May 21, 2012

ST. LOUIS, MO — Pat Boland is not coming; he has committed sin. He violated the Red Zone and to the worst degree possible. A possible annual birthday on June 7. Boland, who is lost in mind, announced the Red Tee Lottery and Distribution on behalf of the Captains Club.

"He is dead to me if this baby comes out while in Binghamton," says senior member and funeral director Mike Lewis. "I will probably never see him again."

Boland announced the 'Red Tee Lottery' will return for it's 10th straight year at Conklin Players Club. Pat Boland, owner of the sweepstakes, held a press conference to discuss the format for 2012.

The Red Tee Lottery and Distribution is a system devised to promote player strategy, add entertainment, advance pace of play, and help tighten the Tournament Leaderboard. The annual Red Tee Lottery was held last week on the computer server in Eugene, Oregon.

"We are driving excellence into our prestigious tournament," says Pat Boland. "For the rookies involved, each player is permitted to play one designated hole from the Women Tees or Red Tees. The hole on Thursday is determined by Lottery. The computer randomly made selections. The holes on Saturday and Sunday are determined by designated hole difficulty rankings using both opinion and course knowledge."

Holes can have no advantage. There are holes shortened by 150 yards, but that does not really come with an advantage with a dog leg or lake in front of green.

"We have omitted largest and least advantages from Round 1," says Boland. "There are 8 holes used with 8 tickets each in the lottery. The holes selected for Round 1 were Holes 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, and 13."

Selections were published to the website under "Red Tee". The selections will also be published to the daily pairing sheet.

Chad Long, Brian Long, Chris Philipsen, and Chris Milam received the 12th hole and greatest advantage on Thursday.

Jim English, Paul Mangione, Jon Marti, and Jay Glover received the 2nd hole and least advantage on Thursday.

The 15th and 16th holes were omitted from Round 2 and Round 3 distribution. "The 15th hole is a very unique hole with a large pond directly in front of the green like the 12th hole at Poplar Grove. The most uphill hole in Spackler history, the 16th, is a 205-yard par 4 requiring a 35-yard chip shot to cut the corner of a sharp dog leg.

The remaining 16 holes were ranked by advantage and will be distributed based on reverse Leaderboard. The lowest four golfers on the Leaderboard after Thursday will receive the 9th hole on Friday.

"The 9th hole is a straight downhill 380-yard par 5," says Boland. "The loser of this tournament will really need to suck."

Holes are ranked 9, 14, 6, 12, 11, 4, 5, 13, 7, 3, 2, 10, 18, 17, 8, 1.

The 14th hole, a 360-yard par 5, has the second largest advantage in the distribution. The 14th hole is straight uphill. The golfers in 57th, 58th, 59th, and 60th place will receive this hole on both Friday and Saturday.

"There will not be excuses for hacking and not getting enough points," says Pat Boland. "We will be essentially giving out points for free to guys at the bottom of the Leaderboard."

The top four golfers on the Leaderboard are expected to receive the largest gamble. The 1st hole is straight and slightly uphill, however a creek crosses the fairway after 210 yards and landing area has no fairway. The 281-yard par 4 1st hole will be distributed to the Top 4 golfers on the Leaderboard.

The Red Tee Lottery was introduced back in June 2003 at Thunder Hill. The popularity grew and remains today as a desired part of the 54-hole tournament. Hole numbers are published daily for each golfer inside the pairing sheet.

"I will not be there this year to mark scorecards," says Boland. "We distributed 97 red sharpies last year at Mountain Valley. "Highlight boxes on the scorecard to help remind golfers."

The 2012 Carl Spackler Open begins on June 6 in Conklin, NY with the annual practice round. The attendance turnover includes 55 golfers from Mountain Valley who have skipped this year's event. There are 64 participants scheduled for the 12th annual birthday party in New York.