From two days of golf to horse racing victories (again!), the JSFL's 38th annual draft weekend was one to remember
By Shooter McGavin
Correspondent
I sure hope everyone got home safe from an incredible weekend in Del Mar. Raging Torrent broke for the lead, fought off a furious challenge by Chosen Vron and galloped to first in the Pat O’Brien Stakes and laid claim to an automatic bid to The Breeders Cup in November in Del Mar. Make your travel plans accordingly. And, as a 50-to-1 dog, who knows?
Matty from the Natti (aka Matt McCumber), again, welcome to the league. As you will find out, Ron and I will write about anything and everything that happens (or does not happen … if it is a slow week, we will just make stuff up) in the JSFL. I get the distinct honor of sharing the highs and many lows of the Friday and Saturday doubleheader on the golf course. This year, we got six brave souls who voluntarily sacrificed a safe day at home to humiliate themselves in front of friends, enemies and other lunatics at two interesting courses.
Next year, our 39th year of existence, we have heard from our sources we have an inside track to getting aboard Torrey Pines. If you are at all interested in Friday of real frustration on the turf along the surf, let one of us lunatics know.
The recap of the draft will be posted later this week as soon as I come out of my sleep-deprived haze and after Jeff posts the draft results (Ron and I usually do it, but not this year ... sorry).
The Vineyard at Escondido: I was pleasantly surprised by this track. The surprises started at check-in when they charged me only $44 for that day on the green. Apparently, The Vineyard does not advertise its senior rate and since I flipped the calendar on my 65th year on this planet in April, I was pulling $80 from my wallet when the dude at the counter said, “Put the rest of that away, sir.” I wanted to slap him for the age-based slight, but gladly used the leftover cash for a burger at the turn. Good trade. He also just assumed Ron was a senior, so he also got the hefty discount a full three years ahead of schedule.
Matty and I were in one cart with John and Jordan in our foursome. Ron and Bob were in another cart with a single who bailed at the turn.
Matty, the new “rookie,” beat me by two strokes on the front 9. He carded a 42 with some stellar shots coming home. It should have been lower. He missed a tap-in (I was willing to concede to him on 9). Despite my birdie on 4, I started showing some travel weariness and faded to a 44. We don’t give a crap what Ron and Bob shot. John and Jordan kept their own card and have vowed silence.
At the turn, we joined up as a sixsome and played scramble. Good thing. The back 9 was a lot tougher than the front, and hillier. Just a brutal back 9 if you tried playing it on your own.
And, the 1-and-half-hour return grind on I-15 promised by Jeff (horrible traffic on a Friday afternoon, we were warned) was pure hogwash. We stopped for ice coffees and beer for later and sailed home, back in the barn well before our dinner reservation at Seaside.
Jordan Garcia drops the first of his birdie putts on the front nine at Lomas Santa Fe.
Pre-Draft Scramble, Lomas Santa Fe Golf Course: Saturday morning, we returned to one of our favorite executive tracks and were hoping to get enough holes to make it worthwhile before the draft started at 11. The pace was brisk and we were back in our cars shortly after 10 and had no problem getting back to Del Mar before the 11 a.m. draft.
There was one downside this year: the truly revolting smell coming from some of the ponds on the back 9.
Matty stayed home that morning but Chuck hoofed it down early and was there to pair up with Bob, leaving John, Jordan, Ron and myself in the featured group of the morning. And, the birdies were raining down out of the heavens all morning. We played a four-person scramble from the start – we finished with six in all.
Ron buried three of the birdie putts, Jordan sunk two, and John and I drained the other two.
“Be sure to note all of those birdies were accidental,” Ron said this morning. “I volunteered to be the first one to putt so the rest of you talented people would have an initial read.”
And, Ron added, “I almost sunk two others (also by accident).”
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