Man, what a glorious day it was at Shaker. The weather was awesome, and so was the camaraderie and sportsmanship. it was truly an epic day in the CGA.
Congratulations to Schoemer and Jorge for capturing the 2007 Touch 'Em All Title. Most people have stopped counting, but that makes three majors in a row for Schoemer and five out of the last six. The Nappy Headed Bros. proved that their early season lead in the team standings is not a fluke. They hammed and egged it beautifully, which is of course the key to victory in the TEA Tourney.
Nobody disputes that these guys deserved to win, but the margin of victory (10 strokes) might suggest that there is something broken with the scoring system. The past two tournaments, which have been the first two TEA's in the Post-Handicap Limit Era, have been lopsided affairs in favor of high handicap teams. The League Office has already come up with some ideas that would tighten up that 10 point gap and improve the competitive balance. But for now, a tip-o-me cap to The Nappy Headed Bros. Now let's all go out there and make it as difficult as possible for them to complete the first ever Team Slam (TEA Title And Team Title in same year).
The most inspirational story of the day came out of the final pairing in the Alt. Shot portion, where The Commash and Tommy Freiburger (who subbed for Penn) were putting on a magic show and Ryan's Hope was reenacting an episode of McGyver. These two teams came into the third nine separated by less than a point and battling for 2nd place. They finished separated by less than a point in 2nd and 3rd place. The drama came early when Steve Geraghty twisted his ankle walking off the 19th green. Unable to put any weight on his right foot, Geraghty announced that his day might be done. He tried to hit a tee shot on the par four 20th, but awkwardly snapped one dead left into the pond. While The Commash and Tommy looked for Tommy's drive, Geraghty pulled some old athletic tape out of his bad and Dr. Ding-a-ling did a McGyver-like tape job on Geraghty's ankle. What ensued was nothing short of spectacular. After parring 19 and scrambling for bogey on 20, Ryan's Hope managed to play the next seven holes in +2 gross to finish with a net score of 33.66. Penn & Teller started the third nine with a wobbly wheel, going +4 on the first three holes. But Geraghty's determination and courage inspired The Commash and Tommy to perform some of their best magic tricks down the stretch, making four consecutive par putts of ten feet or greater. They held a slim lead on 2nd place when a camera flash from the gallery distracted The Commash and caused him to miss a two-footer for par on the dastardly 26th hole. Both teams made par on the last hole. When it was all over, Geraghty limped off the 27th hole with an arm around Webbie and a 2nd place finish, a mere 0.2 points ahead of Penn & Teller.
Once again, the TEA was a spectacular event and a big time reminder as to exactly why we have been going there for the last six years . . . . because we like to touch 'em all. And Saturday, we definitely touched 'em all. I sure had a blast with all you clowns and I have had a big smile on my face ever since Ryan walked into the Pro Shop at 9 AM and said, "Hello Space Wranglers!" God love him.
You can view the final 2007 TEA leaderboard here. The 2007 Money List has now been updated, as well as the Wall of Fame. You can find links to both in the Reports section.
