South Florida clenched the Florida Cup on Friday, defeating North Florida by a score of 18 points to 14 points, at Quail Valley Golf Club in Vero Beach. With this win, the South minimizes North Florida’s series lead to 5-4.
After the morning matches on day one of the Florida Cup Matches, the South held a lead of 5½ points against 2½ for the North. The North team was paced by Don Whittemore and Derek Camps' early 4 & 2 win and partners Mike Riley and Rob Maddox had the other win for the North with a 3 & 2 victory.
After the same results in the afternoon Foursomes matches, the South team with 5½ point total versus 2½ for the North. The South team headed in to Friday’s matches with 11 points to North Florida’s 5 points.
On the final day, the South team slipped slightly, earning only 7 points against the North team’s 9 points. Trying to make a comeback to retain the cup, the North team fell short. South Florida’s day one lead had secured them the 9th Florida Cup title.
Captain TJ Shuart led his team by winning all of his matches for the South Team, defeating Derek Camps 2 and 1 in the individual matches. Rick Woulfe also continued to go undefeated for the South team winning his singles matches 5 and 4 against Gordon Blakeley. John Vaccaro and Don Wolfe both went 2-0-1 contributing to the South team’s success. Ryan Cobb defeated Dan Debra 1 up, Chuck Gould defeated Rob Maddox 2 and 1, and Joe Latowski defeated Ken Moody, 7 and 5 to contribute to the South’s victory. North team member Don Whittemore was the only team member to go undefeated in all three matches. Singles match winners for the South team included: Doug Snoap, Thad Hudgens, Robert Hess, Nikhil DeSai, AJ Kroeger, Kevin Altenhof, and Don Bell.
The North Florida team includes: Kevin Altenhof, of Melbourne, Don Bell, of Port Orange, Tory Carli, of Lake Mary, Derek Camps, of Sanford, Dan Debra, of Lutz, Nikhil DeSai, of Sanford, Thad Hudgens, of Longwood, Rob Maddox, of Lynn Haven, Ken Moody, of Ponte Vedra Beach, Mike Riley, of Panama City, Doug Snoap, of Apopka and Don Wittemore, of Temple Terrace. Seniors representing the North team include: Jim Carley, of Ormond Beach, Gordon Blakeley, of Lutz, Robert Hess, of Casselberry and AJ Kroeger, of Apopka.
The South Florida team features: Ryan Abbate, of Fort Lauderdale, Ben Adelberg, from Boynton Beach, Matt Avril, of Vero Beach, Frank Babusik, of Jupiter, Bobby Bird, Vero Beach, Ryan Cobb, Vero Beach, KC Fox, of Sarasota, Chuck Gould, Vero Beach, Joseph Latowski, of Port Saint Lucie, David Obst, of Fort Lauderdale, TJ Shuart, of Coral Springs, and Donald Wolfe, of Miami. Seniors representing the South team include: Howard Logan, of Naples, Gary Saft, of Fort Myers, John Vaccaro, of Sarasota and Rick Woulfe, of Fort Lauderdale.
Held every two years, the Florida Cup Matches vie 16 of the top amateurs from North Florida versus 16 of the top amateurs from South Florida. Using a Ryder-Cup format, the winner is determined by the number of points earned throughout the two days. Players are invited based on their performance from the previous two seasons. Some automatic selections are based on the FSGA two-year point’s standings. After 2012, South Florida won the Matches 18 - 14 to close North Florida’s series lead to 5-4.
Sincere thanks to the staff at Quail Valley Golf Club.
What a great experience on a well-conditioned golf course.
Thanks to all at the FSGA for your time and expertise in running all the
tournaments.
It was great to get to know you guys off the golf course.
Regards,
H Logan
I wanted to personally thank
you for your efforts in running the Florida Cup --- it was truly a wonderful
experience although I would have liked to play better --- that I know will come
with time --- I have said to many over the last 2 years in which I have become
active in FSGA that they run a 1st class ship --- it is most appreciated ---
although I am moving to Ga later in the year --- I have keep a 2nd house so
that I can continue participating in the FSGA tournaments and plan on playing
in more of them in 2013 --- again thanks so much for your leadership
Gordon Blakeley
The one thing that keeps banging in my head is how many times I said
"Nice putt K.C." during Thursday's four-ball and foursome
matches.
Doug
Tom,
We can’t thank you guys
enough. Jim, Peter, awesome job!As a rookie to the ’12 Florida Cup, I was
a bit overwhelmed with everything. Not just the competition, festivities,
and plenty of Miller Lite, but also the hospitality and incredible course we
were able to experience. Will definitely be sending Don and Quail Valley thanks.As
far as play goes, I was both spoiled and distracted. Spoiled, because I
got a chance to play two rounds with one of Quail Valley’s finest, Mr. Matt
Avril. He inspired me to sink a few putts. Distracted, because that
place is LOADED with wildlife. Did you guys not see all of the bass in
that lake? Geeez! Rules question: does a rod & reel count as a
club in the bag?
Thanks again,
Rob “The Rookie” Maddox
Tom thanks again to the FSGA staff for running yet another quality
event. Quail Valley was a great venue – great course, great clubhouse,
wonderful staff, etc. As usual, you and your FSGA counterparts did what
it takes to run a great tournament. Thanks for all your hard work – we Florida
golfers greatly appreciate you, and your efforts. Look forward to seeing
you all again soon.
Ken
Thanks to all at the FSGA and the wonderful staff at QV for
providing such a great event for the players.
I saw a bunch of great shots over those two days but none better
than Ben's drive on the opening hole Thursday morning. After climbing from the
twisted and smoking wreckage of his truck, with his right hand swollen
and possibly broken, and knowing that he left his Mom's audio book in the player,
he crushed one about 310 right down the middle.
Thanks again to all for a great time
David Obst
Definitely one of my best memories from this year would have to be
the run that Don Whittemore and I went on. As a team, we birdied #3-10 in the
morning fourball matches. After going 1 down thru 2, Don birdied 3, 4, & 5.
I birdied 6 and 7 (before he could), as well as 8. After Frank knocked it to
gimme range on 9, Don poured in another 20 footer (Frank no happy), and he
polished it off with a 2 putt birdie on 10. He added one more 30 footer on 14
for good measure. It was an impressive display of putting to say the least!
Peter will say that that story was WAY TOO LONG! (Pete, K.M.A.)
I truly enjoyed getting to spend time with such a great group of
both players and gentlemen!
I also want to say my thank you's to Peter, Tom, and Jim. As always,
this event was extremely well run, and I can't wait to start working towards
making the next Cup! Quail Valley was one of the best golf experiences
I've ever had the pleasure of playing! Don and his entire staff was
definitely top notch and they exceeded every expectation I ever had!
Thank You all again!
Derek Camps
Tom-
My best memory was in foursomes where Don Whittemore and I made 8 birdies and
1 bogey through 15 holes. In an 8 hole stretch we made 6 birdies (3, 4,5,7,9,
and 10).
Dan
Tom, Had a great match with Jim Carley. He is
a true gentleman. I was under par at the turn and 1 down. I got it
to all square then he birdied 6 (our back 9) to go 1 up. I hit 2 good
shots and made a 12 footer for birdie to halve the match on the last hole
(9). Great match, it was a lot of fun! Regards, John Vaccaro
Congratulations to the South
team again and ditto to everyone’s comments about the event, staff, facility,
etc.Aside from the memories of the great facility, course and new friendships
that we all made, one lasting memory from the matches will be the quality of
the golf. It seems most everyone had a story about being under par but
losing their match, or in some cases, a team being way under par but only
winning the match by just a couple of holes. Good playing to everyone! The
second memory that will last for me is playing the last hole in the singles
matches. Since all other matches had been completed, David Obst and I
played our 18th hole with nearly everyone from both teams watching
at the green. Even though I was told on 18 tee that the North was
probably going to fall short of the comeback, no one bothered to confirm the
actual standings at that point so we played the hole thinking our match
actually had some impact on the Cup! That was fun! Obviously
David thought so too or I’m sure he would have conceded that shaky 3 footer to
save par and our match!! Great match David!
Don
Congratulations to the south team and a big thank you to
Don Meadows and his staff. I am proud of my north team and appreciate the
effort everyone made to make a comeback on day 2.
And of course thank you to the FSGA for a great tournament and a great year!
Don Bell - North Team Captain
I would like to reiterate the positive
experience that I had this week meeting some new friends and playing a great
golf course. The staff was wonderful and Peter, Tom & Jim provided
another great event.
I think we all will agree the best
match of the week belongs to Ben and me for Friday singles. 300 yard
drives were consistent, iron shots were crisp, and every putt was made.
After exchanging birdie jabs and eagle uppercuts for 18 holes the match ended
in a draw, but the mere 1/2 point does not justify the sweat and
ProV1's that were shed that day.
Thank you all,
Tory Carli
Well said by all over the weekend. A first class experience and
exceptional hospitality by Quail Valley.
With great camaraderie and fantastic venues, here’s to hoping
the Florida Cup will only continue to get better in the years to come!
Thanks to Jim, Tom, Pete, and most certainly Don Meadows.
A very enjoyable experience...
-TJ Shuart - South Team Captain
Tom,
My best memory of the 2012 Florida cup was the four-ball match with rob and
me against Avril and Cobb.
The match ended on 16 with our side 11 under. The only holes that were not
birdied or eagled by someone were numbers 5 and 6. We counted 20
something birdies and 1 eagle in the match. And several other birdie putts were
not even putted.
My least favorite memory was Donald Woulfe making 5 straight birdies (10-14) to
embarrass me in singles.
Mike Riley
Dear Friends,
I have a lot of memories from the most
recent installment of the Florida Cup matches which for better (and for worse),
I will never forget.
I really appreciate everyone's concern
after my mishap on the way to the course on Thursday. From Peter bringing
me ice (surrounded by beers) on the course, to Thad and Nik hanging with
me after the accident and storing my stuff in their cars, Obst for carrying me
the whole way in the morning, Babusik telling me that I was going to feel like
complete crap for the next few days (he was right), and Tory for demanding we
not play our singles match.
Best Shot I Saw was by David Obst on Thursday morning on Hole #4.
After I brilliantly instructed David to hit a 7-iron instead of an 8, he left
himself in the back left bunker and calmly holed out for birdie.
Apparently, he was trying to land the ball on the fringe (which he did).
Amazing shot, David.....SET UP BY ME.
Honorable Mention goes to Abbate for getting up-and-down from all the crappy
places I put him in the afternoon on Thursday.
Additionally, here are some other individuals
that need some acknowledgment:
Best Guys to Scare Women out of a Hotel
Bar: KC Fox and Howard Logan
Most Likely to be put on the SunDial
(Clock): TJ Shuart and Derek Camps
Best Guys to Hang With After a Car
Accident: Thad Hudgens and Nik Desai
Thanks again, and hope everyone has a nice
off-season....see you in 2013.
Best regards,
Ben Adelberg
Director of Shenanigans, South Team
Defending Champions
