Weekly Recaps

Tonawanda, NY – Leading up to the week-3 Masters there was a lot of talk from the Grand Island Six about the controversy surrounding their recent improvement in scores when pre-putting and the resulting league’s new rules pertaining to their pairings. They looked at the first major of the year as way to show the putt-putt world that their skills are legit. With Joe Neeson taking the night off and Jim Neville turning in a pre-putt 41 with 1 hole in one, three strokes better than his average, the controversy had been the topic of discussion at the pre-game party as those members of the Grand Island Six in attendance were found defending their scores. Amidst all this controversy, the Masters began with a bang. After acing his first two holes, and another on his 5^th, it looked like it was going to be John Coyle that was going to take home the green jacket. But as those closest to him predicted, Coyle succumbed to the pressures of having to try and squeeze into his first green jacket and completely fell apart. He turned in a 42 with 3 holes in one, but only good for 7^th place. Scott Verost, another member of the GI6, shot nothing but 2’s and 3’s and finished in 13^th place for the week, turning in a 43, three strokes better than his 2017 average, but still not good enough to take the green jacket. Four spots behind Verost was another member of the GI6, Steve Steck, who was making is 2017 debut. Unlike the other members of the GI6, no one can call Steck a cheater as he failed to record a score in the first two weeks of play. When asked why he didn’t pre or post putt, Steck admitted "I don’t have a chance in hell at winning anything. I come out every week to hang out and drink a few beers, not to win. I can’t win. I suck." Steck finished in 17^th place by shooting a 45 with one hole in one, again proving to himself and others, he really does suck. Speaking of sucking, while Steck’s pedestrian score seemed meaningless and of no importance, it was significant as his hole in one left only one PIH putter not to ace a hole this year: Tim Remy. Despite shooting his best round of the year, a 43, it was only good for a 13^th place finish. The poor play of Remy could be attributed to what he claims to be a "saw-related accident" to his left-elbow, suffered in a "home improvement project" in his basement. When pressed for details of the injury by the media he invited a female reporter to his home so he could reenact the incident. The reporter has been unavailable for comment ever since. With five of the GI6’s week-3 scores turned in, it was up to Shawn Conschafter to prove to all that the GI6 was a force to be reckoned with. In Conschafter’s foursome was 2016 PIH champion, 2-time green jacket winner and last week’s winner Jeff Luke, 2016 runner-up and 2-time green jacket winner Tom Barbops, and Dean Trzewieczynski who edged out Conschafter by one spot in 2016 and was celebrating his almost-3-month-wedding-anniversary. Conschafter paced the group by recording 2 holes in one and a 19 on the front-9 while the other 3 in his group all shot twenty-two’s, with Luke being the only one of the three to have a hole in one. Luke and Trzewieczynski shot identical scores on the back-9 to finish with 42’s with one hole in one for Luke. Luke finished the week in 9^th while Trzewieczynski finished in 12^th. Barbops turned in a week-3 back-9 best 17 to finish with a 39 with one hole in one. The only question remaining would be if Conschafter would rise under the increasing pressure or crumble like Coyle. Conschafter proved he’s ready to be a contender and shot a steady 19 on the back to finish with a 1^st place 38 with 2 holes in one and took home his first green jack of his career. Awarded the jacket, Conschafter was jubilant as he dedicated the victory to his GI6 bredren saying "This is for them. They don’t have a chance to win it for themselves and we’ve been beaten up the past couple of weeks as we’ve scored better than ever, so this means a lot for me and for them." As the jacket was draped over his shoulders and told to "keep good care of it over the next week." Conschafter began to tear up asking "You mean I get to take it home with me? For a week?" When told of the process of wearing it home he began to creepishly chuckle "Man, this jacket is going to see a good time like no one has ever done before. Like no one will do ever." And like that, the week-3 win for Conschafter may be the last time he, or anyone, wears that green jack as he hasn’t been seen alive since an early morning photo taken the next day and posted on TMZ.com shows him passed out aboard a large yacht somewhere off the coast of Grand Island. The jacket has however been spotted being worn by random folks in the Greater Western New York area including The Grill owner, Josh. The time of the photos however is unknown. Fingers crossed the jacket shows up the next week with or without Conschafter. In other action around the league, Jeff Hewett shot a 39 with 1 hole in one, good for his 2^nd straight 2^nd place finish. Unfortunately, this time he wasn’t awarded any winnings as his 2^nd place score tied Barbops, meaning the winnings carry over to the next week. Playing with Hewett was Tony Rotella who was making his 2017 debut. Rotella, like his playing partners Hewett and Coyle, has found himself in the spotlight of controversy as he claimed to hit consecutive holes in one on the 18^th hole of his pre-putt rounds. He may not have scored a hole on one on 18 this week but he did score a 4^th place 39 with no holes in one. The threesome of Scott Mason, Scott Wilson and Brian Kimpel proved to be a good mix as all three putters shot well better than their average. Wilson, who finished in 3^rd place last week, lead the group with a 6^th place 41. Kimpel shot a 42 with 2 holes in one, his best round of the young season. It was pointed out to Kimpel that showing up on time, or even early for a beer, and not wearing Van Halen jeans is very beneficial to his game. Kimpel is looking to improve again next week and said he’s learning from others what it takes to win in this league and he thinks he’s ready. Mason has continued his week-to-week improvement goal and shot a 42 with one hole in one, 4.5 strokes better than his average. Mason can’t attribute his improvement to anything specific but does know that he has to pick up the pace a bit if he wants to win the green jacket again. Not playing as Donald Trump, Jay Flemming was a bit out of character and not quite himself. As he slipped 4 spots overall to 13^th place after recording a 15^th place 44 with one hole in one. Also shooting a 44 with one hole in one was his playing partner Tim Roesch. When asked why they shot so bad, Flemming and Roesch agreed "We played with Steck and man he sucks. He brings us down. He’s a stroke suck." Those are some pretty harsh words coming from otherwise complimentary gentlemen…so it must be true? The good thing for both is that they wont have to play with Steck in week-4. Who will have to play with Steck is Remy and week-4 bottom feeder Harald Rehm. Rehm, who post-putted a 45 earlier in the day, lost energy and shot a 49. Facebook reports indicate that Rehm’s workout regime and lack of carbohydrates could be the reason for his poor play while others point to his history saying it’s lack of skill the PIH league requires. Regardless, the threesome of Steck, Remy and Rehm will be sure to set some records in week-4. And rounding out the recorded week-4 scores was Bryan An who post-putted the next day and turned in a 40 with one hole in one. You know there’s going to be more talk next week as no one will believe that An could record such a score and doing so without oversight will be controversial, something this league needs a lot less of. Week-1 Fun Facts:

• Average Score: 42.06 (league record by more than a stroke!)
• Holes-in-one: 16 (league record!)
• Best front-9: 19 (Conschafter)
• Best back-9: 17 (Barbops)
• YTD leader in Holes in One: Conschafter (6)
• Remy is the only putter not to record a Hole in One
• Tony Rotella is the only putter in the top-5 to never win a green jacket
• Remy was the only putter to record a score higher on the back (22) than the front (21) in week-3