Okay Fellas,

Here is how we finished for the last tournament for the year. Congratulation to Jerry Thompson for playing very consistent; shooting a 45 out and 44 in for an 89 with a net 70 score to take the Championship at the Quarry. Nicely done my friend. Raul also shot an 89 gross score but had to give up one stroke to Jerry to post a net score of 71. Rounding out the top three was the Commish. Mario shot a 47/46 gross 93 with a net score of 72. Way to finish strong guys!!!

Congratulation again to Victor Darnold for accumulating enough points for the year to take home the Traveler’s Cup Points Champion for 2018!!!  It was great watching you play this year my friend. Vic Dawg showed again that playing well in the Majors is a proven formula for success. Vic Dawg won 3 of the 5 Major tournaments this year. The first was at Brackenridge where he had a hole in one (#15 I think) in a practice round the week before. He used that practice to beat the field by 5 strokes. The second was at Cedar Creek where he won by one stroke to take the win. Following his win at the Palmer Course two week prior, Vic Dawg saved his best work for the last Major of the year at Northern Hills by beating his closest competitors by 14 strokes. Vic Dawg won 4 tournaments this year to win the Traveler’s Cup Points Championship by $325,000. Great job Vic! It is well deserved!!

I think that it was a very competitive year. It was a battle right down to the end with Carlos Cantu and Joe Loya for second place. Joe had the lead going into the final tournament at the Quarry; with only $5,000 difference between them. They were in the final paring together and were trading blows all the way up until the 15th hole where Carlos nudged ahead.  Carlos ended up finishing 3 spots ahead of Joe and won second place for the year by only $20,000 difference. Both of these players won tournaments this year.  (Carlos at Delaware Springs and La Cantera – Resort Course, a Joe at Star Ranch) Joe was able to keep it competitive with a total of 10 top 4 finished for the year.  This was the most among the top 5 players. (Victor Darnold – 4, Carlos Cantu – 7, Ramiro Longoria – 7, and Steve Copp – 6,) Looking at the stats… I have got to say that Ram played really well coming up short 6 times from winning a tournament this year. He lost 2 tiebreakers for first place this year, one to Scott Bowling at Fair Oaks and one to Carlos Cantu at La Cantera – Resort Course; he was only one stroke back of Vic Dawg at the Major at Cedar Creek and came in second place in 3 other tournaments. Nicely done my friend!!

Well we had another tie at the end of the round for first place between the Commish (Mario Perez) and John Pittman. The course allowed us to go back out to determine our Champion.

Playoff Hole #1 (a par 4, 366 yd., # 17 Handicap)

Both players hit good tee shots into the fairway and both players were just off the green on their approach shots. The Commish was off the green on the right and John was just in front of the green. The Commish lined up his 60 ft. chip and rolled it just past the hole that ended up just off the green about 10 ft. away. John lined up his 50 ft. chip that ended up about 5 ft.  short and to the right of the hole. The Commish was out and if you haven’t played with Mario he doesn’t take much time. He lined it up and rolled it right in. John now had a testy 5 footer to tie the match and move on to the next hole. He lined it up and rolled it right in.

Playoff Hole #2 (a par 5, 513 yd., # 7 Handicap, the green slopes back to front and right to left.)

Again, both players hit good tee shots, but the Commish took an extra stroke to get to the green. The  Commish was above the hole long and about 20 ft. away in 4 strokes and John was on the green and right of the hole about 12 ft. away laying 3. What happened next was cool to watch. The Commish was looking at a testy downhill chip to save par. He lined it up and gave it a good roll but ran it just past the hole that just seemed to just keep rolling and rolling… to stop about 15 ft. away. You could feel the crowd moan!! The Commish was still away so he walked right over to his ball lined it up and drained the 15 footer for a bogie.  Boom!!! Just like that, the crowd went wild!!! The heat was on John now to get up and down for the win. John lined his putt up and put a good stroke on it but came up about 3 ft. short. He lined the next putt up but read too much break into it and left it just outside the cup for a tap in bogie to tie the match.    

Playoff Hole #3 (a par 3, 504 yd., # 11 Handicap)

I believe that John hit first and hit his tee shot down the middle that ended up just short in front. This was okay because the green sloped back to front and the pin was up. The Commish hit next and he ended up pin high but just off to the right. John had about a 20 ft. shot that he elected to putt. He rolled it up nicely but was about 4 ft. short. I don’t remember if the Commish chipped or putted his next shot, but it rolled up to the cup about 2 ft. away. John lined his uphill putt up and knocked it in for the par.  The Commish just needed to roll his putt in to extend the match, but unfortunately he left it just outside the cup on the high side. John Pittman was declared the Champion. Congratulations John!!  It was a well-deserved win!!!

Now to the updated Standings for the year… we need to congratulate Victor Darnold for accumulating enough points (his total $2,685,000, $405,000 in front of 2nd place) to shut out the field for the year. He will be officially crowned the 2018 Traveler Cup Point Champion at the Quarry our last tournament of the year. WELL DONE MY VIC DAWG!!! You earned it!!

Okay here are the final numbers for The Bandit.  Congratulations to the Commish (Mario Perez) on taking home the win. Mario was the only player to post a net score under par. He shot a 49 on the front and a 44 on the back for a net 71 score. Way to go Commish!! Ram and John Tirey tied for second place with net 75 scores and Jack Shaffer had the lowest gross score of 85 for a net 76 to take 4th place. Nicely done Fellas!!

Vic "Dawg" continues to lead the overall standings for the year. With Carlos, Joe, and Ram the only guys able to catch him. They are $440,000, $500,000 and $510,000 off the lead respectively. 

Congratulation to Jack Shaffer for winning at Randolph Oaks last weekend. Jack shot a very consistent round of  40 on the front and 40 on the back for a total score of 80 and a net score of 73 to take the win. Nicely done Jack. Rounding out the top three were John Tirey and Jerry Thompson shooting net 75 scores to tie for second place.

Victor Darnold still leads the Tour for the year with $2,585,000. We have 5 players that mathematically still have a chance to catch Vic Dawg. (Carlos Cantu, Joe Loya, Steve Copp, Ramiro Longoria, and Ron Tatsch) Yes Tiger you still have a shot of tying Vic Dawg. If you win all three of the tournaments remaining and Vic Dawg finishes no better than 13th in all three you guys would tie for the year. It’s a long shot, but mathematically you are alive my friend.

Two day tournament 5th Major

Congratulations to Victor Darnold for taking the win at the La Cantera Palmer Course yesterday. This make it 3 wins (2 Majors and this one) this year for Vic Dawg. Well done my friend!!
 
Vic Dawg shot a net 73 to edge out Ron "Tiger" Tatsch by 3 strokes. Joe Loya and the Commish (Mario Perez) finished out the top  three spots. Both shot net 78 scores.
 
Victor reclaimed the lead by $30,000 over Carlos with Joe and Ram just 250,000 or less back. Tiger and I still have a shot, but we really need to be on our game the way these top 4 players are playing.
 
Here is how we finished yesterday. Next up is our last Major of the year at Northern Hill in two weeks.
 
See you guys then,
Steve Copp

Okay Fellas here are the final numbers for Star Ranch.
 
Congratulation to Mr. Loya for shooting the low round for the day and taking the win!! Joe shot 44 on the front and 38 on the back for an 82, net 69 round to win by one stroke over John Pittman’s and Gabe Martinez’s net 70 scores. Jerry Thompson had a net 72 with Ron “Tiger” Tatsch and Mario “The Commish” Perez shooting net 73 scores. Nicely done Fellas!!
 
Joe catapulted into the top 4 spots for the year with this win. Carlos continues to remain on top at $1,865,000 with Vic Dawg just $200,000 off the lead and Ram and Joe are only $210,000 and $230,000 back, respectively. Heck… the top 10 players still have a shot at taking the title this year. Very competitive this year. I LIKE IT!! I am looking forward to getting back out there and competing.
 
Here is how everyone finished and our updated totals. Be safe and see you guy in a few weeks at La Cantera – The Palmer Course.
 
Steve

REVISION:  Okay here are the revised (the Tatsch’d and re-a-Tatsch’d as Vic Dawg calls it) Final numbers. Sorry for the confusion.
 
Congratulations Vic Dawg!! With this win it places you in a tie for second place with Ram just $260,000 back of Carlos. There are several of us still in striking distance.

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ORIGINAL POSTING:

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Okay Fellas we had a slight adjustment to what was originally posted. Well… yes that means someone was “Tatsch’d”. This time it happens to be Vic Dawg. There was a slight miscalculation in totaling out his final round. Vic shot a 49/47 for a 96 for a net sore of 71. His two day totals were 79 & 71 for a total score of 150. That means Mr. Ram Longoria is our 4th Major Champion. It looks like Ram turned it around on day two shooting 42/42 for an 82 that netted to a 68 score. That was 13 strokes better than what he shot on day one. His two day total was a 149 that edged out three other players (Mr Cantu, Mr. Darnold, and Mr. Diaz DeLeon) by one stroke.  Nicely done Ram!! Congratulations!!
 
Carlos Cantu continues play well and is leading our standings with $1,915,000. Ram Longoria and Steve Copp are not too far behind with several other players Joe Loya, Victor Darnold, Ron Tatsch, John Tirey, and Corky Diaz DeLoen still in striking distance.  Carlos and Ram have been playing the most consistent this year. This is Ram’s first win of the year with four 2nd place finishes and Carlos has finished 1st twice this year with three 2nd place finishes. Good job guys!!
 
On a more personal note… I would like to thank all of you for your kind words and prayers for Shari and me for our loss of my father-in-law Ron on Saturday morning. He will be missed!!
 
Here are the totals for the tournament and our updated standings.
 
Steve

Congratulations to Travis Michaud on his second win this year. Travis shot a 45 on the front and a 42 on the back for an 87 that gave him a net 65 score for the win. Nicely done!! We had 4 other players shoot net scores under par. (John Tirey 82/66 for 2nd place, Gabe Martinez 87/67 for 3rd place, Robert Funk 82/70 and Joe Loya 83/70 tied for 4th place) Here is what everyone shoot and our updated standings for the year.
 
Next up is our major at Cedar Creek. Hope to see everyone there.
 
Update on my feather-in-law Ron. We had to move him back to the main Methodist Hospital yesterday evening. He has congestive heart failure that we are trying to get under control. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!!
 
Steve

Okay guys here is how we finished for our 3rd Major of the year at Riverside.
 
We had a three way tie for first place with a total two day score of 131 between Kevin Starry, Corky Diaz DeLeon, and Carlos Cantu. These guys and really the next 5 players, Joe Loya (135), Ram Longoria (135), Ron Tatsch (137), John Pittman (137) and Raul Medelin (140) all posted excellent scores for the two day tournament. Each of these players shot a net score under par on both days. Nicely done gentlemen!!!
 
Okay let’s get to the playoff. It only took one hole for Carlos, Corky or Kevin to claim the Championship title. We started on hole # 1, a par 5 that plays 505 from the white tees. This is the #3 Handicap hole at Riverside that requires an accurate tee shot off the box if you plan on going for it in two. These guys had a good breeze behind them so they could grip it and rip it… and they did!! Kevin started them off. He pushed his tee shot just a bit down the right side tree line but had a slight opening that required a fade shot to get past the trees on the right. Carlos was up next and crushed one down the left center of the fairway that ended up in great shape. Corky also hit a great tee shot that ended up down the right side of the fairway. With the tail wind that was blowing these guys must have been between 230 to 210 out (if not less) from the center of the green. Kevin was away and didn’t waist any time. He lined it up and hit a great fade shot that ended up in the left side bunker. Carlos hit next and did the same thing by placing his shot in the left side bunker. Corky was up next. He lined his shot up and swung away, but unfortunately he looked up a bit and topped the ball forward about 80 yards or so, to the right just past some trees.  Corky was still away with about a 120 – 130 yard shot to the pin. He lined it up and nailed it to within 10 - 12 ft. I didn’t see Carlo’s next shot, but it ended up just outside the bunker about 60ft. away from the hole. Kevin was up next to hit out of the bunker and he executed the shot well. It ended up about 5 ft. away for the birdie attempt. Carlos was away and took dead aim at the cup. The juices must have been flowing because he rolled his uphill chip about 15 ft. past. He was still away so he lined his putt up (a tricky little downhill slider) and gave it a roll. It ended up just past the hole which he taped in for a bogey 6. Corky new that he had to make his 12 footer to put the pressure on Kevin. He lined it up but it stayed on the top side and did not go in. He taped it in for his par. The Championship was at hand… all that Kevin needed to do is drain this 5 footer for the birdie. He did!! Congratulation Kevin on a very solid two days of golf and an excellent playoff hole for the win!! Nicely Done!!
 
Here is how everyone finished and our updated totals for the year.
 
Carlos and I keep flip flopping back and forth for the lead. I will get him next time. We have 6 players now that have broken the $1,000.000 mark for the year. A lot of golf left… looks to be very very interesting!!!
 
Thanks guys,
 
Steve
 

Congratulation to Mike Rittimann on his second win this season. Mike posted a net 75 score to take the win. Good job Mike! It was a bit windy on Saturday and our scores showed it. Travis Michaud came in second with a net 77 score and we a 5 way tie between Steve Copp, Jerry Thompson, John Pittman, John Tirey, and Scott Bowling, for third place with a net 78 score.

I believe the our top 5 spots for the year stayed the same. I managed to hang on to first place with Carlos, Ram, Tiger, and Victor not that far behind. Next up is our third major of the year at Riverside. Look forward to seeing everyone out there.

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Steve Copp

Okay guys first off Happy Father’s day to all you dads out there!! I hope you had a great day!!
 
Here are the final numbers and updated standings. This is about the quickest turnaround I have done to get the numbers out. I am leaving out of town tomorrow for St. Louis until next Sunday and didn’t think yawl should wait until then.
 
In a nut shell… I had a pretty good two day of golf shooting an 81/net 60 on day 1 and a 79/net 58 on day 2 for a total score of 118 for the tournament. That was good enough to take first place. Everything just seem to click on both days. It was fun fighting off Ron (Tiger Tatsch) and Raul today.  Here is how everyone finished.
 
See yawl in a few weeks.
 
Steve

Congratulation to Carlos Cantu on his second win this year. He shot 46, 47 for a 93 gross and a net score of 71. We had 24 players in the field this week so nicely done my friend!

Ram Longoria also had a net 71 score and the low gross score of the day with an 88. I believe that this is the third time Ram has tied for the lead in regulation (Fair Oaks, Silverhorn, and La Cantera Resort) and had to go to the cards or had gone to a hole by hole playoff. I did not see the playoff, but I understand that Ram got into a little trouble on the left side on hole #1 and Carlos ended up paring the hole for the win.

Here is how everyone finished and our updated standings. There was a lot of movement at the to of the standing again. Next up is our second Major of the year at Willow Springs.

Hope to see everyone there.

Steve Copp

Congratulation to Mike Rittimann for shooting 85 that gave him a net 59 score that blew away the field by 8 strokes. We had 10 players to shoot under par along with Mike, notability John Pittman and Gabe Martinez with net 67 and 68 net scores respectively. Steve, Mario, and Travis all had net 69 scores with Joe and Ron posting net 70 scores. Raul and Carlos also came in under par with net 71 scores. Nicely done gentleman!!
 
We also had some movement atop the leader board this week. Three player finally knocked Scott off the top tier. I have taken the top spot with Carlos only $10,000 and Joe only $25,000 off the lead. I don’t intend to give up the top spot, but the way everyone is playing you never know.

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STEVE COPP

Congratulations to Travis Michaud for shooting a net 5 under par 67 to nudge out the three other competitors (Ram, Carlos, and Rodrigo) that were tied for the lead with a one under par net scores of 71s until Mr. Michaud posted his score!! Nicely done Travis!!
 
It is getting pretty tight atop the leader board with 4 players (Carlos, Victor, Joe, and Steve) just $40,000 or less behind our current leader Scott Bowling. We have had 6 tournaments so far this year with 6 different tournament champions. Great job guys.

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STEVE COPP

Okay, we had another Tie for first place between Bernie Averett and Corky Diaz DeLeon who both shot a net score of 71. Congratulations to Bernie who won the tiebreaker on hole number 1.
 
Things are getting pretty tight at the top of the 2018 leader board. There are only 70,000 points or less between 1st and 4th place. Vic Dawg is still in the lead with Scott Bowling just 30,000 points back. Mr Joe Loya has made up a lot of ground by taking 3rd, 2nd, and 4th place in the last three tournaments. He is in the third spot that is only 35,0000 point behind the leader. Mr. Steve Copp is in the fourth spot that is only 70,000 point back. It looks to be a very interesting year.

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STEVE COPP

Congratulation to Vic “Mr. Hole In One” Darnold for shooting a net 131 total score (69 & 62) for the two days!! Nicely done Vic Dawg!!! For those of you who don’t know Mr. Darnold holed one out in a practice round at Brackenrdge a week and a half ago, on hole # 15. I hear that is was a great shot that nobody saw. The hole plays up hill and is slightly sloped so they did not see it go in the hole, but when they got to the green, there were three on the green and one in the hole. Nice!!
 
Finishing out the top three were Mr. Joe Loya and myself (Mr. Steve Copp) finishing 2nd and 3rd with net scores of 136 (70 & 66) and 137 (68 & 69) respectively. Honorable mention has to go to Mr. Ron Tatsch. Ron came in 4th place shooting a net total score of 139 (80 & 59). Mr. Tatsch had a rough go of it on day one, but definitely turned it around on day two by shooting a 39 on the front and a 36 on the back for a gross score of 75 and a net score of 59. Way to go Tiger!!
 
It is getting pretty tight a the top of the leaderboard. There is less than $145,000 between the top 6 players and our new leader Vic Dawg who is now sitting at $658,000 for the year.

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STEVE COPP

Our 2015 Travelers Cup Champion Carlos Cantu made his presents know at Delaware Spring last weekend. Carlos shot a net 67 score that was 8 strokes better than the rest of the field for the win. Congratulation Carlos!! Nicely done!! Ram Longoria shot a net 75 score to take second place and Joe Loya and Raul Medelin both shot net 76 scores to tie for third place. With this win Carlos is not tied with Scott Bowling for first place with Ram and Tirey not that far behind. Our next tournament up is our first major of the year at Breckenridge Park on April 7th & 8th. I hope to see everyone there.

STEVE COPP

 

Congratulations to John Tirey for shooting a net score of 65 to take the Championship by one stroke over Scott Bowling and Rodrigo Ortiz who both shot net 66 scores. We had a very good turnout with 20 players in the field.

Scott Bowling continues to stay in the lead in the Tour standings with his win at Fair Oaks Ranch and placing second at Landa Park. Tirey jumped into second place with Ram and Rodrigo not too far behind. There is still a lot of golf to be played.

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STEVE COPP

Congratulation to Scott Bowling for the first win of the year. We only had two players (Scott Bowling and Ramiro Longoria) shoot under par and they both tied for first place. We had to go back out on the course to determine our champion. The number one hole on the Live Oaks Course is a Par 5 495 yard from the blue tees and 471 from the white tees. This hole is a dogleg right and then back slightly to the left as you approach the green; with houses and OB all along the right side of the fairway. Unfortunately Ram did not start off as well as he would have like, by slicing his first shot off the box out of bounds on the right. He was playing catch up from the get go. Scott placed his tee shot down the middle of the fairway. Hi second shot was off to the right about 130 out. Scott did give Ram some hope by placing his third shot into the first sand bunker to the left of the green. If Ram could only nail his approach shot close to the pin he would have been there in five with Scott not on the green laying 3. Ram gave it a go, but the juices must have been flowing because he hit it long and just off the green. Scott got out of the bunker just fine and two putted for a 6 to seal the win. Nicely done Mr. Bowling!!

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STEVE COPP