The Viethackers did it! We came back from an insurmountable lead (at least that what the two Viethackers captain thought at the time) to take a decisive 3-1 record against our friendly Chinese foe. Down 9 1/2 to 4/12 after a dismal team effort, the Viethackers made a miracle comeback winning the 10 singles match compared to our opponents 4. In the end, we came out with a 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 victory. Added with a victory against our American opponent earlier this year, we are unstoppable.
Our comeback resulted in some "sly" seasoned veteran moves. For example, Boone "I need VFT" La was down 1 with 2 holes remaining. He had a 6-7 footer for bogey on 17th while his opponent chipped to within 3 feet for bogey. He then had the nerve to ask?."you good?I'm good " and his opponent fell right into the trap. Pushing 17, Boone would later birdie 18 to halve a crucial 1/2 point.
We also got a break from some timely miscalculated strategy by our opponents. Steve "I need to check the girls match" Tran and Han" let's focus on our match not the women" Bui played singles match against two guys who walked 27 straight holes. Now walking 18 holes is one thing but walking all 27 holes in match competition is another. We were tired riding 27 holes less walking it. So instead of a heated intense match to determine the winner, we got a break with 2 victory but not without valiant effort by Andy/Bill. Rumor is that the Chinese captain will prohibit his team from walking next year.
Then the rookies (Tuan, Nam, Tinh) came up big with individual singles win. Especially Tuan/Tinh who were blown out in team competition to the point where their opponents were debating if these two chumps were good enough for them in singles play. They proved otherwise winning easily in the singles competition. Nam "i rather watched MD-Duke" Vu came up big with 2 1/2 points on his own.
The ladies match was crucial in determining the outcome. Down in the team match with incredible play from their opponents, the ladies fought back with a split in the singles match. Loan" I play golf every Wednesday" Lavu stormed back with a decisive 5-4 win while Cookie" I need experience" Duong got caught in a storm by her opponents who shot an incredible 41. That score beats half the guy's score in the tournament.
The tournament also had some controversial moments. Leading by 2 with 2 holes to play, one of the Viethackers captain went up to their opponents to congratulate them on their efforts and to say "nice match?good try". Well?.he got shot back?"it's not over yet?there's 2 holes left". Embarrassed by the event, he apologized and proceeded to push the eight hole to close his opponent out.
Now for the "complaints" award?..Tom " my swing is holding up" Nguyen who in the previous match complained that his match was quite easy and that they need to face tougher opponents. Well, what did we do?we gave them a tougher match in Moe/Jesse. Well, when it was all said and done Tom complained that his match was too tough. We will get it right for you one of these days.
We did miss some of our veteran player this week and that made the match much tougher. We could have use Tuan " I gave up golf for women" Pham's consistent drive or Phong " I only played golf course in the Tee Time Pass book" Tran's duck hook or Jim " I hit 300 yards" Chau's long drive. But with rookies and part time player like Sang " I like to invite the team for Pho", we came through.
Now, there has been rumor that the Chinese team is trying to sign some of our star players by providing incentives such as Titleist golf balls and that our Shenandoah logo ball is not enough to keep some of our players from returning to Viethackers next year. Well, let me tell you something?.those Titleist balls over there are fake..not genuine Titleist. Our captain, Steve "I only play Pro V1 balls" Tran will provide us with the real thing next season.