2nd Annual Jon Scully Memorial Leslie Nielsen Classic at Golf Lounge 18 in Peabody, MA

MGA Boston’s pre-season indoor event was rebooted in 2023, following the last staging in 2020 before the whole world was shut down.  Sixteen players made their way to Golf Lounge 18, amidst the remnants of snowfall in early March.  With the venue change, there was also a change to the alcohol policy. You may recall past events included 1 hour of “open-bar”.  However, the new venue was super resistant to matching the rates from the old joint, providing such weak excuses as “They were 100% illegal,” and that they “Would lose their liquor license.” Pffffftttt.  

In lieu of any type of open bar, each bay (group of 4) was given a $100 bar tab. Not surprisingly, all 4 groups quickly managed to exceed this allotment which required supplemental tabs.

 

The non-handicap event was held at the Reserve at Moonlight Basin in Montana, which is notable for having hosted “The Match” between the teams of Phil Mickelson/Tom Brady and Bryson DeChambeau/Aaron Rodgers in 2021. Whatever happened to THOSE guys?

Things were competitive early in the proceedings, with a number of players making an appearance around the top of the leaderboard. The Golden Bear (Mike Berk) opened with a birdie on hole #1, and held a 4 stroke lead at the turn. However, while some paid more attention to running up the bar tab, as was exhibited by the multitude of double digit scores on holes, Wild Hog (Andy Southgate) focused on demolishing his competitors. Hog shot a 1-over par 37 on the back nine to run away with a 3 stroke victory, and add to his ever-expanding collection of Leslie Nielsen memorabilia. Although the MGA Boston statistics department cannot definitively confirm, it is believed that Southgate has won all but two of these indoor gatherings.

Medios unsure of what to do before the bar opens.

 

The Golden Bear Mike Berk with the VERY EARLY lead.

 

Final Results of the JSMLNC2

Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	OUT	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	IN	TOT
PAR	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	4	5	36	4	3	4	5	3	5	3	5	4	36	72
Andrew Southgate	5	6	4	6	3	9	4	4	5	46	5	5	3	4	4	5	3	4	4	37	83
Mike Berk	3	4	5	4	4	5	4	7	5	41	5	3	5	6	3	8	4	6	5	45	86
Greg Gagnon	4	4	3	7	8	8	7	5	6	52	4	3	4	5	4	5	3	6	5	39	91
Michael Halbach	6	4	4	5	4	5	6	8	6	48	5	4	6	6	4	7	4	10	4	50	98
Dan Morse	5	8	4	7	3	4	4	6	4	45	9	5	5	5	4	11	4	6	5	54	99
Justin Limoli	6	5	4	7	6	5	5	6	8	52	9	5	4	8	4	5	3	6	4	48	100
Colin Quigley	5	5	5	4	4	9	7	5	8	52	6	5	6	6	4	6	4	8	5	50	102
Bobby Ferrari	5	3	5	5	7	10	3	5	8	51	6	5	4	6	4	5	4	12	5	51	102
George Hunt	7	7	4	5	8	7	5	6	8	57	8	3	5	7	3	6	4	6	4	46	103
Travis Hardy	6	6	4	5	7	10	4	7	6	55	6	4	5	5	3	9	4	7	5	48	103
Dennison Hunt	7	5	4	6	4	7	4	5	8	50	4	8	8	6	3	8	3	9	4	53	103
Dom Luoni	4	5	4	5	7	8	10	5	6	54	5	5	5	8	4	9	3	6	5	50	104
Christos Christopoulos	9	6	5	5	7	6	5	8	7	58	5	4	6	6	4	7	4	6	7	49	107
Matt McDonough	6	6	8	6	6	10	4	7	7	60	5	3	8	8	6	6	4	5	4	49	109
Vin Ferraro	4	8	4	4	4	7	4	6	12	53	7	5	6	7	6	10	3	7	8	59	112
Mark Moriarty	4	5	4	6	4	8	4	8	8	51	6	4	9	8	6	11	7	11	4	66	117
TOTAL STROKES	86	87	71	87	86	118	80	98	112	825	95	71	89	101	66	118	61	115	78	794	1619
AVE STROKES	5.4	5.4	4.4	5.4	5.4	7.4	5.0	6.1	7.0	51.6	5.9	4.4	5.6	6.3	4.1	7.4	3.8	7.2	4.9	49.6	101.2
AVE TO PAR	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.4	2.4	2.0	2.1	2.0	16	1.9	1.4	1.6	1.3	1.1	2.4	0.8	2.2	0.9	14	29
AVE TO MAR	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4	1.4	1.0	1.1	1.0	15	0.9	0.4	0.6	0.3	0.1	1.4	-0.2	1.2	-0.1	13	28

 

2023 Rebel Beach AM-AM at Sandy Burr Country Club in Wayland, MA

RAIN

 

Similar to 2019, players were required to walk the classic Donald Ross layout at Sandy Burr Country Club as carts were not allowed out due to prolonged heavy rains leading up to and during the event. 

 

A pre-round vote was held on whether or not to play, and the resounding 18-2 final tally in favor meant everyone was about to get very, very wet. Wet to the point that the medium of text cannot accurately convey the level of saturation that was incurred. To their credit though, the two nay votes did stick around to play all 18 holes.

Some Left-Right-Center action to pass the time while awaiting the pre-round vote (yes someone put a card down in lieu of cash, we’re just classy like that).

 

Keep those hands dry! (Spoiler Alert!...Nothing was dry.)

 

PLAYOFF!

After a long afternoon of testing the limits of moisture wicking attire, the 2023 AM-AM came down to a playoff between Liam Supple and Nat Gordon. In the end, Liam prevailed over Nat in a putt-off (after Nat, who was in the first group, sat in the clubhouse for an hour and a half waiting for the other groups to finish). Liam came out strong by sinking the first putt. Nat was never able to fully recover, valiantly battling to a 6-5 aggregate loss. It was the 3rd career win for Liam, and his 1st individual AM-AM win after previously sharing the team award in 2022.

Pacing off the putt-off

 

Liam Supple for the win!

 

However Nat did receive some consolation in sharing the team win with Terry Boland (4th individual) as they both cruised to a comfortable victory.

• LD - Vin Ferraro
• CTP - Andrew Gordon
• Most Mediocre - Justin Limoli
• Key to the Red Tee - Mark Moriarty

After the Am-Am awards/checks had been presented, the Commish needed to do some house cleaning as the pandemic had prevented the distribution of some past awards.

• 2020 CML Champion: Michael Halbach
• 2021 CML Champion: Michael Halbach
• 2022 CML Champion: Michael Halbach…

Some other people won stuff too, we assure you.

Halbach in his 3rd set of clothes of the day, hoping there’s room in the trunk.

 

It was moist out there.

 

Colin Quigley with the winning 50/50 raffle ticket

 

Xtos Xtopoulos with a top 10 finish

 

Justin Limoli takes home the Golden M.

 

Dennison Hunt pleased to have survived the day.

 

Cheers to the 2023 season being underway!

Click here for full results of the 2023 Rebel Beach!

 

Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	OUT	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	IN	TOT
PAR	5	5	3	4	3	4	4	4	4	36	3	5	4	3	4	4	4	5	4	36	72
Liam Supple	5	6	3	5	4	5	4	6	5	43	3	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	6	39	82
Nat Gordon	6	6	5	5	3	8	4	5	4	46	4	5	8	4	4	4	5	5	6	45	91
Andrew Southgate	6	7	4	5	4	6	4	5	5	46	5	6	5	3	4	4	5	5	4	41	87
Terry Boland	6	6	4	5	3	5	6	4	6	45	4	7	6	3	7	6	5	5	5	48	93
Mike Berk	5	6	3	7	4	5	5	6	6	47	4	6	5	3	5	5	5	7	5	45	92
Vin Ferraro	5	5	5	6	4	7	4	5	7	48	4	6	6	3	4	8	5	6	5	47	95
Travis Hardy	7	6	3	6	3	5	4	5	7	46	4	6	4	5	5	5	5	6	5	45	91
Christos Christopoulos	7	7	4	5	4	5	7	5	6	50	3	6	5	4	5	5	7	5	6	46	96
Andrew Gordon	6	8	3	5	3	5	6	5	6	47	5	7	6	6	5	4	5	6	5	49	96
Colin Quigley	6	7	4	6	4	7	6	6	6	52	4	5	7	4	4	6	5	5	6	46	98
Justin Limoli	5	6	3	6	4	7	6	6	6	49	4	6	6	3	6	5	6	8	6	50	99
Willy Gergits	6	6	3	6	7	7	4	4	6	49	4	6	5	4	5	7	6	6	6	49	98
Dennison Hunt	6	6	4	5	5	5	5	6	7	49	4	7	5	5	7	5	7	6	7	53	102
Michael Halbach	5	7	3	7	5	6	8	5	6	52	3	6	6	8	6	4	6	6	4	49	101
Dom Luoni	8	8	4	5	5	7	5	4	7	53	5	6	6	5	5	6	5	6	5	49	102
George Hunt	7	6	3	5	5	6	5	5	8	50	3	5	9	7	7	5	7	6	6	55	105
Derek Peabody	10	6	4	6	5	8	6	6	7	58	4	7	7	4	6	7	5	5	7	52	110
Bill Cronin	7	7	6	6	4	7	7	6	7	57	4	7	7	4	8	5	6	6	6	53	110
Matt McDonough	5	8	4	5	4	7	8	9	3	53	4	8	6	4	6	6	9	7	7	57	110
Mark Moriarty	8	9	5	9	5	10	7	6	10	69	8	7	6	4	9	6	8	7	8	63	132
TOTAL STROKES	126	133	77	115	85	128	111	109	125	1009	83	123	119	87	112	107	117	118	115	981	1990
AVE STROKES	6.3	6.7	3.9	5.8	4.3	6.4	5.6	5.5	6.3	50.5	4.2	6.2	6.0	4.4	5.6	5.4	5.9	5.9	5.8	49.1	99.5
AVE TO PAR	1.3	1.7	0.9	1.8	1.3	2.4	1.6	1.5	2.3	14	1.2	1.2	2.0	1.4	1.6	1.4	1.9	0.9	1.8	13	28
AVE TO MAR	0.3	0.7	-0.2	0.8	0.3	1.4	0.6	0.5	1.3	13	0.2	0.2	1.0	0.4	0.6	0.4	0.9	-0.1	0.8	12	27

 

The 2023 Bastards at Merrimack Valley Golf Club in Methuen, MA

In a stark contrast to the typhoon that was the AM-AM, the Bastards was played under sunny skies, leading to a number of bewildered Medios ending their day in severe need of an aloe bath.

 

 

With the improved weather came improved scoring at Merrimack Valley Golf Club. Well improved scoring at least by MGA standards. Three Medios walked to the 18th tee on DQ watch. Conveniently (suspiciously?) Andrew Southgate, Willy Gergits, and Mike Berk all double bogeyed the uphill Par 5, with an obscenely undulating (this was the word of the day, as there was much debate and Googling to verify the spelling and proper usage of the word) green, to avoid missing a payday. In fairness to these three, the 18th hole did play the most difficult on the entire course with the field average 2.3 strokes over par. In fact, only one player all day came away with a Mirdie. The courses’ many water hazards played a big role down the stretch, dashing the hopes of several contenders.

 

 

For a second straight event, the outcome was decided in a playoff. This time around the victor was determined on the course, with Willy Gergits and Mike (the Golden Bear) Berk being allowed off of the 10th hole to battle it out. The first hole was sloppy, as both Medios hacked their way to double bogeys, requiring a second playoff hole. On the 11th hole, Willy outlasted the Bear, with the Bear’s tee shot finding the water which led to another double bogey. This allowed Gergits to capture the first major of 2023 and his third career win.

 

 

The Empire is off to a strong start, but can the Rebels strike back? Or will the dark side prevail in 2023?

The sunshine brought out some new and old faces. Bobby Ferrari shot an impressive 72…through 13 holes before being forced to WD due to his back. Ben Friend made his first appearance since 2021 due to back surgery and was quoted as saying he was “just happy to be out here” after a 104 gave him a 16th place check. Eddie Pawlowski made his second career appearance (first since the 2022 AM-AM) after being recruited by the former World Champ Mike McMorrow during a chance encounter at the pub in Ireland. First timers Jake (Lowball Larry) Walz and Alex Salalayko survived their first foray into mediocre competition, exhibiting that technology and vocabulary (see word of the day above) are not their strong suits thus far, but mediocre golf is right up their alley.

The most perplexing round of the day went to veteran Matt McDonough who took home the long drive, closest to the pin, and the red key. McDonough had a rollercoaster day, coupling three mirdies with three 10’s. A hefty 35% of Matt’s shots came on just 4 holes.

 

 

Willy accepting his kinda big check under the intense New England sun.

 

The Golden Bear welcomes back Ben Friend from injury.

 

Mark Moriarty soaking up the first bit of sun after a long winter/rainy season.

 

Travis Hardy collecting his check after shooting a solid 92.

 

Dan Morse with a 4th place finish, shooting a net 85.

 

The COMMISH!

 

Newbie ‘Lowball Larry’ finishes in the money.

 

Sun’s out guns out for George Hunt.

 

Dom Luoni showing off the fresh golfer’s tan.

Click here for full results of the 2023 Bastards!

 

Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	OUT	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	IN	TOT
PAR	5	4	5	4	3	3	4	5	3	36	4	3	5	3	4	3	4	3	5	34	70
Willy Gergits	5	5	6	5	5	3	4	6	3	42	3	5	5	3	5	5	3	3	7	39	81
Mike Berk	5	4	6	4	3	3	5	6	3	39	5	4	5	3	5	3	5	4	7	41	80
Andrew Gordon	6	4	5	6	5	3	5	4	3	41	6	4	5	4	6	4	4	4	6	43	84
Daniel Morse	5	6	7	5	4	4	5	4	3	43	4	5	5	3	4	5	5	5	5	41	84
Andrew Southgate	5	4	6	5	3	4	4	6	3	40	5	3	6	3	5	3	5	3	7	40	80
Michael Halbach	5	4	5	5	3	4	6	6	4	42	5	4	7	4	4	4	5	6	6	45	87
Vin Ferraro	7	5	5	7	4	4	6	7	3	48	5	5	6	4	6	4	5	3	6	44	92
Mark Moriarty	6	4	7	6	4	4	6	4	3	44	6	4	6	4	6	5	7	3	8	49	93
George Hunt	6	5	8	8	3	4	6	7	3	50	5	4	7	3	6	5	6	3	7	46	96
Travis Hardy	4	6	9	5	4	4	6	6	4	48	5	5	7	3	7	3	5	3	6	44	92
Jake Walz	6	4	7	5	3	4	6	9	6	50	5	4	6	4	8	5	6	3	8	49	99
Justin Limoli	8	4	7	7	3	5	6	6	3	49	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	4	10	50	99
Dom Luoni	5	4	7	4	4	6	8	6	4	48	4	6	6	4	10	5	6	3	7	51	99
Eddie Pawlowski	6	5	7	6	5	5	4	9	6	53	7	4	6	4	5	5	5	3	10	49	102
Dennison Hunt	7	8	5	6	5	5	7	5	4	52	4	6	4	5	8	4	5	4	10	50	102
Ben Friend	6	5	8	5	5	4	6	5	6	50	6	10	7	4	6	4	6	5	6	54	104
Bill Cronin	9	8	9	6	4	4	7	5	5	57	4	5	6	4	6	5	6	5	9	50	107
Matt McDonough	6	5	6	9	4	4	10	10	3	57	4	10	5	4	8	6	5	5	7	54	111
Bob Ferrari	7	5	7	7	4	5	6	6	4	51	4	4	7	6	WD	WD	WD	WD	WD	21	WD
TOTAL STROKES	114	95	127	111	75	79	113	117	73	904	93	98	112	74	110	79	93	69	132	839	1692
AVE STROKES	6.0	5.0	6.7	5.8	3.9	4.2	5.9	6.2	3.8	47.6	4.9	5.2	5.9	3.9	6.1	4.4	5.2	3.8	7.3	46.6	94.0
PAR	5	4	5	4	3	3	4	5	3	36	4	3	5	3	4	3	4	3	5	34	70
AVE TO PAR	1.0	1.0	1.7	1.8	0.9	1.2	1.9	1.2	0.8	12	0.9	2.2	0.9	0.9	2.1	1.4	1.2	0.8	2.3	13	24
AVE TO MAR	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.8	-0.1	0.2	0.9	0.2	-0.2	11	-0.1	1.2	-0.1	-0.1	1.1	0.4	0.2	-0.2	1.3	12	23