just enough to defeat Karl but feel far short of Short(Mike) who shot a very impressive real golf 75. Sam was able to recover some with a 39. Karl was in a zone all his on. He played bogey free golf until the 17th hole where he picked up his only bogey of the day, but his birdie on #11 made up for the slip. So for 5 holes Karl was even par. On the other 13 Karl carded 4 doubles(missed by 2 Darbying the round), 3 Sammy's, 4 Shortsky's, and 2 LT's. Now back to Karl's Big Break 2010. Karl's second shot on #18 just missed going in the hole but instead got a very bad bounce off the cart path and ended up past the practice putting green and against the far corner of the cart shed. After consulting with rules officials, Karl was given a drop. Desperately needing to hole this birdie chip out to get within 24(23 with the one stroke Ron had to give), Karl finally got his break. Shanking his third shot into the newly enclosed pavilion behind #18 green, Karl's ball broke a window. Fortunately it was a double pane window and his ball remained in play. Karl was able to finish with a Sammy on #18 thanks to the break he got from the window being double paned and went on to a very respectable 28 stroke (27 with the stroke) loss to "Don Ho" Darby. TFF caught up with Karl after the round and he made the following statement:"I was proud of the way that I was able to stay mentally in this match even though my tempo was a little off today. A wise golfer once told me that if you can't Shortsky the hole at least get a LT. I could have easily T-boned three or four holes but I was able to keep focused. If I can just stay mentally in the game, I think more breaks will start going my way. Believe me, I was close to breaking more than a window today and I'm proud of the way that I was able to keep my composure. I'm going to take a couple of weeks off from TFF competition, to re-evaluate my game and perhaps "tweak" a few things. I'll use today as a learning experience and for motivation to come back and win the 2010 Player of the Year."

Scores:
M35/40-75!!-2(Birdies)
S-44/39-83-0
R-44/43-87-1
K-58/57-115-1

"Greet Our Friends By Name" (3rd John vs. 15)

"There are 'friends' who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Prov. 18:24) Some may wonder how five men that compete so fiercely each Friday on the links can remain such close friends. The time spent riding together, discussing things that are important in our lives, eating together and sharing our cookies or cherry pies have brought the five of us as close as brothers. Lee Iacocca once said: "My father used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, you've had a great life." There is a true insight in the quote, "A good friend is hard to find, hard to lose, and hard to forget."(Anonymous) This past Friday, Sam, Mike, LT, and Paul with a P travelled to The Tennessean to play. Nobody remembers for sure how many years that we have been playing together but it's amazing how much and how fast we are learning about each other, such as first names. For example, despite putting Ron's name on the scorecard,(Ron was still dancing the hula in Hawaii) Mike is already beginning to differentiate between Ron and LT. In Ron's absence, LT once again made the mistake of asking Sam to replace Ron on his team. The 2008(LT) and 2009(Sam) Players of the Year remain win less against team Paul/Mike and Sam has yet to win a match in team competition. LT and Paul had a classic match as Paul jumped out to an early lead only to see LT charge back and gain 5 strokes on the first 8 holes on the back. Also, team LT/S were 8 down with 8 holes to go but stormed back to get within 2, with 2 points left on 18. However, once again, #18 proved to be LT's Nemesis and took a Sammy(8) on the hole allowing not only a win by team P/M but letting Paul gain 2 strokes and a tie. A highlight of the day was hole #6 where Sam had a chance to win back to back Player of the Year awards when he stood over a 14 foot eagle putt, but his attempt was unsuccessful and TFF continued it's 2 year eagle drought. The following scores include last weeks round at Falcon Ridge. Hopefully, all 5 friends will be able to compete next week and remember, "Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall, all you gotta do is call, and I'll be there, cause you've got a friend"(James Taylor).

Falcon Ridge:
M-38/39-77-1
S-38/39-77-2
K-42/44-86-0
Notes of interest: all played from the back tees

The Tennessean:
M-39/38-77-1
S-43/38-81-2
Paul-42/46-88-0
LT-48/43-91-0
Notes of interest:
Paul will give LT 3 and LT owes 1

Ron Records Six Blobs at Decaturville

In a prelude to a dramatic Masters, TFF's trip to Decaturville produced some historical golf. Unfortunately for the fivesome, the history was the worst collective golf ever recorded since this blog began. Between the 5, 39 bogeys were recorded. By the way, the history of the term "bogey" is believed to have its origin when in 1890 England, Mr. Hugh Rotherham who was Secretary of the Coventry Golf Club conceived the idea of standardising the number of shots at each hole that a good golfer should take, which he called the 'ground score'. During one competition Major Charles Wellman referred to a golfer as a regular Bogey man, which was a reference to the eponymous subject of an Edwardian music hall song "Hush! Hush! Hush! Here Comes the Bogey Man", which was popular at that time. so the ground score became known as the Bogey score. In 1892, Colonel Seely-Vidal, worked out the 'Bogey' for the military course where he played and being in the military, the term 'Colonel Bogey' was born, replacing 'Mister bogey'. So, the term bogey predates the term par. Par comes from the stock exchange term in which a stock may be above or below its normal or par figure. The par standard in golf is actually credited to The American Woman's Golf Association in 1893. By the way, interestingly, the men's association wasn't founded until 1894 (sorry Sam). It wasn't until 1925 that British golf dropped their Bogey based scoring system and adopted the par system and bogey became one over par. TFF Blog suggests that perhaps we should go back to the bogey scoring system, this past week LT would have only been 7 over instead of 25 over. TFF set a record with a total of 16 double bogeys. Although there is no particular term for a double bogey, sometimes golfers call them Buzzards and in Stableford, it is called a Blob. We could say that Mike and Sam only had one Buzzard (or one double) each, while Ron led the way last week with 6 Blobs(or 6 double bogeys). Sam had the only triple, Mike had one snowman quadruple, LT was able to shot 5 over on a hole, but Karl topped them all with a 6 over on one hole. Officially there is no term for such holes other than a "blow -up" or a "disaster". TFF would suggest that we should use our influence to give these scores an official term. A triple could be called a "Sammy". A quad would be a "Shortsky". Five over would be a "LT." Six over on a hole could either be a "Karl with a K" or maybe a "T-Bone." If a golfer were to have six or more doubles on 18 holes he would be said to have "Darbyed the Round". Just some names to consider. Team K/M were able to defeat team LT/R. Ron beat Mike easily but had to hit a 5 footer on 18 to defeat Karl by 1. Karl cruised to victory over LT. Karl had the only birdie of the day. The term birdie came from the 19th century American slang term "bird", meaning anything excellent. The term was first used at The Country Club in Atlantic City in 1898, where a shot by Ab Smith was described as "that was a bird of a shot" and gradually became a common term for one under par on a hole. By 1903 it was a common scoring term in golf.
Scores-Birdies
M-41-44-85-0
S-40-46!!-86-0
R-44-44-88-0
K-42-47-89-1
LT-47-49-96-0

Notes of Interest:
K/M will give 15
M will give R 7 and are even
R will give K 1 and are even
LT gets 3 from K and owes K 1

Deleted

A few days ago the greatest summary of TFF's action was published. While waiting for a possible Pulitzer Prise award, the author suddenly noticed that only a small part of the article was on the blog. During the process of attempting to publish the entire story that was full of wisdom, wit, humor, and breath taking descriptions of the thrill of victory("Back Nine Ron" at The Farms), as well as the agony of defeat (Karl at The Farms and LT at Shiloh Falls), everything was accidentally deleted. Also, the author had thrown away the scorecards. After searching through the trash can, the scorecards were fortunately(or unfortunately depending on your viewpoint) recovered. However, the article will remain lost in cyberspace for all eternity. All attempts to rewrite the summary have been denied by a combination of writer's block and tears. "I poured my heart and soul into that post. To rewrite that article would be like asking Tolstoy to rewrite "War and Peace" or Homer to rewrite "The Iliad and the Odyssey", it can't be done." So a few comments, then the scores. First, there are two scorecards that are missing, M,R ,and S's trip to Jackson National where Mike claims to have sunk a 163 foot birdie putt for a victory over Ron and LT, R, and S's trip to Woodland Hills. If these cards are not turned in to TFF Blog, they will remain stricken from official record. Also, TFF Blog is announcing that there will be a change in the voting process for next year's Provisional Mulligan Cup. The 2008 award was presented to LT, but other members of TFF complained the TFF Blog was a dictatorship and demanded a vote. So for the 2009 award TFF Blog changed it's policy and Sam was elected MVP by a truly democratic process. By the way, in the deleted post, there was some discussion concerning Sam's elitist attitude since winning the award and his refusal to tee off with the others on the blue tees and insisting that he (and he alone) play from "The Championship Tees". Perhaps we will discuss this in greater detail later but back to The Provisional Cup. It became aware to TFF Blog that in this year's voting that some members that will remain anonymous(LT and Ron), voted with an agenda and not according to the year long process of golf. As a result, TFF Blog is announcing that next year there will still be the popular vote by all members, however, after reviewing the votes TFF Blog will then select who it decides the winner is. It's kind of like The Electoral College in our presidential elections, nobody really understands how it works but there's still a winner.
Scores/birdies:
The Farms
Sam-40/40-80/0
Mike42/39-81/1
Ron-45/39-84/1
LT-45/45-90/0
Karl-47/49-96/0

Shiloh Falls
M-40/39-79/2
S-41/41-82/0
K-43/43-86/0
R-44/45-89/0
LT-46/49??-95/0

Notes of Interest
Team K/M will give 14
M gives R 7 and owes 1
K and R play even and are even
K gives LT 2 and are even

AND THE WINNER IS.........

Finally, after three and a half months of deliberation, The Friday Fivesome have elected the winner of the 2009 Player of the Year and recipient of the most prestigious trophy in golf; The Provisional Mulligan Cup. The announcement was made in front of a packed house at Neil's restaurant in Dyersburg. A hush grew over the crowd as the envelope was opened and Sam's name was called as the winner. Sam,as usual, was overcome with emotion and after a few moments to gather himself, accepted the award. He then addressed his fans with a lengthy(for Sam)acceptance speech that will surely be ranked along with Jimmy Valvano's "Never Give UP" talk as one of the greatest motivational orations ever given. In it's entirety, Sam said: "Thanks, but I still hate golf." Although Sam led the 2009 season in lowest scoring average and in total birdies, his announcement as the Player of the Year came as somewhat of a surprise to many who had predicted Mike (finished 2nd) to be the winner. Mike beat Sam in head to head play(12-11-3) and led team Karl/Mike to the 2009 team championship. Many speculate that Mike's involvement with legal actions against members of TFF may have cost him the award. Perhaps the strangest finish was Karl who came in 3rd. Karl's votes were split right down the middle with half for first place and half for last place. Ron received the most consistent voting with 4 threes and finished 4th. Without a doubt, the happiest golfer at the award ceremony was LT. " This past year has been the toughest of my life. Until you have your name engraved on The Provisional Mulligan Trophy, you have no idea the pressures that you have to endure from the media, the fans, and the other golfers. I'm glad my rein is over and the curse of that trophy has been lifted." The curse LT was referring to is the fact that every Provisional Mulligan Trophy winner has finished last in voting the year after receiving the award. The Friday Fivesome Blogspot would like to congratulate Sam as it's 2009 Player of The Year!!


Votes Received(low score wins):


Sam-6


Mike-8


Karl-10


Ron-12


LT-14

THE BIG TWO Struggle in Early Season

Well, the season is officially one sixth completed and there is still no winner of last year's Provisional Mulligan Cup. The month of March is underway and it may be hard to get all 5 together this month. Sam will be gone to Panama this Friday. By the way, what a great sermon Sam preached Sunday! I was so fired up about loving my brother that I almost considered having another Darby Day, oh well, maybe we'll try it again next decade. After the first two months the biggest question is what has happened to THE BIG TWO? As if Sam's nine holes without a par at Adamsville earlier this month wasn't bad enough, his poor round was upstaged by Mike this past Friday at Jackson National. LT was unable to play, and evidently neither were the four that did. Because of the sub freezing temperatures during the night the greens had been covered and the foursome had to start on #10. No one could have imagined when Mike missed a 3 footer on the first hole that he would go on to record 9 straight boggies! His perfect round, however, was ruined on the 10th hole when he doubled. After 10 holes Mike is 11 over and that's not even the bad news. The other 3 are playing so poorly that he is only 2 strokes behind Sam and Karl and 1 behind Ron. In fact, when Mike parred the next two holes, he was within 1 shot of the lead. Before the day was done, and despite a total of 4 pars for the day by Mike, Sam would finally heat up and play the last 5 holes at 2 under. Perhaps even worse was Ron, who didn't par a single hole(he did have 1 birdie). Hopefully as the weather improves our play will also!

Scores:

Sam-44/39-83-2

K-44/45-89-1

M-45/44-89-0

R-45/48-93-0



Notes of Interest:

M owes R 3 and gives only 6

K and R are even and play even

LT and K are even and K gives 2

LT/R get 14



2010 Stats:

Rounds Played:

1.K,M, and S- 4

2.R-3

3.LT-1



Scoring Average/2009 season average/ + or - from last years average

1.Sam-79.5/78.53/+.97

2.Mike-82/79.2/+2.8

3.LT-84/89.65/-5.65!!!

4.K-86.5/88.79/-2.29

5.R-89.33/87.65/+1.68



Birdies-per round

1.S-5-1.25 per round

2.M-4-1 per

3R-1-.33 per

4K-1-.25 per

5.LT-0-0



Team Records

1. LT/R-1-0



Head to head:

S-3-1 vs. M

3-1 vs. K

3-0 vs. R

1-0 vs. LT



M-3-0-1 vs. K

3-0 vs. R

1-0 vs. LT



K-2-1 vs R

0-1 vs LT



LT- 1-0 vs R



Hope to see ya'll Friday-Sam hope you and Dr. Bob have a safe and prosperous trip

What's Up With Mike?

For the first time this decade, all of TFF were able to play. The fivesome rode in the LTmobile to Falcon Ridge on a very pleasant February day. Making his 2010 debut, LT was playing like the golfer that won the 2008 player of the year. Long drives backed by exceptional putting led his team to an easy victory over Karl/Mike. After only one round, LT is the clear leader for TPMC this year. A little work on his short game and some improvement by his partner Ron, this team could run the table this year. Ron started slow again but finished strong enough to defeat Karl by 2 strokes. Karl and his partner Mike were non factors in their team and individual matches. Sam recovered from last week with 2 birdies and a respectable 75.


As the fivesome loaded up in the LTmobile, there was excitement in anticipation of the voting on last year's Provisional Mulligan Cup that was to take place during an enjoyable time of lunch and fellowship. Mike, however, quickly put a damper on the day as he demanded that he had to rush to Nashville and there was no time to eat, or vote. The team of LT/Ron were devastated as they had anticipated enjoying the fruits of their victory with a well deserved free lunch. TFF blogspot has learned that Mike never went to Nashville and all indications are that Mike was simply trying to put off the vote. It is unclear at this time why Mike is trying to delay the vote but one can only surmise that his lawyer is behind it.

Scores-birdies

1.Sam-37/38-75-2

2.M-42/40-82-1

3.LT-40/44-84-0

4.R-44/42-86-0

5.K-41/47-88-0



Notes of Interest:

K owes R 1 and will get 1 stroke

K and LT are even and LT gets 2
R gets 7 from M and M owes 2
LT/R get 14

Some Firsts For Sam

It was a day of several firsts for Sam as TFF (minus LT) traveled to Shiloh Golf Course in Adamsville last Saturday. It was Sam's first time to ride in Ron's new LTmobile. Ron named The LTmobile after his mentor and partner LT. It was Ron's first match of the year and he started off 6 over on the first two holes and after 6 holes Ron trailed Karl by 4. Just to make things more interesting and to lift Ron's spirits, Karl took an 8 on the par 4 #7. Sam who last year dominated TFF in birdies, picked up his first birdie of 2010 0n the par 5 #4. For the first time this year, Sam was beating Mike at the turn(by 2 strokes): S-39, M-41, K-46, R-49. Mike was feeling the pressure as he teed it up on the back and responded with a double on #10 and a triple on #11. Mike became the 2010 leader in trees hit on # 11. With 7 holes to go, Sam was up 5 on Mike. With an undefeated season on the line, Sam went 10 over on the final 7 holes. The good news is for the first time this year Sam beat Ron(first time Ron played). Sam lost to Mike for the first time this year by 4. For the first time since Sam was a young lad playing on the blue grass back home in Kentucky, he didn't par a hole on the back nine. To make matters worse, Karl shot a 38 on the back and for the first time in recorded history(K's historic round in Decatorville a few years ago was denied by everyone involved), Karl defeated Sam!


It is rumored that LT will be making his 2010 debut this Friday. LT is the current leader for this years Provisional Mulligan Cup as he is undefeated in both individual and team play. If all 5 show up the 2009 PMC winner could be announced soon!


Scores/birdies:


M 41/41-82-0


K 46/38-84-0


S 39/47!-86-1


R 49/40-89-0


Notes of interest:


R gets 8 from M and all even on lunches


R and K play even and even on lunches


LT owes K 2 lunches and gets 3


LT/R get 15