The Greater Fool Invitational 2015
Punju Golfers Association
THE GREATER FOOL INVITATIONAL 2015
Bandon Dunes – May 14-17 2015
As illustrated above, The Greater Fool theory is essentially a justification for doing something irrational, because there is someone who will make it worth your while, because they will be even more irrational. It is usually used in the context of securities purchases or in determining what is fair market value, however, in our context it is more pure- we play bad golf, but my opponents may play worse- so lets bet (and lets face, the whole idea of grown men, flying to a remote location to knock a ball in a hole, is completely irrational in and of itself, but its on and it is looking to be a great time).
Fools were synonymous with jesters from the middle ages and jesters were the predecessors to the modern day clown- and all know a few of those (many of whom will be on this trip) As such the teams will be The Jesters vs. The Clowns.
Building on last years format- The Greater Fool Invitational is a 3 day Ryder Cup style tournament. We will be 15 total players going so Team Jester will have 7 players plus Bozo (who is a placeholder) and Team Clown will have 8 players.
There will be four matches on days one and two. Each match is worth one point with a total of four points available on each of the first two days. Three of the matches will be four-man better ball match play format. Please see link below for a description of better ball (four ball). Note that will use net scores – 80% of course handicap pegged to the lowest handicap in each match, on all days. Each of these matches is worth one point and they can end in a tie in which case the point is split.
http://golf.about.com/cs/golfterms/g/bldef_betterbal.htm
The fourth match will be a single player from Team Jester and two players from Team Clown. The threesome will play Nines. (Further explanation of the game nines for those who don’t already know how the game is played is available). If the Team Jester representative scores more than 54 points during the round (or more than 3 points per hole) then Team Jester gets the point for the match. If Team Jester scores exactly 3 points per hole (54 in an 18 hole match) then the match is a tie and the point is split. If Team Jester scores less than 3 points per hole then Team Clown wins the match and gets the point.
The last day will be 8 singles matches based on index- 1 will play 2 etc. Note that one player from Team Jester will play two matches simultaneously against Team Clown to account for the one less player. We will determine exactly what seed Bozo is once we have the final indexes.
Buy-In: $1,736 per team (yes it is a weird number – it is again to account for the fact that we are 7 vs. 8) Team Jester you are betting $248 to win $248 and the Clowns are betting $217 to win $217. Winner take all. Note: that it takes 8.5 points to win the tournament.
There will also be a Champions dinner and drinks hosted by the losing team. This will take place at The Gallery restaurant at the Lodge on Saturday Night.
FORMING THE TEAMS
The details- we will form two teams – Team Jester will be 7 players plus BOZO and Team Clown will have 8 players. I will insert BOZO into the roster based on the final indexes but he will “play” for Team Jester.
The teams will be determined based on index and random draw. We will look at the indexes on May 1 and slot the players from 1 – 16. (index table to be completed prior to our May 1 gathering.) From there we will take players 1 and 2 and put them on separate teams (randomly), players 3 and 4 will be placed on separate teams (randomly). As such, the number three player could be placed with the number one or the number two player, and the number four player will be placed on the opposite team from the number 3 player. We will repeat this process with players 5 and 6, 7 and 8 and so on until we have two teams with each index level represented on each team.
The team selections will take place on Friday May 1st and the lineups for day 1 matches are to be set on that day as well.
DAY 1 MATCHES – PACIFIC DUNES
(Thursday) – Green Tees – 133 slope
Format: 3 Four man better ball matches and one threesome playing Nines.
Each team will form 3 teams of 2 and there will be one threesome to play that day. The partners will be at the discretion of the teams. Team Jester will declare who their first team in the first foursome will be and Team Clown will then declare their team to go out in the first foursome. After the first foursome is set, Team Clown will declare who their team in the second foursome will be, Team Jester will then match and also name their team in the 3rd group. Team Clown will respond and the fourth group will be set by default. Note that Jester can put the single player in the lineup at any time- either as a response or in the initial.
The matches are all worth one point and if they end in a tie the point is split. Note that this is the short day so this match will be 15 holes long. We will play this and all matches at 80% of course handicap and we will peg against the lowest handicap in the group.
The lineups for Day 1 are to be determined on May 1.
DAY 2 MATCHES – Old Macdonald – Green Tees 125 Slope.
Format: 3 Four man better ball matches and one threesome playing Nines.
Each team will form 3 teams of 2 and there will be one threesome to play that day. The partners will be at the discretion of the teams. Team Clown will declare who their first team in the first foursome will be and Team Jester will then declare their team to go out in the first foursome. After the first foursome is set, Team Jester will declare who their team in the second foursome will be, Team Clown will then match and also name their team in the 3rd group. Team Jester will respond and the fourth group will be set by default. Note that Jester can put the single player in the lineup at any time- either as a response or in the initial.
The matches are all worth one point and if they end in a tie the point is split. Note that this is the short day so this match will be ______holes long. We will play this and all matches at 80% of course handicap and we will peg against the lowest handicap in the group.
The lineups for Day two will be set at the Pub on Thursday night at the resort.
Day 3–SINGLES MATCHES – Bandon Dunes – Green Tees 133, Slope.
Eight Matches
These matches are based on seed. This is a singles match at 80% of course handicap. The only variable on this day is one player from Jester will play two matches simultaneously against two Clowns. This will be determine on May 1 based on where Bozo falls. Also, in the case of injury this gives us flexibility.
RULES:
It is expected that everyone knows the rules of the game, however each match will police itself. You can all agree on what to do for any given situation, as those affected will be present.
These are legal but the slope adjustments must not be used. You are on your honor to turn this feature off.
FORFEITS
If you must forfeit because of legitimate injury or legitimate illness- we will adjust based depending on which team you are on. If one Clown is out – we have an even number of players and we can play an even number of singles matches and on days one and two- there will be three four-ball matches and a singles match. If it goes the other way we will have again adjust by playing an additional nines match on days one and two and on day three we will have to have additional players, play two matches simultaneously. Note a hangover is not an injury- it’s a fuck up. In this instance the opposing team gets the point or in better ball your team plays a man down, and for each match forfeited because of you – you must pay each member of your team $20, excluding legitimate reasons. So if you miss a full round- you owe your team a total of $200.
PACE OF PLAY:
We have a lot of golf to play that weekend so it will be helpful to work on pace of play. If you are out of a hole, pickup. Have fun- but lets face the facts that we all have the handicaps that we do for a reason…..read the greens, look at yardages etc….but hurry up and hit the damn ball.
CADDIES
We have requested caddies for every based on preference for solo or shared caddies.
SIDE BETS:
These are encouraged. You will be going head to head within your groups and you can place more action with individuals on the opposing team as well. Bet on the other matches…do whatever you want to do….if you can find someone to take the bet, I encourage it to be made – it makes for lively dinner conversation. I would love to buy one of my Friday competitors a golf shirt at the resort or dinner one night…but you will have to beat my team - any takers?
I know this is a little confusing, but with the odd number of folks I had to adjust. I hope I wrote it up properly but lets work through questions. If there is a mistake in the above, I will clarify (because I knew what the hell I meant). If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments let me know.
Sanjay Ahuja