The Rule 12 Golf Tour
Changing lives... one trip at a time.
Historical Notes
Enjoy Paul "The Commish" Pysh's thorough trip notes from over the years
Year 1 we stayed at the Caravelle (12 guys) ($600 in prize money)
Year 1 Dalph McNeil won a golf shirt in a raffle at Possum Trot.
Year 2 we stayed at the Caravelle (16 guys) ($800 in prize money). Made refugee-like move to other condo after water pipes busted.
Year 2 the Daily Low Net money prize began.
Year 3 we stayed at the Ocean Sands (13 guys) ($650 in prize money)
Year 3 We were originally known as the Myrtle Beach VIP Tour.
Year 3 Name was changed to Rule 12 at Russ Wieszczyk’s suggestion.
Year 3 Phil Walker won a cruise on Par 3 contest (#4) at Shaftsbury Glen
Year 4 we stayed at Barefoot Resort & Golf (20 guys) ($1,100 in prize money). Extra $100 came from rained-out opening scramble.
Year 4 The hump-day scramble in year 4 at Love Course ended with 4 of 5 teams at -2. So no winner declared. The beginning of the end for the hump-day scramble was evident.
We began having our group dinner at Umberto's in Years 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. (there was no group dinner in year 1) Ernie, Pysh, Dalph, Volpe, Luton found Umberto’s after dining there at the suggestion of Pysh’s childhood friend from Springdale, Mike Winklmann.
Hump Day Scramble earnings do not count toward Tour Earnings
Rule 12 was, is and always will be … referred to whenever necessary.
The Trophy: Dalph McNeil's idea after seeing a beat up old cup on the table of another golf group the 1st year of trip (when 5 of us ate at Umberto's)
Trophy was purchased on eBay. Cost of trophy with shipping and handling was $43.00 in 2002.
Trophy is awarded to champion at the annual dinner the year FOLLOWING his victory.
Bobby Montineri: Owner of Umberto's. Originally from Springdale, PA
Founding Fathers: Dalph McNeil, Craig Coon, Tom Ray & Paul Pysh
The "Chicago" scoring system has been used in all years of the tour's existence.
Opening day scramble in 2003 was rained out. Our first ever rain-date. $100 in prize money was used for 4 extra closest to pins.
Year 4 we changed the Woodies category to "verifiable wood" and scoring of a double bogey or better on the hole to earn a woodie.
Year 5 we changed Greenies to Par 3's only, in order to give some of the mere mortals a fighting chance.
Year 5 Hump Day Scramble was eliminated. No arguments from the group. In fact, most were relieved. In yr. 4, some teams actually quit after 10 or 12 holes … apparently had better things to do. (Like racing their golf carts back to the clubhouse)
Year 5 First year of the Match-Play Event.
Match Play Award was purchased at the Three Rivers Arts Festival in June of 2003 at a cost of $160.00. Winner keeps the award for a year and autographs the back with year of his victory.
Year 5 we stayed at Barefoot Resort & Golf (20 guys). $1,000 in prize money.
Year 5 Jack Matson suggested, organized and operated (with help from ciphering committee) the first Match Play Bracket Pool.
Year 5 we played Prestwick twice on Thursday. 16 golfers arrived Wed. night. The other 4 (Harper, King, Volpe & Smith (Smith was living in Myrtle) played 18 holes at Prestwick while the 16 who arrived Wednesday played 36.
Year 5, the second 18 holes at Prestwick was our inaugural match-play-event-elimination-round. We eliminated 4 (Pysh, Ray, McKinney, Silvis) but Alan Reitz and Ernie disqualified themselves for rules violations, moving Pysh and McKinney into Match Play.
Year 5, we had our first-ever TIE in the daily LOW-NET category … at Grand Dunes with McKinney & Matson.
Year 5 we have co-champions for the 2nd time in Rule 12 history.
Year 5 Randy Stroup joined us for dinner at Umberto’s.
Year 5, Tom Ray gave a group photo and photo of our “Cup” to Bobby Montineri (owner of Umberto’s) for Bobby to display on the walls of the restaurant. Also … Tom Ray builds Rule 12 Website.
Year 6 we added DRIPPIES to the skill prizes. A "drippy" will be earned with a double-bogey or better after hitting your ball in a lake, pond, stream, wet-marsh, or ocean. Standing water does not apply. This was Ernie Erlandson's suggestion.
Year 6 we added a Ryder Cup event. Brookville Golfers will face-off against "Other." “Other” renamed “Fereners.” Winner will be determined by the least amount of total low-net strokes per team over the final 4 days.
Year 6 - Jack Matson’s wife Megan was with child and Jack did not make the trip since her due-date was so close to the trip dates. Steve Volpe, one of the original 12, also could not go on the trip in 2005 due to shoulder surgery.
Year 6 – Ugly Shirt Sunday contest was introduced. Alan Reitz voted to have ugliest shirt (actually the entire outfit was ugly). Mark McKinney was voted to have the LEAST ugly shirt. So Mark had to wear Alan’s shirt to annual Umberto’s dinner.
Year 6 – Alan Reitz ugly shirt was christened as the Ugly Shirt Sunday Award. Annual ugly shirt winner will autograph this shirt (Alan’s) and the person with the least ugly shirt must wear this “Award” to annual Umberto’s dinner and keep the shirt for an entire year.
Year 6 - $1000 in prize money with 20 golfers participating.
Year 6 – We stayed at Barefoot Landing Resort.
Year 6 – Randy Stroup and Steve Volpe joined us for dinner at Umberto’s. Group sang “Happy Birthday” to Randy. One of the busboys is also a caddy at Oakmont C.C. (Kevin). He caddied for Commysh when he played Oakmont June 2, 2005, but Commysh did not know he worked at Umbertos until halfway through the round.
Year 6 – The last 9 holes of the 27 holes played on Thursday at Man-O-War were used to eliminate golfers from the 16-man match-play event. We used ½ of the regular handicaps (rounding up) to help determine the net scores.
Year 6 – Mistakenly gave McMurray the low net one round by going to the cards when he was tied with Odasso. Should have split it like we have all other years … by rule. I’ll blame it on the booze.
Year 6 ½ - Sandies Award (Lamp donated by Jack Matson) and Drippies Award (Ice Bucket purchased off eBay for $15.00) were awarded at Mid-Year Dinner (traditional when there are co-champions) in Sept. of ’05 at the Gold Eagle in Brookville.
Year 7 – Barefoot Resort opens the Marina, a 2nd Tower and Hot Tub. Lounge almost finished, but not quite.
Year 7 – Points changed in Chicago Scoring System. Alan Reitz tweaked the system to make fairer.
Year 7 – 24 golfers is a new trip high.
Year 7 – Purse increases to $1,200
Year 7 – Thursday takes on more importance. This year we use the worst low net scores to eliminate 8 from Match Play ….. PLUS ….. Each golfers gross score is taken against par and averaged with his 2005 season-ending handicap to determine the Chicago Scoring System handicap and quota for Friday’s 1st Round. (Ex. If a 10 handicap shoots 20 over par ((a 92)), he has a 15 handicap to determine point quota for round one). No more than a 50% adjustment was allowed.
Year 7 – Dalph McNeil wins Ugly shirt Sunday contest by a landslide. Dave Taylor voted to have the least ugly shirt, therefore had to wear the shirt to dinner at Umbertos. He wore it on his head like a turban.
Year 7 – 3 guys shit themselves; One of them on the course. This is believed to be a record.
Year 7 – Pysh and McMurray take Award from Greg Normans. Wieszczyk takes it back.
Year 7 – Reservations at Umbertos got lost. We spent an extra hour in the bar waiting to be seated. Bobby is not there to help as his wife was not feeling well. Bobby’s daughter Nina (the desert “Nina’s Surprise” is named after her) takes control and gets us seated. Dinner comes to $52 per man. This includes a 20% tip. Unbelievable how cheap it is. Humor in the Cypherin Room’s van on the way back to the condo after dinner may never again be matched.
Year 7 – marked the first year we made “skill” prizes a 3 day event instead of 4 (Fri., Sat., & Sun.) so we could present the awards at Umberto’s after dinner.
Year 7 – Trip to Sushi Bar Saturday Night by McMurray, Swank, Pysh and Gourley was so good it could turn into an annual affair.
Year 7 – A Win-Place-Show game was introduced by Russ Wieszczyk. However, no one played.
Year 7 – Tom Ray won the Rule 12 Trip bracket and $105. Jack Matson organized the event, although the first round went by without anyone playing, so the brackets only include the quarterfinals, semis, and Final. Tom’s winnings DO NOT count toward his Rule 12 career earnings.
Year 8 – Began a Winner Take All (WTA) Hole-in-one club. Each golfer puts in $5. The pot grows and carries-over year to year until there is a winner. There was NOT a hole in one during the first 7 years.
Year 8 – Began the annual drawing ritual for one golfer to get the complimentary trip (with 20 or more Barefoot gives us a freebie). Becky Matson chose the name of Steve Perez.
Year 8 – Monday morning FROST delay forced us back onto the Fazio Course (Instead of Love) for the final round.
Year 8 – There was no Hole-In-One winner, so the $100 collected in 2007 will carry over to 2008. Troy Harper will hold in escrow.
Year 8 – No group stayed in any Penthouse Condo at Barefoot in 2007. Resort claimed there were no Penthouse condos being rented any longer.
Year 8 – New members to the Rule 12 group are Carl Metosky and Jeff Shaffer.
Year 8 – Alan Reitz becomes the first Rule 12 golfer to eclipse $1,000.00 in career earnings.
Year 8 - Thursday Round was used to adjust winter-layoff handicaps for Chicago scoring (just like in year 7) and Match-Play began with “pigtail” matches being played in order to trim the field to 16 golfers.
Year 8 – Match Play Final between Harper (13 handicap) and Walker (10 handicap) goes to the final hole with the match All-Square. Harper wins. Harper shot 95 on the afternoon and Walker 96. What a match! Dan Luton and Tom Ray were forced to witness the debacle. Apparently it wasn’t too tough to watch as Tom Ray shot his best round of the weekend, winning the daily low net and the overall Rule 12 Championship, Tom’s first.
Year 8 – “Stop, or I’ll jump!”
Year 8 – The Wryder Cup Match was played out over all 5 rounds instead of the final 4 rounds like we did in the past.
Year 9 – 24 golfers go to Las Vegas. Stayed at Harrah’s on The Strip. $1,440 in prize money.
Year 9 – Begin tradition of having the defending Chicago Scoring Trip Champion act as captain of his respective Wryder Cup Team (Brookville or Fereners) and he selects his team.
Year 9 – Continue tradition of having the defending champ tee off first in the first group of the trip.
Year 9 – New members to trip are Dean Horne, Dave Sayers, Carl Sheesley, Dan Ferringer, Brian Luton and Lanny Fields.
Year 9 – Another game of “skill” is added known as “The Best Closer.”
Year 9 – Raised entry fee from $55 per golfer to $60.
Year 9 – Mike McMurray was the winner of the “comped” trip in the 2nd annual drawing of names. By rule, Mike McMurray and Steve Perez (2008’s comped winner) are no longer eligible.
Year 9 – Bus company on return trip has dates mixed-up and most of wait in Cleveland an extra 3.5 hours. Five guys rent a Suburban (Jack, Brian Luton and Wasko, Ernie and Tom Ray) and drive home in order to get Brian Luton to class at Clarion Univ. by 11am.
Year 9 – Rod Silvis becomes 2nd player to withdraw from the tournament as he retires after the front 9 at Silverstone. Although several guys battled some level of a stomach virus, Rod got his while on the trip and those first days are the worst. First player to withdraw was Martino, but his “illness” was self-inflicted.
Year 9 – Due to Rod’s absence, Wryder Cup points for Sunday were determined by eliminating the score of the Brookville player with the next highest handicap to Rod’s. Rod returned Monday and all points were used.
Year 9 – Marks the first year a Wryder Cup team came from behind to win.
Year 9 – ON Thursday, the first day of golf, Mark McKinney’s clubs get mistakenly put back in bellman’s “warehouse” instead of on the bus and he plays the first day with rental clubs while wearing his obviously spike less loafers.
Year 9 – ON Monday, the final day of golf, Mark McKinney’s suitcase gets left at Red Rock G.C. This snafu is discovered when Jack Matson, who took a cab to take him back to Harrah’s, called to inform us he found it in the Red Rock parking lot. Jack and Brian Wasko bring it to the airport with them after their excursion back to Harrah’s where they had a late checkout.
Year 9 – Bus takes golfers and their clubs to and from the courses each day, except for the final day when bus takes golfers and clubs to Red Rock, followed by a van carrying suitcases and empty golf bag travel cases. Van drops off cases and suitcases at club and club stores them in cart barn. After golf, van and bus return to Red Rock and return all of us and our “stuff” to the airport.
Year 9 – Doc Walker remains in Vegas and is joined by Cynthia for a physician’s conference at Ceasers Palace. Carl Metosky flies to Philadelphia for a meeting. Bob Gourley flies to Pittsburgh instead of Cleveland. The rest of the group flies to Cleveland and waits 3.5 hours for the bus.
Year 9 – No one collects a hole-in-one, so the Hole-In-One Club pot grows to $220 and is put in escrow.
Year 9 – Paul Pysh records either the 2nd or 3rd eagle in Rule 12 history by holing-out from 78 yards with a 56 degree wedge on the 313 yard Par 4 Fifth at Silverstone’s Mountain course. We know Dan Luton had the first eagle, but the year and course we cannot remember. Something tells me Dan knows, but is being modest.
Year 9 – Rich Conti and Rod Silvis discover Video Poker. A site to behold indeed.
Year 9 – Group dinner is at the Hoffbrauhaus. A place that cannot be described. What a blast. Several Rule 12 members got paddled by the waitress. Some got into a participated to their fullest. Others just sat there (i.e., Ernie & Doc).
Year 9 – The group flew Continental Airlines out of Cleveland. Both the airline and departure city are Rule 12 firsts.
Year 9 – Began using actual handicaps without rounding up or down. This created a couple of very close low net and low-net runners-up scores.
Year 9 – Paid the top 4 positions in Chicago Scoring for the first time.
Year 10 – Back to Myrtle Beach and the Barefoot Resort.
Year 10 – Will play The Dye course at Barefoot on day 2. The last time we played it was in 2003 and in the morning of our last day and most of the group was in no condition to golf due to libations consumed during our annual dinner at Umberto’s. The Dye Course is not the golf course to play under those “conditions.”
Year 10 – Russ Wieszczyk won the free trip. The free trip giveaway is now in its third year. Lori Luton, wife of Dan and Mother of Brian, drew Russ’s name.
Year 10 – Added a money prize to the “Ugly Shirt Sunday” contest. However, the money won does NOT go toward anyone’s career tour earnings. The amount is $20.
Year 10 – Raised the prize money entry fee to $75 per person for a total of $1,500 in prize money in 2009, of which $1,480.00 goes toward Tour Career Earnings.
Year 10 – Ernie Erlandson was not on the trip as he received a coveted invitation to attend War College.
Year 10 – 20 golfers on the trip this year.
Year 10 - Wryder Cup match changed to “Wryder Mugs Match” as the winners receive a glass beer mug and not any kind of “cup.” It seemed like the right thing to do.
Year 10 – Hole-In-One club purse up to $320 for 2009.
Year 10 – This is the first year we are departing on a Tuesday, playing Wednesday through Sunday and then returning on Sunday instead of a Monday.
Year 10 - This is the first year the tour is playing in a month other than March. This year we play April 1st through the 5th.
Year 10 – Rich Conti tears rotator-cuff playing geezer ball at YMCA. Don’t blame Troy, he was on Rich’s team that night. Surgery reveals frayed tendons and bone spurs. Dr. Burke repairs all and removes spurs. Rich is believed to be the tour’s second golfer to go on legitimate IR. Dalph McNeil was the first. Dave Taylor might be a third as one year he had the shits so bad he had to cancel. It was either shit, or get off the pot. Dave chose the former.
Year 10 – Wendy Hamvus, our Barefoot Resort Tour Manager, kept the mini-printer we purchased in 2007 in storage while we took our detour to Vegas in 2008. Now that’s service.
Year 10 – A Chicago Scoring System Defending Champion (Lanny Fields) misses trip for first time in history. Paul Pysh puts Wryder Mugs Team together in Lanny’s absence.
Year 10 – For the first time in tour history, some tour members drive to Myrtle in lieu of flying. 6 decide to drive down and carry golf bags, trophies and luggage in a trailer provided by Dave Sayers. . They are Dave Sayers, Dean Horne, Todd King, Carl Hepler, Lou Tripodi and Mike Winklmann. The first 5 play some golf. Winklmann attends a funeral. The other 14 golfers fly Delta
Year 10 – Dan Luton becomes another casualty with some kind of blood disorder or something. The author is not totally clear on what the illness is, and it should remain confidential anyway. Carl Hepler takes his place. Carl pays full fare.
Year 10 – Alan Reitz has largest Round 1 Chicago lead ever with +19 (15 points ahead of 2nd)
Year 10 – Alan Reitz sets record with 45 Chicago points on a single day.
Year 10 – Steve Perez is introduced to sushi at Miyobi Japanese Steakhouse. Gets Japanese Fun Song for his birthday. Actually does a dance in the middle of the restaurant. Thank God that’s over!
Year 10 – Alan Reitz becomes first 3-time Chicago winner.
Year 10 – 13 flyers had to run through Atlanta airport to catch plane for Pittsburgh due to delay in Myrtle Beach because of bad weather in Georgia. Delta held plane for the 13 flyers, pissing off one passenger who complained to flight attendant and was quickly silenced by a Troy Harper “comment.”
Year 10 – Traditional after dinner shot of Lemoncello with Bobby Montineri (owner of Umberto’s), is replaced with Grey Goose Citron Vodka.
Year 10 – Dave Taylor becomes the third casualty (golfer not to make the trip) as his wife Cynda is taken to hospital. Craig Coon takes Dave’s place, at a discount of course.
Year 10 – Mark McKinney first to receive money for having the ugliest shirt ($20). Todd King “wins” least ugly shirt but refuses to wear McKinney’s shirt to dinner at Umberto’s, even as a turban.
Year 10 – Began choosing a hole (totally random choice) prior to the round to break ties, if any, in match play, so the number one handicap hole is not used every time, which would give advantage to golfer getting strokes. Tie-breaking begins at the randomly chosen hole and continues from that hole forward until tie is broken.
Year 11 – Began awarding small tac (hat) pins to low net winners and closest-to-pin winners.
Year 11 – Made ruling on electronic MEASURING DEVICES:
This email serves as notice to all Rule 12 Members past, present and future, that electronic distance measuring devices of all kinds are permitted during all Rule 12 events.
According to the USGA (and Winklmann), these devices are not permitted unless permission is granted by the competition committee. Since I am the competition committee and own one of these expensive devices (they cost a lot too), I grant permission to all Rule 12 golfers past, present and future.
Let it also be known that I reserve the right to change this rule should my SkyCaddie become inoperable and you just happen to be my opponent at that time, using a device of your own.
Year 11 – Eliminated the Wryder Cup/Wryder Mug Competition. Nobody seemed interested in picking up their mugs (Ernie Erlandson has 6 at his house following a party at which they were to be distributed to those who hadn’t picked theirs up). Paul Pysh was paying for the mugs out of pocket.
Year 11 – This is the first year the group will pay 5 places (The top 4 finishers and the 12th place finisher(s)). 12th Place for Rule 12. Get it?
Year 11 - Number of golfers reduced to 16.
Year 11 - Purse totals $1,760. Entry fee is $110 per golfer.
Year 11 - This is the first year for the Condo Challenge.
Year 11 – Grand Strand Resorts takes over room and golf reservations for Barefoot Resort & Golf. Wendy Poole replaces Wendy Hamvus as the Rule 12 Representative.
Year 11 - Arrived on a Tuesday morning and played golf on Tuesday afternoon, finishing the golf on Saturday (instead of Sunday) and returned home on Sunday. Suggestion to do Tues.-Sat. was made by Tom Ray and Troy Harper while in airport at end of 2009 tour. Russ Wieszczyk chimed in with it is easier and better to run from the airport to the first tee on the day we arrive than run from the last green to the airport on the day of departure.
Year 11 – 9 golfers are flying to Myrtle. Six golfers are driving. One golfer will have been living in Myrtle for several months (Lou Tripodi) and will meet the group at 1st tee on the first day (Tuesday).
Year 11 - For the second year in a row, Dave Sayers will haul a covered trailer and take everyone’s golf clubs and luggage to Myrtle for a fee.
Year 11 – Eliminated the Ugly Shirt Sunday contest.
Year 11 – Because we are paying $12 for the 12th place finisher, the extra $3 was added to the Greenies Skill competition. Therefore, we will pay $28 to the golfer with the most greenies, instead of the usual $25.
Year 11 – Pine Lakes was a disaster on the greens. Either grass clippings or a fine fertilizer or something was put on the greens to cover bare spots. It was like putting through pools of water in some cases. And the fairways were very spotty. The course was closed for 2 years and they put in all new grass in fairways and greens and re-configured the course layout. Apparently the coldest winter in 25 years prevented the grass from growing properly. The group was not impressed.
Year 11- We tried to play Summer Rules (play the ball down everywhere), but complaints were aplenty. So, we played Winter Rules in the final two rounds.
Year 11 – The group arrived at Barefoot Landing to find only one roll of toilet paper, one bar of soap, one small bottle of shampoo and one tiny tube of toothpaste for 3 bathrooms. That’s ONE of each of the above….NOT one for each bathroom. Also, there were no extra garbage bags or paper towels in any of the condos.
Year 11 - The free breakfast was in the clubhouse this year. In year 10 the breakfast was served across the parking lot in the conference center.
Year 11 – Todd King was crowned champion of both the Chicago Trip Championship and the Match Play Championship. Todd joine Mike McMurray as the only two golfers to win both championships in the same year.
Year 11 – We had a Bachelor Party for Mark McKinney at The Masters on Wednesday the 24th.
Year 11 – Changed the closest to the pin contest at the Fazio Course (Wednesday) from hole number 11 to hole number 6 at the suggestion of the men working in the Barefoot Pro Shop.
Year 11 - The Smoke Shop condo (Reitz, Conti, Winklmann, Pysh) wins the inaugural Condo Challenge.
Year 11 – The Hole In One Club money goes backwards. We should have $400 carrying over into next year, but $120 was lost from the Vegas Trip and $13 is missing from this year’s trip. Therefore, the Hole In One Club for 2011 starts at $367, plus the $5 per golfer that will be collected.
Year 11 - Probably the best week of weather we had in the first 11 years of the tour. All the days were sunny. The last round started a little chilly, but it warmed up nicely. It was a little windy, but it’s almost always a factor in Myrtle anyway.
Year 11 – Perez, Sayers, King and Horne, on their way back to Brookville on Sunday, are eyewitness to a horrific traffic accident occur on I-95.
Year 11 – Mike McMurray and Paul Pysh is Quail Eggs at Japanese Steakhouse.
Year 11 – Dinner at Umberto’s is moved from the dining room into the bar so Paul Pysh (and whoever else was interested) could watch the Elite Eight NCAA Tournament game featuring West Virginia vs. Kentucky.
Year 11 - “That’s Amore” never sounded so good as the group bursts into song in the middle of dinner at Umberto’s for no apparent reason.
Year 12 – The group moves from Myrtle Beach to Innisbrook Resort and Golf in Palm Harbor (Tampa), Florida.
Year 12 – Five of the best days of weather anyone on any kind of vacation could ever have. 80 degrees and Sunny all 5 days with little to zero humidity. We did have a small batch of clouds roll through on the final day of golf for no more than 20 minutes. Then….gone! Incredible weather.
Year 12 – Paul Pysh and Rich Conti go to Tampa the Thursday before the trip to watch the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the NCAA Tournament Regionals at the then-named St. Petersburg Times Events Center. Four games on Thursday from Noon until 11pm and 2 games on Saturday.
Year 12 – On the Friday before the arrival of the rest of the group, Paul Pysh, Rich Conti, and Dave Sayers play golf at Plantation Palms in Land-O-Lakes, Florida with Rich’s old college friend, Tom Dulles.
Year 12 – Paul Pysh, Rich Conti, Dave Sayers go to Innisbrook and play the North Course on Sunday while the PGA’s Transitions Tournament is being played right next door at the Copperhead Course. After the round, Paul and Rich check into the room of one of the PGA players, believed to be Stewart Cink.
Year 12 – This is the first year the group has played a course that hosted a PGA Golf Championship (The Copperhead Course …twice….The Transitions (lenses) Tournament).
Year 12 – Annual dinner is at Casa Ludivico in Palm Harbor, FL. Food was good. Twice the price as Umbertos.
Year 12 – Driver of the bus from Casa Ludivico back to Innisbrook is offended by a comment made by one of our group (who wasn’t even getting on the bus for the trip back cause he was taking a cab elsewhere) and drove like a wild man back to Innisbrook.
Year 12 – Cab service, for the most part, sucked.
Year 12 – On the advice of one of the ladies in the Innisbrook Group Sales office, we went to a Japanese Restaurant. The regular food was good, but the Sushi was awful. Mike McMurray says as he holds up a rectangular-shaped piece of what was definitely imitation crab, “There ain’t nothin’ square in the sea.” Not only were we sorely disappointed in the Sushi, we waited an hour and 20 minutes for a cab.
Year 12 – Shuttle service around Innisbrook is outstanding.
Year 12 – Many of the group hung out at the pool of the Island Course Clubhouse. However, the pool food and beverage closed at 3pm.
Year 12 – Group stays in large, 2-bedroom condos. Everyone has their own room.
Year 12 – No group photo as it was difficult for some reason to get everyone together for a couple of minutes prior to teeing off. Strange.
Year 12 – Doc performs minor surgery on the tennis-ball-sized elbow of Mike McMurray.
Year 12 – Someone orders a porn movie in the condo of Craig Coon and Alan Reitz. Craig and Alan end up paying for the movie.
Year 12 – Once again, he group bursts into song, singing the first verse of “That’s Amore.” While eating at Casa Ludivico. Tom Ray promises to get the lyrics to the entire song to the group for year 13.
Year 12 – 20 golfers go to Tampa. Purse is $2,200.
Year 12 – Todd King runs a daily skins game. $25 entry fee ($5 per day). Money won with skins does NOT count toward career earnings.
Year 12 – Paul Pysh discovers the match play strokes were given on the wrong holes. Alan Reitz takes offense. Russ Wieszczyk drags Paul out of Alan’s condo so Paul will quit bitchin’ about it.
Year 12 – Russ Wieszczyk takes Paul Pysh to the Copperhead Bar where they begin drinking. And drinking. And drinking. Russ and Paul meet Gary Mathews, Sr.. Gary is wearing his Phillies World Series Ring. Russ compares size of ring to his Duquesne University Class Ring. Quite frankly, there is no comparison. Paul snaps a photo (see website).
Year 12 – Brian Wasko spends more time at the driving range and the Innisbrook Spa than the guy in the tractor who picks up the range balls, and Jessica Simpson, respectively.
Year 12 – Several members of the group actually use the Innisbrook Workout facility several times. Regardless, most of them remain out of shape.
February 12, 2012 - Daniel Ernest Estadt, 75, of Shippenville passed away, following a lengthy illness from myelodysplastic syndrome. Dan is the first of the original twelve Rule 12 members to pass away. Dan had gone on the trip the very first year and did not go again.
Year 13 – The group eliminates Woodies and Drippies as skill prizes and adds Most Fairways and “Hump Day Leader” to takes their places as money prizes.
Year 13 – 20 golfers signed up to go. Brian Wasko and Todd King receive the Comped Rooms and Golf as Innisbrook gives us two comps this year instead of one.
Year 13 – Purse is $2,200.
Year 13 – Annual dinner once again held at Casa Ludivico. Agreed by most that this is not like Umberto’s in North Myrtle Beach, SC. Dave Sayers on the hunt for something like Umberto’s. Thinks he found it in a place called Tiffany’s. Will try that place next year.
Year 13 – Pysh printed copies of “That’s Amore” for everyone and everyone sung the song at dinner. A mild ovation was given by other patrons. Not our best effort, but not bad either.
Year 13 – For the 2nd year in a row the weather was excellent. A little warmer this year than last and with more clouds. Humidity low. Only rain occurred after the round and nothing to shake a stick at.
Year 13 – All foursomes were determined prior to the trip, something we had not done for several years.
Year 13 – Reitz, Coon, Wasko, Conti and others venture to the Gulf of Mexico for dinner. Pysh, Wieszczyk and McMurray visit a new sushi bar. Better than last years, but still not up to snuff. Murt forgot his high-quality chopsticks. Paul did not. Murt had chopstick envy.
Year 13 – Accommodations were spread out this year due to the lack of 2-bedroom condos in the buildings around the Loch Ness Pool. Some fussed about not all being in the same building together. Others didn’t care.
Year 13 – Odasso, Pysh and Wasko pitch in and buy McMurray a shot of Louis XIII brandy at a price of $250. Murt was happy.
Year 13 – Played Copperhead Course twice. Played Island, North and South Courses 1 time each.
Year 13 – Nobody broke 80 at Copperhead as was predicted by some.
Year 13 – Annette Beyer takes a group photo before wee tee off at the Island Course on Friday and had a copy for every member of the group ready for us when we finished played 4 hours later. Another example of the outstanding service we have received 2 years in a row from the entire Innisbrook staff.
Year 13 – Snappers Restaurant, just across Rt. 19 as you exit the property, becomes a new hang-out of sorts for many of the guys. The claim of good wings was murmured by some.
Year 13 – Paul flies down early with Becky and spends 2 days with Dalph & Nancy McNeil at their new home in FT. Myers. Then, the 4 drive north to St. Petersburg and spend 2 nights at the Vinoy Renaissance Hotel where they meet 4-time wrestling champ Ric Flair and his wife Jackie. Then, Paul and Dalph drive north to Innisbrook while Nancy drives back to FT. Myers and Becky flies back to Brookville. After the trip, Paul drives Dalph back to FT. Myers and Paul flies home from FT. Myers while the other guys fly from Tampa. Sayers, Schuckers, Wilson drive back to Brookville. Odasso flies back to Albuquerque, NM.
Year 13 - 2012 Rule 12 Trip Scoring Summary. This year, 20 golfers posted a total of 9,480 strokes, or an average of 94.8 strokes per golfer per round.
We had no hole-in-ones, no eagles, but we did have 36 birdies (17 on Day 1). We also had 22 - 10’s and 24 - 9’s.
Year 13 - $100 goes into the hole-in-one-club, bringing the total to $467 for 2013 (Year 14).
Year 13 – Some suggested we play only the Copperhead and Island courses. Commish will run this by the group and see what the cost difference might be.
Year 13 – Todd King ran a skins game for the 2nd straight year, collecting $25 ($5 per day) from each golfer. Paul and Alan decide to make the money earned from Skins as part of the Career Tour Earnings. Alan sends Paul the skins earnings list and Paul adds it to the Career Tour Earnings.
Year 14 – Group moves to Sawgrass, south of Jacksonville, Florida. Ponte Verde Beach to be exact.
Year 14 – Group stays at Marriott Sawgrass
Year 14 – Group number is 20. 10 room together and 10 have single rooms.
Year 14 – Chris Taylor records the tours 5th all-time Eagle.
Year 14 – Chris Taylor and Gary Odasso each shoot a low net score of 77.2, marking the first time ever a Daily Low Net ended in a tie.
Year 14 – 8 golfers (Pysh, Conti, Reitz, Odasso, Schuckers, Wilson, McKinney & Wasko) went to Paul’s house on Kiawah Island and played 2 rounds of golf before driving from Kiawah to Sawgrass Monday night before the tournament. George Wilson traveled to Myrtle Beach prior to his arrival at Kiawah (hitched a ride from Alan Wein) where he played several rounds with Alan and Alan’s brother.
Year 14 – Gary Odasso drives from New Mexico to Kiawah and breaks down in North Charleston, SC, about 35 minutes from Pauls house on Kiawah. Gary rents a Suburban while the GM dealership in North Charleston, SC keeps his car the week we play at Sawgrass. The Suburban comes in handy for transporting the troops around Sawgrass, as well as, from Kiawah to Ponte Verde Beach, Florida.
Year 14 – Immediately following a Friday night dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Gary Odasso drives the Suburban back to Charleston where he picks up his Acadia and drives to Leechburg, Pennsylvania to pick up gold, silver, artwork and a few antiques that his parents are giving to him. The reason he drove was so they wouldn’t have to ship these precious items. Gary’s wife Rachel met him in Leechburg to help him drive back to New Mexico so he wouldn’t be late for a mandatory meeting with his bosses on the Reservation. Let’s just say Gary had Injun trouble and leave it at that.
Year 14 – The service at the Marriott Sawgrass was excellent …. Except for some mis-communication with the management staff and the front desk on check-in and check-out. But, in the end, it all worked out.
Year 14 – We played for a total purse of $2,700.00.
Year 14 – Russ Wieszczyk and Tom Ray, on their way to the Airport Hyatt the Monday before the tournament, witness a terrible accident on I-80. The man is life-flighted to Pittsburgh.
Year 14 - Congratulations to Chris Taylor as our new Rule 12 Champion.
Year 14 - Joe Lehr, a tour rookie, shoots the low gross score on ALL FIVE DAYS…a record, including 78 the very first day!
Year 14 - Paul Pysh wins his first Match Play Championship. According to the records, he is the only Champion to win 3 of 4 matches by ties, two of which went 3 extra holes on the card to break.
Year 14 - 20 golfers posted a total of 9,724 strokes, or an average of 97.24 strokes per golfer per round. Last year, that number was 94.8.
Year 14 - We had no hole-in-one.
Year 14 - We had 37 birdies, including 13 on Day 1. We had a low of 3 birdies on Day 2, all recorded by Alan Reitz.
Year 14 - We had 42 – 10’s and 30 – 9’s, up considerably from the 22 & 24 numbers last year.
Year 14 - There’s talk of reducing the total number of strokes per hole from 10 to 9, possibly 8.
June 21, 2013 – Troy Harper dies around 8am from problems associated with cancer in his Bile Duct. Troy is the 2nd of the original 12 Rule 12 members to die. He will be missed. It is decided the trophy will be named after Troy. The official name is to be determined.
Year 15 - Gary Odasso suggest we call Waggle Travel, owned by Mike Kilgore to book the trip. Gary has taken trips with this guy before and says the trips are great.
Year 15 - Paul calls Mike Kilgore and books 2014 in Orlando. Group is to have 3 private homes with pools, hot tubs and a chef. 5 rounds of golf. 24/7 shuttle service.
Year 15 - The cost of the trip before airfare and incidentals is $1,561.81 per person.
Year 15 – The group makes a deposit with Waggle Travel at $125 per person. For some reason, Paul makes two deposits ($250) and thinks nothing of it since he will be paying the balance in 6 or 7 months anyway.
Year 15 - A polished pewter base is purchased by Paul for which to place the original trophy which has no more room to engrave the name of the champion. The new base is engraved and the Rule 12 Trophy will be from here on out forever referred to as “The Harper.”
Year 15 - We decide to trim the group size to 16.
Year 15 – Doc Walker decides he is not going on the trip. Joe Lehr takes Docs place.
Year 15 - Brian Luton decides to take Troy Harper’s place.
Year 15 - Amy harper finds $202 of the Hole-In-One Club money. The rest is nowhere to be found, about $460. So, it is what it is and we will just go with $202 as the pool.
Year 15 - The new year begins and Paul has questions for Mike Kilgore so Paul can piece together the information sheet and newsletters. Mike doesn’t answer repeated emails or telephone calls. Others in the group also try to reach Waggle Travel to pay their balance which is due by January 27th. Approximately 100 calls are made to Waggle Travel. A message was left on the voice mail with most of the 100 calls. Nobody gets a return call.
Year 15 – Paul tries various ways to locate Mike Kilgore. Facebook reviews about Waggle Travel are excellent until the past 2 or 3 months. Not only are reviews and comments derogatory, they are down right scary.
Year 15 - Paul decides to call one of the courses to see if we have tee times booked as stated on Waggle’s information. Paul calls Grand Cypress. There are no tee times booked at Grand Cypress under Pysh, Rule 12, Kilgore, Waggle Travel or Mancation Golf.
Year 15 – Grand Cypress mentions they have had “issues” with Mike in the past and nobody has heard from him recently.
Year 15 – Three Disney Courses have tee times under the name Pysh.
Year 15 – Lake Nona was supposed to be the group’s first round on Tuesday the 11th. There is nothing at Lake Nona and we cannot get on Lake Nona anyway.
Year 15 – The group begins to get invoices via Paypal for the balance due. Paul instructs them to ignore the invoices, delete them, or cancel.
Year 15 – Paul sends and email to Mike Kilgore telling Mike we are cancelling as a group and that we want our deposits returned. To no one’s surprise, Paul did not hear back.
Year 15 – Joe Lehr’s Mom has health issues and Joe takes his name off the trip.
Year 15 – Mike McMurray calls and asks to get off the trip (it’s personal). 2012 Rule 12 Champion Dave Sayers takes his place.
Year 15 – Paul re-books the trip with Grand Cypress at a cost of $1,950 per person, sans airfare and incidentals. Also, two extra rounds are $250 additional for a grand total of $2,200 per person. It’s an increase of $638.19 per person.
Year 15 - Russ Wieszczyk, Dan Luton and Brian Luton drop out of the trip. John Adams, a new Pinecrest member from DuBois, decides to join the group.
Year 15 - Maggianno’s Little Italy is chosen as the tentative venue for the annual Saturday Night group dinner.
Year 15 – 3, 4-bedroom condos are booked at Grand Cypress.
Year 15 – 3 rounds of golf will be played at Grand Cypress and 2 at Disney courses.
Year 15 - The Purse for 2014 is $1,622.00
Year 15 - A rule change is made, making a “9” the highest score a golfer can “earn” on any single hole. The old score was ’10.” This should speed up play a little and make entering scores into Alan’s computer program a bit easier.
Year 15 - Paul Pysh, Ron King, Brian Wasko and Rich Conti leave Thursday evening, March 6th for a few extra days in the sun at Rich’s condo in Boca Raton. The four will have their own little tournament, aptly named “The Battle at Boca.” The four will meet the other 8 in Orlando on Monday, March 10th.
Year 15 - Brian Wasko and Ron King defeat Rich Conti and Paul Pysh in a 36 holes, best ball “Battle-at-Boca.” Paul pouts.
Year 15 - Paul, Brian, Ron and Rich make 3 hour and 20 minute trek to Orlando. Rich drives. Paul drinks coffee. Ron and Brian nap.
Year 15 - Dalph arrives early (Sunday night) and scouts the grounds.
Year 15 - Flight from Pittsburgh arrives early. Paul drives to airport and picks up Craig coon and Alan Reitz.
Year 15 - Accommodations at Grand Cypress exceed expectations. Recent $12 million renovation pays off, with each room getting $100,000 face-lift.
Year 15 - The Group competes for the trophy under its new name, “The Harper.”
Year 15 - Round one is played on The New Course, the American version of The Old Course at St. Andrews. Those who have played The Old Course, remark about the similarities on holes 1,2 and 18. None of the other holes come close to replication.
Year 15 - No skins games this year. Not enough money in the purse.
Year 15 - John Adams secures 4 courtside seats at Orlando Magic game. Ron, Alan, Brian and John attend game and feel like midgets.
Year 15 - while the 4 above are at the basketball game, the other 8 go to Bahama Breeze. Paul rides with Dalph in his BMW hard top Convertible (328i)…top down. Other 6 go in Tom Ray’s rented Minivan. The group pays the $400 bill in cash. Paul waits for the waitress instead of leaving the cash on the table. This takes a little longer than expected. Dalph leaves, thinking Paul is in the van. The van leaves, thinking Paul is with Dalph. Realizing he is left stranded, Paul jumps in a cab and beats everyone else back to Grand Cypress. On the way back to the condo’s, the cab ends up pulling alongside the Minivan at a red light. Paul rolls down the window to the surprise and shock of the guys in the minivan. It dawns on the group that Dalph left the restaurant without Paul. One of the funnier moments in Rule 12 history.
Year 15 - Dinner at Maggiannos runs $1201.24 with an 18% gratuity. The group is glad to pay as the food, wine and atmosphere is excellent. But, it still ain’t Umberto’s. The group will continue the “search” for Umberto’s “twin.”
Year 15 - Several guys begin singing sit-com jingles (Gilligan’s Island, Green Acres, Etc.) during dinner, causing other Maggianno diners to look puzzled, wondering if they are actually hearing what they are hearing.
Year 15 - For the first time in Rule 12 history, money is actually left over after the entire purse is paid out. It is only $3. Paul puts it into the Hole-In-One pot. Pot “grows” to $265.
Year 15 - Courses played are nice. GPS units mounted in the wrong place making them hard to read. Course redesign not updated for holes 7 and 8 on the North Course. Group must find yardages the old-fashioned way on hole #7; we rely on sprinkler heads. Hole #8 has a paper yardage sign positioned by the resort.
Year 15 - The 2 Disney Courses are Mickey Mouse. No, seriously, they overdue the mouse thing, from tee markers, to closest-to-the-pin markers, to constantly reminding you it is the happiest place on earth. Which, in a way it is, until you three-putt.
Year 15 - In hindsight, the group agrees we could have done without the Disney tracks.
Year 15 - Paul gets case of the Rod Silvis/Dan Cable Angry Golfer disease, minus the club throwing. Paul is embarrassed. Makes vow to himself to never act that way on the golf course again. Paul is not sure if the catalyst behind his emotional outbursts are his golf game or recent testosterone injections.
Year 15 - Brian Wasko sets single day points record (44) on the final day when it counts the most, to overtake John Adams and take home The Harper. It is only fitting as Brian and Troy Harper were very, very close friends.
Year 16 – Brian Swank, a “one-time” member of the Rule 12 Trip and “sometimes” member of other Rule 12 activities, apparently commits suicide by jumping off a bridge on Rt. 422 in Pennsylvania on December 27, 2014. Brian is the third person who has gone on a Rule 12 trip to pass away. The group sent the traditional 12 roses (11 red and 1 white) NOTE: When one of the original 12 passes away, we also send 12 roses, but the number of white roses increases with the number who have passed.
Year 16 - Big project curtails both Lutons from going on the trip. Only one can go. They flip a coin. Brian wins. Dan stays home.
Year 16 - Nick Neil to take Dan Luton’s place on the trip.
Year 16 - Nick Neil “disappoints” Luton’s with text messages. Nick bails out of the trip. Todd King, a Rule 12 veteran, is a last minute replacement for Nick.
Year 16 - You get a line and I’ll get a pole, honey (wrote this to see if you actually read this gibberish).
Year 16 - Group returns to Innisbrook after two year hiatus (Ponte Vedre – Sawgrass and Orlando – Grand Cypress). Receive same top-notch, first-class service as before.
Year 16 - Annette Beyer is our rep, just like she was in the past.
Year 16 - Paul Pysh, Dave Sayers, Brian Wasko and Rich Conti meet in Boca Raton for a few extra days in the sun at Rich’s condo. The four have their own little tournament: “The Battle at Boca II.” The four will meet the other 12 in Palm Harbor (Innisbrook) on Monday, February 23rd.
Year 16 - Paul and Rich defeat Dave and Brian to win the Battle of Boca II. Paul gloats.
Year 16 - Brian Wasko gets food poisoning at Trulocks in Boca Saturday night. Pukes throughout night and into next morning. Still makes Sunday’s tee time. And still posts lowest score of foursome.
Year 16 - 16 golfers venture to Innisbrook.
Year 16 - Entry fee is $135 per. Purse is $2,160.00.
Year 16 - Two rookies make up field of 16: John Pysh and Ron Welton.
Year 16 - Previous years we came to Innisbrook a day AFTER the pros (Transitions Championship). This year we arrive and play Copperhead 12 days BEFORE pros arrive for Valspar Championship.
Year 16 – Everyone housed in same building: Royal Aberdeen along side Copperhead #1 fairway/green.
Year 16 - Glitch in scheduled transportation for 5 guys from the airport results in a free ride as they have to wait 40 minutes. Commish is told by Innisbrook rep that Carson Transportation forgot.
Year 16 - John Adams drives from Orlando. Dalph McNeil and Ron Welton drive from Ft. Myers. Paul Pysh, Brian Wasko, Dave Sayers and Rich Conti drive up from Boba Raton. Tom Ray, Russ Wieszczyk, mark McKinney and Alan Reitz rent van from airport. Joe Lehr, John Pysh, Brian Luton Craig Coon and Todd King take the shuttle.
Year 16 – Accommodations, for the most part, look exactly the same as 3 seasons ago.
Year 16 - Craig Coon takes early lead by shooting an 81 at South Course.
Year 16 - Craig coon has huge lead after posting an 84 at Copperhead.
Year 16 - The rough at Copperhead, albeit thick and nasty, is incredibly uniform.
Year 16 - Sand in bunkers at Copperhead is blinding.
Year 16 - John Pysh becomes first Rule 12 golfer to have 3 consecutive low-net runners-up.
Year 16 - Island course proves difficult. Only 1 golfer breaks 90 (John Adams 88).
Year 16 - Dave Sayers is Hump-Day leader.
Year 16 - The old-timers agree the Thursday night “get-together” proves to be wildest ever. Alan and Joe’s condo, especially the kitchen, is a huge mess the next day. Canadian National Anthem sung in French…..again. Oui, Oui, Oui-Oui………..
Year 16 - Hole-In-One club is safe. “$365 carries” over to 2016.
Year 16 - Final 7 holes on Saturday (Copperhead) rained out. The day started with two groups on the front and two on the back in a light rain/drizzle. After 9 holes, Commish suspends play as rain comes down harder. Joe Lehr says “The look on McKinney’s face looked like I just saved his life when I told him play was suspended.” Two hours pass over food and drink in Copperhead bar. Three golfers quit. Nobody could blame them. The rain lightens and the radar looks better. 13 golfers venture back out to finish the round. Two holes into the round, the course superintendent halts play as the course has newly formed rivers and lakes and the greens being puddling. With the pros coming to town in less than two weeks, he obviously didn’t want the course torn-up. 10 holes was the total number of holes that all but 3 golfers was able to play.
Year 16 - Gregg Fritz is called for a ruling as to how to handle the final round, it at all. He’s at the Mills Mall in Tarentum, but takes the time to help. He is sent a box of chocolates.
Year 16 - Low net, etc. for final day determined by 10 holes instead of 9. Rule 12 does quirky things, so a 10 hole round fit the bill. This ultimately decides the championship. Two groups played the front, a par 36. Two groups played the back, par 35. Adding the 10th hole evened the par at 41 for each. Those who played the back “complain” they had to play the Snake Pitt (#’s 16, 17 and 18). Oh well. Most in contention were on the back 9 anyway. It is what it is.
Year 16 - Cypher team uses .56888 of daily quotas and current GHIN to determine low net, etc.
Year 16 - Dave Sayers, John Pysh, Ron Welton and Joe Lehr fail to turn in their “junk” card and are not awarded any greenies, chip-ins, sandies or fairways for the round.
Year 16 - Both closest-to-the-pin contests on final day were eliminated. The $50 was used to help pay for dinner.
Year 16 - Annual dinner was at Casa Ludivica, again. This time, the food sucked.
Year 16 - Dave Sayers wins The Harper for the 2nd time, adding to the list of multiple winners (Ray, Wasko, Reitz).
Year 16 - Innisbrook gives us rain checks for 9 holes on Copperhead for all 16 golfers. Dalph McNeil and Ron Welton [pick their s up at check-out. The other 14 are mailed to Commish. Will atempt to sell on eBay since there is no guarantee we will be back at Innisbrook for year 17.
Year 22 – The group decides to go westward to Scottsdale, fulfilling Tom Rays dream/request of Rule 12 playing desert golf.
Year 22 – Twelve golfers went to 8 golfers, then to 10 golfers, then back to 12 golfers when a friend of Rich Conti’s from Boca Raton, Steve Thebner and his son filled in the final two slots.
Year 22 – A purse of $1,860.00 is set for 2022.
Year 22 – Commysh finds Meridian Golf Vacations as the Scottsdale contact and organizer. Six two-bedroom condos greet the weary twelve.
Year 22 – Gary Odasso drives from New Mexico. The other 10 fly in from out east.
Year 22 – Due to unforeseen business circumstances, Dan Luton has to sadly cancel his participation. Group is now at 11.
Year 22 – The toilet, the trophy for last place, is still somewhere in the possession of Dan Luton and it will not make the trip for the third consecutive year. Coonie is happy. He hates that thing.
Year 22 – Purse reduced to $1,705.00.
Year 22 – Commysh and Tom Ray play with torn rotator cuffs. Commysh scheduled for surgery on April 29th. Tom scheduled for same date.
Year 22 – Matt pays Coonie entry fee with bundle of cigars.
Year 22 – Craig Coon arrives in Scottsdale first with his lovely wife Stasia as they visit Craig’s older/oldest sister. John Pysh and Paul Pysh arrive Sunday evening and are greeted by Craig who has acclimated himself to the time-change and is rarin’ to go. John and Paul want to sleep. Sleep wins. With head down, Craig retires to his condo and the lovely Stasia.
Year 22 – John Pysh flies in from Vegas where he attended the March Madness festivities.
Year 22 – Ernie Erlandson misses the trip for the first time since serving in Afghanistan due to surgery.
Year 22 – Rich, Alan and tom arrive in Phoenix around 4:05pm. They stay at a Marriot, using Barb Conti’s Marriot Awards.
Year 22 – John and Paul Pysh play We-Ko-PA Saguaro golf course near Fountain Hills. Got paired with two French guys, Edward and Simon. Both hit long balls. Simon put a drive to 8 feet from 317 yards away. Simon qualified for USGA Mid-Am but couldn’t play due to Covid travel restrictions.
Year 22 – Group feverishly searches for a 12th golfer. No luck.
Year 22 – Craig takes Stasia to airport, rising at 4:30 a.m..
Year 22 – Gary O arrives in Scottsdale.
Year 22 – All 11 golfers arrive.
Year 22 – Tom Ray gets range time as Coonie and Gary O play golf with Alan and Rich. Matt and Russ meet a friend of Matt’s and Russ’s friend Frank and play about one hour away. Shots were drank for birdies. Matt gets smashed. Matt is down for the evening.
Year 22 – Coonie eats three breakfasts in 2 hours: Mini-Donuts, then cereal, then a breakfast sandwich of egg, ham and cheese prepared by Commysh.
Year 22 – A groggy Johnny, due to a head cold, has trouble with GPS and leads he and his Dad through the rodeo. Literally through the rodeo. Had to stop for horses, herding dogs and horse trailers.
Year 22 – Craig keeps talking.
Year 22 – Round one at Troon delivers perfectly sunny skies. Odasso gives a “Fairway” to he and 2 others on a Par 3. Al has to change daily results. Al not happy. Gary embarrassed.
Year 22 – Commysh wins low-net for first time since 2001 at Caledonia. Commysh happy.
Year 22 – Eight of 11 hang out on Al’s balcony after cypherin’. Steve, Sr., Steve, Jr. and Russ stay away.
Year 22 – Steve Sr. hates smoking (no word on Junior’s opinion). The smokers try to respect it and be courteous. Gonna be tough for this group.
Year 22 - Year 22 – It appears a complete tear of ones rotator cuff results in a good round of golf as the Commysh and Tom Ray have excellent rounds on back-to-back days respectively.
Year 22 – Seven of the eleven golfers exceed their quota at Eagle Mountain on Day 2.
Year 22 – Tom Ray lobbies with Alan to be moved up from the green tees to the whites on Day 2. Permission granted. The move pays off for Ray as he posts one of the highest point-scoring days in Rule 12 history.
Year 22 – Eagle Mountain kitchen closes before we finish. Nine golfers go to Twin Peaks after the round for food and basketball-watching. Coonie and Gary go back to condo because Coonie wants to eat leftovers.
Year 22 – Dough bread, the Heidi Game and tough talk from the four remaining match-play participants highlights the evening in the Cypherin room known as “Alan’s Condo.”
Year 22 – Craig still talking.
Year 22 – Tom Ray makes Eagle at #17 at TPC Stadium. Drives the green and sinks a 15-footer (or thereabouts). This is the 6th Eagle all-time. Each time the story is told, the putt either gets longer (to show Tom was challenged) or shorter (to prove Tom’s accuracy off the tee). Either way, it is a hell of an Eagle. A lot could go wrong on that hole. Ask Matt Wieszczyk.
Year 22 – Third round leader Paul Pysh (by 11 points) can’t make the opening 9 on Saturday due to dizziness. Makes back 9 and manages enough points to tie for 2nd place. Paul’s absence leaves the championship wide open.
Year 22 – Paul’s trip from condo to Las Sendas involves a 90mph+ ride in a Uber from a guy who works in the clubhouse for the Los Angeles Angels. Paul tips him the maximum abount via the Uber App, then flips him a twenty as he leaves the vehicle (a Tesla).
Year 22 - Greens at Las Sendas considered by many to be the fastest we’ve ever played in the 22 years of Rule 12. Very firm. Hard to hold. Scores reflect it.
Year 22 – Nine of the 11 golfers make the annual dinner Saturday night as Steve, Sr. and Steve, Jr. took the 10:45pm red-eye flight back to New York.
Year 22 – Annual awards dinner held “just around the corner from our condos” at Sophia’s Kitchen. Atmosphere was good. Food good. Service slow and spotty. Waiter forgot the bruschetta, but charged us $18 for it. We paid for it without giving anybody any shit. It was only $2 per person. Most could afford it.
Year 22 – Craig still talking.
Year 22 – Commysh wakes up Sunday morning with similar symptoms, just not symptoms to the extreme degree of Saturday when he missed front nine. Questions whether to drive to airport. Will check with doctors upon return to Naples.
Year 22 – Most fairways comes down to the 72nd hole. Gary Odasso, trailing Alan Reitz by one, splits the fairway. Alan’s tee ball barely trickles into the rough. A mere 3 inches.
Year 22 - The boys returning to Brookville and Clarion face 2 to 4 inches of snow after experiencing hot (by dry) conditions for nearly a week.
Year 22 – Steve Thebner, Sr. becomes the 6th first-time winner in Rule 12 history.
Year 22 - Paul presents The Harper to Steve via Rich Conti and a video. Paul ships trophy and cape to Steve in East Hampton, NY.
Year 22 – Group unanimously agrees that Steve, Sr. and Steve, Jr. fit right in with we degenerates.
Year 22 – Commysh will investigate a return to Innisbrook, or a new venture to Trump National in Miami.
Year 22 – Russ visits his friend Frank for several days after the close of version 22 of Rule 12.
Year 23 – Group goes back to Innisbrook. Course conditions worsening from year to year. Copperhead an exception. Condos show no updating. Innisbrook lost its luster.
Year 23 - Russ Crash. Rips off bumper on post in Osprey parking lot. Avoids driving onto first tee of North course. Matt gets vehicle repaired. All is good.
Year 23 - Positano’s poses as annual dinner site. It was okay. Drinkers and non-drinkers split the bill. Dinner is minus Harold and Steve, Sr.. Good food but slow service. $1201.00 plus a 22% tip. Steve, Jr. shows up with his son and the genuine imitation leopard shawl (or whatever that “thing” is called). Non-drinkers paid $60 per person while the drinkers paid $135 per person. Wine was the culprit.
Year 23 – Paul takes Uber to Tampa Airport and back after blow up in cypherin’ room.
Year 23 – The Thebner’s become regulars with second straight Rule 12 participation. Waiting to see if Harold will follow. Who?
Year 23 - Harold Shulman a fine addition.
Year 23 - Battle-Royale on final day for both the Match Play and Chicago between Matt and John Adams as they were scheduled to play together prior to trip. A rarity.
Year 23 - Ernie drives up from Naples.
Year 23 - Rich Drives to Naples. Meets Tom and Ernie. They play some pre-trip golf. Tommy rides to Innisbrook with Rich.
Year 23 - John Pysh (flies), Russ and Coonie (drive) to Kiawah for three pre-trip rounds of golf.
Year 23 - John, Paul, Russ and Coonie drive to Innisbrook from Kiawah. Trip one hour too long.
Year 23 - Dan Luton drives north to Innisbrook from Cape Coral
Year 23 - John Adams drives from Orlando area where he now lives
Year 23 - Dave and D.J. Sayers bring the party buss to Innisbrook from Long Boat Key where rumor has it they played a Rule 12 pre-round or two.
Year 23 – More guys spending more time in Florida during winter as group ages and retirement sets in.
Year 23 – Total confusion and a total misunderstanding about a dinner at Packard’s Restaurant and who was invited and who wasn’t and whatever, results in a retraction of an invitation.
Year 23 - Early tee times (too early) as group goes off at 8am or just after the final three rounds. The first-round tee time of 10:20am suits group better. Especially Commysh and his prep.
Year 23 - The group sends flowers to Alexandra Ramsey as a “thank you” for being our rep and doing a good job.
Year 23 - Innisbrook golf courses beginning to “bore” the boys. Copperhead the exception.
Year 23 - Group will go to Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Florida in 2024.
Year 23 – Winston Staff Golf Balls.
Year 23 - Matt Wieszczyk wins unprecedented 4th Rule 12 title.
Year 23 - John Adams wins unprecedented 3rd Match Play Championship.
Year 23 - Ernie claims he didn’t receive his $25 envelope at awards dinner. Either someone else got it, or Ernie lost it. The envelope that is.
Year 23 - Unbeknownst to anyone at the time of this writing, Commysh ends the tradition of handing out pins, made of genuine imitation gold and onyx, for low nets and closest to the pins. On the final day in 2023, Commysh doesn’t hand out pins. Nobody notices. Pins will no longer be awarded moving forward. Why bother and why absorb the “expense” albeit minimal?
Year 23 - Stasia Coon arrives at Innisbrook the Sunday immediately following the championship to spend a few days with husband Craig. They stay at Carnoustie Condos.
Year 23 - Alan and Dan host the cypherin’ room. The porch and room stay relatively clean as Dan … under no uncertain terms … lays down the law.