The 2018 Gentlemen's Cup
DUEL IN THE DESERT
Scottsdale, Arizona
October 4 - 6
Lords (10) def. Nobles (5)
2018 proved yet again that the success of the G-Cup is based on the players far more than any one course or housing arrangement. When The Gentlemen descended on Scottsdale to compete in the 7th edition of The G-Cup no one could could have guessed the number of hot plates in the house or pending public urination citations.
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Frustrated by their 2017 loss, the Lords had a minor one point lead after two days but demonstrated their competitive edge in singles play, winning 5.5 points on a day with 7 points at stake.
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2018 also saw more golf than any other G-Cup to date, with three full days of golf (all 14 golfers), an opening round at Top Golf, and 9 holes of Bonus Golf that will go down in history as the most fun most folks will have on a golf course.
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Newcomers had a huge impact in 2018 with Nick Tarpey and John Irwin combining for four of the Lords ten total points.
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The 7th edition of The G-Cup was also made such an incredible experience thanks to the hard work of the planning committee. Evan Solomon, Paul Fung, and Matt Corbin were instrumental in creating a G-Cup experience that was described as easily in the top 10% of all cups.
Oct 4, 2018 - Scramble
We Ko Pa Golf Club - Saguro
(1 point per match)
Score at the end of Day 1: Lords 2.5 - Nobles 1.5
We Ko Pa introduced the 2018 G-Cup to both the beauty and treachery of desert golf, placing tee ball accuracy at a premium. Not surprisingly, Stu Levy, the local ringer, was like a laser off the tee. Combined with Corbin's incredibly accurate short game they made quick work of Connor Fee and John Irwin.
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1st time G-Cupper Colin Davy fought a wild up and down match with Chris Derr. Both led by as much as 2up at different points in the match but Derr's four birdies were only enough to halve the match with Colin. Next year we'll just have the drone follow these two around for the full 18!
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On his fourth day of golf in a row, Evan Solomon was fighting his swing and fought desperately to stay in the match but lost to the power couple of Paul Fung and Andrew Moyer. Moyer may exist solely for the purpose of attending the annual G-Cup and attempting to drive every par four on the golf course.
Oct 5, 2018 - Mixed Games - Scramble, Shamble, Alternate Shot, and 1-Club
Wildfire Golf Club - Faldo
(1 point per match)
Score at the end of Day 2: Lords 4.5 - Nobles 3.5
After day 1, the Nobles were determined to eliminate the Lords early lead. However the day ended exactly where it started - with the Nobles a point and a half down. Matches were split right down the middle.
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Connor Fee and Colin Davy led over Evan Solomon and Chris Derr by as much as three at the turn, but Derr and Solomon found their gear late in the match, posting birdies on 15, 16, and 18 to win 2 up.
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John Irwin found success with new partner Nick Tarpey as the pair utterly demolished Matt Lambert and Dan Wright 7 & 5. Proof that all it takes sometimes is a partner change (and not playing with the headcase founder of the G-Cup on your first day).
After a few bar bites at Wildfire after the round, Stu Levy was kind enough to invite us over to his little shithole of a house. Given that the common area at our condo was a little lacking, it was a wonderful and much appreciated change. The burgers, dogs, brats and caramelized onions were a huge hit with the group.
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While some folks settled in to watch a little of the ALDS, a few others discovered Stu's lit practice putting green. Before long, a rousing game of P-I-G with four teams of two resulted in a variety of never-before-attempted putts, including: putting off a beer can, the dizzy-bat spin to the tiny pro hole, bouncing it off three walls and the ball-pickup-with-the-back-of-the-putter drop in.
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After Stu's house most of the crew turned in for the night, but a handful of true alcoholics headed out into the night only to partake in activities that really set the stage for Saturday morning...
Oct 6, 2018 - Singles
Talking Stick Golf Club - O'odham
(1 point per match)
Score at the end of Day 3: Lords 10 - Nobles 5
Mark Fung set the tone on day 3 of the 2018 G-Cup, calling the teams to step up their game with his inspired and brief early morning speech. He backed up his rallying cry with a 8 & 7 rout of Dan Wright.
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Each team entered the final day with one simple goal - win more matches than the other guys. The first team to four wins would take home the cup.
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The Lords won 5 matches and halved one to send a strong message to the Nobles that they were not thrilled about going home last year empty handed.
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Newcomer Nick Tarpey made a strong argument for a lower handicap in 2019 going 3-0 in his G-Cup start also snagging some impressive wins.
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One unexpected adjustment of Talking Stick was the newly created water hazards and standing water caused by heavy rains earlier in the week. These rains also created some interesting adjustments to the cart paths with carts being rerouted all over the course. This led to at least two carts getting stuck in the mud and one that had to be left behind. We can only speculate that the stress of having to leave their cart didn't help the focus of Evan Solomon and Stu Levy.
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Hambo Lambo struggled coming off of a big 2017 (3-0). One would be reasonable to ask if a little Vodka might have done him some good.
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The unequivocal highlight of day 3 actually occurred after the completion of official G-Cup golf with the introduction of Bonus Golf. Some would think that 11 players on a single hole at the same time would be a bad idea, but The Gentlemen showed it was actually a brilliant one.
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Nine holes of bonus golf included holes of scramble, alternate shot, single club, mixed team scramble, the flop shot competition, and the 125-yd accuracy challenge. It's hard to believe a golf course would allow these kinds of shennanigans, but as luck would have it, John Irwin brought his drone to the course and captured the whole boondoggle on video.
