Weekly Recaps

TONAWANDA, NY – After a tumultuous week-2 which saw the again theft of property belonging to Jeff Luke, Putter-In-Hand players walked into week-3 uncertain what was going to happen given the potential new rules handed down by league officials as consequence for the recent disappearance of Luke's putter and last year's trophy prank. The night, again, started as the previous two weeks had begun: Luke at the bar, Scott VeRost joining for dinner, and slowly the others trickling in until finally Shawn Conschafter graced us all with his presence. Still uncertain if they were going to be able to use their own putters, the group proceeded to the dome. It was then that Luke discovered his putter had been returned, leaning on the rack like he had left it the week before. The only difference was this time it was accompanied by a handful of smiling yellow balloons tied to it. Somewhat bemused, wondering who in the league would commit such a heinous crime, Luke knew that this was The Masters and he had to put the hijinks aside and go out there and perform his best. If he didn't, the pranksters would have won the war. Despite the continued disappearance of the 2017 PIH Lifetime Achievement Award trophy, the league reluctantly permitted players to use their own putter and the group paraded to their starting holes. Luke was paired with Tom Barbops to form the only twosome of the day, something John Coyle protested right off the bat. Coyle, following proper league protocol, filed an official protest with league officials prior to teeing off citing the fact that Luke and Barbops were too good to be paired with alone and feared that they would collude to finish atop the leader board. League officials heard the complaint, discussed among himself, and without hesitation dismissed the complaint without merit. League officials also warned Coyle about his increasing anger and disapproval towards the league, league officials, and league rules and informed him that his continued questioning of the integrity of the league will be hastily dealt with if continued. While Coyle's worries are unfounded, Luke and Barbops' performance did create abuzz as the results were announced. Luke finished with a week-2 best 37 with 2 hole-in-ones, one stroke better than Barbops' 38 2-HI1. Both men have taken an early lead in the overall standings through three weeks of play. Finishing in 3rd and 4th place were pre-putters Jay Flemming (38, 1 HI1) and Jeff Hewett (39, 1 HI1). Flemming, who tied his career best score, was hoping that it would hold but is pleased to finish in 3rd place for the 2nd straight week. Flemming now sits in 4th place overall. Hewett on the other hand was pleased to finish 11 places better than his week-2 finish. Hewett sits in 8th place overall. Finishing in 5th place, but taking home 3rd place money, was Mike Mondoux. Because the 3rd and 4th place finishers were not present the day of, Mondoux benefited and finished in the money for the second time in three career starts. Mondoux is in 3rd place overall and is poised to shit the bed in week-4. Playing with Mondoux was the struggling Tony Rotella and the always consistent Scott Wilson. Rotella recorded a 47 (0 HI1) and left the night thinking his again poor performance had eliminated him from the elimination pool. He'll be happy to know that a post-putt 49 was recorded by Joe LaBuda (0 HI1) had saved Rotella from elimination. Wilson amazingly recorded his 3rd straight 41 which puts him in 5th place overall. LaBuda, pending Chris Wilkinson's post-putt score, could be eliminated from the elimination pool, sits in 20th place overall. In what was the worst scorecard turned in week-3, Pat Holden, Shawn Conschafter, and Mike Robinson recorded a 40 (1 HI1), 44 (1 HI1), and 51 (0 HI1) respectively. Holden, detected by the lack of any hot bodies in his three some, finished 7th place for the week and sits in 12th overall and is also the focus of a "slow play" complaint field by several league players. His speed of play is under investigation. Despite a league week-2 best back-9 recorded by Conschafter (17), it wasn't enough to overcome his league week-2 worst front-9 (27). Given the antics of Conschafter in recent weeks (tardiness getting to the bar, poor performance on the course, and hostility and dismissive attitude to GI6 members), it is no wonder his LukeOlympic teammates are rethinking their threesome for 2019. Robinson's performance, regardless of what Wilkinson does, will result in his dismissal from the elimination pool. His 48.00 average score is a league worse. That makes Harald Rehm and Anhony Remy's happy to hear as they were paired this week along with VeRost. This threesome resulted in a mixed bag of scores. VeRost, who was eliminated in week-2, bounced back with a 40 (1 HI1) and sits in 9th place overall. VeRost has never been in the top-10 this late in the season (or ever) and is committed to continuing his improvement in the weeks to come. Rehm was pleased with his 43 (0 HI1) and sits just outside the top-10 at 11th place. The highlight of the night for Rehm was his allowance to put the green jacket on the shoulders of Luke as he proclaimed "It's likely the closest I will come to the green jacket that I will ever get. My dream is to one day wear that green jacket and these pleated pants." Rehm's pleated pants partner, Remy, hasn't paired the jacket with his pleats since week-1 of the inaugural season. Remy finished with a 46 (0 HI1) and finished in a 2018 personal best 17th place, putting him in 22nd overall. The pleasant threesome of Nick Keil, Brian An and Tim Roesch finished in the middle of the pack as they recorded a 41 (0 HI1), 44 (0 HI1) and 46 (2 HI1) respectively. This threesome also sits relatively close in the year-to-date standings as Keil is in 15th and Roesch and An are tied for 17th. Unless someone pulls away from the pack, these 3 could be seeing a lot of each other in the coming week's pairings. And rounding out the groupings was Scott Mason, Coyle and Frank DiJames. Mason finished with a 6th place 40 (2 HI1) and now sits in 5th overall. Mason, a onetime green jacket winner, will tell you "I'm pleased to be in contention but ultimately I doesn't care. I just like to compete, have a few pops, and go home a happier man." If he keeps putting like this he may find himself in the green jacket some time soon. Coyle, more concerned with the scores of others, shot a pedestrian 42 (2 HI1). There were several putts that his playing partners said that if he had the focus and drive of other GI6 members that he could have done more, but it appeared that his focus was on others and not his own game. It will be interesting to see if Coyle can control himself, focus, and actually do something this year. Doubtful but not entirely impossible. And rounding things out was DiJames who posted his second straight 45 (1 HI1). This newcomer came into the league with some buzz but it appears it has fizzled as his game is not what Vegas had expected. DiJames sits in 16th place overall and needing a miracle to move near the top. And with that, the week-3 Masters is in the books. While anything can happen over the next 7 weeks, Luke and Barbops have definitely put the pressure on the rest of the field and are starting to pull away from the pack. Week-3 Fun Facts:

• Average Score: 43.478 (0.171 better than this point in 2017)
• Holes-in-one: 4 (Barboulos, Mondoux, Conschafter, Roesch)
• 4 players haven't recorded a Hole-In-One: An, Robinson, Remy, Geniti
• Barbops and Luke are the only sub-40 average putters (38.67)
• Neither Bryan An or Harald Rehm are in last place
• GI6: Avg. Score - 43.22
• Getzville7: Avg. Score - 44.43 (preemptively includes Roesch)