Gentlemen
Having finally shaken off the stupor brought on by 4 days of WACOFF participation, The Committee realized it had yet to provide the required wrap up of the 34th Annual so here goes.
28 of the best and brightest chose to attend this year, and we were blessed by all the old familiar faces as well as two newbies: Charlie Moss, son of Randall Moss and an all around fine chap, and the middle Stimson son, David, who based on his good looks and ready wit, cannot be mistaken for anything other than a Stimson. We hope both Charlie and David will be a permanent part of our happy band of brothers. We were also blessed by the return of Sam Coughenour, son of Glenn, after too long an absence.
At the suggestion of Randy Moss, Thursday found 20 of us at Pilgrim's Run, a beautiful parkland track an hour out of Grand Rapids where WACOFF last visited in 2014. We won't let another 11 years go by before we return, as the course was universally lauded for its beauty, playability, conditioning and all around pleasantness.
Randy gets kudos for course selection, but his skills deserted him as he tried and tried and tried again to determine the actual winners of the 2 man stableford event. Although winners were announced and prizes awarded by Randy, The Committee has not yet received the final written report and scorecards from the Thursday SubCommittee on who won and it hesitates to work from memory (see "stupor" referenced above) so the official results must await an addendum to this wrap up.
Nevertheless, a fine day with beautiful weather (the last we would see) and a promising first day of WACOFF 34.
On to Spider Lake, which never disappoints. A lot of driving for everyone unfortunately, but Spider Lake (and its cousin Northport Lodge) are the gold standard in WACOFF lodging, and we fell into its comfortable embrace as if we were just there yesterday. Of course one of the best parts of SPider Lake is the outdoor amenities such as the deck, the beach and the spacious grounds. Unfortunately, 2026 brought unseasonably cool and wet weather, particularly in the evenings while the boyz were relaxing and eating. However, the rain stopped long enough on Friday night to enable Charlie Stimson (heir to the Stimson fire builder tradition) to build and share a lovely and large fire Friday evening.
MICKEY BALL
This year the golf took center stage for a couple of reasons. The weather each day involved either wind, rain, or a combination of both to some degree. And it was not particularly warm, temps getting at best into the high 50s. In addition, Friday saw the return after more than 20 years of "Mickey Ball", albeit in its current configuration as "Avenger Ball" in homage to the universality of the Marvel grip on cinema these days.
There is perhaps no greater source of WACOFF stories/legends than those that came out of the Mickey Ball games of the 90s and early 2000s. This year was no different, with several of the olds and all of the yutes playing the format for the first time and the rest remembering the dread and fear which accompanied each swing when one was playing Mickey. Having said that, this year was less destructive to team chances than usual given the relatively wide open spaces of Champion Hill where we played. 6 of 7 teams finished the round with Mickey intact which is a stellar performance by any historical standard. First place was the Randy Moss, young Nielsen, J Bretz and D. Stimson team by tiebreaker over the Bretz, Voshell, Pruss, Poole team . The overall results:
PLAYER F/B GROSS/NET
Randy Moss 42/42 = 84/73
Phil Nielsen 42/53 = 95/77
Jim Bretz 47/48 = 95/75
David Stimson 50/55 = 105/77
Thor BB + Mickey = 134*
[*Won tiebreaker with net 8 on Hole No. 15]
Dan Bretz 38/38 = 76/66
Gary Voshell 48/46 = 94/76
Skip Pruss 41/49 = 90/69
Chase Poole 59/63 = 122/95
Team BB + Mickey = 134**
[**Lost tiebreaker with net 9 on Hole No. 15]
Aaron Pruss 41/43 = 84/73
Tim G 44/45 = 89/75
Charlie Moss*** 53/48 = 101/78
Andrew Baran 51/59 = 110/79
[***Blind Draw C Player]
Team BB + Mickey = 137
Bill Green 44/56 = 100/86
Ron Hardesty 43/43 = 86/70
Charlie Stimson 44/47 = 91/71
Joe Mantey 52/53 = 105/79
Team Best Ball + Mickey = 140
John Stimson 41/44 = 85/71
Paul Nielsen 43/45 = 88/74
Bob Palmer 52/54 = 106/86
David Hardesty 55/58 = 113/86
Team BB + Mickey = 144
Nic G 37/38 = 75/75
Sam C 46/46 = 92/74
Charlie Moss 53/48 = 101/78
Mitch Mantey 69/68 = 137/105
Team BB + Mickey = 146
Paul C 40/43 = 83/77
Glenn C 43/49 = 91/77
Gary Bice 49/46 = 95/69
Marsh Hyman 53/59 = 112/80
Team BB + Mickey = DQ***
Mickey Ball (Wolverine) lost on Hole No. 5 Deep-In-The-Woods;
Team was 5 Under at the time of lost ball. Loser shall remain unnamed.
THE SCRAMBLE CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday brought us to The Bear at Grand Traverse resort. The Bear has hosted five previous WACOFF Scramble Championships and thus is sort of an anchor course of the WACOFF rota in some ways. Most WACOFFs would not choose to play The Bear on their own, but all recognize it as a significant challenge and worthy host of the Scramble Championship. The day was plagued by rain and wind, off and on with no relief until late afternoon when all had finished (save the Moss boys, who hung around and played another 14 holes). Perhaps to atone for his unlucky Mickey Ball round, Captain Paul Coughenour led his team to a convincing 3 shot victory, which also marked our Golf Committee chairman's return to the Trophy after an 11 year drought. Congratulations to Paul and Team Royal.
2025 Scramble Results
1. Royal (Paul C/Sam C/Joe Stelmark/Andrew) 33/33 = 66
2. Purple (Nic G/Gary V/Gary B/Marsh) 35/34 = 69* *Won Tiebreaker with Birdie 2 on 17
3. Green (Aaron/Phil N/Charlie S/David H) 34/35 = 69
4. Black (Dan B/Paul N/Jim B/Mitch) 35/35 = 70
5. Red (Bill Green/Glenn C/Palmer/Poole) 36/37 = 73** Scorecard Error (6 was entered instead of 5 on 18) led to recorded score of 74 and lost tiebreaker
6. Lt Blue (Tim G/John S/Skip/David S) 38/36 = 74* *Won tiebreaker with Team Gray and Team Red (see above)
7. Gray (Randy M/Ron H/Charlie M/Joe M) 37/37 = 74
Notes of Interest:
Hole No. 1: 3 of 7 teams birdied (Dan B, Tim G and Nic G squads)
Hole No. 2: 5 of 7 teams bogeyed; one birdie (Nic G) and one par (Paul C)
Hole No. 3: 3 birdies and 1 bogey overall on No. 3; Team Purple (Nic G squad) birdied 1, 2 and 3, a WACOFF first
Hole No. 4: 2 birdies (Tim G and Aaron) and one bogey (Nic G)
Hole No. 5: 5 pars but two double bogeys (Tim G and Nic G)
Hole No. 6: All 7 teams made a par 4
Hole No. 7: 3 birdies, 4 pars
Hole No. 8: 1 birdie (Nic G), 6 pars
Hole No. 9: 2 birdies (Nic G squad plus Joe Stelmark hit it to one foot) and 5 pars
Hole No. 10: 1 eagle, 1 birdie (AP), 1 bogey (Nic G)
Hole No. 11: 3 birdies, 3 pars, and 1 bogey (Paul C)
Nole No. 12: 6 pars and one bogey (Nic G)
Hole No. 13: 5 pars and 2 birdies (Nic G and Paul C)
Hole No. 14: 5 pars, 1 birdie (Nic G) and 1 bogey (Tim G)
Hole No. 15: 6 pars and one birdie 4 (Dan B)
Hole No. 16: 6 pars and one birdie 3 (Tim G)
Hole No. 17: 2 birdies (Nic G and Paul C), 2 pars and 3 bogeys
Hole No. 18: 5 pars (Paul C team with 40’ putt by AB) and one bogey (Bill G squad reported a
SUNDAY FLIGHT CHAMPONSHIPS
The Sunday games at The Wolverine (a course which lives in the shadow of The Bear but in this writer's estimation is a solid track that is great fun to play) were great, and we saw some significant personal performances throughout the field.
A Flight Winner was Nic G w an even par gross of 71, besting Aaron Pruss w a net 72.
B Flight winner was a fitting tie between Phil and Paul Nielsen at a net 73. Tie resolved by Phil birdie on 18.
C Flight winner was Gary Bice, with a career round 95 net 69 Second place went to Bob Palmer and Joe Stelmark at 101 net 81
D Flight winner was David Stimson, with a 104 net 78. No second place as David was the only D player on Sunday.
A&B Pool. Pot = $279. Low net winner is Nick Guerriero
C&D Pool. Pot = $184. Low net winner is Gary Bice
All in all great competitions with notable and deserving winners.
A few random observations/thoughts on the event:
-The inexplicalbe attraction of humans to fire. Build a fire and they will come. Well done Charlie.
-The chance to celebrate Charlie Moss' birthday. Glad you shared it with us Charlie.
-The change in the crowd energy in front of the TV at Spider Lake as Michigan failed to bring its best to Norman OKlahoma.
-The inspired rebuilding of the Trophy while in the loving care of 2024 champ Skip Pruss. Thank you Skip for doing what everyone knew had to be done but wasn't doing.
-The upbeat and positive attitude of the WACOFFs as they came off a wet and semi-miserable round on Saturday. Good on ya boyz.
-The bounty of wine, booze and other goodies provided by all to all. Particular thanks to M Hyman for the Johnny Walker Blue Label. Tasty.
Finally, thanks to Paul C and the Golf Committee for outstanding venues and games, to Ron Hardesty for dressing us to the eights if not the nines, to John Stimson for his loving curation of the Archive, to Glenn Coughenour for managing our Sunday parimutuel betting, to Joe Mantey for his masterful management of Friday Skins and to Joe and Mitch both for their herculean clean up duty on Sunday after we all bolt out of there, to Marshal for handling performance prizes on Friday, to everyone who helped with dinner set up and clean up, it is so important to the smooth flow of events to have help in this area, to Randy Moss for showing up and complaining and kvetching about everything because he loves us, and to all of the WACOFFs for their enthusiasm and devotion to this event. You guys make all the work worthwhile.
Stay tuned for upcoming information on the 35th Annual. Until then, we remain
YrObtSvts
THE COMMITTEE