Left to right: Dick Helms, Len Raab and Bob Eder
Bob Edelblut
The MPMGA Cup is another of the relatively new additions to the Men’s Club portfolio of special tournaments. As its name implies, the model for this tournament is the Fed Ex Cup which every golfer knows has become a major force on the PGA Tour. The MPMGA Board concluded that if this format is so popular on the professional level maybe, just maybe, it could provide the same level of enjoyment for its members. Guess what? It has and then some. The MPMGA Cup event is played in early February and only the top thirty point winners earn the right to compete for the title. Once again the Men’s Club weekly tournaments are where it all happens and like the TOC only postable rounds are used. In this individual competition the low net score for the day is the winner. Scoring for our event is just like the Fed Ex Cup: points are awarded for all events from first to last place; there are a few special events during the season with a larger number of points awarded; the point schedule is re-set for the final event which insures that the top five point holders “control their own destiny.” Confusing? Yes, it is and aren’t we lucky that we have Dick Helms handling all the paper work. Thanks for all your work, Dick. Oh, one last thing before we get to the good stuff—it is possible for any one of the thirty players in the field to win the big one if all the stars are aligned properly.
On February 25 the finals of the MPMGA Cup were finally played at The MountainView Golf Course and as you have probably already surmised all the stars were shining brightly for Len Raab on that Thursday when he shot a net 66. Congratulations for your great victory! Len shared with all of us at the luncheon where he received his trophy that he had shot 48 on his first nine. Before finishing his comments he paused for a few seconds to allow the smile on his face to develop fully and then said “and I shot 38 on the back.” Wow, what a story! Also Rick Fernandez, Mark Connell, Thomas Blong and David Breedlove need to be congratulated for finishing in the top five in this event. Well done.