In one of the most dramatic and competitive Myrtle Madness Tournaments ever, the 2009 Ace Holes roared back from a 4 point deficit to claim an epic victory 14.5 – 12.5.
Featuring all six of their players from 2008, Dixie Normus jumped out to an early lead on day one. A split in the doubles match and a dominating performance by their foursome team gave the Dixies a commanding 6.5 – 2.5 lead after the first day of competition. The foursome of Mike Kelleher, Tim McCann, Erik Gruner and Ken Preede shot an incredible 66 at Blackmoor in a round that featured 3 eagles.
But behind the steady consistency of Rick Moran and the flashy bravado of newcomer John Monaghan (aka Jack Package), the Ace Holes found their rhythm on day two taking 6.5 of the 9 points available. After day two, the tournament score was a tie, 9-9 heading into the final day.
Day 3 saw compelling matchups at a very challenging Prestwick course. But none of the three matchups were close as the Ace Holes took two out of three matches to secure the victory.
In addition to the Ace Holes’ comeback, the 2009 tournament will be remembered for incredible shots and shotgun mulligans. On consecutive days (Day 1 at Blackmoor and Day 2 at the Witch) Erik Gruner of Dixie Normus and Danny Marsh of the Ace Holes, holed dramatic shots on 18 in front of full galleries to secure points for their teams. Continuing the trend from 2008, the shotgun mulligan continued to play a major role in the tournament and the players’ sobriety. The foursome of Dave Dwyer, Rick Moran, Tim McCann and Alan Evans did 33 in one round alone.
Trip Highlights
- Jack Package. Enough said.
- We all watched Syracuse’s 6-overtime win over Connecticut 127-117 in the Big East Tournament.
- Dave, Tim, Rick and Alan did a combined 33 mulligan beers during their epic doubles matchup. Rick, Dave and the beers won.
- Sonya, the young-looking waitress at Dough Boys has three kids!
- Riding to the golf course Mike received a business call about personnel issues at his spa. The one sided conversation we all overheard went something like this: “I think you just go up and fire her. Yes. Fire her!…No, I said fire her…I want her dead body hanging from the front of our shop so the rest of those dumbasses know we are serious…Love you honey.”
- Tim and Alan did a combined 7 beer mulligans on one hole (the par 3 17th at The Witch). They ended up using their first mulligan, parring and winning the hole.
- Aaron got up from the table at Omega to abuse the facilities and announced to at least 3-4 of us “Don’t leave me.” We all forgot and left him. He wandered around outside for a while thinking we were pulling a practical joke on him.
- Mike predicted and celebrated a slowly-revealed flush as Burn Man.
- Erik and Danny’s incredible chip-ins on the 18th hole on consecutive days.
- Danny’s older friends from the 2008 trip were once again at Dough Boys. The toupee didn’t look any better.
- Monty’s snoring needs to be studied and written up in a medical journal. Or a musical.
Day 1 – Blackmoor
| Ace Holes | Dixie Normus | FRONT | BACK | OVERALL | SCORE |
| Package McCarthy | Evans Rush | AH | DN | DRAW | AH 1.5 DN 1.5 |
| Dwyer Moran Marsh Sacks | Kelleher McCann Gruner Preede | DN | DRAW | DN | AH 1 DN 5 |
Day 2 – The Witch
| Ace Holes | Dixie Normus | FRONT | BACK | OVERALL | SCORE |
| Package Sacks | Rush Gruner | AH | AH | AH | AH 3 DN 0 |
| Moran Dwyer | McCann Evans | AH | DRAW | AH | AH 2.5 DN .5 |
| Marsh McCarthy | Kelleher Preede | DN | AH | DN | AH 1 DN 2 |
Day 3 – Prestwick
| Ace Holes | Dixie Normus | FRONT | BACK | OVERALL | SCORE |
| Package (84, 2 holes) Sacks | Evans (76, 9 holes) Kelleher | DN | DN | DN | AH 0 DN 3 |
| Moran Dwyer | Rush Preede | AH | AH | AH | AH 3 DN 0 |
| Marsh McCarthy | McCann Gruner | AH | DRAW | AH | AH 2.5 DN .5 |
Final Score: Ace Holes 14.5, Dixie Normus 12.5