2023 Year in Review

It’s that time of year – the eagerly awaited end-of-year wrap-up that I sometimes remember to research and send out.

We often say, the Tanglewood Golf Association is one of the best golf associations in the area, and 2023 bears that out.

Where to start?

Why not team events?

Interclub.  Each of our teams — Regular, Senior (55+) and Super Senior (65+) won their respective regular season “Pods” this year and advanced to the playoffs.  Both the Regular and Senior teams won their first round playoff matches, only to bow out in the second round.  The Super Seniors suffered a heart-breaking loss in their first round match.

As each of the Captains expressed throughout the year, it’s a pleasure to be part of our teams.  Tanglewood always has players eager to step up and represent with class.  Other clubs in the area struggle to field enough players for matches, but that situation never arises with our membership.  Thank you.

But what of the even BIGGER team competition?  The Hatfields retained the “cup” this year with an even more dramatic comeback than usual on the last few matches on the final day.  But the McCoys once again came back from a pretty big hole after Saturday’s round to make it VERY interesting on Sunday.  Maybe 2024 is their year?

What’s next?  The 2023 Chinese calendar?? (bear with me for a minute – NO, I haven’t been drinking….). 

Apparently, it was the year of the Rabbit.  But for the TGA, perhaps it was the year of the “Ray”??? 

It was a very good year for our own Jeremy “Ray”. (see, I told you it would make sense in 10 seconds – five if you’re a fast reader).

Jeremy etched his name on the Forsyth Championship trophy for the second time, winning by two shots.  Jeremy also holds the distinction of being the only winner of both the Forsyth Junior (some years ago!) and the Forsyth Championship.

But that wasn’t all.  Jeremy and his partner also won the Member/Guest, and last but not least, he also won the Club Championship.  That’s a pretty good Trifecta.

Other Club Champions for 2023 were Glenn Levine as Senior and Jerry Johnson as our Super Senior Club Champions.

Hold on — we’re just getting started…

Kenny Flynn won the Forsyth Senior Championship by FIVE shots.  This was Kenny’s first Senior Championship, but he, like Jeremy, has won the Regular Championship two times.  He joins our own Ron Morgan as one of a select few who have won both the Regular and Senior Forsyth Championships.

Moving on, how about Carolina Golf Association tournaments and events?

I may have missed a few, but here are some of TGA players who won a one-day CGA event this year, gaining eligibility into the year-end CGA Tournament of Champions:  Stevie Blankenship, Dickie Brewer, Kenny Davis, Mark Debusk, James Gore (former member), Mark Harper Sr., Glenn Levine, Terry Payne, Hugh Quinn, Scott Wearn, and Jim Williams.

In addition to winning their one-day tournament, Kenny Davis and Terry Payne won their Division at the end of year Tournament of Champions 4-ball as well.

In the North Carolina 4-ball, former member Joe Cansler and his partner took home the trophy for the 2nd consecutive year, and Mark Harper Jr. and Kenny Flynn were in the hunt after two solid days, but were forced out on day three by a family emergency at home.

In the North Carolina Senior 4-ball, Todd Brown and his partner finished second, and Hugh Quinn and Scott Wearn finished 16th.

In the North Carolina Senior Am, Todd Brown, John Kennedy, Brian Sainz and Fred Uberseder made it through the qualifier and advanced to THE Senior Am at Cutter Creek.

Finally, to wrap up our year, a couple of fun/interesting reports.

The “Total Rounds Posted” report is fun, but seldom offers few surprises.  This year is no different.  Gregor Howard, the reining King of Most Rounds Posted, remains on top.  I believe Gregor is the champion of this ‘stat’ every year since his retirement a few years back.  But there are a few new names who have made the first page this year, so it’s worth a quick look.

The last report is the mysterious “Most Improved Golfer” report.  I say “mysterious” because the formula used in calculating seems a bit cumbersome.  But, this one always DOES offer some interesting names, and each year I’m surprised at the number of “scratch” golfers who are near the top.  This year is no exception, as our #1 most improved is Eli Kennedy who’s a pretty dog-gone good player!!

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for 2023!!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2024!

-B