Weekly Recaps

TONAWANDA, NY – Brenan Dracup joined Putter-In-Hand in 2022 and had just two sub-40 rounds headed into week-6 of the 2023 season. In week-5, Dracup might of hit rock bottom when he shot a 46+0 and lost his leather jacket the same day. The jacket was one that he has owned since he was a teenager. Disappointed and contemplating his putting career, Dracup was about to give up.

"I didn't know what to do with myself. That jacket was to me what Linus' blanket was to him." said a teary eyed Dracup at the Grill. "Then I got the text. My savior, Commissioner Luke, found my jacket. Seeing what he puts into the league, how great of a putter he is and even better commissioner, I re-dedicated myself this past week to being a better putter. And I did it. I feel like I made it in life after today."

Dracup shot the day's best 36+4 to best Dom LoVallo and Tom Barbops by 3 holes-in-one as each shot a 36+1. "I practiced every day this week and twice on Sunday. I wanted to do this for commish."

When asked if he has taken up the extreme training regimen that week-4 winner Scott Verost has taken up, giving up drinking during the season, Dracup fired back "Look at me. Does it look like I gave up drinking? For God's sake, it's putt-putt not an Iron Man competition. My success today proves to everyone out there that any given Thursday they can win the green jacket. Well, I mean, unless your name is Wilkinson of course."

What Dracup was referring to is the chatter at the bar by PIH members trying to take away Dracup's accomplishment, telling him that he technically came in 2nd place. When explained what folks were talking about, Dracup didn't seem to care. "I'm walking out of here with two jackets. Two jackets thatnks to my skills as a putter and thanks to that man right there." Dracup said pointing to Luke.

What the PIH members were talking about was for the second time in his career, Wilkinson shot a green-jacket score but was not present the day he shot the round, disqualifying him from taking home the jacket. And despite having the 2nd best career scoring average, Chris Wilkinson has yet to wear the green jacket home like Dracup so proudly did despite being a sub-par putter.

"Fuck this league and their stupid rules." said a terse Wilkinson when confronted about his struggle to win the jacket. When pressed for additional comments, Wilkinson declined and abruptly drove off from in his Subaru.

Dracup's victory was overshadowed by the actions of several PIH extremists demanding reform from league officials, specifically league commissioner Jeff Luke who has been targeted as of late for his management of the league.

Over 1,080 Putter-In-Hand rounds have been played since its inaugural year of 2015 and every round has been under the direction of Luke who has endured everything from an insurrection by a foreign entity named T.I.T.S. in 2022 to Putter Gate in 2018 to Money Laundering accusations in 2017 to Hewett's illegal balls in 2016.

Despite these well documented events, Jeff Luke has built this league into the most electrifying putt-putt league in Western New York and quite possibly the world.

His motto is “Be the change you want to see”. He listens to the putters. He makes changes only after hearing all sides. He has lead, not by dictatorship but, by finding common ground. Given all that he has done for the great game of putt-putt and the putters of this league, he has asked for very little.

So when Luke was served papers on the 6th hole of his week-6 round by SCOPIH (Supreme Court of Putter In Hand) member John Coyle and his minion, Shawn Conschafter, Luke was less than pleased with those that went along with Coyle and his clan of thugs.

The issue at hand was Luke's scheduling of tee-times to accommodate not only himself, but others in the league that are deserving of such liberties. The letter served to Luke read: "To qualify for jacket/prizes you must putt between 6:30pm and 7:30pm on the night of the event. Effective 10/1/23."

"As the founder of the league and the commissioner from day one, I have always listened to the putters. I have never hesitated to make a rule change. But this time, this rule request, they can take it all the way up to the Supreme Court of Putter In Hand and it will be vetoed the minute it hits my desk." said Luke in a stern and commanding voice.

"I have served this great league and made it what it is today. If you think I'm going to bow to the likes of Coyle and Conschafter, you're mistaken." Luke continued "And I want to thank them for serving me on the 6th hole of my round. I was 3 over par through 5 holes. I shot lights out finished with a 38+2. Keep serving me and I'll keep draining them...putts and the swamp."

With Luke's 6th place finish he gained 2 points on Cox who finished in 8th place for the 2nd consecutive week to stay in 1st place overall, where he has been for the 6th straight week.

When asked if he was considering a rule change about tee times and qualifying for the jacket and prizes Luke was quick to reply "Yeah, the rule is, I set the tee times. If you make it, you qualify. If you miss it, you don't qualify. It's that simple." When pressed about tee-time requests and what would happen if someone requested a later tee-time he answered "It'll be a case by case situation. If I believe someone is abusing the rule, I'll deny the request. I do what is best for myself and the league. I mean, the league. Not myself. Strike that from the record." Luke abruptly turned and walked away.

In other news…

Rounding out the top-5 is Bryan An with a 38+3. For only the 2nd time in his career, An has scored sub-40 rounds in back-to-back weeks. Despite An's young looks, he will be the first to tell you, he's old. Don't expect him to keep up this pace for another week. Vegas has An at 15-1 to shoot another sub-40 round at the Open in week-7.

Cox and Mike Mondoux are the only two putters this year to not score a round in the 40's. Unfortunately for Mondoux, that has only gotten him to 6th place overall and hasn't sniffed the green jacket in 10 rounds dating back to week-6 last year when he last won a green jacket. Vegas is looking for Mondoux to make a move at the Open as they have him a 3-1 favorite to win in week-7.

Kelly Caito returned to last place in the standings as Alex Keil scores his best round of the year, a 41+0. Keil didn't move far from the basement as he moved up one spot to 31st overall.

The hole-in-one contest did not take place so the pot carriers over.

The Killer Bees, Tom Barbops and Eric Alstrom finished atop the leaderboard in week-6 and now sit tied for 5th overall with Money Inc., Harald Rehm and Joe Jankowski. Strike Force, Joe Neeson and Dom LoVallo moved into 1st place overall as US Express, Chris Wilkinson and Trevor Duffy drop to 2nd. Four teams sit within 10 points of the leader and with four weeks to play, it is anyone's title to win.

With a BAP line of 43+0.5, Lancaster Duo, Joe Jankowski and Jeff Hewett were BAP'ed in week-6 with a 43+0 and 45+0 respectively. These two putters were expecting to be there in the end but shitty rounds by them both saw them ousted in record fashion. Hewett's round was his worse since week-2 of 2018 and Jankowski's was his career worst though he is a rookie this year. Vegas expects both putters to rebound with top-10 finishes at the Open in week-7.

Jason Cox and Jeff Luke sit atop the hole-in-one leaderboard with 10 holes-in-one through six weeks. Bryan An sits alone in 3rd just one hole-in-one behind.

And that middling putter competition for 15th and 16th place money is heating up. Nick Keil sits in 15th while Joe Jankowski and Tim Kazukiewicz are tied for 16th. Seven putters sit within 10 points of the middle position so who knows how that battle will shake out over the next four weeks.

And finally, Shawn Conschafter had a record hallway putt, missing a hole-in-one by just a few inches. Conschafter isn't known for his hallway putting as, by that time, he's usually not at his best.