Weekly Recaps

TONAWANDA, NY – In what was the lowest scoring week in Putter-In-Hand history, Barbops bested the field to claim his second green jacket of the season and a league record 7th career jacket with a 35+3. This was the most competitive field the league has seen. For the first time in league history, the field averaged a score below 41 with a cumulative average of 40.91.

"I saw a lot of holes in one and it seemed like there were a lot of low scores." said Barbops who now sits in 3rd place overall. "I wasn't sure if my score would hold up but clearly it did. Now I have to watch my back and make sure those assholes from Grand Island don't infect me again." Clearly Barbops was referencing his week-4 victory and the alleged targeted attack the GIX members placed on his putter.

When Shawn Conschafter was asked about Barbops winning again and if he was in fact the target of a sinister attack, Conschafter had no comment and ran out of The Grill in a hurry, claiming he had to leave before the snow came.

What did Steve Maziarz or Steve Steck have to say after the victory? Nothing as Steck was a no-show and Maziarz bolted as soon as the round was over. Once Maziarz learned that he "destroyed" Kelly Caito once again, Maziarz left exclaiming "My work is done here. My electric pickup truck doesn't do well in the snow. I need to get home."

What about the rest of the GIX members? What did they have to say about Barbops winning?

The answer is an emphatic - NOTHING! The reason: The PIH member attendance at The Grill was so low, an infiltrating group of Senior League Putters spent more that night than the PIH crew and were given first crack at prime seating in the weeks to come by owner Josh Edholm.

"Listen Luke, I give this group premium seating options and nothing but the best service." said a disappointed Edholm. "If these senior league putters are going to outspend your crew, you guys can go hit from the ladies tees and stand in the simulators next week." This was a clear warning to league members that they're performance in the bar is as important as on the course.

In other news:

Finishing tied for 2nd place was Chris Wilkinson and another terrific pre-putt performance by Jay Flemming with a 38+2. It took Wilkinson the full week to sober up from last week and he rebounded quite well. Wilkinson sits in 8th place, teetering with being out of contention for the league championship.

Flemming, who is flirting with having a rule be voted into the books, pre-putted once again with Bryan An and both men scored well below their in-person scores. Flemming's questionable performance now puts him in 6th place overall.

"Flemming pre-putted again? With who?" said an angry SCOPIH member John Coyle. When he learned it was with An, Coyle shot back "When we're back in session, after the break, we are having a vote. This is bullshit." Coyle has filed a "Flemming-An Fix" rule to be put up to vote to prevent putters from putting with the same partner multiple weeks in a season. This motion will be heard by the SCOPIH in an upcoming weekly rules review session.

Finishing in 4th place was Shawn Conschafter with a 38+1. Conschafter is also sitting in 4th place in the overall standings, just 6.75 points behind.

In 5th place was pre-putting An, Jeff Luke, and Dominic Lovallo who all finished with 39+1. An has shot like complete shit those week's he isn't in cahoots with Flemming, continues to be a surprise in the league as he sits in 9th place overall.

Luke now sits in 2nd place overall just 0.5 points behind Mondoux. Luke is in the lead with 10 holes-in-one despite sitting in 5th overall in total strokes. His tee-shots have been solid but his short game has been a struggle this season. If he can make the tap-ins, he'll be league champion for certain.

LoVallo, who is contending for rookie of the year, not only had his lowest score of the season but he also popped his hole-in-one cherry finally. "My goal is to finish in the top-10 for the season" said a beaming LoVallo. "With a year under my belt, I'm looking at contending for the green jacket and league championship next year."

Tied for 8th place was John Coyle and Mike Mondoux with 39+0. Mondoux lipped a few holes but just couldn't get a read on the greens this week. "I think they cut them funny this week" said Mondoux before being told it's artificial turf and that it's the same each week.

Alone in 10th place was Jim Neville with a 40+3. Neville had 1 hole-in-one going into the week and somehow captured 3 this week. When asked what he did differently he said "Nothing. I have no idea what I'm doing. I just come for the beers before and after." Clearly that is the case.

Alone in 11th place is Scott Wilson with a 40+2. Wilson continues to score holes-in-one as he has 8 on the season, just 2 back from the leader. "I'm good off the team then fall apart. It's all or nothing for me this year." Afterwards he was seen canoodling with a former favorite Grill Girl of the league so all was well.

Tied in 12th place were four putters: Jeff Hewett, Joe Neeson, Joel Cady, and Rob Vickers all shot a 40+1. Of this group, only Hewett is in real contention for the league championship. Hewett sits in 5th place overall, 10.5 points behind the leader. the rest have no chance at the league championship and an event slimmer chance at breaking 40 each week.

Sitting in 16 place was Pat Holden with a remarkable 41+4! Yes, 4 holes-in-one in a single week and yet somehow still managed to suck the other 14-holes. What is one of the most interesting stats, this is the 3rd time 4 holes-in-one has been recorded in a round. Amazingly, all three times 4 aces were recorded, they all shot a 41: Jim Neville in 2017, Frank DiJames in 2018, and now Pat Holden in 2022. Seeing these stats, one can not argue that aces are pure luck at times.

There were 9 other putters that finished behind Holden. All scored 41+2 or worse and none of them did anything to deserve mention. None of them are in contention for the title and the author has a deadline to hit, so they don't get any mention.

The league is off on the 24th in observance of Thanksgiving and will reconvene on December 1st. Some members of the league will be participating in the first ever "Ride Her Cup" team competition the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. But not Conschafter. He's not allowed.