Tour Championship Preview

Tour Championship Preview

“-Then who knows? Maybe you’ll win the Tour Championship one day. Get that gold jacket that I never got.

Gold jacket, green jacket who gives a —-”

Well, here it is. We’ve finally turned a significant corner in golf with the end of Tiger’s career. Without the big cat in play, the best and most popular players in the game are friends who go on spring break together and make funny videos. They bomb the ball, they’re supremely talented and they’ve ushered in the new era of golf. 2017 had a lot of ups and downs, 59s and awesome major performances, but it will  mostly be known as the year we finally said goodbye to Tiger. It was one helluva run.

This is the last significant tournament with the exception of the President’s Cup (Sept. 28^th-Oct. 1st).

Course: East Lake Club, Atlanta, Georgia (home course of the legendary Bobby Jones)

7,385 Yards, Par 70 (yikes)

Top 10 (FedEx Cup Standings):

Regular Statistics
RK	PLAYER	AGE	EVENTS	ROUNDS	CUTS MADE	TOP 10	WINS	CUP POINTS	EARNINGS
1	Jordan Spieth	24	22	74	18	11	3	2,000	$9,153,033.00
2	Justin Thomas	24	24	75	17	11	5	1,800	$8,976,560.00
3	Dustin Johnson	33	19	66	16	8	4	1,520	$8,555,443.00
4	Marc Leishman	33	24	86	21	7	2	1,296	$5,714,140.50
5	Jon Rahm	22	22	79	20	10	1	1,280	$5,843,247.50
6	Rickie Fowler	28	20	73	17	10	1	1,120	$5,937,072.50
7	Hideki Matsuyama	25	21	72	18	7	3	960	$8,234,445.00
8	Justin Rose	37	17	61	14	7	0	800	$4,009,058.00
9	Brooks Koepka	27	23	76	18	6	1	640	$5,297,397.00
10	Paul Casey	40	23	86	22	8	0	480	$3,556,973.50

 

The top 5 in the field (Spieth, Thomas, DJ, Leishman and Rahm) are the only players who control their own destinies. If Spieth, Thomas or DJ win, look for them to also win Player of the Year. If none of the top 5 win, the field is blown fairly wide open. Obviously, players 6-10 have the best shot.

Losing DraftKings Lineup:

Webb Simpson

Kevin Chappell

Sergio Garcia

Justin Rose

Justin Thomas

Patrick Cantlay

Prediction: I’m going to roll with Justin Thomas in this one. He’s become a household name, and will become a superstar after winning this event outright. Look for some crazy odds at next year’s Masters when he pulls it off.

Have a great golf weekend! Remember, we’ve got Retribution of the Ranch on Saturday, so if you don’t have a team and tee time yet, call us at (605) 341-5703 soon to get registered – times are filling up quick!

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BMW Championship Preview

BMW Championship Preview

What would you rather watch? Playoff golf or every half-yard your backup bye-week fantasy tight end fights for during Jets – Browns? I’ll have to admit, for me, it’s Jets – Browns. Unfortunately, the FedEx Cup Playoffs aren’t nearly as exciting as major championship golf or even the PLAYERS. It’s hard to care too much about someone worth half a billion winning $12 million. When golf starts to compete with the NCAA on Saturdays and the NFL on Sundays, you know what’s going to give.

So, all that being said, this year is actually pretty good. We have three of the best young players at the top, and whichever one wins this thing will almost certainly be crowned Player of the Year (golf’s MVP I guess?). The PGA modeled their playoff format off the highly successful NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and overall, it has worked well. Here’s a little preview of the upcoming “semifinal” this weekend:

Course: Conway Farms G.C., Lake Forest, Ill.

7,208 Yards, Par 71

Architect: Tom Fazio

Purse: $8.75 Million

Defending Champ: Dustin Johnson

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup Standings will be playing. This is the first FedEx Cup event without a cut. Here are the top 10 in the FedEx Cup Standings and their points:

RK	GOLFER	CNTRY	WINS	TOP 10 FINISHES	TOP 25 FINISHES	POINTS
1	Jordan Spieth		3	10	15	5,071
2	Justin Thomas		5	11	13	5,044
3	Dustin Johnson		4	8	13	4,650
4	Hideki Matsuyama		3	7	12	3,021
5	Jon Rahm		1	9	12	2,894
6	Rickie Fowler		1	9	15	2,217
7	Marc Leishman		1	6	14	2,084
8	Paul Casey		0	8	16	2,065
9	Brooks Koepka		1	6	11	1,952
10	Pat Perez		1	6	12	1,894

 

As you can see, it’s going to be extremely difficult for anyone to catch the top 3. By the end of the BMW Championship, the field will be trimmed to 30 for the Tour Championship (the one Happy Gilmore won) at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

First off, look for an extremely low score here. DJ won last year with a score of 23-under, so a bunch of pars are not going to win. Key stats this week are going to be Strokes Gained (SG): Tee-to-Green, SG: Approach, Birdie or Better % and Approach Proximity: 100-125 Yards. Players like Dustin Johnson and Zach Johnson have both won at this course, so there are multiple ways to get it done. Here’s my losing DraftKings lineup:

Zach Johnson

Kevin Na

Marc Leishman

Rickie Fowler

Charl Schwartzel

Xander Schauffele

Prediction: While I think any of the top 3 could easily win, I’ll roll with Rickie Fowler. There’s so much talent there, but he keeps getting barely overshadowed…this is the week.

Hope you enjoy the golf this weekend (if you watch any), and all the best to your NFL team, as long as it’s the Vikes. Skol!

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September Happenings at Hart Ranch GC

September Happenings at Hart Ranch GC

F. Scott Fitzgerald said “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall,” and hey, so can your golf game. We have some new things happening this year, including a Monday Night League and a Fall Tournament Series. Read on to find out what they’re all about…

Monday Night League –

On Monday nights starting September 11th, we’ll be playing golf from 3pm-6pm. What’s different? Should you choose to accept, we’ll play a birdie madness format, where birdies accrue towards a season-long (4 weeks or until it gets too cold) pot that builds every week depending on the number of players. If you’re at or near the top of the list at the end, you’ll win! So it’s fair, gross birdies will count for 1 point, and nets will count for 0.5. Therefore, a gross eagle will count for 2 and a net eagle will count for 1.5. You’ll want to participate as many weeks as possible to have the best chance of winning. If this all sounds confusing, don’t worry about it. Just tally up your score and we’ll take care of it.

The other half of the Monday Night League will be a weekly game, where we play a stableford-quota format. Basically, your 9-hole course handicap (CH) will be subtracted from 19. Your goal is to meet your quota to get in on the pot. For example, if your 9-hole CH is 5, you’ll need to get 14 points or more to meet the quota. Bogeys are worth 1 point, pars 2, birdies 3 and eagles 4. If we don’t have enough initial participation, we will tweak the format and play a stableford-net game, where the top finishers each week will get paid out. This way there will be more money available for winners.

The cost each week is $10, so $5 goes into each pot. Winnings will be paid out in club credit. After the round, we’ll all get together at the O.C., play games on the simulator and watch Monday Night Football. There will be additional contests afterwards, so stick around! We’ll offer a food discount to whoever plays and stays for the games.

Fall Tournament Series –

Our first fall tournament is Retribution of the Ranch on September 23rd, followed by the 3-Sticker on October 14th and Heaven & Hell on October 28th. If you participate in all three, you’ll be entered into a points contest, where you’re awarded points based on how well you finish. There will be a prize at the end for the top finisher(s).

Keep in mind that we have the Children’s Miracle Network shotgun at 8am this Friday, September 8th (tee times available after 1:20pm), the East-West Cup on September 11th and 12th and the LA Open on September 30th. As always, please let us know if you have any questions, and we’re looking forward to seeing you for some fantastic fall golf at Hart Ranch!

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