AC-VIII, Spring 2001
Metro Cup
Probably better referred to as the "1/3rd of a point Cup," Kevin Wagner once again came up just a fraction short of unseating the defending "Cupholder" Derek Rose in a very tight contest from start to finish. Held in the Metro DC area for the second time, Kevin and Derek spent the eve of the first day of competition sipping fine rum and reminiscing over a wide variety of topics, while Tom and Paul wisely retired at a more reasonable hour and awoke refreshed for Thursday.
DAY 1 - June 7th. Due to steady rains on Wednesday night, Hampshire Greens (the intended stroke play venue) was unable to prepare its course for open play, so the crew moved on to Columbia (MD) to compete in the bowling aspect of the Cup. With Wagner struggling to revive, the remaining contestants each took a high game, with Derek taking high series, and an early overall lead. By afternoon, the foursome returned to Hampshire Greens in hopes of getting in the first round of golf, but were informed the course would not open that day. Improvising, they secured a tee-time at Rattlewood and headed to Mount Airy. Kevin once again dominated handicap stroke play, despite his limited non-Cup playing time. Standings at the end of day 1: Tom 10.5, Kevin 10, Derek 10, Paul 8.5.
DAY 2 - June 8th. Once again, Rattlewood provided the backdrop for golf (modified match play), with everyone agreeing that the venue provided excellent greens and a challenging layout. Paul immediately went to work putting together one of his best rounds of the year, while Kevin struggled to find his usually strong game. Tom and Derek played well, but Setzer appeared to be the dominator. However, when all the skins were tallied, Derek came out on top with razor thin victory margins on both 9's. Paul secured the 2-day low net total by just 3 strokes over Tom. After taking in a leisurely lunch, they headed to Blake Senior High School for basketball. In what was clearly the Achilles Heel for all the players, Paul stood out with a clear victory, which was followed up by a friendly game of 2-on-2. When the sunny, humid afternoon weather subsided, the gents got in the first round of tennis, with Kevin and Paul claiming victories. Standings at the end of day 2: Paul 20.8, Derek 20.3, Tom 17.8, Kevin 17.
DAY 3 - June 9th. Everyone got a good night's sleep in preparation for the two final rounds of tennis, with everyone still in contention for the title. Kevin remained undefeated with a straight set win over Paul, while Derek got his first win over Tom. At that point, the title came down to the winner of the Derek-Paul match; though Kevin was leading the heavily-weighted tennis competition and did complete the sweep, his deficit was just over three points to both Paul and Derek, one of whom would claim 7 points to Kevin's 10. The first set of the P-D match went the distance, with a 7 point tiebreaker after a 6-6 tie in games. In a seesaw battle, Derek edged Paul 7-4, and with momentum took the second set, and the title by a mere .33 points over Kevin.
Kevin again gets a pinky (but not the handle) on the Cup
The detailed Scoresheet covering all events
