Peter Park phoned the home office of this blog a few days prior to Round One and boldly declared that he would win. Then on Saturday, he went out and did just that. Will wonders ever cease? Hot off the heels of huge wins in his annual NCAA pool and last year's Superbowl pool, Peter I-simply-refuse-to-lose Park has seen a change in fortunes mirrored in these parts only by the 2009 Toronto Blue Jays. In 2010, we should see Peter start the season with a handi in the 80's and appropriately so. Remember, you read it here first.
FTF would like to extend a warm welcome to the '09 JMT rookie class. Chully, Allen, Michael Chang, and Dr. Hyo- congratulations on achieving full card status on one of the few world-class golf tours still in operation.
And as we do every year in the blog's first edition of the season, we bid a bittersweet fairwell to those who have left us for supposedly greener fairways... Tom, we hardly knew ye, and DongNyung-- come and have a burger every other Saturday at Jackie's place...
Monday, April 20, 2009
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Dark Side of the Moon
The whole business of doling out handicaps was going to be a bit of dicey business- this was one of life's little inevitabilities- not quite like death and taxes- but something like that...
Elder K and Elder Statesman (RL) had tracked their golf scores in their other golf lives- but very few if any other members of the tour had ever engaged in that process. Jackie was confident with only 4 handicaps he had set even into week 8 (event 4). He had to feel pretty good about Peter's, Roy's, John's, and his own handis- because he had played enough golf with this subgroup of players in his lifetime to reasonably predict their relative scores. The only member of this group that got screwed was Peter. Over the course of 2 dozen or more rounds Peter had consistently played 1 to 3 strokes higher than Mike and John. (In fact in Jackie's original handicap configuration Peter's handi was a full 3 strokes higher than Mike and John- too bad Peter missed the first round and couldn't take advantage of the opportunity.)
The others were going to be harder to calibrate. For the K brothers, Jackie had a only small window of observation and needed to rely heavily on the reports from each brother as to their relative golfing prowess. Add to that the counsel of JMT rule guru RL, and Jackie settled on matching handicaps for the Koyamas. Jason was left shaking his head and Elder K could be seen smirking behind a plate of crab legs as Jackie confirmed that they would share a handicap after round one. Young K was betrayed by his own sweet swing which probably influenced Jackie in this decision. On the first tee at Rolling Hills, John and Mike stood watching as Young K got off his tee shot. They marvelled at the sweet fluid motion, which wound up dooming Young K to a season of perpetual frustration.
It wasn't until the 5th event of the year that Margie and DYoung had scores that varied from each other. Fittingly they shared a handicap that has received the greatest attention on the tour. Given that Margy goes into the final event as the tour's highest ranked player and that DYoung has scored a major victory, the controversy is not surprising. But consider this. Prior to Lowville, Jackie posted probable handicap changes for '09. Margy and DYoung's handicap would change by one stroke COMBINED. All the other golfers can whine and complain, but this is hard evidence that Jackie got their handicaps right all along.
For all the moaning and handicap complaining, also consider that the average change in handicap for the eight players mentioned above is two strokes. Given how difficult setting fair handicaps was going to be at the outset of the tour- Jackie and his advisors deserve a pat on their collective backs for their work in this regard as well.
As per rules and regulations/policies and procedures histroy may not be as kind- that'll be the next stop on this little judgemnet train.
(Tom was not mentioned- but he deserves a blog posting all of his own-so we'll save that for another day.)
Elder K and Elder Statesman (RL) had tracked their golf scores in their other golf lives- but very few if any other members of the tour had ever engaged in that process. Jackie was confident with only 4 handicaps he had set even into week 8 (event 4). He had to feel pretty good about Peter's, Roy's, John's, and his own handis- because he had played enough golf with this subgroup of players in his lifetime to reasonably predict their relative scores. The only member of this group that got screwed was Peter. Over the course of 2 dozen or more rounds Peter had consistently played 1 to 3 strokes higher than Mike and John. (In fact in Jackie's original handicap configuration Peter's handi was a full 3 strokes higher than Mike and John- too bad Peter missed the first round and couldn't take advantage of the opportunity.)
The others were going to be harder to calibrate. For the K brothers, Jackie had a only small window of observation and needed to rely heavily on the reports from each brother as to their relative golfing prowess. Add to that the counsel of JMT rule guru RL, and Jackie settled on matching handicaps for the Koyamas. Jason was left shaking his head and Elder K could be seen smirking behind a plate of crab legs as Jackie confirmed that they would share a handicap after round one. Young K was betrayed by his own sweet swing which probably influenced Jackie in this decision. On the first tee at Rolling Hills, John and Mike stood watching as Young K got off his tee shot. They marvelled at the sweet fluid motion, which wound up dooming Young K to a season of perpetual frustration.
It wasn't until the 5th event of the year that Margie and DYoung had scores that varied from each other. Fittingly they shared a handicap that has received the greatest attention on the tour. Given that Margy goes into the final event as the tour's highest ranked player and that DYoung has scored a major victory, the controversy is not surprising. But consider this. Prior to Lowville, Jackie posted probable handicap changes for '09. Margy and DYoung's handicap would change by one stroke COMBINED. All the other golfers can whine and complain, but this is hard evidence that Jackie got their handicaps right all along.
For all the moaning and handicap complaining, also consider that the average change in handicap for the eight players mentioned above is two strokes. Given how difficult setting fair handicaps was going to be at the outset of the tour- Jackie and his advisors deserve a pat on their collective backs for their work in this regard as well.
As per rules and regulations/policies and procedures histroy may not be as kind- that'll be the next stop on this little judgemnet train.
(Tom was not mentioned- but he deserves a blog posting all of his own-so we'll save that for another day.)
JMT: Golf Tour or American Daytime Talk Show Fodder?!?
Perhaps the JMT is a microcosm for all sport- and could well serve a 2nd year sociology course to help explain why there's so much money available to grown men playing games. Really, does it makes sense that a 32 year old be paid $15,000,000 to play baseball for a few months? Sports is the background for human drama, a medium that generates emotion unimagineable until it starts to actually appear.
Case Study for first Semester: The Kingpin, Jackie Moon himself.
Although most tour members are at least somewhat aware of why Jackie invented the tour in the first place, most fans of the league are in the dark regarding the original motivation. It was a gesture of friendship, an act of compassion coupled by some natural tendencies of pioneering, and leadership. That this description lacks any meaningful detail is intentional. The ideas mentioned are significant. This is the side of Jackie that faces east in the morning. The JMT was not a brainchild of Jackie's- this undertaking was born in his heart.
A project as large in scope and ambition as a nine-member, 13 event golf tour should not be underestimated. Securing membership turned out to be a fairly simple process, and there's already reason to believe the tour will grow in its sophmore year. Figuring out a schedule came easily enough. The first event co-incided with the start of the season and the bi-weekly schedule made sense for many reasons. Jackie can be applauded also for his work not only for finding venues with decent playing conditions, but also for booking tee times immediately into twilight hours to ensure the tour could carry out one of its initial objectives to provide good value for its members. In these respects the JMT is a resounding success, and historians will fondly look back at 2008.
After this blogger gets some work done- we'll return to examine some of the uglier aspects of year one: handicaps and regulations.
Case Study for first Semester: The Kingpin, Jackie Moon himself.
Although most tour members are at least somewhat aware of why Jackie invented the tour in the first place, most fans of the league are in the dark regarding the original motivation. It was a gesture of friendship, an act of compassion coupled by some natural tendencies of pioneering, and leadership. That this description lacks any meaningful detail is intentional. The ideas mentioned are significant. This is the side of Jackie that faces east in the morning. The JMT was not a brainchild of Jackie's- this undertaking was born in his heart.
A project as large in scope and ambition as a nine-member, 13 event golf tour should not be underestimated. Securing membership turned out to be a fairly simple process, and there's already reason to believe the tour will grow in its sophmore year. Figuring out a schedule came easily enough. The first event co-incided with the start of the season and the bi-weekly schedule made sense for many reasons. Jackie can be applauded also for his work not only for finding venues with decent playing conditions, but also for booking tee times immediately into twilight hours to ensure the tour could carry out one of its initial objectives to provide good value for its members. In these respects the JMT is a resounding success, and historians will fondly look back at 2008.
After this blogger gets some work done- we'll return to examine some of the uglier aspects of year one: handicaps and regulations.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Peanut Profile
Margaret MinKyung Kahng
Born: 1973 .09.25, Seoul Korea
Height/Weight: 5'3"/unknown
Years golfing: 8
Best round: 105 @ Richmond Hill GC
Strengths: consistency off the tee
Struggles: staying committed through her putts
Best finish on the JMT (as of 07/29): solo 2nd @ Watson's Glen
Favourite colour: red
Favourite movie: My Name is Kim Sam Soon
Most important contribution to the JMT: My Name is Kim Bap Controversy
Interesting facts: Despite the glut of Korean superstars, Peanut's golf role-model is Lorena Ochoa. Says MK: "she's the epitome of grace under pressure & I love how her name rolls off your tongue" ; MK's goal for this year is "to reverse my reverse pivot & hit 105 again!!" and hopes to be remembered for having "the BEST kimbap on the Jackie Moon Tour!"
Points to Ponder I
In a mass e-mail sent out to all tour members on Monday, tour commish extolled this edict:
Peter's probably aware that the 4 major sports leagues in N.A. have board of governors meetings in the off-season to discuss possible rule changes. They do this because it would be unfair to change the rules in the middle of the season.
"In my Jackie excel file I wrote total score of majors plus 6 best scores. This has been unanimously changed to total score whether you make it or not (sorry Tom but you would've lost anyway). We have to be fair to those who come out every two weeks so it will be total score at the end."
In a follow-up communique he stated:
"Initially we said that we would take the points from the 4 majors plus 6 best other rounds to make up the total points. Since we have a total of 13 rounds, this means that you can miss 3 rounds or if you play all 13, you can count out your worst 3 rounds. Since some of our members are doing well (John Choi), they are purposely missing rounds knowing it will make no difference in their total score.
So I decided to change it so that we take points from all 13 rounds."
Tour members chimed in to record record numbers of message board postings on countless JMT websites. FTF reporters threw out these lines of ponderment:
1. Jackie's statements suggest that playing on the tour is some kind of chore. This writer has always preferred a round of golf to doing dishes or ironing. I would've ventured a guess that ALL tour members would choose to be on the course for each and every event, and when a member misses- it's only due to unavoidable circumstances... FTF reached John for comment on this point:
FTF: Did you purposely choose to skip Maples of Ballentrae because you were doing well in the standings?
John: Heck no. I love golf. I love being out there with all the guys (and Margy). There are very few things that would stand in the way of me playing week in and week out. The truth is i'm surprised i've been able to make it out to 5 events so far- after the 3rd or 4th round this year- every time out's been a bonus! Definitely not sitting out events because of points or standings- i'd choose to play in between events if i could.
2. Peter JD Park ruminates:
" Wow, Wow, wow, this is a huge change.
I don’t know if this is fair either…"
Peter's probably aware that the 4 major sports leagues in N.A. have board of governors meetings in the off-season to discuss possible rule changes. They do this because it would be unfair to change the rules in the middle of the season.
3. Jackie suggests that the rule change is a way to be fair to players who show up every 2 weeks. If a player is able to be at every single event- don't they benefit from having the luxury of dropping their 3 lowest scores? Players who miss events are forced to count gooseeggs and have the additional pressure to play well at every single event. In a follow-up posting FTF will analyze who stands to reap the benefits of this absurd rule change.
The question lingers whether or not this will have an impact on tour members views on the league. John states:
"Absolutely not. This is the bush league of all bush leagues and that's part of the charm. We knew that going in and wouldn't have it any other way. Jason set the standard in attitude- `don't get mad- work harder and get even'. I had no illusions of winning on the tour-but now i'm motivated- I'll win despite playing fewer events than anyone not named Tom or D Young! As for Jackie- he's shrewd. You just can't get mad at someone named Jackie Moon. If you're thinking about it- don't bother. It can't be done. Believe me- i've tried."
And so the league survives its latest potential scandal...
Monday, July 28, 2008
Bark or Bite?
"Young Koyama is predicting a dominating effort and will trump all competitors. He will overcome his and his fellow tour member's ridiculous handicaps and do his best Chez Reavie impersonation to pull out a victory against overwhelming odds. He will not use the N.K.B. excuse but will feed off his superior will and determination. Life is a cycle and it's time that Young Koyama returns to his winning form."
There was plenty of lightning and thunder. Menacing clouds loomed overhead, but 7 tour regulars showed up and Mother Nature was impressed enough to greenlight the 6th event of the season.
Elder K and the only caucasian JMT member caught fire early shooting 42 and 41 respectively on the front. John made the turn carding a 51 and thought he'd played his way out of any possible points. Jackie and Peanut each made the turn on pace to break par and looked to be in the running. Then the tables turned. A scoring error was discovered, a birdie had been recorded as a bogey and John's score went from 51 to 49. He then took advantage of the plethora of very short par 4's in the back to record a bunch of bogies despite being horrible off the tee. Petey was making his own little run and carded a 46 on the back 9. Roy, Jackie, Elder K and Peanut all faded and failed to break par. For Roy, fatigue was the major factor. Rumours throughout the gallery suggested Elder K was a victim of some razzing for his playing partners. Peanut was the victim of some alignment issues. Jackie, well- he was the victim of kimbapgate- playing his first tournie without the aid of Margy's laver-covered rice rolls. Petey's run was just a little too little, a little too late, and the rest is history.
The quote above is making its rounds through the media circus that's begun to follow the tour which is now being hailed as golf's version of the ABA. FTF is rooting for Young K to back up his words and return to the winner's circle where he belongs. Jackie was quoted earlier on in the season saying that Young K has the sweetest swing of any golfer he'd ever seen. Immediately following that comment, Young K went out and won his first tour event. Let's see if FTF's endorsement can have a simliar effect at Maples of Ballentrae. Many pundits claim that having too many Koreans is killing the LPGA. By the same token, the JMT needs a Japanese star to win again in the ABA of golf.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Taking Out the Garbage
After the hype inherently embedded in a major, has the Jackie Moon Tour fallen into a proverbial doldrum, the inevitable 20 minute lull, the valley that helps define the mountain??? After 5 tour sanctioned events, there's a considerable lack of volume in the sanitation department-leading bloggers around the globe covering the tour to ask: where's the trash?
In the early days of the league e-mails would pinball back and forth more often Picchu relieves himself on the hardwood, more frequently than Margy books rounds of golf... for now the trash talk seems limited to a vow by Peter John Daly Park to completely destroy the field at Glen Cedars... He reports playing some of his best golf of the year recently at a non-tour event in Weston On, and Jackie's been heard hyping up Petey's stronger wrists- FTF won't try to decifer the connection b/w him shifting his address and strengthing his wrists...
After the predictions debacle following Watson's Glen, FTF will refrain from going out on any limbs this week... the unusual venue at WG lead to the league's 2 highest handicappers walking away with the top two spots on the leaderboard- while the 2 lowest handicappers were shut out of points (despite Young K's relatively impressive score)...
Is this the week John Daly finally breaks through and improves his place in the overall points list?
Will Young K finally break par and return to the winner's circle?
Will D Young and Peanut be able to ride the wave of momentum from WG and continue their march up the overall points list?
The previous round marked the first time Elder K was denied any points-will he bounce back, or is this the beginning of the end for someone who once held the Tiger of the JMT mantle?
Between Jackie and Roy, who's the most due to become the next first-time winner on tour? Jackie's rounding into form while Roy's been fairly consistent week in week out... guess we'll find out in a few days...
In the early days of the league e-mails would pinball back and forth more often Picchu relieves himself on the hardwood, more frequently than Margy books rounds of golf... for now the trash talk seems limited to a vow by Peter John Daly Park to completely destroy the field at Glen Cedars... He reports playing some of his best golf of the year recently at a non-tour event in Weston On, and Jackie's been heard hyping up Petey's stronger wrists- FTF won't try to decifer the connection b/w him shifting his address and strengthing his wrists...
After the predictions debacle following Watson's Glen, FTF will refrain from going out on any limbs this week... the unusual venue at WG lead to the league's 2 highest handicappers walking away with the top two spots on the leaderboard- while the 2 lowest handicappers were shut out of points (despite Young K's relatively impressive score)...
Is this the week John Daly finally breaks through and improves his place in the overall points list?
Will Young K finally break par and return to the winner's circle?
Will D Young and Peanut be able to ride the wave of momentum from WG and continue their march up the overall points list?
The previous round marked the first time Elder K was denied any points-will he bounce back, or is this the beginning of the end for someone who once held the Tiger of the JMT mantle?
Between Jackie and Roy, who's the most due to become the next first-time winner on tour? Jackie's rounding into form while Roy's been fairly consistent week in week out... guess we'll find out in a few days...
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