1997 GOY Race - Classic Confrontation

Kelly earned GOY victory, but he had to share it with his pal Ryan. When you look at the numbers, Kelly should never have won Golfer of the Year. He only won one event and only placed three times. Of the 2,500 seasons (roughly) that individual UCGC members have had, Kelly's season probably doesn't even rank in the top 400.

The 1997 GOY race was the closest race in club history. Over the years, there have been races which were equally dramatic, but only the 1997 race ended in a tie. Much in the same way they often air classic baseball games on the sports channels, this page recaps the 1997 GOY race and attempts to shed light on it using charts and statistics.

Part of the drama of 1997 stemmed from the fact that this was a classic confrontation between a true grinder and a true sandbagger. There were fifteen tournaments in the 1997 season. Kelly played in all fifteen events and only placed in three of them. Ryan only played in eight events, but placed six times. Another way of looking at it is that Kelly played in twelve fruitless events while Ryan only played in two fruitless events. It's difficult to weight the two performances when one person plays in ten more fruitless events than the other. That's a lot of dues to pay. It seems that participation should count for more. (This race makes a good case for restructuring the GOY system to provide more weight for participation.) 

Before we continue with this story it's important to understand that this was one of the lowest winning point totals in the history of the club. When no one is winning, it means everyone is still in the hunt.

Two Different Paths 

Kelly Alvarez began the season on his own, for Ryan Lai didn't participate until the fourth event of the season. Kelly played in the first two events without success. In the third event, Las Positas, he placed 1st. The following month, at Franklin Canyon Kelly place 2nd. Kelly wouldn't place for the next ten events. He would place 3rd in the fifteenth (and final) event of the season. 

If Kelly was taking the Greyhound bus across the county, then Ryan was flying first class in a private jet. He leisurely pulled into the parking lot at Franklin Canyon, having already missed the first three events of the season. He placed 1st and, returned following month to place 1st at Adobe Creek. Exhausted, Ryan opted to skip the Delta View tournament. He played in the Eddie Reed event and faired well, beating his rival Kelly in the semifinals before losing to Jim Wilcox 4 and 3 in the finals. Ryan played in the Kooman Boycheff Memorial at Paradise Valley, but failed to place. This left a very foul taste in his mouth. With greater resolve, he returned for the tournament at Oakmont and placed 3rd. Satisfied, he opted to skip the next tournament at Poppy Ridge. Ryan returned a few months later to play in the Faculty/Staff at Blue Rock. For the second time that season he failed to place. It was getting downright intolerable. His resolve increased as he vowed never again to fail placing that season. He lived up to his promise. The 2-Ball Championship at Tilden was tolerable, but a bit discouraging. After 18 holes Ryan and teammate Mike O'Neill were in a tie for first place with Mike Birnbach and Jeff Hazel. Birnbach had fired the round of his life, a 73 (net 59, ranks 4th all-time for UCGC net scores). Had Birnbach only been able to muster a net 60, the GOY race would likely have ended with Ryan as the sole winner, because Birnbach and Hazel edged Lai and O'Neill in the tiebreaker. Ryan had to settle for 2nd place. At that moment, Ryan was the GOY leader over Kelly by 2 points. Nevertheless, Ryan spent the next two months licking his wounds. Ryan’s absence provided Kelly a much needed opportunity to lose two more tournaments, earning 2 crucial points in the process. The race was interesting on many levels, but mostly because of the absurdity. It was as if Ryan was using a sledgehammer, with occasional, yet devastating, blows, while Kelly was using a tap hammer (or the handle of an old screwdriver) to make persistent, but nearly imperceptible changes. Everything was at stake during the Club Championships at Alameda North. The two were in a dead heat. Ryan turned in a net 69 and placed third in the fourth flight. Kelly placed 3rd in the third flight and, when the dust settled, each had a firm grip on the GOY trophy.

Summary

The 1997 GOY race was the closest in club history. It was a low scoring season and dozens of people were within striking distance. What set Kelly and Ryan apart? Not much. They barely separated themselves from the pack, and never separated themselves from one-another. The most striking feature of this race was that Kelly's journey was much more of an endurance marathon compared to Ryan's limousine ride.

Closest Race Ever?

Here are a few examples:

• Heading into the Club Championship there were twenty-two players mathematically alive, nine of them within 6 points of the lead. Even when all was said and done there were three players (Desimone, Lloyd, and Traum), who, had they won their flight, would have beaten out both Ryan and Kelly, in spite of their both having placed third! 

• No one before or since has won only one tournament all year, yet still earned the GOY title as Kelly did in 1997.

• Kelly placed in only three events. That's a record low for a GOY winner. He had one win, one second place, and one third place finish.

• During the 1997 season, Kelly participated in seven consecutive events without placing. Yes, a record dry spell for a GOY winner.

The Critical Moments

Interesting details that made this race so close:

• Ryan didn't play in the first three tournaments. Had Ryan shown up for one more tournament (he missed seven that season) he would have earned 1 extra point and won GOY outright.

• At Franklin Canyon, both played in the third flight. Ryan shot an 89 (net 69) to place 1st, while Kelly shot a 91 (net 71), and placed 2nd.

• In the Eddie Reed tournament, the Russ Greenwood vs. Chris Aronson match was forfeited. Because of this, Kelly Alvarez earned 2 points and advanced to play Ryan Lai in a semi-final match. Ryan won this match 4 and 3. How's that for head-to-head?

• At the Tilden Park 2-Ball Tournament, Mike Birnbach fired a personal best 73 (net 59, ranks 4th all-time for UCGC net scores) and along with his partner, Jeff Hazel (who did little to assist the team) edged Ryan Lai and Mike O'Neill in the tiebreaker for 1st place.

• Kelly lost a tiebreaker and missed placing 3rd at the two-day Monterey event.

• Irony: Heading into the Club Championship, both men were tied at 23 points. Kelly would place 3rd in the third flight and Ryan would place 3rd in the fourth flight. Normally they played in the same flight, however Ryan's index had him at 19 strokes while Kelly received 18. The irony is that all season long Ryan's index was lower than Kelly's. Now, for some reason, Kelly (who hadn't placed in the last ten tournaments) had a lower index than Ryan (who had placed in five of his last seven tournaments). However, this turned out to be very fortuitous, for since Kelly's index was a stroke lower he was moved to a different flight. This is critical because had they been placed in the same flight Ryan's net 69 would have edged Kelly's net 70 and Ryan would have won the GOY outright, for the second time in three years.

Points per event
Blue = 1st, Red = 2nd, Green = 3rd
Note - Lai doubled all of Alvarez' placing totals.

Charting the 1997 Race

The following are graphical representations of the 1997 GOY race between Ryan Lai and Kelly Alvarez. To properly appreciate this graph we need to reverse our feelings about jagged lines vs straight lines. In this graph, the most extreme jagged line would be represented by alternately winning a flight one month, then not participating in the following month's tournament. Ryan's line, what with placing six times and the seven no-shows, is doubtless one of the most extremely jagged lines in GOY race history. You will notice that Kelly's line is never flat. A flat line between events represents non-participation. A straight line can only be achieved when one is doing the same thing month after month. Kelly's string of seven consecutive 1-point surges during the second half of the season represents true grit, a grinding out of winless participation points, month after month. That's shear tenacity!

In various formats are links to larger versions of the chart below:

• GIF Chart

• PDF Chart

• Excel Chart

Second Closest GOY Race? 2003/1997 a Toss Up

Both the 1997 race and 2003 race ended in ties. Both came down to a single stroke and did so in many instances.

Third Closest GOY Race? 1991

It had to be the 1991 race. Mack Williams won Golfer of the Year, but everything hinged on a tiebreaker for 1st place in the first flight between Yun Akinaga and Jim Peretti. If Yun won the card matching, then Yun would win the GOY award by 1/2 point, however if Jim won then Mack would maintain a 1 point GOY lead. Jim won the tiebreaker and Mack maintained his lead. By the way, this was back in the day when tiebreakers were determined by a primitive and meaningless form of card matching. A hole was selected at random and the lowest net score won. It could have gone either way, but truly, what a lousy way to conclude a season-long contest! The hole selected was the par five 3rd hole at Diablo Creek. Yun scored a 7 while Jim scored a 6. Doubtless, to this day, the 3rd hole conjures bad memories for Yun. Mack's season was, like Kelly's, well below the standards of a typical GOY season. Indeed, Mack only won two tournaments all season and placed second in two other event. He never placed third and he failed altogether to place in a major.

• 1991 Club Championship Scoring Sheet (featuring tiebreaker between Yun Akinaga and Jim Peretti on which the GOY season was determined)

• 1991 Season Newsletter Recapping the Season