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2009 Draft • 2009 Match Results
Hunt History
2009 - Soghikian vs. Protopappas
ARTICLES
Team Dark Lord slays Team Assassin on final day
A thriller for the first three rounds, the final round of the 2009 Desert Hunt was a much different tale. Team Assassin went "dark" against a Team Dark Lord that played singles matches like super heroes, providing the spark for a Team Dark Lord 18-12 victory over Team Assassin.
After practice rounds for many on Tuesday and for all on Wednesday, players found that despite a relatively short overall yardage, challenges at the Classic Club in Palm Desert would be plenty. Some odd fairway lies, plenty of sand, large undulating greens and the prospects of the warm desert winds kicking up at any time gave the players plenty to think about.
After the traditional Tuesday dinner at City Wok - where the Year of the Ox is celebrated by the Day of the Buffalo - and the Champion's dinner at Morton's on Wednesday, the Hunt was on. Founder Ron Connors, toasted at the Champion's dinner, was unable to participate and was replaced by super-sub Matt Rei.
A format change in 2009 meant that Thursday morning play would open with four ball followed by alternate shot, instead of the other way around as in previous years. Team Dark Lord jumped out to a 3-0 lead, with Jim Ireland/Darrel Breedlove and Joe Dunphy/Paul Coupin winning tightly contested matches 1 up. Jamie Pearl, shooting even par on the front nine, coupled with the buzzing of Bill "Buzz Saw" Levey brought in the only rout of the morning with a 9-7 victory over Dave Mullen and Steve Woodhead. Woodhead removed the pin on 11 and waved it at Pearl/Levey as a sign of surrender.
The remainder of the morning would bring the overall match closer. Team Assassin Captain Shahan Soghikian and Reg Griggs DDS flossed Ces Butner and Rei 5-3, and Chris Hoff and Clayton Oswald overcame and over-talked Mark Slovensky and Matt Macy by the same score. Eric Rudney directed partner Team Dark Lord Captain John Protopappas to a 2 and 1 victory over Tom Moudry and Bruce DelFante in the morning's final match.
Down two going into alternate shot, Team Assassin shuffled the deck. As the temperature headed to 104 degrees, Captain Soghikian went in a different direction. He led with a Moudry/Mullen team that in a scrapping match lost a one shot lead on 18 to halve Pearl/Levey. Griggs and DelFante, Sequoyah members and familiar with each other's game, beat Butner/Breedlove 3-1. In what on paper looked like an even match, Spencer Larson and Oswald made Skyline High proud with a resounding 6-4 win over Slovensky/Rei that made Rei wish he would have gone to Skyline.
Now even, Team Assassin took the lead as Hoff/Soghikian beat Ireland/Macy 2 up. Ireland stopped talking to Macy on the 4th hole and despite an artificial hip, made Macy walk the last 11 holes. Lefty, er, righty Dunphy and Coupin insured a tie in the match with a surprising 2 up win over Derek Smith and Andrew Robinson. In the last match of the day, Rudney directed Captain Protopappas to a 3-2 win over Rob Bigelow and Woodhead for a 6.5-5.5 lead as the cattle drive headed to the pool at Desert Falls for beers and bragging.
Friday's four ball matches were an up and down affair. Larson's four ball momentum continued as he teamed with Hoff for a 6-5 victory over Butner/Rei making the match all square. When Griggs/Bigelow defeated Rudney/Protopappas 2up - the third straight round that Captain Protopappas selected Rudney as his partner - Team Assassin had a one point lead.
In an excellent pairing of A and B players, Ireland/Levey defeated Moudry/Soghikian 1 up to even up the overall match once again. Poised for a late charge, Pearl/Breedlove beat Smith/Robinson and Dunphy/Coupin beat DelFante/Mullen 2-1. Controversy was avoided in the later match when Dunphy/Coupin conceded a halved hole when a potential rule violation took place. The act of fine sportsmanship from the Dark Lord duo ended up having no effect on the final outcome.
The final four ball went to Team Assassin, as Oswald, paired with Woodhead, continued his steller play and beat Slovensky paired with Macy (4-2). Never opponents in previous Hunts, Oswald and Slovensky met in all three team matches with Oswald getting the better of Slo in all of them. Going into Saturday's singles play, Team Dark Lord held on to a miniscule one point lead over Team Assassin.
Friday night's singles pairing provided surprise and intrigue. While Hoff was hassling everybody about his 3-0 start, international superstar David Hasselhoff was sighted at the restaurant. As is tradition, the captains face off in the first match and then A and B players are grouped but play without the benefit of help from their teammate. The matchups appeared to be close, but Saturday would tell another story.
Protopappas beat Soghikian 2 up that included a net eagle on 9, the number 1 handicap hole. Slovensky, down four through six and never leading until 17, rallied to come back and beat Griggs 2 up capped by a net eagle on 18. Smith leveraged two birdies and won six holes in a row to defeat Butner 6-5 to bring Team Assassin back to 2 down.
Even going in 12, Breedlove got things rolling by winning the next four holes including a birdie on 14 to defeat Bigelow 4-2. Pearl never made more than bogie, halved the one hole in which he gave up a stroke, and took out Larson 6-5. This put Team Dark Lord 4 up and the rout was on.
Coupin took the lead on 7 and never relinquished in beating DelFante 1 up. In one of the two tightest matches of Saturday's singles round, Moudry took a 2 up lead to 17. Dunphy would win the last two holes to halve the match, and as it turns out make Team Assassin dormant.
Despite a previous victory in singles over Macy, Mullen never led and was routed by Macy 7-6. Three birdies were not enough for Ireland, in the other seesaw battle on Saturday, in losing to Robinson 1 up in a match even going into 18. Levey played to his handicap perfectly on the front nine leading to a 4-3 victory over Woodhead. Rudney was dominant on the back winning holes 10 through 14 for a 5-4 victory over Oswald. And in the final match, Hoff never trailed and finished 4-0 overall with a 5-3 victory over Rei. Team Dark Lord's victory strategy for Saturday worked as they took home an 18-12 victory.
Since everyone in the original field has captained before and the 2009 tournament had many participants play well, the Founders had a difficult decision to make as to who would captain the 2010 Desert Hunt. The Founders elected two previously unsuccessful Captains, Jim Ireland and Joe Dunphy . Montclair versus Medford, if you will - in a match of two excellent and highly focused players in search of the coveted Camel Hair blazer perfectly suited for a Palm Desert summer.
In a tournament that provided a ton of laughs poolside and on the patio, where everyone tried not to get their hand bit off while reaching for the Kung Pau beef at City Wok, where everyone hoped that Bruce would leave an appetizer for one of the other 23 diners at Morton's, where everyone tried not to stand in Joe's line of sight while utilizing a putting stroke unfamiliar to anyone in golf, where everyone tried to block out Clayton's megaphone voice in their back swing, one thing held true. Both Captain Protopappas and Captain Soghikian were lauded for their excellent leadership executed with class. But in the end, a Saturday victory for Team Assassin was just a fantasy as Team Dark Lord prevailed.
- David Mullen
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