It’s all over. Even the crying.
The irrepressible Rick Cunliffe became the first 3-time winner of the Sandbagger on Sunday (September 18) with an impressively steady round during a close-fought match. Rick went into the final round trailing yours truly by one stroke, but with 3 others within 4 strokes of his 6-under standing.
The standings after Saturday’s opening round at Lanark’s Timber Run Golf Course were as follows:
Jim Anderson -7
Rick Cunliffe -6
Bruce Murdock -3
Brian Arbique -2
Brent Mooney -2
Michel Ranger E
Greg Jarvis E
Jeff Mains +4
Mike Maidment +9
By the end of the final round, the resolute, irrepressible Rick Cunliffe had overtaken (and humbled) your Sandbagger Commissioner and left his closest competitors grinding their teeth and spitting out dust. Ricky went 48-47, to finish with a 95, nudging his final tally lower by one, to finish at 7-under target. His drives were characteristically straight, 210-215 yards. His approach shots were solid. Rick hardly faltered, and when he did misfire, he either followed it up with great, saving putts or redeemed himself on the subsequent hole. As an example, when he triple-bogeyed the par 5 11th hole, watching his lead over the commish shrink to 1, he followed it up with a bogey-bogey-birdie sequence, taking his lead (after 14 holes) back up to 4. In fact, his birdie on the par 3 14th was a real dagger in the hearts of Murdock and Anderson, both of whom double-bogeyed the hole. Rick seemed to breathe better after that hole, though he coughed a bit only moments later when he stumbled to a triple-bogey on 15. The shaky performance on 15 shaved two strokes off Rick’s lead, but the scrappy bastard quickly righted himself and bogeyed the next two holes. He showed nerves of steel, sinking 10 foot or more putts on three of the final holes. An extra putt on each of those holes, in those circumstances, would have been entirely understandable – and would have left him with a slim and uncomfortable one stroke margin heading to 18. In fact, after the final tally, we find that there were four Sandbaggers four shots or less behind Rick. So, the legend of Rick grows…
While Rick was giving a clinic, yours truly, the first round leader, decided to do a Greg Norman impression. After firing a surprising 86 in Saturday’s opening round, I started the championship round with a reasonably steady bogey-bogey-bogey. At this point, it’s worth noting that if I had averaged a bogey through the entire round I very likely would have won comfortably. However, I very generously decided instead to open the door to others, quickly proceeding to go 12 over on the next four holes and stumbling to a front nine 53. However, I rallied and redeemed myself somewhat on the back nine, closing with a 44, for a final round of 97, leaving me at -3 for the Sandbagger. While my rally provided brief sparks of competition, the sparks which were usually doused when Rick sunk his long putts. Indeed, when his long putt for birdie on 14 resulted in a three-shot swing, the writing was on the wall.
Meanwhile, Bruce Murdock, who owns a closet full of pretty bridesmaids’ dresses, was determined to finally take home the Sandbagger Cup. With a sweet swing and ready smile, Murdock is a golf marketer’s dream. It would have been a storybook ending were he able to emerge from third place to overtake Rick Cunliffe and the inexplicably unpopular first round leader. Unfortunately, Mr. Murdock proved, once again, that the mental game is his biggest weakness. He double-bogeyed the opening par 5 and then quintuple-bogeyed the par-4 2nd hole, expanding the gap between he and the lead to 9. This disastrous start left Murdock dazed and confused, a somewhat familiar place for him, and in this case, a place from which he was unable to escape. When the leader faltered, and an opportunity emerged, Murdock did regain his stroke (playing bogey golf for 7 straight holes), but the damage had already been done, the hole dug already too deep. It appears that the sad truth is that Bruce Murdock play very well. When there is no pressure. (Perhaps he should train by putting some dollars on the line on a regular basis.) The good news is that he finished in a tie for second, meaning that he adds yet another frilly dress to his collection.
The low round of the day was fired by two-time champ Greg Jarvis, who proved once again that we should ignore all his Star Chamber entreaties about injuries and insufficient games played. Even with a target of 79, Greg came in two under target for the weekend. Not only that, he shot a blistering one over par 37 on the front nine of Smiths Falls on Sunday. His stellar round left Greg in a tie for fourth. Keep Greg’s final round 77 (on a tough course) in mind!
It might be appropriate now to jump to the high round of the day – the startling 140 which was carded by 2015 champion Jeff Mains! Entering the round just four over his 111 target, Jeff had clearly acquitted himself reasonably well as a defending champ in his opening round. What happened on the Sunday is anyone’s guess. (He didn’t seem that inebriated on Saturday night.) Jeff’s 64 on the front nine was not good, but neither was it unprecedented. It is the Nadia Comanici impersonation on the back nine, when he managed to get six 10s, that boggles the mind. For Jeff, it was a stunning achievement, and yet another record-setting Sandbagger performance. If the Bulgarian, Russian and Hungarian judges hadn’t colluded to deny Jeff the gold, he would have had perfect tens on the back nine.
Mike Maidment continued his strategy to lever his target up each year, shooting 93 and 91 this year, leaving him in second last, (albeit 17 strokes ahead of Jeff Mains), at +16. Mike’s target of 84 should have been reasonable, as those of us who have forked over money to him following skins games know all too well. With all due respect to Lou Riccoboni and Andy del Castillo, Mike is the best golfer who has yet to win the Sandbagger. Remember to send a contribution to the Ottawa Food Bank. It will help when we say no to raising Mike’s target next year.
We were all glad to see Brent Mooney return to Sandbagger competition this year. As the winner of the inaugural championship (1996), Brent holds a special place in Sandbagger lore. Brent acquitted himself very well, firing an 84-86 in this year’s competition (including an impressive back nine 37 on Sunday), leaving him in a tie for 4th at -2. Brent went into the closing round just five shots back, knowing full well that those ahead of him – Messrs Anderson, Cunliffe and Murdock — were all capable of folding. Unfortunately, Mooney opened with a disastrous 11 on the par-5 1st hole (was it too much coffee? not enough coffee?). Even with a scorecard scarred with a stunning ’11’, Brent’s 86 was the second lowest round of the day. Change that 1st hole score to a bogey and Brent would be the 2016 Champ, one ahead of Rick. (Of course, that assumes Mr. Mooney would not have buckled under the pressure…)
Like Brent, two-time champ Brian Arbique went into the final round 5 shots back, at -2, after his opening round 95. A similar round on Sunday would have seen Brian finish in a respectable second place. Unfortunately, it seems that the recently-retired Arbique should have spent less of his newfound free time in Italy and more on the practice range. The evidence: five 7s, an 8 and a 9 on Sunday. His 53-52-105 round left him in 6th place at +6 for the tournament. On the bright side, Brian did have one stretch of 4 holes (#s 14-15-16-17) where he was just 3-over.
Last, but by no means least, we examine the situation of 2014 champ Michel Ranger — a member of the Royal Ottawa, by the way — whose 82 target is a solid testament to his skill. In fact, on Saturday, Michel fired an opening round 82 to sit at Even going into Sunday. However, on Sunday, the second hole tripped him up as he fumbled to a triple-bogey. Though Michel went just five over on the next six holes, the 7 on hole #2 had taken the wind out of his sails. He ended up 45 on the front before opening with another disappointing triple bogey on the dogleg-right 10th hole, thereby officially confirming his suspicions that he had shot his way out of contention. Despite finishing with an estimable 90 (the third lowest score of the day), Michel finished in 7th spot, one position back of where he had entered the day.
By the time all the dust had settled the Final Standings were as follows:
Rick Cunliffe -7
Jim Anderson -3
Bruce Murdock -3
Greg Jarvis -2
Brent Mooney -2
Brian Arbique +6
Michel Ranger +8
Mike Maidment +16
Jeff Mains +33
Congratulations to Ricky on a very well-earned 3rd Sandbagger Championship! See you all in 2017.
2016 Results (by round)
Rick Cunliffe 90-95 (-7)
Jim Anderson 86-97 (-3)
Bruce Murdock 93-96 (-3)
Greg Jarvis 79-77 (-2)
Brent Mooney 84-86 (-2)
Brian Arbique 95-105 (+6)
Michel Ranger 82-90 (+8)
Mike Maidment 93-91 (+16)
Jeff Mains 115-140 (+33)
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Category Results, Sandbagger Chronicles, Sandbagger XXI //
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