History of the Bush League Open
2015
The 2015 BLOC was held on August 8-9 in Absecon, NJ. Seaview Golf Course played host to the inaugural tournament. Golfers competed on both the famed Bay Course, host of the 1942 PGA Championship (won by Sam Snead for the first of his 7 Majors), and the Pines Course.
After a tightly contested 2 days, DJ DeBrakeleer took home the trophy, defeating Rob Kelly by 1 stroke on the 36th hole by making a clutch par save on the final hole of the tournament.
Tom Jaquay tried his absolute hardest, but couldn't avoid taking home the Inaugural Sweater of Shame as he was bogged down by a slow start that he was not able to dig himself out of.
2016
The 2016 BLOC was held on July 15-17 in Lake Harmony, PA. Split Rock Golf Course, as well as Great Bear Country Club were selected to host the 2nd ever Championship.
After a tight first round, Jamison Kenney led by 2 strokes over a crowded field, but Sunday was all Rob Kelly. In what looked like nothing but pure revenge, Kelly played like a man possessed and posted the lowest round in Championship history en route to winning his first ever BLOC by a 12 stroke margin.
In runaway fashion, BLOC rookie Ryan Abbott took home the Sweater of Shame.
2017
The 2017 BLOC was held on August11-13 in Myrtle Beach, SC. Heritage Club Golf Course, Legends Moorland Golf Course, and Oyster Bay Golf Course were the 3 clubs hosting the 1st ever 54-hole Championship.
The 2017 edition was not one for the faint of heart. Easily one of the most drama filled tournaments ever. After 2 days, Tom Jaquay held a 5 stroke lead over Rob Kelly and the rest of the field. By the 10th hole Sunday, not only had that lead been erased, but Kelly led the field by one. After two drama filled "Island Green holes", Jaquay made the decision to not lay up on 18, while Kelly laid up after playing first, and that was the decision that made all the difference. In a clutch performance, Jaquay silenced his critics, and finally got the monkey off his back by winning the 2017 Championship.
Not to be outdone, the race for the Sweater of Shame was drama filled as well. Ryan Abbott and BLOC Rookie Sean Sweeney battled back and forth in an amazing display of guts, but in the end, Abbott took home the Sweater of Shame for the 2nd consecutive year.
2018
The 2018 BLOC started with a very crowded field of talented golfers. For the first time in Bush League history, the field was at 12 men. This however did not mean much in terms of competition at the top, as after the first round (Pawley's Plantation) Rob Kelly had separated himself from the field by 7 strokes. Saturday, however, was when the BLOC was won. At True Blue Golf Course, Kelly found a second gear, going unconscious on his back nine - carding 2 birdies en route to a 1-under 34, and BLOC record 78. This performance took him far above the rest of the competition, all but locking up his 2nd victory in 3 years. When all was said and done, Kelly cleared the field by a whopping 29 strokes come Sunday afternoon.With the top of the board solidified, all eyes turned to the Sweater of Shame race.
With the expansion of the Bush League to 12 members, the Sweater of Shame race became appointment level television. Abbott, Dunphy, Trocino, Dearolf, Becker, and Sweeney all battled it out for 3 days, but in the end it was Dearolf who found himself in the proverbial jail that is last place. Chris ended up going home with golf's most undesirable trophy. Ryan Abbott, who had previously taken home the last 2 Sweater of Shame titles, carded 3 solid rounds and found himself in the middle group, and finished T-8.
2019
2019 promised to be a great year for the Bush League as the quest for the Blue Jacket became a much more even playing field with the addition of handicaps to the scoring. With the addition of those extra strokes, however, came some clear challenges for the players. This years edition of the Championship took place in Scottsdale, Arizona where temperatures all week hovered around the average of 108 degrees, couple that with a cross country flight and things will definitely get interesting.
The first round of the tournament was at Greyhawk Golf Club, home of Phil Mickelson. Defending Champ Rob Kelly blew off a 1st hole double bogey to shoot a 78 en route to taking a 7 stroke lead over 2017 Champ, Tom Jaquay. One of the most interesting stories of the day however was on the front 9. Through 5 holes, 2-Time Sweater of Shame winner Ryan Abbott led the tournament in GROSS strokes, let alone net where he was receiving 23 pops a round. The second round was held at Troon North where Kelly again separated himself from the field and looked to all but lock up his 2nd Blue Jacket in as many years. Sunday’s final round was an exciting one for many reasons, one of which was watching the performance of Sean Sweeney as he fired a 98 to catapult him into 8th Place overall, but cement his spot in the middle foursome of the BLOC. When all was said and done, Kelly played a smart and safe Sunday round, shooting 84 and taking home the Jacket, 12 shots clear of Tom Jaquay, and 20 clear of both Anthony Caporizzo and Ben Hankinson. The Sweater of Shame was not as closely contested as years past, as Dalton Becker took home the least coveted piece of outerwear in runaway fashion.
2020
In a year where nothing seemed normal at all, the BLOC Boys all convened in Upstate New York for their 6th Annual Mid-Summer Classic. Originally planned for Toronto, the 2020 edition of the Bush League was relocated to Turning Stone Resort due to the COVID-19 Pandemic limiting international travel.
After the first round of play we saw a very tight leaderboard with DJ DeBrakeleer jumping out to an early lead with BLOC Rookie Aidan Kelly tight on his heels and Back to Back defending champ Rob Kelly 2 strokes back from his brother. Saturday proved to be a huge day for the Champ as he fired a tournament low score and took the lead in the Championship by 6 strokes over Aidan Kelly, as well as winning his first ever BLOC Scramble with Sean Sweeney.
Sunday turned out to be one of the most exciting days in recent BLOC history as the tournament moved to the Atunyote Golf Course, site of Dustin Johnson’s first ever PGA Tour win. Early on it was clear that this tournament was going down to the wire between the two brothers as Aidan Kelly came out hot, capitalizing on the strokes he was getting from his handicap and taking the tournament lead thru 51 holes. That is where the Rookie showed his age, and Rob Kelly showed his veteran presence. Aidan realized he was in the lead and only 3 holes away from his first BLOC title and faltered under pressure, coming home with a Bogey-Triple-Double finish to his older brothers Par-Par-Bogey. In the end, ironically in the year filled with the unexpected, Rob Kelly won his 3rd straight Bush League Open Championship and 4th in 5 years. Aidan secured 2nd and a well deserved Rookie of the Year award.
In one of the most surprising turn of events, Ben Giaimo took home the 2020 Sweater of Shame, shocking sharps and squares alike by putting together some of his worst rounds in years.
2021
The 2022 Bush League Open started like many have before, high hopes for 12 golfers, only for 8 of them to be shattered by days end. Perennial hopeful, Ben Hankinson struggled at the Golden Age Classic, Lawsonia Links, and buried himself in a hole that not even Mark Calaway could dig himself out of.
Day 2 shifted to the legendary Mammoth Dunes on the property of Sand Valley golf resort. Mammoth Dunes gave a lot of players the opportunity to score with massive fairways, and forgiving greens. Among the golfers who made a move on Saturday were Tyler Dunphy and Tom Jaquay, who inched closer to the defending Champ in an effort to stop the 4-peat Bid. Anthony Caporizzo also avenged a very difficult Friday round to pull his name back into contention.
Sunday proved to be a tough one for many golfers, on the Coore-Crenshaw designed Sand Valley, the greens and penal tee shots ate many a players lunch (good thing they were only $1.50 tacos), and left but one player standing. Commish Robert Kelly put together a strong, conservative round, to complete the bid for his 4th Bush League Open in a row, finishing 7 shots clear of his brother Chase Koepka Aidan Kelly.