Golf, Friends, Beers and Collapses
The inaugural Bust That Apple Cup took place in Myrtle Beach, SC March 20-23, 2014. The Cup pitted Team Shirts, consisting of Ron Mitko (Captain), Chris Varacallo, Zach Egnot and Nick Fiorilli versus Team Blouses which included Shaun Pfeil (Captain), Nate Hopkins, Sam Mann, and Mike Trumpower. The participants could not have asked for better weather for the Cup as each day had highs in the 60s and lows in the 50s and no rain fell during competition hours. The Cup was won by a very slim margin of 5 ½ to 4 ½ by team Shirts. All matches had highs and lows, but the story of the Cup was team blouses inability to close out 2 separate matches in which they led by 3 with 5 holes to play.
Day 1 – Myrtle Beach National Golf Club
The first day featured 36 holes of gruesome competition beginning with 2 Man Scramble Matches. The maiden match featured the Blouses' Shaun Pfeil and Nate Hopkins versus the Shirts' Ron Mitko and Nick Fiorilli. Pfeil and Hopkins were considered heavy favorites in the match and jumped out to a commanding lead after 9 holes by shooting a 2-under par 34 which featured 3 birdies. Mitko and Fiorilli continued to weather the storm and as the match started to tighten, animosity started to grow between teammates Hopkins and Pfeil. On hole 15 Pfeil struck an errant tee shot leaving Hopkins with a decision to either play it safe and get the ball in play, or grip it and rip it as Hopkins prefers. Hopkins grabbed the driver, took a wild swing, and shipped the ball out of bounds. TV cameras caught Hopkins scolding Pfeil, saying that he "really needed" Pfeil to be in the fairway there. Despite being down 3 with 5 holes to play, Mitko and Fiorilli used some solid play and hostility between their opponents to shoot a back nine 36 and halve the match with Hopkins and Pfeil.
The second Scramble Match featured team Shirts' Chris Varacallo and Zach Egnot against team Blouses' Mike Trumpower and Sam Mann. Unlike the opening match, team Shirts were considered heavy favorites but strong play from the Blouses gave them an early lead. Mann and Trumpower played excellent team golf as each player did a fantastic job in the clutch when their teammate hit an errant shot. Mann and Trumpower also had the strongest putting performance of the Cup as they made putts from all over the course. Egnot commented, "I think Sam just made a putt from Tennessee." Although team Blouses was red hot, team Shirts once again stayed calm and stayed in the match. The back 9 was an entirely different story as Egnot and Varacallo dropped 3 birdies and shot a 2-under 34. Mann and Trumpower simply could not keep pace and Egnot and Varacallo won easily. When asked about his opponents after the match, Varacallo simply replied, "They are who we thought they were."
After the morning session, the teams dined (Hopkins had his chicken tenders medium-rare) and the afternoon matches were set. On the ominous King's North course the best ball matches would feature Mitko and Fiorilli versus Mann and Pfeil and Egnot and Varacallo versus Hopkins and Trumpower.
The story of the afternoon session was Nate Hopkins, who fired a Cup-low 85 on a very challenging golf course to carry his team to an easy victory in the penultimate match of the day. The other match went back and forth, but eventually Mitko and Fiorilli grabbed a substantial lead and hung on without breaking much of a sweat. Fiorilli proved to be the MVP of the match as we won 3 straight holes to close the front 9 for team Shirts. Fiorilli's only comment on his play to close the front 9 was, "What happened? I blacked out."
The standings after Day 1 had Team Shirts out to a slight 2 ½ to 1 ½ advantage.
Day 2 – Myrtlewood Golf Club
The day 2 matches featured the always-interesting alternate shot format. In the opening match, Pfeil teamed up with Trumpower to take on Mitko and Fiorilli. Mitko and Fiorilli took a commanding 3 hole lead early mainly due to the poor play of Trumpower which included a tee shot that traveled behind him. Pfeil had all sorts of interesting positions to play from but stayed positive and kept Trumpower from turning into the Incredible Hulk. The match took a turn in favor of the Blouses on hole #4 as Pfeil buried his tee shot into the greenside bunker, leaving Trumpower with what seemed like an impossible shot. Trumpower, playing with 1 foot in and 1 foot out of the bunker, miraculously freed the ball from the bunker and placed it within 15 feet of the hole. Pfeil then drilled the putt and the tides shifted in favor of team Blouses. Pfeil and Trumpower had a lead as late as hole 11, but then folded like a cheap tent down the stretch as Fiorilli and Mitko cruised to an easy victory after 17 holes.
The match of the day and quite possibly the match of the cup was the Hopkins and Mann versus Varacallo and Egnot alternate shot match. Hopkins continued his strong play and Mann really struck the ball well off the tee to provide team Blouses with a substantial lead early in the match. Their strong play led Hopkins and team Blouses into a familiar situation, a 3 up lead with 5 holes to play. Hole 14 was halved, and Varacallo and Egnot had their backs against the wall now being down 3 with only 4 holes to play. Team Shirts then stormed back winning 15, 16, and 17 which included a long, bending putt from Egnot who admittedly had not been putting well at all through the first 2 days of competition. The teams then marched to the 18th hole all square and some serious drama ensued.
Both Varacallo and Mann hit solid tee shots near the fairway which left Egnot and Hopkins to hit the approach shots for their respective teams. When asked about the tee shot, Varacallo stated, "I've played a ton of baseball and basketball games in my life, but I was never as nervous as I was on the 18th tee today." Egnot played his shot first and hit a solid 5 iron just short of the green in the rough, which left Varacallo with lots of green to work with on his chip. Hopkins shot looked great off of the club, but fell just short of the green and came to rest in a greenside bunker. Varacallo played first and was disappointed in his efforts, leaving Egnot a very long, uphill par putt. Mann set up in the bunker but then asked his playing partner for advice. Hopkins advised Mann to swing hard which lead to Mann taking a gargantuan swing, and leaving the ball in the bunker for Hopkins. Hopkins played the ball out of the trap, but was still far from the hole, with their 5th shot upcoming. Egnot was next to play and hit his putt just about halfway to the hole which was still a long way for Varacallo who was waiting to hit their 5th shot. Mann and Varacallo both hit subpar 5th shots to leave their teams with challenging putts for a double bogey. It seemed that no one wanted to win this 18th hole, but after the 6th shot it was clear who had the bigger stones and would lead his team to victory. Egnot putted first and once again made a very clutch bender for team Shirts. This left a pressure-filled putt for Hopkins to halve the hole and the match and keep team Blouses in serious contention for Sunday's singles matches. Hopkins left the putt to the left of the hole and team Shirts rejoiced as they had swept the alternate shot matches and took a commanding 4 ½ to 1 ½ lead going into "Singles Sunday." Team Blouses would now need to win all 4 matches on Sunday to win the inaugural BTA Cup. After the alternate shot matches concluded, both teams enjoyed a lunch at Hooters, and multiple reporters tried to contact Pfeil for comment, but he could not be distracted from giving a series of pervy looks to the waitresses.
Day 3 – Blackmoor Golf Club
The first Bust That Apple Cup concluded on day 3 with 4 singles matches at Blackmoor Golf Club. The matches were as follows: Mitko vs. Hopkins, Pfeil vs. Varacallo, Egnot vs. Mann and Fiorilli vs. Trumpower. Team Blouses had their backs against the wall, needed to win at least 3 ½ points to force a tie in the BTA Cup. When asked if he gave his team any rousing speeches in order to fire them up to win the matches, Blouses Captain Shaun Pfeil replied, "There are no rah-rah speeches needed, we know what we have to do." Reporters asked the same question to Mitko, who gave a different answer. "I've given multiple inspiring speeches throughout the week and I really think it's helped our team," Mitko said. Pfeil's strategy seemed to work as the Blouses took early leads in all 4 singles matches.
The blouses were able to hang on and win 3 of the 4 matches for the day, but Hopkins was unable to hold on to his early lead and lost to Mitko with multiple holes to play. The victory by Mitko clinched the inaugural Bust That Apple Cup for team Shirts, and lead to a celebration by all participants on the 18th tee at Blackmoor. The final standings stood at 5 ½ to 4 ½ as team Shirts hung on to what once was a commanding lead. As team Shirts celebrated, team Blouses were left questioning what if. Pfeil, Trumpower and Mann questioned some of their own shots and execution while Hopkins offered the following quote, "If my teammates would have played better, my team would have won."
All in all the 2014 BTA Cup was a great success featuring lots of beers, sunshine, and terribly played golf. Many participants have already committed to participate in next years' cup which will tentatively be held from March 18-22, 2015 and has been deemed "The Battle of the Grooms," as Pfeil and Trumpower will captain teams prior to their 2015 nuptials.
Final Statistics
Shirts 5 ½ – Blouses 4 ½
Shirts: Mitko 3-0-1 · Fiorilli 2-1-1 · Varacallo 2-2 · Egnot 2-2
Blouses: Trumpower 2-2 · Pfeil 1-2-1 · Hopkins 1-2-1 · Mann 1-3
Low individual round: Hopkins, 85 at Myrtle Beach National, King's North