SHOELESS JIM & WILLIAM BAD ASS CONQUER THE OAK…JUDGE K TAMES OAK, DESTROYS FIELD & ACES 11…

Where is Bad Ass???

STAFF WRITER Professor Go Go Jones (Milford, NJ) – It was our 5th trip to the lovely Oak Hill Golf Club in Milford, NJ, a town with a quaint- country-feel located in Western, New Jersey. It is so tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Northern NJ, that GMA Assistant Grateful Beth Tomlinson had to drive about 20 minutes to find the nearest Staples / Office Depot to make enlargements of our Team Scoreboard prints. When you get off of Route 78 on your journey to The Oak, you got to savor the moment and enjoy that ride through small town America. If you have time next year, there is a very cool bar around the midpoint called the Little York Inn that comes recommended by Sweet Spot’s Ken Carlson, a Milford resident. I have been there too before, and it’s a nice place for lunch, and a fine place to relax and wet your whistle. The countryside feel may put you at ease, and the layout at Oak Hill is very scenic and pretty, and conditions are plush, but their lightening fast greens that are often difficult to read, may induce panic, and do make this one of the most challenging venues on the GMA Tour. Some hate it and vow not to return, and many others love it, and the more we play this venue the better the feedback gets. Ben Ohtsu, of Slicer Nation sums it up saying, “At first I hated the Oak, and now I really enjoy it.” The feedback after Monday’s round seemed very good,

and this venue just seems to grow on people, and does represent a great value. The match of the afternoon would start on 10B of this Monday’s Wolverine Wellness Shotgun. Shoeless Jim Heyl of Hawk Rosen’s Money Shot paired up and played as a split team with Moonshiner Captain, William Bad Ass LaRiccia, sometimes referred to as “Warm Weather Willie”. They would be opposed by Sweet Spot’s Captain Jeremy “Smooth” Pineda, and Venkatesh “The Horse” Mantha. Horses come in all different sizes and shapes, and some Horses are accommodating and other Horses are down right stubborn. This match was even after 17 holes played, and went to the wire, and both teams would finish Gold and Silver with net 64’s. The Shoeless Feed “It was probably the best match I have ever been in, and neither team was up more than 2 the entire day and Jeremy Pineda made almost every putt on those very difficult greens. While I started off well, being one under after seven, Bill LaRiccia, my playing partner, was not playing well but, I knew he would come around and he did on 16 and 18 securing pars and eventually winning the match one up. Sweet spot came back from two down winning 14 and 15 and LaRiccia put us up one on 16. Mr. Pineda made another 20-foot-plus putt down hill to tie the match on 17 and LaRiccia put it away on 18 with a difficult 2-putt par, to win the match. Both teams shot 64 to finish first and second and we originally thought they won based upon aggregate. But because of best ball only the format switched to back nine which we shot 31 and they shot 32 and we ended up winning. I had placed my tee shot to 34 inches on the Closest-to-Pin Hole figuring it would be good enough to win unless someone gets a hole in one, and sure enough my great friend Bobby Kennedy sunk the hole in one and collected the point and winnings. I could not be happier for Bobby since it was his first hole in one ever, in 30 years playing golf and he lost his father a few months previously. I told Bobby someone from up above is looking down right now with a big smile on his face and he looked at me for a second and we hugged. Overall one of the best days I ever had in the Mission.”

Willam Bad Ass LaRiccia commented after play that, “Oak Hill was in great shape as always… Those F$*king greens, I say no more… Jim Heyl played super with his new shorter control swing, and posted a 38-42-80, net 70. He was so good it was hit and drag Bad Ass, Hit Again and drag Bad Ass… Heyl was just looking for a par from me to see if I was alive…” Mr. Bad Ass did come around on the back 9, with two birds and a big saving par on 12. There have been three dominant players in this 30+ year old league. First it was Gary “The Man” Helm to about 1994, and then Glenn Joseph Morello, who picked up the torch in 2001 for a dozen years or so and accumulated a staggering 62 Low Gross Crowns…And now we have Robert Stanley Kennedy AKA The Judge. The most potent team player ever, as evidenced by his monster shares each year of GMA Individual point totals…45 points in 2015…49 points in 2013…44.50 in 2010. NUNI without The Judge is a team struggling with the Newark Bears to make the Playoffs. Where is the NUNI swagger, and Trash Talk of late?…Where is the continual pot stirring of the NUNI press corps of yester year by BZ and Jaws?... Where is Spiderman Santo, who once licked the Red Lion after a Championship celebration, and would often lead their team chants of: “N – U – N – I, NUNI, NUNI, NUNI!!!” Well No. 42 at the very tough test of Oak Hill Golf, this past Monday, May 2, was one of Judge K’s finer performances. In five rounds at The Oak, counting from our first appearance in 2005, and then going from 2013 to 2016, we have fielded a total of 438 players. Judge Kennedy’s 39-34-73 was the best score of those previous 438 rounds, and in the last four years at the Oak the next best score was Sheriff Christopher Heath’s 76 in 2014. On Monday, Mr. Kennedy would trounce the 95-player Gross Field by 6-strokes as Anthony “The Machine” Fioretti and Jeremy Pineda would share Gross Silver with 79’s. A six stroke win in the Gross comp is very rare, and to add a little finishing touch, Judge K would take the Closest-to-Pin Hole with his first ever ace…Geez, I would figure he would have a few of them by now.

Bobby Kennedy’s reflections: “Oak is a beast of a layout and learned some lessons from last year. I just tried to just hit fairways & greens, knowing those greens are real tough and if I stayed below the hole making par would be easier. Had several birdie opportunities but could not find the right break. That's until the par 3, #11. As we waited for the group ahead, I think it was Rich Corsetto that said how many hole in ones do we all have? Unfortunately, after 30 or so years of playing I had zero and was the only one in the group with none. Green clears, I hit an easy 9-iron left of the hole and BINGO it hits the pin hard. To be honest, I was pumped up the whole day as Danks brought in a new Rookie to compete against the low cappers of the league. So I was ready to take on the new tiger. I can tell you after I saw him hit his first tee shot I knew right away - game on! He has plenty of game to take us all on. We have the same background both in finance and I advised him to submit his application for next year…Just like we did with Kevin McCormick…Our main goal is to take down DOOMSDAY and their fiery leader!!!”

(L-R) Batman & Judge K, 54 NUNI Gross Titles combined

Shoeless Jim does resemble the Bronze Man