Sunriver, OR. “Would you please just shut the f–k up???!! We haven’t even teed off yet!!”
Those were the angry words of Seattle Team captain Nick Jenkins to a marshal at the who was not-so-quietly complaining about our pace of play at Sunriver’s Woodlands course while one of our players stood over his tee shot. Fortunately for Jenkins and the other fifteen players there that day in September 1998, said marshal did not summarily kick us off the course.
If he had Greenspan Cup would have probably died then and there. He didn’t, and the World Team went on to win the inaugural Greenspan Cup at Sunriver. The Seattle and World teams returned to the Cup’s birthplace this year, with a different result. Twenty-six year veteran John Harrison went a perfect 5-0 and rookie Martin Perry went 4-1 as the Seattle Team defeated the World Team 16 1/2 — 13 1/2 to win the twenty-sixth playing of Greenspan Cup. Jon Gaston and Adam Waalkes, both of whom were there in 1998, each added four points for the World Team, which came in second for the third straight time.
“I often wonder how different my life would be had that marshal kicked us off the course that day,” said Jenkins, much more mild mannered today than he was as a 29-year old in 1998. “I’d certainly have fewer friends.”
Jenkins’s Seattle Team friends had a nice Friday. After splitting the morning fourball stanza, the Seattle Team took four of five matches in the afternoon to take a commanding 6 1/2 — 3 1/2 lead. It was closer than it appeared, however: three matches were decided with Seattle Team wins on Crosswater’s final hole. “He missed every putt all day except that birdie putt on the last,” said World Team vet Joe Stansell of Jenkins. “Had he missed and Demurjian made, as everyone expected, you have a completely different result.”
The World Team fought back hard on Saturday, however, taking four of the five matches in the morning fourball medal stanza. The most noteworthy match: World Team captain Greg Cheever and Gaston’s 71-81 shellacking of Joel Aro and Chris Sherry. “A best ball 81 is pretty bad,” said Cheever, stating the obvious. “We basically needed to just keep the ball on the planet to win that one.” Much of the blame for the 81 went to Sherry, who only finished a few holes. “I may need to rethink my golf lessons,” lamented the three-year veteran, who went 1-4 for the week, including three blowout losses, and is now an all-time worst 2-13 overall.
The World Team took the afternoon stanza as well to head into Sunday singles at Sunriver Meadows with a one-point lead. This was the opposite of 1998, when the eight-player Seattle Team had a two-point lead heading into singles. Just as in ’98, though, the trailing team got the better of it in singles. Whereas the World Team took six of eight points in 1998, Team 206 took 7 1/2 of ten points this year. “We front loaded our lineup to get ahead early,” said Harrison, “but the World Team did, too. Fortunately we lined up well and got a few breaks.” One of the big ones: winless John Maino drawing an injured Dan Casey with the result being a 3&2 win for the Las Vegas Golden Knights equipment manager.
Jenkins counted Perry’s 1 up win over Norman Cheuk as another huge win. “A rookie draws arguably the World’s best player — and beats him. Maino draws their injured guy. Those balls bounce differently and we probably have a different result.”
As per usual, this year’s event had its share of subplots. The World Team had arguably its best shirt year ever, as fashion coordinator Cheuk opted for three Peter Millar pieces. “The World Team’s days of one-and-done shirts are over,” insisted Cheuk, still smarting from the 2020 shirt debacle in Reno, where the World Team’s shirts were so bad not a single player kept even one to wash their car in.
For its part the Seattle Team showed up with four shirts custom-made for the event. “Sherry found some website in China that made these for us,” said Jenkins, who counted Sunday’s lilac shirt as his favorite Greenspan shirt ever. “I see this custom thing as the wave of the future, at least for the Seattle Team.”
Harrison went 5-0 for the first time in twenty-six appearances, and now sees his once paltry lifetime record sitting well above .500.
But the biggest plot line by far was the inaccuracy of player handicaps. “The handicap issue has long been a problem for us,” lamented Jenkins. “But this year four players — that’s twenty percent of the field — weren’t within ten shots of their stated handicaps. For the event to thrive for another twenty-six years, that must change.”
I have little doubt that it will.
Next year’s event is scheduled for July 2024. No venue has been selected, although Sand Valley appears to be a frontrunner. Jenkins and Cheever are expected back as captains.
RESULTS
Friday morning fourball match (Sunriver [Meadows])
Harrison/Sherry d. Cheever/Stricker 4&3
Fessler/Perry d. Casey/Smith 7&6
Demurjian/Waalkes d. Blair/Maino 1 up
Cheuk/Gaston d. Aro/Jenkins 1 up
Stansell/Tham h. Anderson/DeAndre
Tied 2 1/2 — 2 1/2
Friday afternoon fourball match (Crosswater)
Stricker/Waalkes d. Maino/Sherry 6&5
Anderson/Blair d. Cheuk/Smith 6&5
Aro/DeAndre d. Casey/Gaston 1 up
Jenkins/Perry d. Demurjian/Stansell 1 up
Fessler/Harrison d. Cheever/Tham 1 up
Seattle leads 6 1/2 — 3 1/2
Saturday morning fourball medal (Sunriver [Woodlands])
Cheever/Gaston d. Aro/Sherry 71-81
Demurjian/Tham d. Jenkins/Maino 65-69
Casey/Stricker d. Blair/Fessler 63-66
Anderson/Harrison d. Cheuk/Stansell 63-64
Smith/Waalkes d. DeAndre/Perry 68-71
Tied 7 1/2 — 7 1/2
Saturday afternoon fourball tiebreaker (Crosswater)
Jenkins/Perry d. Smith/Stansell 7&5
Cheever/Demurjian d. Maino/Sherry 2&1
Gaston/Waalkes d. Anderson/Aro 3&2
Cheuk/Stricker d. DeAndre/Fessler 5&3
Blair/Harrison d. Casey/Tham 7&5
World leads 10 1/2 — 9 1/2
Sunday singles (Sunriver [Meadows])
Stansell d. Sherry 7&5
Gaston d. DeAndre 6&5
Jenkins d. Tham 2&1
Harrison d. Waalkes 3&2
Maino d. Casey 3&2
Aro d. Smith 5&4
Fessler h. Demurjian
Perry d. Cheuk 1 up
Anderson d. Cheever 4&3
Blair h. Stricker
Seattle wins 16 1/2 — 13 1/2
OVERALL RECORDS
Seattle
Anderson 3-1-1
Aro 2-3
Blair 2-2-1
DeAndre 1-3-1
Fessler 2-2-1
Harrison 5-0
Jenkins 3-2
Maino 1-4
Perry 4-1
Sherry 1-4
World
Casey 1-4
Cheever 2-3
Cheuk 2-3
Demurjian 3-1-1
Gaston 4-1
Smith 1-4
Stansell 1-3-1
Stricker 3-1-1
Tham 2-3
Waalkes 4-1
Greenspan Cup 