THE MASTER THE 5 INCHES INVITATIONAL
We are giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. Everyone has the 5 inches. Some might have a secret in one direction, some in another, but we will give everyone 5 inches. This does not account for width. It is clear that in life, the ability to control, expend, invigorate, protect and stimulate the 5 inches will only serve you and others around you well. Your parents, teachers and friends have all encouraged the use of the 5 inches and maximizing its potential. As we are all Indians by birth or by marriage, I speak to all of us in saying that we invented the Kama Sutra; an invention that is a true testament to how the 5 inches can be applied. What does this have to do with a ryder cup style golf tournament?
Bobby Jones is famously quoted as saying that: “Golf is a game played on a 5 inch course, the distance between your ears.” I repeat- BETWEEN YOUR EARS. NOT IN YOUR PANTS.
Hours on the range. Protein shakes. Worshipping the TB 12 program. Is it enough or are we ignoring the mental game? Will the physical perform if the mind breaks down? Can you make that 3 footer with the cost of an ugly jacket and a wagyu strip on the line? How do we as golfers approach the 5 inch game? We will find out in Whistling Straits when the Wise Owls will face off against the Sly Foxes in this year’s event. The Owl known for its wisdom and focus that comes from a place of virtue and experience whereas the Fox is characterized as a less moral character who may have a few angles to get ahead. In simplified terms, this is a nuanced battle of good versus evil.
Before we get to the boring logistics a couple videos of marginal relevance:
This one is wholesome and family friendly – felt dirty after paragraph 1 (and you should too).
The Tournament
The Master The 5 Inches Invitational is a 3-day Ryder Cup style tournament.
Buy in: The Champions Dinner ($700 cap) plus the Dinner Jacket of your opponent ($140). More on dinner jackets below- but it will either be your trophy or an expensive piece of novelty clothing for yourself (considering the losers will each buy two.). Dinner bill is capped at $700 per losing team member, or $5,600. Anything over $5,600 will be split by all 16 players. We will select two teams of 8 that will participate in a 3-day cumulative event. Days 1 and 2 will be four ball and Day 3 will be singles matches.
DINNER JACKETS:
The nicer restaurant on property (The Immigrant Restaurant), where we will have the Champions Dinner on Saturday night, requires us to wear blazers. We have ordered and received Owl and Fox novelty blazers which cost $140 after the credit for the sizing errors, to be worn at the dinner on Saturday. We will not go unnoticed on property! If your team loses, you will have to reimburse your singles opponent from Saturday for the cost of their blazer (and buy their dinner). It’s a big trip – it’s a big bet. Cocktails prior to Dinner- no long faces from the losers.
TEAM SHIRTS:
This is optional. Teams have been selected well in advance and teams can do as they please.
INDEXES:
85% of the low index for the year.
THE TEAMS:
The Captains for this year are Romy (Sly Foxes) and Chetan (Wise Owls). Given this is a big job, we have assigned a second in command to each team. Biren will be Romy’s right hand man and Nitin will give Chetan the assist. Teams are as follows:
| Foxes | Owls |
|---|---|
| Sanjay Ahuja | Chetan Chaudhary(Captain) |
| Biren Sood | Nitin Khanna |
| Romy Singh (Captain) | Kiran Chaudhri |
| Naveen Sood | Sandeep Vij |
| Ajay Narain | Sunil Nagdev |
| Paresh Patel | Sunil Ahuja |
| Mandir Nagdev | Bobby Kohli |
| Mahesh Karanth | Greg Bourke |
(From draft rules sent at time of team selection: “Note that given that indexes may move- your singles opponent is not necessarily determined and may change as we get closer to the event.”)
Days 1 and 2 are four ball - better ball match play. If you don’t know the game by now- ask. We play off the low index in the group.
All rules disputes are settled within the groups- its match play. People should know the rules of the game and should share correct knowledge with their playing partners. This is supposed to be fun- but it is only fun if the rules are adhered to with little to no exceptions. Note also that if you are out of a hole- pick up your ball and move on. Pace of play over the three days is key. We have par 3 courses to play as well after our rounds (if we want to.)
DAY 1 AND DAY 2 Format: Four man better ball matches.
Each team will form 4 teams of 2. The partners will be at the discretion of the teams. The Owls will declare who their first team in the first foursome will be and The Foxes will then declare their team to go out in the first foursome. After the first foursome is set, The Foxes will declare who their team in the second foursome will be, The Owls will respond, etc. and the fourth group will be set by default.
We must declare the matches for day 1 prior to departure.
On Day 2- The Foxes will name first and Owls will respond.
The matches are all worth one point and if they end in a tie the point is split. The matches will play off of the lowest index in each foursome.
Day 3- Eight Singles Matches.
On day three at The Straits course, we will play 8 singles matches. In the past these matches were set at the time teams were picked. However, this year the teams were picked early and the seedings within the teams have changed a fair amount. As such, we have three pairs of teammates that are getting the same number of strokes from the course (full disclosure the indexes are not identical, but the number of stokes are). Team seedings are as follows using September 15 indexes and applied to the course at 85%.
| Foxes | Owls |
|---|---|
| Mahesh | Greg |
| Sanjay | Kiran / Sandeep |
| Naveen | Kiran / Sandeep |
| Mandir | Bobby |
| Ajay / Biren | Sunil Nagdev |
| Ajay / Biren | Nitin / CC |
| Romy | Nitin / CC |
| Par | Sunil Ahuja |
To mix things up from years past, we will allow the losing team to seed any of the pairs above, then the other team will seed a second pair and the losing team will seed the final pair. The only matches that are set are Greg and Mahesh, Bobby and Mandir and Sunil and Par.
Example, assume the Foxes are losing after two days, the Foxes can decide that CC is the 6 and Nitin is the 7 (which determines who will play Romy), the Owls will then choose to seed either Kiran/Sandeep or Ajay/Biren. This allows teams a little strategy going into the last day to try and create some matchups. This still minimizes the strokes given in singles matches (which is the biggest goal when setting determining opponents). If we are tied after 2 days, we will flip a coin to determine who goes first.
Singles matches will go out from lowest index to highest.
Each match is worth one point. Strokes are off the lower guy in the match.
There is a total of 16 points during the three days. 8.5 points wins. 8 points is a tie - no money changes hands and buy your own dinner and blazer.
CLOSEST TO THE PINS/CONTESTS
Still being worked out- but we will pay out $960. At a minimum we will have two closest to the pins each day.
RULES:
It is match play so settle all disputes within your groups. Be mindful of local rules.
RANGE FINDERS AND GPS:
These are legal but the slope adjustments must not be used. You are on your honor to turn this feature off. We also have individual caddies for the Irish and the Straits.
PACE OF PLAY:
We have a lot of golf to play that weekend so it will be helpful to work on pace of play.
SIDE BETS:
All bets are encouraged- try not to slow pace of play though. The use of the Punga app will be all but mandatory if you want in on the action.
CHAMPIONS DINNER:
It is on property Saturday night- look sharp. Must wear your jackets.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments let me know. Looking forward to this one. The venue and the timing just after the Ryder Cup should make this very memorable. Take lots of pictures and talk to your opponents in the kindest and rudest of ways.
Received a couple of comments re: yardages and possibly difficult conditions. We are not playing too much length except maybe the first day. But its match play- so its equal. However to add some strategy- the first match on the first day will be played from the white tees (6100 yards). The remainder of the matches to be played from the green tees. The strokes will be adjusted for those playing from the white tees.
On the singles matches- we are already set to play the white tees. I will allow any match to move to another tee box, but both players must agree. If both players do not agree, then the match stays on the white tees.
Made with Ghee, your friendly rules official…
SA