RBC I “The Cup stays here,” was written on a menu board in Chipper’s Bar and Grill at the Meeker Golf Course, with an arrow pointing to the Rio Blanco County Cup, which Meeker was ready to defend last weekend.
A marker board on the front steps of the club house welcomed golfers from Rangely’s Cedar Ridges Golf Course but the line “The Cup stays here,” was written at the bottom of it, too.
The Rio Blanco County Cup golf tournament has been played for six years, starting in Rangely and alternating courses each year. Meeker leads 4-2 and has cared for the cup the past three years. The relationships are friendly but the competition for the cup and the bragging rights, which go to the winner, can be brutal.
“We’re getting kind of used to it, it’s been here for a while,” Meeker organizer and team captain J.C. Watt said, followed by a laugh and an admission that he did not help his team score points.
“We had a steak dinner Saturday and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves,” Watt said of the social setting between the two clubs’ players.
Last Saturday, two golfers from each course were matched against each other by captains and points were scored for winning a nine-hole, two-person scramble, then golfers are matched up individually for another nine holes of golf.
Rangely organizer and team captain Robby Elam and Terry Richardson scored enough points to beat Watt and Lex Collins but at the end of Saturday’s play, Meeker led 10-5.
Eleven golfers from Rangely including Elam, Richardson, Dennis Rohn, Brian Mackay, Rob Morgan, James Maybury, Jerry Templeton, Blankenship, Teresa Brodrick, Linda Gordon and Lielanie Morgan represented Cedar Ridges Golf Course, while Meeker was represented by 15 players.
Watt, Collins, Pat Walsh, Bryce Ducey, Dave Brown, Don McPherson, Irv Griffin, Clint Chappell, Harry Watt, Ted Stewart, Larin Crase, Rod Crawford, Susie Sprod, Debbie Jordan and Danielle Feola played for Meeker.
Last Sunday, players were matched up again in pairs and played a two-man best ball, while the women played a scramble again. Meeker’s women scored double points Sunday and did not lose a match during the weekend.
The Cup will stay in Meeker, as they won six of eight matches played for a final score of 16-7.
The “Old Farts in Carts” (OFIC) tournament will be played this Saturday in Meeker. The next tournament in Rangely will be Sept. 29, the CNCC 50th Anniversary Tournament.