Team Lady Bugs Fly to Victory and the Green Jersey on the 19th Hole at the Automatik Open

SUNNYVALE, CA (Golf Digest)

The explosion of Clay Armistead’s 11 degree Taylor Made SiM2 driver following the tournament’s first tee shot at Saturday’s 6th annual Automatik Open, proved to be a perfect metaphor for what will surely go down as one of the most explosive tournaments in the event’s prestigious history. 

In a tightly contested tournament for the ages – all five teams finished within 3 shots of one-another – Casey Lopez, Dan Carter, Drew Braugh and Mike Popek of Team Lady Bugs, dawned the green jersey by winning a playoff against Team Gym Tanning Nap (Peter and Doug Ellsworth, Gary Petersmeyer and Clay Armistead), finishing at -8.

Team Gym Tanning Nap seemed destined to win after birdieing 6 of their first 8 holes to jump out to a commanding three stroke lead. But the team cooled on the back nine, and after a costly bogey on 15, their once commanding lead had quickly diminished. And when the Lady Bugs birdied 3 of their last 5 holes and maintained their White Tiger ball, they eked into the two team playoff. “I am super proud of how our team battled. We started off hot and everyone contributed. We just couldn’t quite get it done down the stretch. Unfortunately, the green jersey has eluded me once again” explained the stoic Peter Ellsworth, who drowned his post-tournament sorrows in a two hour shoulders and tris session in his garage gym.

The tiebreaking format, which was instituted in 2021 following unanimous approval of the tournament committee and was met with widespread support from the super-positive and unopinionated tournament participants, consisted of a round of team quarters at the uber-exclusive Barrel 19 Bistro & Bar. Team Gym Tanning Nap jumped out to an early lead notwithstanding the fact that quarters (both the game and the currency) were not in existence when two of the team’s participants were growing up.

But fueled by 14 Jaeger shots and 8 High Noons* consumed during the round, Team Lady Bugs dug deep and clinched the victory when Mike Popek sank the final quarter before a raucous crowd. “Hats off to Team Gym Tanning Nap, they played great on the course and really competed at the 19th hole. They had us on the ropes but we had the heart of a champion today and were not going to be denied”, exclaimed the jubilant Popek, who refused to comment on rumors that repeat winner Casey Lopez has been sandbagging this past year, fueling speculation that the tournament committee will conduct a full audit of his scores prior to next season. 

Team Bridesmen, consisting of Ronnie Castro, Ben Wilson, Peter Wentworth and Kevin Murphy, finished 3rd at -7, narrowly missing the playoff after missing a 10 foot birdie putt on 18. 

In other tournament news, Mark Meyer won the long drive competition with a 284 yard power fade on the 10th hole, Doug Ellsworth stuck his 3 wood to 15 feet to win the CTP on the 120 yard 7th hole, and Matt Accola hit a wedge to 5 feet on 18 to win the Benj CTP hole. The tournament set yet another milestone by raising $2,810 for cancer research. On a more dubious note, Danny Jorgensen set a record that can never be broken by losing the White Tiger ball on his first hole tee shot. 

*Tournament sponsor White Claw has sent a notice of breach to the tournament committee and is withholding sponsorship payments, indicating that the consumption of 214 High Noons during the tournament violated the terms of their exclusive seltzer sponsorship of the tournament, and announced they will not be returning as a title sponsor next year.

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