BEDLAM CUP QUICKLY BECOMING POPULAR....

The third edition of the Great Plains National Bank Bedlam Cup went as planned and without weather interruption that some had feared before the weekend when the weather forecast predicted rain during  the tournament. The rain came and left before the tournament started at 8:45 a.m. in the morning. I even had come calls from a former member here who captained one of the visiting teams, who was fearful that his team was dissolving because of the threat of rain. It took our friend "Thumper", a lot of effort, emails, phone calls and text messages to keep his friends from Clinton together in order to not cancel and make us re-do pairings. Good job Thumper!

On our side, the first two persons who I need to give credit are Robert Garton, president at the GPN Bank's Mangum branch and Ed Hughes, our golf course superintendent. Robert because with his able and smiley assistant Erika Elston, was the person who contacted and kept in touch with all of the visiting cities (including Shamrock, who first contacted me) with the exception of Clinton, and without whom, this friendly challenge match would not happen; and Ed because he worked so hard to present our course in the best possible shape, even after an all night rain. Then, I also want to personally thank Ann Cowan and Shawn Wilson for helping me with the pairings, phone calls, ideas, pairing ideas and for helping me deal with the constant changes up to the last minute before the tournament started! I couldn't have done any of this alone, nor without the help of my best friend, Mona! who no one notices because she is always behind the scenes!

That one of our teams ("Black") won is totally secondary to the enthusiasm and sportsmanship with which our golfers on both teams, and our membership in general, embrace the format and the spirit of this weekend, so, as well, THANK YOU all who participated and hosted players from seven other cities: James Ainsworth, Justin Brown, Matt Brown, Bryce Butcher, Damon Butcher, Cole Bynum, Mike Clinton, Ann Cowan, Eddie Davis, Greg Dodson, Jeff Donaghey, Tim Ellison, Jeremy Gray, Joby Gray, Bob Griffith, Keith Hulen, Aaron Kauk, Grady Lantz, Rod Little, Craig Martin, Craig Phelps, David Poole, Jorey Price, Jeff Rule, Casey Smith, Ronnie Smith, Russ Smith, Brandon Thomas, Bobby Wechsler, Jordan Williamson, Shawn Wilson, Tyler Windsor and Randall Wright.

It all adds to the the fact that we had a record nine teams participating: Clinton, Cordell, Mangum, Sayre, Hollis, Shamrock, Wellington and two local teams, "Black" and "White" (shall we change it to "Brown" and "White"?) and to fulfill the original spirit of this friendly match which is to reach to sister communities and make new contacts and friends; so, during the 27 holes (three nines), we try to pair cities with different cities, in this case, each city played with at least five different cities during the day, if not six. In addition, the entry fee is totally symbolic... $20 per person is all that participants pay, all of which -and more- goes to the Relay for Life fund, as GPN Bank takes care of all course fees, small gifts for the players (in this case Titleist Prov1 balls), lunch and other expenses!! Here are the results of this year's matches:

(1 point per match won in Low Ball and Scramble, 2 points per match won in Alternate Shots)
1. 117 1/2 Points, Elk City Black (30 Low Ball, 29 1/2 Scramble, 58 Alternate Shots)
2. 95 Points, Mangum (24 1/4, 23 1/2, 47)
3. 85 1/2 Points, Elk City White (25 1/2, 20, 40)
4. 85 Points, Clinton (21, 27, 38)
5. 68 1/2 Points, Sayre, (16 1/2, 11, 41)

Elk City Black took a large lead of 11 1/2 points after the first 18 holes where a 34 tied the best score of the day for Low Ball and a 29 was the lowest score anyone did in scramble. In the afternoon, there were some big moves in the Alternate shots format, first, Mangum scored 47 points (2nd highest) to stay in second place, and Elk City White, thanks to a 34 turned in by EC-Wht-8, ended up beating powerhouse Clinton by 1/2 point in the total for third place! Great Job guys!

The format will be "tweeked" for next year. One o the changes that organizers are speaking about is to have different flights by age group, with certain number of points for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. in each flight, and the Cup going to the club with the most points (even if no flight was won by the winning club). The main thing that organizers are trying to accomplish is a true friendly match where everyone enjoys and where everyone feels they have a chance to do well.

Below the scoreboard's picture, you will find links to pictures and team's members' names.

CLICK FOR TEAMS' PICTURES

BEDLAM TEAM PLAYERS' NAMES (CLICK ON THE TEAM'S NAME TO SEE PLAYER'S NAMES)

MANGUM
WELLINGTON
SHAMROCK