The 28th Annual is now in the books. From all reports and feedback, it appears that it was an unqualified success. We enjoyed the glories of Southwest Michigan as exemplified by the beautiful and fun to play HawksHead golf links, the hospitable and comfortable Hop and Vine Inn, the cool and not humid weather, and the spirit and vibe of the WACOFFs gathered together once again.  
The weekend started on a wet note with the Thursday game threatened by a immobile band of rain hunkered down on the Lake Michigan Hills venue.  Quick thinking and decisive action by the Thursday Committee in the person of Paul Coughenour (with an able assist from the allegedly amoral Stimson) located an alternative venue 30 miles north that was dry and that miraculously could accommodate 20 players on a moments notice.  Clearbrook was perhaps not our first choice but it served admirably as a walk on sub.
The southwest Michigan venue was welcomed by all the Boyz, but particularly the Chicago contingent who saw their usual 6 hour drive shortened to less than 3 hours. Nevertheless, Paul Nielsen insisted that the Hond a'Odyssey be loaded and ready to go by 6am Chicago time.  Better never than late.
We arrived at the Hop and Vine Inn not quite knowing what to see or expect, but all were pleasantly pleased with the accommodations, the gracious hospitality of our hosts Dan and Amber, and the chance to once again have a private venue for the Wacoffs to fully express themselves over the course of the weekend. From the rum punch cocktails which greeted us Thursday evening, to the hot and welcome breakfast offerings, to the group gatherings in the dining room, patios and firepit, the Hop and Vine delivered all we needed to enjoy our time together to the fullest.  You will not be surprised to learn that The Committee has determined to return to the Hop and Vine in 2019 for an encore experience. 
Some people say that the reason we gather each year is to play golf, others say it is simply to gather and renew bonds and friendships forged over many years and events.  Either is reason enough of course, but the golf is the fuel for our collective anticipation of the time together, and this year did not disappoint. After the Clearbrook session on Thursday, we spent two rounds at the beautiful and hospitable HawksHead Golf Links, one of the nicest and most WACOFF friendly courses we have played in our storied history.  HawksHead gave us a taste of every aspect of the game, from shot values, scoring opportunities, challenging risk/reward options, short and long holes, wind, sun, sand, trees, and marvelous turf.  The Committee thinks it ranks high in the pantheon of outstanding Scramble Championship courses we have experienced over the 28 years.  We will return.The Ravines, while pleasantly scenic and wonderfully routed through deep woods, cavernous gullies and endless gorse, was perhaps a bit too challenging for our Sunday sensibilities, and scores seemed to bear that out. With a few notable exceptions, most of us felt the Ravines got the better of us on Sunday.
The results and outcomes for the 28th Annual are as follows:

THURSDAY GAME
Played in dry conditions on the soft and unmowed Clearbrook track, the Thursday game proved challenging for many.  Shining performances from Ron H, Larry Mann, the Bretz boys and Paul C highlighted the event.  Randy was just glad he was hitched to the right horse for once. 
Flight A/B           2 Man Stableford Competition

 1st Place              Dan Bretz/Randy Moss    44 Pts    $100

2nd                        Paul C/Glenn C               41 Pts    $50

3rd                        Paul N/Jim C                    38 Pts

4th                        Stimson/Voshell               32 Pts

5th                        Nick G/Pavle                    28 Pts

 Flight C/D           2 Man Stableford Competition

 1st Place              Larry/Ron Hardesty         48 Pts    $100

2nd                        LaBarge/LaBarge           45 Pts    $50

3rd                        Phil N/Jim Bretz               42 Pts

4th                        Tim G/John Coon            37 Pts

5th                        David H/John Coon         32 Pts

6th                        Palmer/Hyman                31 Pts

 4 Man Team Results

1st Place              Dan/Moss/Phil/Jim Bretz             86 Pts    $100

2nd                       Paul N/JimC/LaBarge/LaBarge   83 Pts                                     

3rd                        Stimson/Voshell/Larry/Ron         80 Pts

4th                        PaulC/GlennC/Palmer/Hyman    72 Pts   

5th                        Nick G/Pavle/David/Coon            60 Pts

X                           Tim G/Coon + A/B 1st Place =    81 Pts

 Gross/Net Scores           

A/B Flight

Dan B                  81/72

Paul C                  80/74

Glenn C                89/74

Moss                   88/75   

Jim C                   93/78

Paul N                 90/79

Stimson              94/82

Nic G                   88/83

Pavle                   96/84

Voshell               101/84

 C/D Flight

LMann                 88/68

RHardesty           89/69

Jim B                   97/73

Tyler LaBarge     96/74

J LaBarge            96/77

Tim G                  96/78

Palmer                98/78

Phil N                  98/80

Coon                   104/82

DHardesty          103/83

Hyman                116/88f

FRIDAY 4 Man Team/2 Net Best Ball Competition

Dan/Jim C/Ron H/Coon               119

Tom B/Glenn/Larry/Jim B            125

Nic G/Joe L/Phil N/Baran             133

Paul C/Voshell/Tim G/Marsh     134

Paul N/Pavle/DavidH/Mantey    135

Stimson/Moss/Palmer/Tyler      136

 Friday gross and net scores:

1st Place

Dan       78/69

Jim C     85/70

Ron H   90/70

Coon     97/75

2nd Place

Benson 84/75

Glenn    85/70

Mann    89/69

Jim B     105/81

3rd Place

Nic G     74/69

Joe L      92/75

Phil N    94/76

Baran    126/97               

4th Place

Paul C   76/70

Gary V  90/73

Tim G    101/83

Marsh   109/81

5th Place

Paul N   91/80

Pavle     93/81

David    96/76

Mantey 104/78

6th Place

Stimson 87/75

Moss     93/80

Tyler     98/76

Palmer  DNF

THE 28th ANNUAL WACOFF SCRAMBLE CHAMPIONSHIP
It was a competitive event, with one stroke separating the winner and second place, and one stroke also separating the next two finishers.  The winning Bretz team relied heavily upon the putting stroke of Joe Mantey, ably coached by the "Joe Whisperer", Glenn Coughenour.  All in all, a fine Scramble on a fine course. Congratulations to Team Sage, the purported embodiment of "Destiny.....and Desire". 

Sage                    32 + 33 = 65 (Bretz, Glenn C, Phil N, J. Mantey)

Thyme                31 + 35 = 66 (Paul C, R. Moss, L. Mann, A. Baran)

Paprika               34 + 33 = 67 (Nic G, Jim C, D. Hardesty, Hyman)

Rosemary           34 + 34 = 68 (Paul N, J.Labarge, Tim G, T. Labarge)

Lavender            37 + 34 = 71 (Stimson, Pavle, R.Hardesty, JBretz) (Winner of 5th place by tiebreaker)

Parsley                36 + 35 = 71 (Benson, Voshell, Palmer, Coon)

SUNDAY INDIVIDUAL FLIGHT COMPETITION

The Ravines showed its teeth on Sunday, particularly to many A and B players faced with some long carries from the Blue tees.  Scores jumped significantly for many in all flights, but quality and capability did out, with gritty performances again from Dan B, Paul C, Larry M, John Coon and Jimmy B. A fine day weather wise, and a reminder that Sunday is sometimes the cruelest day at Wacoff. 

(Parimutual Winners)
A Flight

1st          Dan Bretz           81/72

2nd         Paul C                 82/76

3rd          Nic G                   85/80

4th          Stimson              98/86

T4          Benson               95/86

6th          Paul N                 100/89

B Flight

1st          Jim C                   95/80

2nd         Glenn                  99/84

3rd          Voshell               105/88

4th          Moss                   102/90

5th          Pavle                   104/92

C Flight

1st          L Mann               91/71

2nd         RHardesty          98/78

3rd          Phil N                  98/81

T3          Tim G                  99/81

T3          Palmer                101/81

DNF       DHardesty         

D Flight

1st          John Coon          96/74

2nd         Jim Bretz            99/75

3rd          Mantey               103/77

4th          Marsh                 115/87

Some memorable moments from the 28th:

*The increasing availability and legality of ingestibles wreaked havoc amongst a few of the Wacoffs this year, notably Palmer on Friday (unable to move from the cart and swing the club for the last 8 holes after a run in with some gummy bears) and Coon on Saturday (fell into a catatonic stupor after indulging in his home batch of refined THC oil, touted earlier by John as a "sleep aid").  Evidently some of the old guys require warning labels.

*Randy Moss extemporizing on the glories of playing a round out of someone else's bag (Stimson's) after leaving his clubs in the wrong car for a WACOFF practice round the Friday before.  One might reasonably wonder what Randy learned from the experience regarding the adequacy of his own club inventory, but he was not able to articulate anything meaningful.

*The aforementioned Moss regaling all of us with a full throated version of all five verses of his ode to the Hond a'Odyssey to the tune of "Leaving on a Jet Plane" on Saturday night on the patio.  It was a Grammy worthy performance of a truly inspired set of lyrics.  Well done sir.

* The pitiful and repeated failure of ANYONE to build and sustain a campfire on both Friday and Saturday nights. Despite the attempts of at least ten different erstwhile fire builders, at least two of which were Eagle scouts and all of whom had plenty of advice and criticism for the others, NO ONE was able to succeed. Excuses ranged from bad wood to poor ventilation to lack of kindling to lack of outdoor skills, all of which were addressed by one or the other builders and still failure reigned. I think they are still laughing at the Hop and Vine.

*Larry Mann celebrating his 72d birthday amongst the boys in style, playing his best golf of the year and trash talking to all who came at him.  Well done Larry, and many  happy returns to the day.

*Joe Labarge testing the laws of physics with not one but two trees on each of Thursday and Friday, pitting his legendary shot accuracy (not) against large and immovable trees, and losing both times.  The second time almost killed him they say, but hey, its Labarge, who doesn't go down easy. 

*For those who cared, Randy evidently took pictures of every approach shot he hit on Saturday that was within 25 feet of the cup, and showed them off somehow thinking they were special.  It's OK Randy.  Perhaps if you used Stimson's clubs you would get it that close more often. 

*For the first time in a long time, the boyz did NOT eat all the food available to them on either Friday or Saturday.  Either we are getting too mindful of calorie intake in our dotage or we aren't working hard enough during the golf to work up an appetite.  

Thanks to all the usual helpers/suspects/planners and factotums who assisted The Committee this year. Paul C as golf guru, the best ever; Ron H for beautiful shirts and Callaway balls, although the shirts bore little relationship if any to the referenced colors; John Stimson as Curator of SHFand B items, and David H as Keeper of the Archives (glad we finally got these titles straight); Glenn C for his always competent work on the Parimutual betting; Joe Mantey on Friday skins and for the wine selections for performance prizes; Marshall for managing the award of performance prizes, particularly for having to go out post Scramble and retrieve the placards after they were abandoned by the last group out there; and to all of the Wacoffs for your continued loyalty and devotion to this event.  It is a good thing indeed.

Back to Hop and Vine in 2019, Sep 5-8.  Mark your calendars.  Save your $$.  Sandbag that handicap.  PLEASE SEND ANY PICTURES YOU HAVE FROM THE 28TH TO THE COMMITTEE FOR POSTING ON WACOFF.NET.  This does NOT  include pictures of Randy's approach shots landing 35 feet from the pin on the back fringe.  

Have a peaceful and comfortable off season all. 

YrObtSvts