May 26, 2008

PERU, IN — While the Captains Club finalizes preparation for its 8th Major Championship, a group of similar questions regarding tournament handicapping came to the business office over the past weeks resulting in an impromptu news conference to clear things up. Greg Long (i.e. Slick), Chairman of the Club, led the conference.

"Good Afternoon. Lacey put 7 post-it notes on my desk regarding handicapping questions," Long said. "I would like to clear things up."

Long continued, "Our 8th Major Championship will be scored just like the 1st back in 2001. We will be using points and each golfer will have their own set of points. The goal is to statistically distribute points to all golfers so they can shoot 60 points per round. I am extremely confident that is happening. The Leaderboards of the past appear to reward golfers more accurately than the widely used USGA Handicap System.

Rick Dosky has won the last two tournaments using the USGA Handicapping System. He won the 2005 Carl Spackler Open using Poststats Points. Rick Dosky should be considered a legend.

In regards to the target of 60 points, golfers with a handicap of 8 to 11 receive an elevated target to 62 points per round. Participants with a handicap 6 to 8 strokes are bumped to 63 points per round. Handicaps of 6 strokes have target of 64 points and 5 strokes get 65 points. Golfers with a handicap of 2 are targeted at 65 points per round. Ridgeway and Zabonik are scratch golfers and elevated to 66 points per round.

The lower the handicap, the more points rewarded. It is much easier for Rick Dosky to improve than Marty Zabonik. The chances of a hacker improving by 10 strokes per round is very high.

In addition to golf skill, golfers who play the same course 70 percent of the time will be given an elevated target of 1 point. These same participants will be given 2 points if they play the same course 90 percent of the time. These golfers such as Zabonik, Bateson, Hanks, Smith, and Munksgard almost always slip when leaving their home course. The point upgrade allows the entire tournament field to handicapped equally and remove scoring based on extensive course knowledge.

Each golfer in this grand event has two sets of points. One set was distributed on January 1 for the 2008 Virtual Tournament. Those should not be confused with our little get-together in Peru. Virtual Tournament handicaps will remain the same until January 1, 2009 and determine the most improved golfer of this year. Presently, that is Don Creighton.

Under the 'golf trip' section of the website is a link labeled "HANDICAPS". This is where players attending our 8th Major Championship can find their Poststats Points handicap. The purpose of our event is to determine the worst and best golfer using 54-holes based on real-time handicaps. We do not update the season-long virtual tournament handicaps, but insert another set to measure our golf trip.

Are there any questions?"

A unnamed reporter asked, "Is Rick Dosky going to call for a point review due to his hip being replaced this winter?"

Slick replied, "I doubt it. Poststats has instituted a health setback date in all profiles of all participants. This was inserted by Poststats.com to ignore entered scorecards prior to major surgerys, hip replacements and snow blower accidents. The handicap system calculates only scorecards after the designated date. Rick Dosky, Pat Boland, Bob Morris and others are using the health setback date."

Jay Glover of Virginia Beach conference called in, "When are points set for the tournament?" Slick replied, "When are you playing your last round before the tournament?" Jay answered, "I do not know." Slick replied, "Your points are updated after every round entered. It is done automatically with Poststats.com Scorecard Entry process. The cutoff is probably a few days before the tournament."

Glover replied, "There are 5 or 6 sets of points that will give me 60 points. Can I pick?" Slick replied, "Nope. The system distributes using priority. Each set of points has a priority. You can see that in the left column within your handicap analyzer."

Lacey Underall stepped in the room. Can my buddy Marty seriously win this tournament with 1 point for bogey and 2 points for par?" Slick replied, "Lacey. You are looking really good today. I really like your blouse." [Pause] "Back to your question... I am assuming you are referring to Mr. Zabonik. If Marty does not birdie, he will not place well. He might be dressed in an outfit or two. That goes for Ridgeway and rookie Jack Schone. Six and seven points for birdie may seem impossible for victory, but lets keep things in a statistical perspective.

Marty is presently averaging 2.3 birdies per round. Ridgeway averages the same. Our 2005 Champion, Rick Dosky, is averaging 1.1 pars per round and 3.9 bogeys per round. Our CEO Jeremy Myers is averaging 1.4 pars and Bob Jastrzebski is averaging 1.6 pars per round. My money is on Zabonik with tougher conditions and consistency. This tournament is over on Thursday if Zabonik scores 5 or 6 birdie at 8 points each. I would bet my life on that.

I will take one more question."

Another reporter asked, "Do you have a favorite?" Slick replied, "To the best of my knowledge, we have never had a drunk champion.

Let's start by eliminating golfers. Chris Hays and Matt Boland have folded like lawn chairs for years. Both must stop, drop everything and complete revamp another game plan. I recommend a game face as a start. I had my suspicions last year at Jerry's Pub when Matt Boland appeared to be ready for a lap dance instead of a war.

Mike Davis has slipped to the 11th best handicap in the field. He finally broke 90 during all three tournament rounds last year for the first time in 5 years. It was also the first time a player was passed on the first tee box before opening the tournament. Sounds like someone cannot handle pressure of a major championship.

I would guess 40 guys can put together one great round, however do not have a swing that will not hold up for 54 holes. Another 40 will not be sober enough during all 3 rounds. Eliminate another 35 guys based on the mental requirements. That leaves 5 or 6 guys with a real chance.

Golfers need to bring their 'A' game or make a physical swing adjustment on Wednesday morning. Our 2005 Champion Rick Dosky can speak to quick adjustments on the range and the impact of those adjustments with his first jacket at Mountain Valley.

Outside of those heavy Outfit risks, can anyone just shoot 3 birdies during the final round like our 2004 Champion Steve Hoden? Probably Mr. Woods. Can anyone predict that Rick Dosky would shoot 15-over par on the Mountain Valley Pine course? That is like Reggie Bush rushing for 2,800 yards this year.

One thing is for sure. If Mark Wray shows up with a plus 9-stroke handicap and cannot break 90 like last year, nobody needs to worry about the outfits. I have gotta go."