May 31, 2005

WARREN, PA — Could the USGA be wrong?  Could Carl Spackler prove them wrong?  The business office at the course strongly believes they have the facts to prove the USGA is incorrectly handicapping holes in Warren, PA.  The true facts about Jackson Valley Country Club might just change the way golf is viewed in the future.

Jon Munksgard and Jeff Munksgard just submitted the 104th and 105th scorecards at Jackson Valley in a short five years.  The On Tour Championship rewards players 7 bonus points for course handicapping purposes.

According to 1,800+ scores, 100 scorecards at Jackson Valley, the hardest hole at Jackson Valley is Hole 5.  Then Hole 9.  "That does not surprise me," says Jon Munksgard.  "The 5th green is impossible to hold and the hardest hole definitely cannot be Hole 3.  I think my average on Hole 9 is something around 7 so that also makes sense."

The following was supplied courtsey of the Spackler Statistical Office and the Jackson Valley Country Club scorecard.  Holes have been sorted based on difficulty.

...............................average hole....par.....yards...strokes....diff.......usga.handicap 5..........4.........432.....5.7629...1.7629.........3 9..........4.........381.....5.7449...1.7449.........5 16.........4.........420.....5.6869...1.6869.........2 13.........4.........410.....5.6837...1.6837.........8 3..........5.........544.....6.6809...1.6809.........1 1..........5.........444.....6.5979...1.5979.........11 17.........5.........537.....6.5455...1.5455.........4 10.........5.........484.....6.5408...1.5408.........6 4..........4.........389.....5.5253...1.5253.........7 11.........4.........355.....5.5.........1.5............10 7..........4.........253.....5.3939...1.3939.........15 6..........3.........194.....4.3814...1.3814.........9 18.........4.........322.....5.2828...1.2828........12 2..........3.........171.....4.2626...1.2626.........13 8..........3.........127.....4.1633...1.1633.........17 15.........3.........153.....4.1386...1.1386........14 12.........3.........156.....4.0515...1.0515........16 14.........4.........297.....4.9899...0.9899........18

The business office has truncated all scores of quad or more at quad bogey.

"There is some real hacking going on up there in Warren," says Pat Boland of Duluth, GA.  "Hole 5 is either impossible or unfair.  No hole including Hole 9 should be playing bogey and-three-quarters unless we have an entire town without a golf instructor.  It looks like we have two of these holes."

Jackson Valley in Warren remains as the most played course in Spackler history with 105 rounds.  Darby Creek in Marysville, OH is in second place with 74 rounds.

Randon Mineweaser was very surprised with the results of Hole 1.  "I cannot believe a 444 yard Par 5 could be the 6th hardest hole on the golf course", says Weaser.  "That is ridiculously short.  Outsiders are going to think there is a lake in front of the green."

The On Tour Championship is off and running with biggest golf weekend of the year in the history books.  The last Memorial Day Weekend reported 72 scorecards over a 7-day period.