On Tuesday, James Hsiao took on Jack Sullivan in our final official MGA round of the 2024 season to determine the champion of the Wildcard Bracket. Over the course of 18 holes, another epically close match played out with neither player gaining more than a 1-up advantage. In the end, with a clutch putt on #17 and a very solid par on #18, Jack Sullivan defended his title as Wildcard Bracket Champion securing this year’s win. Well played Jack!
Another fantastic October weather weekend gave us the perfect backdrop for the conclusion to our 2024 MGA season. Before we get to Saturday’s results for our Closing Day Stableford, a huge thank you goes out to all the NGC staff who made this year an amazing one! Additionally, thank you to all our MGA members whose competitive spirits and camaraderie make this group and our club truly special. Over the course of the year, we had 111 MGA members participate in events and we are all already counting the weeks until April 2025 and next year’s season!
Closing Day Stableford Results
In the Net Division, 2 players tallied very impressive totals of 39 Stableford points to share the win. Great playing to Bill Buffington and Paul Weidenfeld who enjoyed each other’s company and the win — well deserved gents!
In the Gross Division, another epically close battle came down to the very last hole of the day for players in the same group and, in the end, 2 players stood atop the leaderboard with tallies of 34 Stableford points. Well played and congrats to Jim Prendergast and Matt Nolan!
Congratulations to Leo Goff as our 2024 MGA Points Chase Champion. An absolutely terrific season and a well deserved permanent nameplace on the Jonnie Martin Cup!
*Our final 2024 Points Chase payout results will be distributed later this week
On a 10 out of 10 weather day this past Saturday, our final two competitors in the Main Bracket of the 2024 Match Play Tournament, Leo Goff and Erik Rosales, faced off in an epic showdown. In a battle that came down to the very last holes of the match, Mr. Rosales was able to capture victory to become our Main Bracket champion. Well played to both finalists and congrats Ero!
And a big thank you once again to our tourney photo journalist and cover-maker extraordinaire, Mr. Chuck Roster!
For Men’s Night this week, we’ll be playing our Chicago format on the Front 9. All players play from white tees and Rule of 75 players (age + handicap >= 75) may play golds. Please record gross scores for all holes on scorecards with names clearly marked and turn in all completed cards to the Pro Shop.
Chicago Format:
Players start with a negative number of points (based on 18-hole course handicaps) then add positive points during their round. The idea is to get from the negative to the positive, clearing your “hurdle” by as many points as possible.
Account Charges for Match Play + Stearns Cup
Our MGA accountant extraordinaire—Mr. Pete Strass—has been working diligently in the back office this week to get all charges for the 2024 Match Play and Stearns Cup tournaments added to our member accounts. Thank you as always, Pete, for your meticulous work!
MGA Digest: 2024 Stearns Cup
Finally, our virtuoso creative editor—Mr. Chuck Roster—has done it again with an amazing cover rendition for our Stearns Cup champions. Fantastic stuff, Chuck! If you missed all of Chuck’s photos and swing sequence edits yesterday, be sure to check them out!
2024 Stearns Cup: A Weekend for the NGC History Books
What an incredible day of golf we had Sunday for the conclusion of the 2024 version of the Stearns Cup which was capped off by the longest and most thrilling playoff in recent NGC history. First and foremost, we wanted to say thank you to Tiffany (who absolutely crushed it!), all the NGC staff, Chuck (our tournament photographer and Golf Digest swing sequence editor extraordinaire), and all our MGA members who made the weekend truly special. And thank you to Mr. Stearns — the spirit of competition and camaraderie that your legacy at NGC embodies is unbreakably tied to the love of the game that we all share. NGC is a place where our strongest emotions come alive and that was on full display during this year’s tournament.
Congratulations to both our champions and the teams that challenged them throughout the weekend through their outstanding performances.
In the Net Division, after a fiery Saturday, we were treated to an unforgettable Sunday that turned into an all-out sprint to the finish. Through countless twists and turns, one team rose above, proving that in the end, golf conquers all. After narrowly edging out our runners-up, Oral Pottinger & Leo Goff, who posted an impressive -14, we send our genuine congratulations and a big well played to Ed Clarke & Mark Mattis, who claimed victory with a winning tally of -15, etching their names and partnership permanently on the Stearns Cup!
Champions – Ed Clarke & Mark Mattis (-15) – 110 Chase Points – $91.87 each 2nd – Oral Pottinger & Leo Goff (-14) – 95 Chase Points – $72.19 each T-3rd – Erik Rosales & Royce Huffaker (-13) – 80 Chase Points – $32.81 each T-3rd – Kevin Dick & Bruce Sedlak (-13) – 80 Chase Points – $32.81 each T-3rd – Paul Weidenfeld & Scotty Kimmel (-13) – 80 Chase Points – $32.81 each 6th – Torey Diggs & Carl Ford (-12) – 35 Chase Points T-7th – Joey Jewell & Colin Zoski (-9) – 20 Chase Points T-7th – Ron Turner & Brian Carlstrom (-9) – 20 Chase Points
The battle for the Gross title of the Stearns Cup unfolded in spectacular fashion, with 36 holes proving woefully insufficient to crown a victor. As the shadows lengthened over the sun-drenched course on a glorious Sunday afternoon, we all played witness to a heart-pounding playoff and remarkable displays of skill, grit, and nerve. Matt Doherty & Joe Lapan faced off against Ryan White & Jared Powell in a fierce competition, with both teams pushing each other to the limit. The competitors dug deep, delivering a spectacle that had the crowd in a frenzy as the drama intensified hole by hole—including two nerve-wracking trips down the pressure-packed 18th hole and a journey back to the Front 9 for holes 1-4. Suspense truly filled the air with each swing, keeping everyone on the edge of their (cart) seats until the champions emerged. The historic playoff included…
#18: A stellar tee shot under pressure from JP was followed by a stone-cold par putt from JL
#18: Another equally fearless par by MD was answered by JP’s clutch 3 to match
After the absolutely epic back-and-forth, Matt Doherty & Joe Lapan emerged as the 2024 Stearns Cup champions, sealing their victory with heart and determination in one of the most thrilling finishes the tournament has ever seen.
Champions – Matt Doherty & Joe Lapan (-4 won on 6th playoff hole) – 110 Chase Points – $91.87 each 2nd – Ryan White & Jared Powell (-4) – 95 Chase Points – $72.19 each T-3rd – Weston Happ & James Hsiao (-3) – 80 Chase Points – $49.22 each T-3rd – Kyle Armstrong & Sam Bowmer (-3) – 80 Chase Points – $49.22 each 5th – Jim Sussmann & Patrick Escalambre (-2) – 50 Chase Points 6th – Brad Simonich & Brad Adams (+3) – 35 Chase Points T-7th – Nathaniel Burgess & Dave Krukowski (+7) – 20 Chase Points T-7th – Jim Prendergast & Matt Nolan (+7) – 20 Chase Points
Well done today, boys — what a fantastic day at the club. It was a true honor to once again have Mr. Stearns with us, and we can’t express enough gratitude for the incredible legacy he has brought to the club we all love. A special thanks to Scotty for the arrangements, to Mr. Stearns’ grandson Ryan for hitting the pressure first tee shot and, of course, to Mr. Stearns for being an absolute legend.
Attached you’ll find the groups and starting holes for tomorrow’s 2nd Round which will again start with a 9:30 AM shotgun. We have very tight competitions on the Gross and Net leaderboards — tomorrow should be a very exciting Sunday showdown!
Men’s Night 10/3 — Phantom Teammate Stableford on the Back 9
As we continue to count down to the Stearns Cup this weekend and the excitement of team golf, we thought we’d have some fun with a phantom teammate (and decide how that guy compares to a real teammate 🤔). This week, we’ll be playing Men’s Night on the Back 9 using our traditional Stableford format but for 3 of the 9 holes, your “teammate” has your back with a net par. This means that only your best 6 holes on the Back 9 will count toward your final Stableford tally (with your worst 3 holes being covered by Mr. Phantom as net pars).
Please record your own gross scores for all holes and the scoring spreadsheet will automatically calculate your best 6 + 3 teammate net pars.
May the best “team” win!
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Match Play Final Four: Main & Wildcard Brackets
We’d like to send out a thank you to all competitors for completing their matches to get us to the semifinals in both the Main and Wildcard brackets. Congrats and well played to all those who have now reached the Final Four:
Main Bracket Final Four:
Leo Goff vs. Torey Diggs
Erik Rosales vs. Mark Mattis
Wildcard Bracket Final Four:
Joe Lapan vs. Jack Sullivan
William Keyes vs. James Hsiao
The next round deadline for Final Four matches is Monday, October 14th.
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2024 Stearns Cup — Team Sign-Ups
Team sign-ups continue for the final MGA major of the season, the Stearns Cup, which is set to be played this weekend — Saturday & Sunday, October 5th + 6th.
To confirm your team’s sign-up, double check the online leaderboard here.
The format for Stearns Cup is 2-man teams playing 2-day, 36 hole, best ball for both gross and net awards. 100% of handicaps apply for net play. Standard MGA tees, with Rule of 75 for gold tee players.
Stearns Cup: Saturday & Sunday, October 5th + 6th — 2-man teams with 9:30 AM shotgun start each day Cost: $25 per player — All players must be MGA members Online Registration Portal: https://mga.golf/Stearns-Cup-Sign-Up Team Registration Deadline: Thursday, October 3rd @ 8:00 PM
For Men’s Nights, your 5 lowest scoring weeks (or weeks you missed) have been dropped.
For our 1-day, 80-point events (Play It Again, 2-Man Team Shamble, NGC Cup), 1 low points-earned tournament has been dropped with our Closing Day Stableford (10/26) still to be played.
The same applies to our multi-day / major tournaments (Memorial Cup, RW&B, Club Championship) where 1 low has been dropped with the final rounds of Match Play and Stearns Cup (10/5-10/6) still to be played.
Drops will continue to be updated through the remainder of this season’s Men’s Nights, the Match Play tournament, and the playing of our two weekend tournaments in October. We have an extraordinarily tight race and an exciting finish to the 2024 Points Chase is in store!
All Club Championship $25 entry fees and credit book prize distributions will be processed next week when our Tournament Accountant Extraordinaire, Mr. Pete Strass, is back in the office. All cart charges from the weekend have already been processed to accounts with credit book used if available — thank you Tiffany and Donnee! Finalized leaderboards (without inadvertent copy & paste duplication) are included below.
What a fantastic weekend of Championship golf! And one that was wholly made possible by the amazing enthusiasm of our NGC golf family. Thank you to all the members who participated, spectated, laughed, (gambled?), and brought the joy that our club is truly about. And thank you to all the NGC staff who made the weekend a great success!
Club Championship Results
Over the entire field, which consisted of 6 Flights and 71 players, we saw some awesome battles and very exciting finishes!
In the Women’s Club Championship, first and foremost, we saw some very fast play! Championship golf with sub-4-hour pace of play across all groups is glorious — well done ladies!
We also saw two defending champions, Vivianne Couts and Betty Sussmann, successfully defend their 2023 titles to continue their reigns as 2024 Champions! Very well played and congratulations to both of you!
Vivianne also made a hole-in-one on #15 on Sunday — What an epic way to cement the championship win! (And thank you for the free drinks!)
In the Gold Flight, a very tight battle was competed eye to eye in the final group on Sunday and, in the end, another defending champion completed his quest to hold his title for another year! Well played to our Gold Flight champion, Jerome Lofton, who played a tremendous final round and came in at -6 net for the weekend — just edging out Robert Straughter (-5 net) and Carl Brown (-2 net).
1st – Jerome Lofton (-6 net) – $60 2nd – Robert Straughter (-5 net) – $40 3rd – Carl Brown (-2 net) – $25
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Moving on to our Men’s net flights, in the National Flight, we saw a new member who joined just this summer, Erik Simonds, come from 7 shots behind on Sunday to capture a 5 shot victory at Even par net for the tournament. Fantastic playing Erik! Willie Barnhill played great to finish 2nd at +5 net followed by our 2023 Champion, Mike Reynard, in 3rd at +8 net.
In the Tantallon Flight, an epic battle in the final group came down to the last few holes of the tournament. Proving to be the pivotal hole, this year’s champion, Matt Dove, made a clutch birdie on #16. He then finished the day with a 4-footer for the win on #18 capping off a 2-day total of -5 net. At -4 net, Michael Helmer took home 2nd place with Jim Prendergast and Micah Busbee finishing at -3 net for T-3rd.
Finally, in the Men’s Championship Fight, once again, the finishing stretch of holes designed by Ted Robinson in 1965 were decisive in determining parking spot rights. Our defending champion, Scott Redmond, made birdies on #13 and #16 which were crucial and, with rock solid pars on #17 and #18, he finished the day in style for a repeat victory at +4 for the tournament. A very well deserved W, Mr. Redmond! And well played to those who pushed him right to the very end — Clay Thatcher (+8) was 2nd and Sam Bowmer (+9) was 3rd, great fight gentlemen.
