Monday, March 2, 2015

Represent

Behold, the 2015 Bay Hill Match Play Champion - Cherry Hills (2nd) Flight (handicaps 7-11).  Stan, making his 4th appearance in the Finals of this grueling 3-day grind-a-thon, managed to win for the 2nd time, with a 1-up victory on Sunday.  Stan uncharacteristically birdied the 1st hole and never trailed in the match  (in fact he never trailed in the entire tournament), building a 3-up lead at one point on the front and leading 2-up thru 14 holes.  The train to victory ran into a flashing red light on 15 when Stan's 2nd shot could not be found in the always lovely Bay Hill rough and Stan could not persuade his opponent to play by AI rules rather than the rules of golf.  Then Stan's bogey on 16 created a butt squeezing all square with 2 to play.  Stan's par on 17 put him back up by 1 with the always stress-free #18 to play.  A well-struck 5-iron (!) off the tee left about 210 to a front pin.  But when his opponent sliced (he's a lefty) his tee shot OB, the pressure eased somewhat.  Stan followed with a 9-iron to 85 yards and a firmly steered SW to the front of the green and when his opponent missed his putt for bogey, Stan needed only to 3-putt to secure the win and recapture the cup (bearing a strikingly familiar design to keen observers).

You will, of course, also notice the branding of Stan's sponsor for the event.  What are not visible in the photo are the winner's AI socks which were worn throughout the tournament and are now festering in the laundry basket.

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