5-3-2024
From Daniel Jones Jr, Duel in the Desert Professional
Ok Boys, here we go, the last 6. We usually refer to these guys as “No Chance”. But in my kinder, gentler ripe old age, I have decides to refer to this group as the “Could go either way group”. These guys are like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get!
First up in this group is Jimmy Frye! A lot of you will be surprised that James is in this group, but here are the reasons. First and most important is his sidekick Wayne-O won’t be playing this year. How will Jimmy handle this? Time will tell. Then there is that one concern if he plays a bad round in say round 3, he could just disappear and go home and skip round 4. The obvious next person on this list is 2023 Champ of the 1st flight David Varnum, simply because we punish champs with a handicap reduction, 16 to a 12 will make him struggle to repeat. That is the goal! Sorry David, play hard. Then we move on to Mike Shunney. He will be offended that he is in this category, sensitive old fart! Although his age has nothing to do with him showing up here in this group, it’s all about his penchant to be clumsy and get injured right before June! If he stays upright he will challenge for the crown, big IF! Billy Shea is in this group also. Lot’s of really good players here including Bill. Former champ and all around prince of a guy, this being a NET tournament may negatively effect Bill’s chances. His handicap stays at 6 while everyone else seems to be getting more pops! Jay Knoblauh is another surprise entry into this group. Again this is a surprise guy here in the final group. Jay, being the athlete he is will probably be a little pissy about this and be motivated. The Draws of partners will be critical for this 4 handicapper. He will need some help! This brings us to the last guy, now a veteran on the Duel attending his 3rd event is Mr Daren Heflin, these 4 and 6 handicap players all seem to have slipped down into this group. If Daren and Rusty can focus on golf and not the bookie biz he will be in the hunt, if not he will be relegated to 2nd flight status. One thing you need to know about Daren, is if you need some swing doctor on the range he can help. He is a hell of a teacher! And you know what we say about teachers, those who can’t do TEACH!
That wraps up my analysis of all 24 players in this years event, don’t be mad. Prove me wrong….or right depending on your place in my analysis.
Only 31 days till the 2024 Duel. Stay safe and healthy (especially you Shunsta), can’t wait to see y’all.
Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard.
Yours Truly,
Danny Jones, PGA PRO
i4-23-2024
From: Danny, Duel Pro
Hello everyone from TEXAS! We are now UNDER 40 days to the 2024 Duel in the Desert! LFG!!!!
This edition of my prose will be the 3rd category of 6 players, and this year we will refer to them as “So you’re saying there’s a chance” group.
First up here is Mark Hightower, he always has a chance because he is a bomber and solid tee to green. His problem starts when he lands on the green, as Big G would say “Hightower just cannot PUTT” A good friend would maybe work with him a little, but maybe wait till the tournament is OVER. Next up is Paul Junkersfeld. Paul has finished top 3 so many times he thinks he deserves a pink jacket. Paul has a chance to win every year except he has that one crazy night where he comes in at 5 am and then doesn’t quite have the correct amount of rest one round and shoots an 89. Usually when I am his partner, UGH! Here’s another guy that every other year is near the top, Mark Goldie, if anyone deserves a jacket it is Mark, he may have actually won one a few years back but missed by one shot. If you know you know! Maybe this year Goldie! We follow Goldie with the FNG, Dave Pierce, he gets in this category simply by being an unknown quantity, 18 handicappers are always a little scary. The good news is that the handicap committee of Mitch, me and Big G can change a handicap at anytime and anywhere! And they never go up! Just ask Dugan. Ok, the ranks are getting thin, but we have to put Tommy McBride in this group. T-Mac is a one time winner and for 70 Years Old still hits it like he 40. Problem now with Thomas is he may be just a little too relaxed, once again if you know, we all know! Last but not least in this group is Layth Gaston, a solid 8 handicap or better when he is healthy, but he just isn’t operating at 100% with a bad back.
Six guys to, I guess you know who you are. Maybe I am all wrong this year, there are 6 guys left that will want to prove it! Stay tuned for that edition in a week or so.
Until then, head down and swing hard and take a gummy.
Yours Truly, DJ
4-12-2024
From Danny Jones, PGA Pro
50 Days to the Duel, LFG!
In this addition we look at the next tier of players with a good chance to take home the pink jacket! Again this year we will call these gentlemen the Dark Horses.
First up we have one of the new guys, Ryan Payne. Ryan comes in as our only ZERO handicap player. While his game is very impressive and should fair very well on a short Spanish Trail track, he falls into this category for that exact reason. No POPS! The pressure will be on to make a ton of birdies……I have seen him do it, so don’t be surprised if Ryan posts some mid 60’s rounds. Next up is our former sandbagger Rusty Stark, not anymore Rusty! We have Mr. 63 at the proper number of 2. Rusty is back on tour carrying JB Homes bag, so most weekends he is free to practice. Let’s see if it pays off. I usually don’t like to tout myself, but a 60 pound thinner Danny PRO Jones may be able to compete at 6000 yards like he used to, lets call it Lightning in a Miller Lite Bottle. Fourth on the Dark Horse list is a guy that has become a regular on the Duel and has worked his way up and is more comfortable than ever. Bill Maak is retired now and when not on a cruise with his bride, he is on the course working on his game. Spanish Trail sets up well for Bill to make a run at the title. Tim Dugan is always a contender. No one can analyze each and every golf shot quite like a Dugan! Ok, so he’s not the fastest on the course but still moves at double T-Mac’s speed. Tim is hoping for another shootout down the stretch with Rusty, only wanting a different result! Theodore Kraulis is always a possibility to win the Duel. There is no questioning his game. What we do question is his ability to keep himself from going off the rails. The most famous Spanish Trail 2 words ever spoken were from Ryan Payne to Teddy, and they were “Did Ya”. If you know you know…..If you don’t you can ask Ryan!
That concludes this section of handicapping the 2024 Duel. Stay tuned for more coming soon
Until next time……Head down and swing hard.
DJ, Pro
4-8-2024
From DJ, Duel Pro
Less than 2 months to the Duel and the Field is finally all set after a couple ins and outs. Please welcome friend of Teddy K, Dave Pierce! Don’t be too concerned that he is a friend of Teddy, remember that Ted is 1 of a kind!
Everything is updated on the website, Field and pairings for all 4 days, check it out.
In this edition of the Prose, I will start handicapping he field. Remember last year, I had Mr. David Varnum in the favorites category and he pulled out the victory. He may have been slightly handicap aided, but that will not taint his victory! The 1st player we will put in this top category is Big G Heines! Actually I should just let y’all know he will be here every year because he is in the top 3 almost every year. Probably the most consistent Dueler we have, you want to have G as a partner one day to help your chances! Next on the list is Phil Harrington. Phil is playing well and is a former 2nd flight champ, I think he is ready to take that next step and compete for a 1st flight win. Time and the play of his partners will tell the story with Phil. Next on the list is retired attorney Chris Steed. He was absent last year and this Pro feels like maybe he has been playing a lot of golf and may be carrying a big bag of sand into this year’s Duel. Just a hunch, but as you can see from last years results I am usually right! Next up in the favorites category is David Carter. He has his Duel handicap up to 8 and we know he can outperform then when all the stars line up. And now he has been to 3 Duels and is settling in and looks prime for a run at the top spot. Our 5th player in this favorite category is Greg Bubba Coscia. Greg spends all his retired time on the golf course. Not necessarily playing but he has become an expert on all golf course grasses and how they grow. You learn these things while riding around all day on a TORO. He comes in as a 10 handicap with good partners. I have a feeling about Greg and I don’t think it’s gas! The last guy in this category is our host Mitch Nevins. He comes in with his highest Duel handicap to date, 14! Seems like just a short time ago he was an 8. Big G, Teddy and Shunsta would probably tell you he needs 18, but I know different, he will be ready this year to win his own event. And see above, one day he has Big G as his partner! BONUS!!!!
Next edition we would at the next group of 6 who are just outside the favorite category but no one should be surprised if they win.
Until next time boys, head down and swing hard.
Yours in Golf, Danny
3-19-2024
From DJ, Duel Professional
The Duel is fast approaching, only 72 days away! Let the countdown commence.
Here are few reminders and information for the new guys. We will have an arrival get together Sunday evening at 6 pm in Teddy’s suite (room number TBA), Beer, Wine, Moonshine and Snacks will be served. This will be a good time to begin the hazing of Ryan Payne….zero handicap deserves some shit. On Tuesday night at he halfway point of the 2024 Duel, we will have a Pizza and Alcohol party (and possibly some edibles) in the same suite (TBA). We will honor 2023 champions David Varnum and Jimmy Frye! This is a mandatory Duel gathering, so don’t miss out on this evening to be capped by a poetry reading and some fun Brian Buffone stories!
Make sure you check the pairings and format on this website. This years format again has one day being a 2 man scramble! We had a vote of the Duel Board of Directors in 2023 and it was a close 3 to 0 tally W-approving the Scramble.
In the next edition of the Prose we will begin to handicap the field and tell who I (the Pro) think will win this years Duel and also the guys I think have zero chance. Scroll down Check out last years Pro’s Prose, It will show you that I picked David Varnum to win. PAY ATTENTION!!!
Until next time boys, keep your eye on the ball and rip it!
Love Y’all
Danny
2-22-2024
From: Danny Jones, Duel Pro
Good day from warm Texas! It is starting to feel like Spring and when I checked my Calendar this morning and counted the days, we are 100 days from the 2024 Duel. You can see all the information for tee times, pairings and handicaps on this website. Surf around and check it all out.
We obviously have a great group of men this year making up the 2024 field with one HUGE GAP. We will miss our Padno, Brian Buffone a lot, he was always great for some laughs and good times. We will spend some special time honoring Brian this year at our group dinner.
Stay tuned to this page for updates as we get closer to this year’s Duel, I will have lots to say!
For now, the update is that Spanish Trail in great shape even in the winter. That along with all the renovations that have been done to the course and clubhouse, it will be a 1st class event this year.
Once again, welcome to DUEL season and stay tuned for updates.
DJ, The Pro!
5-30-2023
From: Danny Jones, Duel Pro,
Well boys we are almost there. By now Jay Knob is probably on the road trip west! This edition of the PP will strictly be dedicated to reminders and info.
Tee times are 8 am shotgun daily, everyone has a ride set, please communicate with your driver to see when they want to leave the hotel.
We will have an opening Champions only reception in the suite Sunday at 6 PM Followed immediately at 6:30 PM with the full field reception. Beer Wine and snacks will be provided
The hospitality suite number is room 2561
Tuesday night pizza party and Poetry reading at 6:30 PM in the same suite
All Pairings, Handicaps and Format are set. Any questions on any of that please refer to the tournament info tab on the website
Lunch will be served each day after golf with a menu consisting of 5 or 6 items to choose from. This is pre paid.
Yours Truly (The Pro) has done an old school traditional scoreboard this year that will hang in our lunch room
Stay tuned later this week for more info, but in the meantime stay safe and we cannot wait to see y’all Sunday!
Danny Jones, Your Friend and Pro
5-23-2023
From: Danny Jones, Professional Golfer
Well, we sent out the Shunney tips for good health and now we have a current health update on a few of our Duelers!
Teddy K has quit smoking…..again…..maybe…..well only when he drinks, never mind
Layth has a bad back, but is determined to take enough medication to win this year’s Duel, we shall see.
Rusty has a sore right shoulder from carrying heavy things
Mike Shunney can still only count to 17, If you know-you know
Daren Heflin is currently dehydrated, but vows to buy stock in Gatorade and drink 10 a day
Brian Buffone, too many ailments to list but solves it with Modelo
Greg Coscia has Carpel Tunnel from driving his mower, two words for him, Ben Gay
Paul Junk is seeing a Shrink in Ft Worth trying to solve a case of the Shanks.
T-Mac plays better golf through chemistry, this is another If you know- you know scenario
Wayne O is 80+ and the healthiest guy in the group, nothing to report.
This is todays health update. The good news is no one has fallen off a ladder or down the stairs and broken any bones so the field is still full at 24.
Looking forward to a great event.
Danny, The Pro
5-22-2023
From DJ, The Duel Pro
Hello from Texas. We are less than 2 weeks from the start of the 2023 Duel in the Desert! It is going to be a blast as always! A couple things I would like to go over with everyone for this last two weeks before you leave. We will call this the Shunney Tips for Safety.
Do not run up and down any stairs , you can fall and break a bone, thus missing the Duel.
As a matter of fact do not run at all, if you trip and fall, you may miss the Duel
Be very careful getting in and out of the shower, floors can be slippery thus causing a fall and missing the Duel
Do not lift anything heavy for the next two weeks, you may strain your back and then you could miss the Duel
Try and avoid horse play with kids and grandkids, activities like this always end up with someone getting hurt and you could then miss the Duel
Avoid people who are coughing or sneezing, it may be Covid and catching this would cause your elimination from the Duel
Basically what we are saying is to keep your circle small and try and stay in the bubble so you don’t have to miss the Duel
I hope this helps you plan your next 13 days. Always remember safety first, you don’t want to end up like Shunsta and going into surgery 10 days from the Duel! We look forward to a great tournament and fun times. Stay tuned for more info before the Duel right here at The Pro’s Prose.
Love DJ, PGA Pro
5-4-2023
From Danny Jones, Walden Club Pro
So we are onto the last group in my handicapping the field series for the 2023 Duel. This year we have changed the name of this group of men to Under the Radar. not everyone thinks about these guys but watch out!
First up is Big George Heines. Hard to believe a guy of this magnitude can be under the radar. All you need to do is look at the results, G always seems to be in the top 4 at the Duel, even if he can’t walk. The biggest reason he is not in the favorites group is that Spanish Trail has put new GPS Systems on their carts and they will not run if you get within 40 feet of the greens. For this reason we are concerned about Big Boys stamina! Is he in good shape? If you know……….
Next on the list is our slowest player Tim Dugan. Tim is upset he wasn’t included in the favorites section, sending several texts to Danny and Mitch wondering why. We had to remind him, this is just for fun Timmy, don’t over analyze it. To which he replied, “Have we met?” If you are Tim’s partner this week be sure to be ready to get out the wind gauge and abacus before every shot, he leaves nothing to chance except his swing.
Tim is followed by Duel favorite and permanent partner of Jimmy Frye, Mr. Wayne Michels. Yes that is spelled correctly. Wayne has got a clean bill of health this year and is motivated to win the Duel again. It may difficult to do with Mr Happy as his partner. If anyone can spend 3 days with Jimmy, it is Wayne!
We turn our attention now to the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts and returning Dueler Greg Coscia. More commonly known as Bubba! This former 5 star athlete form the Republic brings a steady golf game and a great attitude and we are happy he is back. Other than his undying love and support for the Bruins Celtics and Red Sox, he’s a great guy!
We are almost done, 2nd year Dueler is back for another whack after a 1 shot loss to Teddy K in 2nd flight last year. Layth Gaston from Walden on Lake Conroe comes in hot this year with one major exception. Back Pain. As Tim and Mitch know, back pain and leg numbness can derail a golf game. We hope Layth gets the treatment he needs and is at full strength this year so Teddy can once again hit Driver off the Deck and kick his ass.
And finally, our Vodka shot buying buddy, Phil Harrington. From what we hear Vodka gives some Duelers the munchies! If you know…… Phil is a returning Duel champ, just with a more adjusted accurate and true handicap. This is a guy you want as your partner, he can shoot in the low to mid 70s when the heat is on, and the heat will be on!
The Duel promises to be a blast again this year with an amazing group of guys, great weather and a beautiful golf course. Stay tuned for updated event info!
Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard.
Love, DJ Your Friend and Pro
4-27-2023
From Danny Jones, Pro
This next installment of the Pro’s Prose will be a special edition of the PP. Not often do we get a rookie Dueler who believes he should write back to every email and comment. But we have one! I will call this version of handicapping the field CPT. Conditional, Probationary and Temporary!
Mr. Andy Wood, all I can say is this is gonna be fun. Andy is a special guy, take that however you want. He’s a family man and an Allstate agent. He is a newly minted Soccer dad after signing up his son to play soccer this spring. I think I heard Andy refer to him as the little white American Pele. So that’s just a little family background, I cannot tell what he promised his wife to get clearance to attend this year’s Duel, this page is PG.
As for his golf game. Andy just returned from a golf trip to Mississippi where he was chosen as Captain of one of the 12 teams. For reference the 11th place team was +5. You guessed it, Andy’s team came in 12th. Can you guess the score? Think big! +27 … yes it is not a typo, last by 22 shots. Was he nervous? Seems so. But losing by 22 shots, that is hard to do even if you try! Maybe there was a big prize for DAL!
The only other time he has been that nervous was a golf tournament in Kingwood…. I will leave it there, this is another If you know, you know thing! And yes Andy has all 10 toes!
To be honest, we look forward to having Andrew on this year’s Duel, everyone needs a Bitch! So Teddy K, he is all yours to groom into a permanent Dueler, we have compete confidence in you to manage Mr. Wood.
Until next time gents, don’t do what Andy does and keep your head down and swing hard.
Danny, The Pro
4-25-2023
From Danny Jones Jr, PGA Pro
The 3rd installment of Handicapping the Duel Field is on! In this edition we will look at the guys that probably won’t win but have an outside chance to surprise. Here we go.
First player that falls into this category (and I am guessing he won’t be happy) is Jimmy Frye, while Jimmy is one of the better players on the Duel he cannot seem to put 4 good rounds together. Is it age? Is it attitude? Maybe it’s equipment, he tends to show up with a different brand every year. I am thinking he may want to try some Skechers for his shoes. If Jimmy is in good spirits he always has a chance. If you don’t see him at lunch he got in his car and bolted. This means-BAD ROUND!
Next up is Bill Maak, Billy is just happy to be there and enjoys every minute of the trip. What he doesn’t realize is he has a chance to win this year. The course is set up for not so long hitters to thrive. Billy definitely falls into that category. The pairings here could make the difference.
Also in this group of men is Brian Buffone, the Governor of NEW MEXICO! Brian stays in this group every year, because he has the game to win but also has a liquid appetite that may hold him back a little. Two words, Modelo and Merlot. Not the M&M’s most of are used to.
As much as I hate to do it, I have to put Jay Knob’s in this group. Jay like to drive to Vegas and stop along the way for a round or 2. I think by round 3 of the Duel he is worn out. This year he drew Rusty in the Scramble which is a formidable Gross team but this is a NET tournament, let’s see what happens. Jay is the longest hitter of the group which on Spanish Trail can actually cause you some problems. Good news for Jay, he already possesses a Pink Jacket!
This brings us to Daren Heflin, Daren is a stud on the course, he showed us that with a couple rounds right around even par last year. Then he seemed to run out of gas in the Nevada heat. If the weather is a little milder and he can stay hydrated (not with Modelo) he will be a force. But can we count on mild weather……we shall see.
Last up is yours truly, Danny Jones, Come on guys, my name is the bag! A pro should at least have an outside chance. So I won’t say anything else except “I ain’t got no dogs”
Until next time, head down and swing hard.
Best, DJ
4-13-2023
From Daniel Jones Jr., Walden Head Pro
Ok Boys, on to the 2nd installment of the Pro handicapping the 2023 Duel Field. In this writing we will examine who I think has a decent chance to take home the jacket but isn’t one of my top 6, let’s call these guys the Dark Horses!
First up we have the Looper, Rusty Stark. He isn’t a favorite this year for a couple reasons. 1st off, we think we finally have his handicap to the correct spot, 2! The 2nd is, Rusty is back working full time and will probably be coming in hot to this years Duel after a week of carrying heavy things! Another possible thing holding him back is he is paired with the lefty day one! Time will tell on Mr Stark.
Next up we have Bill Shea. Bill won this event a few years back in his rookie campaign. After that for the next couple Duels he had a case of the Shanks followed by just some plain old bad play! He seems to be settled now and is playing well at home in Texas. Although Phil says he routinely kicks Bill’s ass, maybe we need to look at Phil’s handicap. Watch out for Billy, at a 6 he should be near the top.
Moving on, we need to look at 2021 Champion Mike Shunney. Yes he is becoming one of the older guys, should we say Elder Statesmen, of the Duelers, Mike possesses that compact swing approach to the game. Don’t let anything get outta sync is his motto. He should do well from the senior tees at Spanish Trail playing only 6,000 yards. Good news double bogey max means he only has to count to 7….if you know, you know!
To my surprise the next dark horse is Mitch Nevins. There are 3 reasons I put the lefty in this category, they are RUSTY, DANNY & TEDDY, his partners! Sounds like a fix or maybe he has a negative effect on them, but if he plays like he is capable with his new clubs and alignment lessons from Teddy K, this could be the year we see 2015 Mitchy!
The big man Mark Goldie, aka El Guapo cracks the Dark Horse group with his 30 handicap. Spanish Trail is Mark’s home away from home. Well maybe that’s just Vegas, but I digress. Everyone loves Marky as his partner to get those 30 pops, so along with the strokes he has a good draw of partners to once again compete for the pink in 2023.
The last in the dark horse category is James Selmser , So here’s the thing. I don’t have anything positive, negative or humorous to say about this guy other than he hits BOMBS!
Next week we start looking at the guys who need to work hard on their games to have a chance in 2023, including yours truly. Stay tuned for more Player info than you ever wantd.
Until next time, Delta 9 is the word!
DJ, Pro
4-10-2023
From: Danny Jones, PGA Pro
And so it begins, the handicapping of this year’s Duel by yours truly, The Pro! For todays Prose we will focus on the 6 guys I think have the best chance to take home the Pink Jacket this year. Keep in mind this is a very scientific undertaking and you should not try this on your own…..it could cause brain damage!
First up is Teddy K. I believe this could be the year he goes from a Triple A win to a Big League 1st flight win. He has the physical game, what I worry about is his mental capacity to manage that game on that golf course. He seems to think driver off the deck with water on both sides of a par 5 is a good play. This Pro does not. For this reason Teddy is not my top pick but definitely in the top 6 with his 6 handicap.
Next we have Mark Hightower, once again he has the long game to compete favorably with this field, it’s that jacked up putting stroke that has me a little concerned. One major thing he has going for him is his partners this year (one happens to be me). If I can coach him up on the greens he has a good chance to take home the jacket in 2023 after several close calls.
Moving North to the DFW area we need to have a hard look at Paul Junkersfeld. Paul has finished as the Brides Maid several times in the Duel, he now thinks we have his handicap to the spot where he has enough strokes to pull off the W. I tend to agree with the one caveat that he needs to get more than 2 hours of sleep each night. This could be an issue!
For our 4th pick this year we have to consider David Varnum (aka Divot). Why you ask do we consider a guy that has come in DAL a couple times. Two main reasons, the first is we have pumped hi handicap to 16. It was 10 then 12 then 14 over past Duels, we now think he has the correct number to compete. The 2nd reason is he has been playing that golf Mecca of CCC to work on his game. He especially enjoys the back 9 at CCC where he constantly shoots better than the front 9.
Back to the DFW area. David Carter is now back for his 3rd Duel and is starting to feel at home. He has everything together in his personal life and professional life. His chakra’s are in balance with the universe. If he can avoid that one blow up round he seems to have each year he will be a force to watched this year.
The last and not least of the favorites this year is Tommy McBride, the real question is will he care? Will he know? Tommy has taken a more medicinal laid back approach to golf these days and is paying off with several top finishes at Walden in MGA events. If Tommy regulates his intake just right we think T-Mac could be at the top of the 2023 Leaderboard!
I apologize to any of you that think you belong on this list of favorites for 2023, but stay tunes for the next edition of the Pro’s Prose for the group of 6 men that I consider Dark Horses. They have a good shot but are not in my favorites category.
Until next time, Head down and Swing hard.
Love, Danny
3-29-2023
From Danny Jones, PGA Professional
Howdy from the Lone Star State. Looks like the field is set and rooms are all locked in and paid for. Teddy K, last years 2nd flight champ has fought off Covid for the 2nd time and is ready to defend and possibly go for the elite 1st flight championship. Rusty Chuckles! Speaking of Rusty, the 1st flight 2 time champ, will be back to defend after a week of looping for Korn Ferry tour pro Chris Gotterup. We wish Rusty and Chris lots of luck.
66 days to go, here are few reminders and information for the new guys. We will have an arrival get together Sunday evening at 6 pm in Room 2561, Beer, Wine, Moonshine and Snacks will be served. This will be a good time to begin the hazing of Andy Wood….and you will soon see, he needs it. On Tuesday night at he halfway point of the 2023 Duel, we will have a Pizza and Alcohol party (and possibly some edibles) in the same suite (2561). This is a mandatory Duel gathering, so don’t miss out on this evening to be capped by a poetry reading!
Make sure you check the pairings and format on this website. This years format has changed slightly with one day being a 2 man scramble! We had a vote of the Duel Board of Directors and it was a close 3 to 0 approving the Scramble.
In the next edition of the Prose we will begin to handicap the field and tell who I (the Pro) think will win this years Duel and also the guys I think have zero chance.
Until next time boys, keep your eye on the ball and rip it!
Danny, The Pro
3-2-2023
From Danny Jones, Duel Pro
Good Day from Texas. It’s 82 degrees here today and golf season is in full swing! The club is stocked up on Ranch Water, Teddy K’s favorite drink, thus we need a lot of it!
As some of you have noticed KP has had to pull out of this years Duel (Although he may still attend and play as an alternate) due to some health issues. He is getting better but just not quite comfortable committing to 4 rounds of golf yet. We have replaced him this year with our lone Duel Rookie, Mr. Andy Wood. Andy is a 10 handicap from Montgomery TX. He has his own Allstate firm but is only in the office about 12 hours per week. The rest of his days are spent trying to learn how to be just like Teddy K. Those are some big ass aspirations! We hope Andy is able to make it through the 1st year break in process. I know Goldie has some interesting things planned for him. We will find out how good he is with a shoe cleaning kit. Please welcome Andy when you see him, because he will be nervous. It’s possible you find him puking in the bathroom before round 1.
Everyone is in and paid except you know who. So the field is set, pairings are made and we are ready to go. 90 days to Vegas baby!
In the meantime, stay tuned for all your Duel info right here at The Pros Prose.
Until next time boys, keep your head down and swing hard…….unless its windy.
Love, DJ
2-23-2023
From DJ, Head Pro
Gentlemen, it is that time of year again. The time when Jimmy Frye is the only unpaid Dueler! It’s all part of the game. We will be celebrating our two 2022 Champs this year, Teddy K and Rusty the Sandbagger (that has been corrected). We found a place Shunsta can keep his Thumb safe this year, we recommend that he put it up his A$$! Safe and warm! Lots of old faces back this year along with a couple new ones. The field is set and the format is set, you can see the on the website. As usual, we will be having our Tuesday night group dinner and Pink Jacket Award ceremony in the suite, more details to follow.
Spanish Trail has been under some major upgrades. The clubhouse has been repainted and is currently being remodeled on the inside. All the bunkers are newly renovated and the irrigation system has been upgraded, so by June the place ought to be in pristine condition!
Handicaps are posted on the site, if you have any complaints please address them to Goldie who will most likely promptly adjust it even lower. You get the point!
Looking forward to seeing y’all in June.
Until then, Head down and swing hard!
Danny J
6-2-2022
From Danny Jones, The Duel Pro
Well boys, it is here. The 2022 Duel begins in 4 short days. New guys Heflin, Gaston and Selmser are fired up. Heflin thinks he has been coming for 20 years! I’m sure Goldie can bring him down to Rookie status with a few choice words!
Then there is Mike Shunney. We had to put him on Injured Reserve and call in Jay Knob from the bullpen. The only good news about the loss of Shuns is Teddy K has a better chance now to be the champ. Shunney seems to be Teddy’s kryptonite.
Don’t forget Sunday at 6 pm in the suite (2561) for a cocktail and snack meet and greet. We wish y’all safe travels to Vegas. This years tournament is gonna be a blast.
See ya Sunday and in the meantime, head down and swing hard!
Danny J.
5-4-2022
From: Danny Jones, Duel in the Desert Professional
Happy Cinco de Mayo Eve!
It’s been a roller coaster week for the Duel. The ups and downs of KP’s health, culminating in the best possible news! So now that is behind us, it is time to focus on this year’s Duel. As you received in an email earlier this week, we have moved the tee times up to 8 AM Shotgun from 8:30 in order to help the club with their member tee times. We are right at 1 month until this year’s event. Pairings are set, handicaps are pretty much in stone, lunches each day are ordered and from everything we hear the courses are in fantastic shape!
Sunday night, meet and greet in the suite 2561 at 6 PM, Kolache Mama will sponsor and buy the snacks and beer and wine. Shotgun start at 8:00 AM daily…..remember its about 20 minute drive to the course Group dinner and drinks along with the 2021 Pink Jacket presentation in the suite on Tuesday Night starting at 6:30 PM. Remember, any Hole in One, everyone pays the lucky person $100 and then he buys drinks until everyone is finished! This may or may not be profitable!
For those of you that remember, we tried a Bracket Game last year and that was a one year deal. We will not be doing that this year. However as you know we have the usual day money game and have added two CTP’s per day this year paying 300 each each day. We have assigned those to the shortest 2 par 3’s each day to make it fair for all levels!
As always, we look forward to seeing y’all this year and enjoying a relaxing and competitive week.
Until next time. keep your head down and swing hard.
DJ
4-20-2022
From: Danny Jones, Duel in the Desert Professional
Good 4/20 day from TX. Hope you all enjoy the day with some Gummies or however you choose to ingest! A good day to just CHILL!
We are a short 6 weeks form the Duel 2022. Remember you can re-supply your 4/20 stash in Vegas, just may not want to fly with it.
It looks like almost everyone has paid for the Day Money and Closest to the Pin games. We will pay 3 places daily for Day Money ….. $300, $200 and $100, ties will split money. We will also pay 2 closest to the pin winners each day at $300 each. If you haven’t paid yet, you can Venmo KP or give him cash at the Duel!
Remember, we will all have a welcome reception in the Duel Suite on Sunday at 6 PM. We will stock the bar for the week, prior to Sunday evening. Then on Tuesday we will have our mandatory group dinner (pizza will be served) and cocktails and Shunney on Stage also at 6 PM in the Duel Suite. Four you information the Suite number is 2561.
As you may know by now, Billy LeBlanc has had to pull out this year but will be back next year. In his place we have a good buddy of Rusty’s (please don’t hold that against him), Daren Heflin. Daren (in his own words) is a washed up teaching pro at Battleground Golf Club outside of Houston. He asked for an 8 handicap, so we did what we do and gave him a 6! Play hard Daren. Because of this change, we have tweaked a couple of the pairings, check those out on this website on the tournament info tab.
As always, I can’t wait to see all my buddies this year in June in Vegas! Stay tuned for more updates here on the Pro’s Prose.
Until Next time, as Daren the Teaching Pro says, Keep your head down and swing hard
Danny
4-7-2022
From: Danny Jones, Duel in the Desert Professional Emeritus
Good Master’s week boys! This is the signal we are less than 60 days to the Duel 2022! A little housekeeping in this edition of the prose. In the next week or so we will be sending out an email requesting an additional $200 per man for the day money and closest tot he pin game. KP will run the Day Money game and Big G will run the closest tot the pin game. The Day Money game we are pretty familiar with since KP has been doing it for 5 years, so no explanation really necessary. Big G will run the CTP game and we will have 2 per day that will pay $300 each. 8 winners for the week. We will be using the SHORTEST 2 par 3’s each day to make this fair for all handicap players. Even Goldie may win one of these! We will ask you to send the whole $200 to KP vis paypal or venmo so you don’t have to worry about sending money to George ahead of time, stay tuned for details. Cocktails and snacks will be served on Sunday night at 6 pm in Suite 2561, last years champ Mike Shunney will be hosting this welcome party. Then on Tuesday we will have our group Cocktail/Pizza Party in the same suite! Golf everyday is at 8:30 AM at Spanish Trail CC, we will all be going over in private cars/rentals……I usually leave around 7:15AM……I would allow a minimum of 20 minutes to get there. More to follow soon as we get closer to this year’s Duel.
Until next time, head down and swing hard! Danny
3-21-2022
From: Daniel Jones Jr, PGA Pro
Good Morning from Texas! It is time to unveil the 6 players I think will be bringing up the rear at the 2022 Duel! This is the “don’t have a chance group”. First up is me, Danny Jones, humility keeps me from putting myself in a better category. Well, humility and a shitty golf game right now. But I am a professional so you never know……..hoping for good play from partners. Next up is our host, Mitch Nevins, bottom line is he just is not playing up to his old capabilities and he basically has too much to do just being a good host. We all know he is capable of a 72 at any time but is swinging more like an 88 right now. Next in this group is Paul J, Will he get enough sleep? Does it matter? Will he make his tee time? He hasn’t missed yet, although he has had a few partners stressing out. This guy is the hardest to predict in the whole field, he can shoot 68 or 88, but one thing is for sure, he is going to enjoy the trip and time in Vegas! Then there is the golfer known as KP, this multi talented man just isn’t sure what his calling is. Golf? Fishing? Photo Shopping Jimmy in many unusual situations? He can do it all, just not all that well. KP will be tough on the shorter course if he has good partners to pick up the slack he is sure to have. Michael Shunney…..is the reigning 1st flight champ from 2021. That alone is enough to keep him out of this year’s winner circle. Coupled with all the Champion duties like TV interviews and Public fund raising appearances, we expect Mike to not be as sharp as last year. Finally there is Phil Harrington, Phil comes in with a 4 shot handicap reduction! The committee has to keep guys like this in check! He still may surprise us, but the work will be harder this year for sure. That’s it for now, stay tuned for more Duel info right here. Until next time, keep your eye on the ball and swing hard!
DJ, Pro
3-18-2022
From: DJ, Me Again! Happy Friday from Texas, Spring is here and it is GOLF Weather! Back to business, more player analysis. This section is the Outside Looking in guys. They have a chance but will need to find the Magic during Duel week. Here we go, both of the FNG’s are in this category. Layth Gaston and James Selmser…..we just do not have enough Duel information on these 2. How will they handle being in Vegas away from home. Can they balance the alcohol, gummies, gambling and golf to have a successful week? Time will tell but from experience watching guys like David Varnum, Billy LeBlanc, Bill Maak, it is hard to win your initial event. The 2 exceptions to this are SHEA and STARK. David Carter…..which DC shows up, the 2021 1st round score of 90+ or the 4th round guy that shot even par, same guy same course! Inconsistency has landed DC in this spot of my expert analysis. Billy LeBlanc……speaking of gummies, never mind! This guy has the whole game if he can keep the beer count under 10 on the course. We shall see. Max Dugan…..former 2nd flight champ is a complete unknown other than his politics. We haven’t seen Maxy-Pad at the Duel in 3 years, he has shown flashes of brilliance and also played like Goldie at times. Chris Steed…….The lawyer is due, hell he is over due! Over 20 years on the Duel and many top 5 finishes, maybe, just maybe this is the year of the Steeder! So that leaves us 6 players that I see have no chance, stay tuned for that group and my reasoning behind their lack of respect at this year’s Duel. Until Then Boys, Keep your head down and Swing hard! Danny, Pro Golfer
3-17-2022
From: DJ, The Duel Pro Happy St. Patrick’s Day to y’all! Picking up where we left off, today I will tell you the 6 players I think are the Dark Horses for this years Duel Championship. Here is my expert analysis…………. My first Darkhorse is Tommy T-Mac McBride. You know what they say about injured animals? They’re dangerous! Mac is complaining lately about elbow tendinitis and is seeking treatment to get this corrected. We all know what causes elbow issues!!! Stop that and the pain goes away. Next up is Big G …. George is also perpetually injured. Bad knees, to much Ultra, to hot out….but for some reason he always worms his way and drives his cart to the top of the leaderboard. He will be there again this year! Book it. Our next DH is Wayne-O Michels, Wayne love Spanish Trail and plans on being up at the top this year, no one has the touch of the jeweler and Wayne does! Up and down form everywhere and anywhere. This next guy may surprise you……Bill Shea….or as he was known last year as Bill Sheank! This former champ has been working hard on his game and mental prep with his weekend competition Phil Harrington, so one of two things is gonna happen, Phil will rub off on Bill and Bill will perform well or vice versa and Phil gets the “Don Jose’s”! Time will tell. This next guy it’s all about attitude and we know that can go either way. But if he is right Jimmy Frye is as solid a player as we have on the Duel and should be near the top. Hope he shows up with a PMA! This last Dark Horse is Brian DB Buffone….this guy it is all about chemical balance or imbalance! Enough said. Next up will be the Outside / Looking In group of 6. Stay tuned. Until Next time Grip it and Rip it! Danny, Pro
3-16-2022
From: Danny Jones, PGA Pro The Duel inches closer, only 80 days to go! As promised, I have analyzed this year’s field and like last year I will tell you my picks for this year’s Duel by category. Here we go……but 1st, take a look at last year’s May 10th Prose, I had Shunney (1st Flight winner) Teddy K (1st Flight runner up) and Phil Harrington (2nd flight winner) all in the favorites to win category. Moral of the story, “always trust your pro”. This year I will reverse my order of analysis and start with the guys I see as favorites to win it. First, Tim Dugan….he has whined his way to an increase to 14 for his handicap, this makes him 8 shots better than previous years, time will tell. Next favorite for 2022 will be Mark Hightower, bottom line is he is just plain due. The pairings will tell the story for Mark. 3rd up on this list is Teddy K …. this pick is a little dangerous and could go either way. He comes in hot, but we have learned that Spanish Trail does stock Ranch Water, so that could effect his play if he can’t find that delicate balance before drunk sets in! Next up is Mark Goldie … my analysis, Short Course, 30 Pops, Great Partners and Good Health make Goldie one to watch this year! That brings me to Rusty Stark …. probably the most solid player on the Duel, Spanish Trail sets up well for him and he is always a threat. Just don’t fall for the “my shoulder hurts” story, remember this guy carries heavy things for a living. And finally, the last guy in the favorites category in my opinion is, Bill Maak… his rookie year is behind him and he is playing well coming in. The course again is the right length for an old guy like Billy, this along with his good draw of partners makes him a threat! Stay tuned for the next edition of the Pro’s Prose where we look at the Darkhorse category with the next 6 players I feel are just behind the 6 gentlemen mentioned above! Until then, keep your head down and swing hard! Love from Texas, DJ
3-2-2022
From: DJ, Duel Pro Good day from Texas! We are coming up on 90 days to the Duel 2022! Looks like we have a Day Money and Closest to the Pin games to be run by KP and Big G respectively. Bring $200 cash or we may do what we did last year and get y’all to pre pay via Venmo/Paypal/Cashapp/Zelle once the guys are ready to keep track of that. The Pairings are set and we do not expect any changes. One thing we will need to know, and Mitch will reach out soon, is who will have vehicles and do you already have a plan with other guys for transportation to and from golf course. Everyone is now PAID except Jimmy Frye and Rusty Stark (Even Big G is paid up)! In the next Pro’s Prose we will begin to analyze the field and make predictions on your chance to win the 2022 Duel. My initial favorites are Mark Hightower, Chris Steed and Teddy K…..but more study time is required. You could say these guys are the biggest sandbaggers, or maybe they are just coming in hot! Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard! Danny, Pro
2-18-2022
From: Danny Jones, Pro Good Morning from beautiful but chilly Texas! It’s official, we are less than 4 months form the Duel in the Desert 2022 edition. By now you have probably seen the pairings for days 1 through 3. You can visit this website anytime and check it out for all the information you may need on the Duel. Rules, Format, Partners and Handicaps. All that and some fun history of the Duel for you enjoyment. A few items to remember that are not on the website. We will have an opening welcome reception on Sunday night at 6 pm in the Duel Suite #2561. Cocktails will be served! Also, we have our mandatory dinner/pizza party on Tuesday at 6 PM in the same suite, Pizza and cocktails are included! On Sunday we will have gifts for everyone to help you enjoy the tournament (not gummies T Mac!). Tee times are at 8:30 AM every morning Monday through Thursday. This is later than normal to accommodate Paul J’s night life! Hopefully he can make it at least 30 minutes before tee off to not freak out his partner every day! Before June we will find out who has vehicles and try and assign riders so everyone has a way to the course. It is about 15 minutes from the hotel. As usual KP will have an electronic scoreboard on the TV at lunch for everyone to see where they stand daily. KP will also run the usual $100 day money game, if everyone gets in, it pays $300, $200 and $100 daily per team and same on Thursday to Individual low net scores. Ties will split money. Last thing to remember, we have never had a hole in one in 30 years (approximately 9600 par 3’s played), if we have one everyone will pay that guy $100 and he will in turn buy drinks until no one is thirsty! In the next Pro’s Prose we will start to analyze the field and handicap where I (the Pro) believe people will finish. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, Professional Duel Golfer
2-8-2022
From: Daniel Jones Jr. PGA Pro Hi y’all from Texas! So, I am sitting here at the STPGA (South Texas PGA) Meetings and thought it’s time to ramp up the prose! Looks like the field is full and we have 2 new guys. Everyone please welcome Layth Gaston and James Selmser. Both of these men are members at Walden and top class guys! James is a former national Long Drive competitor and currently a 10 handicap. He plays almost every week with Mark Hightower….don’t hold that against him, everyone needs a friend. As of this writing, we do not have much dirt on James, but we have our best detective on it. Teddy will find things out, true or not. Then we have Layth Gaston. We did some research on the name Layth and found out it is Scottish and means “Lion”. Who the F knows why I tell you that, but there ya go, Layth is a Lion. Another great addition to the Duel, Layth will fit right in as long as he doesn’t hang out too much with Teddy K. Last year’s champs will both be back this year, Mike Shunney (who almost ended Ted’s Duel career) will be celebrating his 1st flight victory at Tuesday cocktail and pizza party! Then the sandbagger, Phil Harrington, after a final round 76 last year will receive his Pink Jacket for winning the 2nd flight! A couple things to remember, we will have a welcome cocktail party on Sunday the 5th at 6 pm in suite 2561. Then on Tuesday the 7th we will have our group dinner and cocktails in the same suite! Looking forward to a great tournament this year, see you all soon. In the meantime, remember to keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, Your Pro
1-10-2022
From Danny Jones, Duel Pro Good day from sunny Texas, where we golf year round! So I have some good news and bad news. First the bad, well at least for Teddy K. After his big pronouncement last June that if Shunney beats him in the 2021 Duel he will never come back, it happened, Shunney beat his ass! The Good news, Teddy K has changed his mind and says this is the year he beats Shunney and wins the Duel! Time will tell, but he will be back. As a matter of fact, Teddy is so ready he has already paid his entry fees. 1st in! That brings me to 2022 Duel. There is a huge amount of excitement for this years event and we expect the 24 entries in and paid soon, so do not delay if you want your spot on this years Duel. We have a few new guys that want to go and are on a waitlist. Get your money on to Mitch asap please. We are set to stay at the Southpoint again and play all 4 rounds at Spanish Trail CC. It was a great combo last year and we expect the same or better this year. Looking forward to another fun Duel and the end of Covid! See ya on the links, DJ, Your Pro
6-3-2021
From Danny Jones, PGA Professional Golfer This will be my final Prose before the 2021 Duel to begin this Monday at 8:30 AM. I hope everyone is as fired up as I am. I know Teddy K is excited, he said “I feel like a 12 year old that gets to go to Disney World tomorrow”. Looks like a little cool front will be in Vegas for our tournament with Highs in the low 90’s. Considering it is in the 105 range today that will be a welcome break in the weather! Jimmy Frye, you still have a couple days to get your vaccine! I was looking through the pairings this morning and trying to figure out who has the best draw….in no particular order I would say the best top 5 draws this year (not knowing a damn thing about DC) are, Teddy K, Jimmy Frye, Tim Dugan, Wayne Michels and none other than Big G! Write that down and if you can get a bet at the Sportsbook (Pauly J) those would be the favorites based on partners. Don’t forget, we will all get together in suite 1000 on the 10th floor at 6 PM Sunday night for cocktails and a meet and greet. KP will be running the scoreboard daily after the rounds during lunch, don’t forget your $100 day money and also to follow the website for the new bracket game updates which is $500 winner take all! Looking forward to seeing y’all in Vegas this Sunday and having a great trip and golf tournament. As always, I wish everyone safe travels and limited aches and pains! Until Sunday Boys, keep your head down and swing hard! Danny
5-28-2021
From Danny Jones, Pro Well it seems the boys in Texas have not been able to tune up for the Duel, rain every day for 9 days now have caused a problem with practice time. So, we are all hoping rest is a good omen for the Duel. We are a little over a week form round 1. The weather looks to be perfect Duel weather, 0% chance of rain, 100 degrees for the highs, low 70s for the overnight lows! The hospitality suite is on the 10th floor this year and is room number 1000. We will get together at 6 PM Sunday the 6th for drinks and intros! Also, have our group dinner there with pizza from Rosati’s again this year. Tee times are 8:30 Shotgun and we always try and go a few minutes early PAUL! Mitch and I think we should leave the hotel a little before &;30 if you wanna relax and leisurely hit the range etc. Dugan will probably be there at sun up! Thanks to everyone that pre paid the day money to KP, for those of you that didn’t please hand him $100 cash before round 1. Handicaps are set, pairings are all set and the weather looks perfect for a week with a group of great guys and friends. One last thing to remember, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. You never want to be voted off the Duel Island!!! Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard. Love DJ
5-18-2021
From: Danny, You Friend and Pro So it’s official….Teddy K is getting vaccinated this week. So hopefully he remains Covid free and only has to worry about Harvey the Hernia! Teddy will be on the DL after the Duel for 6-8 weeks following Hernia Surgery….I am sure you will get a chance to see and even touch Harvey if you are so inclined. On to the Day Money game, run by KP……he sent out an email today asking everyone to please pre-pay via Venmo or Paypal. At the time of this writing 9 out of 24 guys have paid! This will make chasing that cash so much easier prior to tee off Monday. A few things to remember:
Sunday night, meet and greet in the suite (room number TBA) at 6 PM, Kolache Mama will sponsor and buy the snacks and beer and wine. Shotgun start at 8:30 AM daily…..remember its about 20 minute drive to the course Group dinner and drinks along with the 2020 Pink Jacket presentation in the suite on Tuesday Night starting at 6:30 PM Any Hole in One, everyone pays the lucky person $100 and then he buys drinks until everyone is finished!
Just a short note for now, looking forward to seeing y’all in less than 3 weeks. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard and always listen to Jimmy Frye! Your Pro, Danny
5-10-2021
From: Daniel Jones Jr., PGA Professional I write to you today as I am preparing for the 2021 Walden member guest tournament. This almost seems like a pre Duel reunion. We have several teams of Duelers playing along with a few that have brought in ringers. Mitch and Shunney, KP and Hightower, Dugan and Dugan (not he law-firm), Big G and Jimmy Frye, Ted and a RINGER all signed up to play this weekend. I guess some guys want to be ready for the very competitive 2021 Duel this year! Now, since we are exactly 4 weeks from Round one of the Duel I feel it is time to start handicapping the field. I will first divide everyone up into 4 categories. Those categories are “Favorites to Win”, “Outside Chance to Win”, “Darkhouse with a slight chance to Win” and “No freaking way you will Win”. From Bottom to top, in my humble opinion the guys with No Freaking chance to Win are: Rusty Stark (we have sufficiently lowered his handicap to see to that), Billy LeBlanc (he doesn’t even know how many rounds we play), Big G (can his knees hold up again to shoot 4 rounds in the mid 60’s), Tim Dugan (he is just mind f’ed), Paul Junkersfeld (he is just destined to always finish 2nd) and finally Bill Shea (he simply has too many things on his mind). Now for the Darkhorses: Mitch Nevins (probably belongs in the previous category but showed signs of life last weekend), Danny Jones (I put myself here out of a great deal of humbleness), KP (seems to play 3 good rounds, but day 3 he is my partner, that spells trouble), David Varnum (Miller Lite, need I say more), Bill Maak (he is an FNG and they shouldn’t win their 1st time here, see Rusty Stark), and finally Mark Goldie (coming off prostate surgery, could be tough for him in the heat, but he is always a fan favorite!) Moving on to the Outside Chance Group: Jimmy Frye (his game is a little off right now so he slides to this category, but he is capable of turning it if he buys some new irons), David Carter (David is good buddies with Junk, so we just hope he makes it to the course on time….I suggest he make a new friend and ride with them each morning), Brian Buffone (playing the course short benefits this shark, he is always near the top if they don’t run out of swing doctor), Wayne Michels (the Jeweler, solid around the greens, shortish course plays right into Wayne-O’s hands), Chris Steed ( a lawyer and a democrat, you just can’t trust him!), and lastly Mark Hightower (if he stops whining long enough and his clubs don’t rattle and clank around in the golf cart he could be one to watch this year, he has the game) Last Category….The Favorites: Jay Knoblauh (all he does now a days is play golf and take everyone’s lunch money at Champions Golf Club, will he win his 2nd Pink Jacket), Teddy K (He is due and playing well coming into this year’s tournament, if the hernia isn’t a bother, watch out) Mike Shunney (he is due and has a great draw on partners, plenty of pops to offset his one or two meltdowns each round!) Jeremie Griffin (what can we say here, this man hits it a mile, finds it and hits it again, he has a good draw of partners and will be a force) Tommy McBride (Slow but talented, great partners, and the ultimate grinder on the course) and finally Phil Harrington (he can make moonshine, pinot noir and flat out golf his ball for a 12 handicap, I see a handicap reduction in his future!) Well that’s the way I read the tea leaves coming into this year’s Duel. No matter how you finish it will be a blast, and as always it is great to be with the guys for week in VEGAS! More updates later, stay tuned. Until then, Keep your head down and swing hard! DJ
4-30-2021
From Danny J., Duel Pro Did you know that Teddy K owned a Texas style Kolache shop in the heart of NY City several years ago? Look it up, Kolache Mama was the name. Yes I said WAS, this was not Ted’s most successful business venture. Just another fun “did you hear what happened to Teddy K story”. On a more serious note: the schedule for the Duel, especially for you new guys Mr Carter and Mr Maak is as follows.
Welcome reception at 6 PM in the Duel suite Sunday night. Suite number TBA. Snacks, Beer and Wine will be served! Golf is every morning, Monday through Thursday, shotgun start at 8:30 AM at Spanish Trail CC. We will see how many guys have vehicles and meet at front door no less than 1 hour before tee times to head over to course. Tuesday night at 6:30 PM is the mandatory Duel Group Dinner/Party in the suite. Pizza/Beer/Wine/Poetry and a few more surprises may be in store. All rooms are booked Sunday to Friday unless you have made previous arrangements with Mitch or called after the fact with your confirm number to make changes.
We look forward to a great time and hopefully some good golf in only 5 weeks! If y’all have any questions let us know. Until next time, head down and swing hard! Dj, Your Pro
4-22-2021
From DJ, Your Friend and Pro This writing of the prose will be mostly about getting older and playing in pain. The Duel is coming up on 30 years old this year and as that happens we all get another year older and things start hurting and breaking down. Take Teddy K for example, all of us Walden guys just thought he was eating too much pizza causing a bulge in the belly. But NOPE, we were wrong, the poor guy has a hernia right in the middle of the belly that will be requiring surgery AFTER the Duel. Teddy, being the Duel trooper that he is, told the doctor exactly the same thing Brian said when he was confronted by two armed men in the stairwell at Treasure Island over 10 years ago, “I have a golf tournament to play and I can’t miss it”. So Teddy K, hernia and all will be in Vegas unable to lift anything heavy, so if you see him trying to carry his golf bag, please lend a hand. Then there is the case of Big G. Not only is he the only Dueler that has not paid his entry fee as of today he is still nursing two sore knees. We expect G to be driving right up next to the greens again this year to conserve steps, just like he is conserving his money right now. HINT HINT!!! Other players on the DL but still playing this year are….Mark Goldie coming off prostate surgery, Danny Jones (ME) nursing a shark bite from 45 years ago, Mike Shunney psychologically speaking worried about getting old (better than the alternative), Mitchy…a bad left knee and right ankle…sorry Mitch can’t play sitting down, KP and the never ending rash, Mark Hightower….something is wrong we just don’t know what it is! Bottom line is we all have a little something that we need to ice or medicate (many different options for this!) ….some choose traditional meds, some choose beer and wine, and others choose a more holistic approach. Let’s all remember this is a fun time with good friends with a chance to win a little change! Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard (unless you have a hernia) Love, Danny … PGA PRO
4-12-2021
From Danny Jones, Duel Pro and Author Hello again to all the Duelers for 2021! The Field is full at 24, we are pretty sure Goldie will be 100% by June. I am just returning from a quick weekend in Vegas and although it is not back to normal out there it has definitely loosened up a little bit and is way more crowded than last July. Fremont Street was packed, so that’s a good sign for Paul and Big G to have some fun down at the Golden Gate. They do pour some very large glasses of wine there…..note to Brian and Teddy K. As soon as we officially confirm Goldie’s presence at this year’s Duel we will post the pairings on the website. The format will again be 4 day net tournament. 1st 3 days is a best ball and day 4 you are on your own! KP will host the day money game for 3 teams each day, he will collect $100 cash from you before we tee off Monday….please bring him the cash! KP has also developed a new bracket (June Duel Madness) game this year which will be $500 winner take all. It will be a single elimination bracket, first round there will be 8 bye’s selected by blind draw, the next three days we will cut the field to 8, then 4 then 2 by tourney end. Of the 2 finalist, whichever of the 2 has the low net score for the tournament takes the $500. If there are any ties each day, they will be decided the next morning with a one putt put-off on the practice green, closest to the pin moves forward in the bracket. We will post this also when we have it ready! To be clear, both members of each 2 man team get the same net score posted. I know this is like Chinese Arithmetic for guys like Billy LeBlanc and Billy Shea, but trust me it all works! We look forward to celebrating the 2020 Champs, Rusty Stark and whoever won the 2nd flight! It’s gonna be a fun 5 days in Vegas and at Spanish Trail CC. Keep tuned here for more updates as we get closer to teeing it up June 7. Until next time boys, keep your head down, swing hard and try not to hurt yourself. DJ
7-1-20
From: Danny Jones, Duel Pro Good day from TEXAS!!! We are less than 3 weeks from teeing off in this year’s Duel in the Desert, 7 weeks later than usual, but exciting to be able to honor Danny Smith in the 2020 DS Memorial Duel! As y’all saw in Mitch’s email, Vegas is adapting to the reopening. Bottom line is, if you are outside it’s basically normal, if you are inside a casino you must wear a mask. If you are drinking and eating in a restaurant no mask is required and tables will be social distanced. Last Friday recap…….Rusty Stark 1st Place, Jimmy Frye and Mark Goldie Tied 2nd, and KP won the DAL trophy. Fried chicken at Ted’s was good. Ted is 1 for 4 on chicken! A few of the guys are driving to Vegas so we will plenty of vehicles to get back and forth from the golf courses. Don’t forget we will get together Sunday night at 6 pm in the suite, the suite number is 2561. Save that number somewhere so you know where it is if you need a beer in the evenings. Also on Tuesday night at 6 pm in the suite will be the annual mandatory get together at the halfway point. We will order pizzas and of course have beer and wine. Keep staying safe and keep your head down and swing hard. The Pro, DJ
6-4-20
From: Danny Jones, CLUB PROFESSIONAL Well, it’s official, Vegas is OPEN! If you have time do some google searches and check out how busy they are the 1st day open. Good news is the temp is around 100 degrees and Dr. Jimmy Frye says that kills the virus! Dr. Frye has also explained that the virus cannot live on surfaces very long, so touching things is aok! Thanks to Jimmy for this sage advice and information. If you didn’t see the email yet, Mitch has sent out the pairings for the first three rounds! Also included in that email was the new format for this year and the prize money breakdown. We have a couple whiners about handicaps, but we will not bring up Dugan’s name in this Prose! A couple housekeeping items…..you should have received an email from, Mitch last week about the welcome reception and Tuesday night dinner/Pizza Party…if not reach out to him and ask for a copy. All Tee times are 7:30 AM Shotgun…it’s gonna be HOT!! So let’s move along finish early have a beer and head to the pool. Keep in mind everything you buy at Spanish Trail CC has to be on a credit card, they do not accept cash…this includes the beverage cart! I will update this more frequently now that we are GAME ON, so stay tuned right here! Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard. Your Pro, Danny
5-11-20
From DJ, Walden PGA Pro Hi again from beautiful Texas and this is a developing story—– Due to the Chinese Batman Wuhan Anal Virus many folks are considering driving to Las Vegas for the duel. Travel restrictions for the Duel do apply and Mitch has been on daily calls with President Trump to get recommendations. Senior administration officials have subpoenaed certain records and here are the transcripts via the White House —- It was discovered on May 8th Danny and Mitch had a phone call trying to predict the outcome of travel for the duel —- the transcript is below— Mitch: “Hey Danny, how do you think everyone driving to the Duel is going to go? Maybe we should role play scenarios?” Danny “Good idea. Let’s add in Shunney via Facetime” Shunney: “ Hello —” Mitch: “We are role playing scenarios for people driving to the duel” Shunney: “OK! Great! Just like the Patriots winning a Super Bowl without Tom Brady! It will be awesome! . We got Bryan Hoyer—- and some other kid called like Dark Vader or Stither. Belichick is so smart!” Mitch: “Shunney are you wearing a hoodie and mask in Summer” Shunney: “Yes! Me, Belichick and Hoyer all have them on!” Mitch: “uh—ok great—-” Three Months Later at a Rest Stop in Mexico—- Mitch Repeatedly Calling George with No Answer///// Duel starts in 12 hours —– Mitch: “Danny, please call Ted and find out how the travels are going to the duel. They left 3 days before the duel starts and tee time is in the morning” Danny: “I am on the phone with Ted—he says him, George, TMac and Junk took a wrong turn” Mitch: “In life?” Danny: “Well —- all of them yes but that is besides the point. They are in a Winnebago together but I think they are saying literally a wrong turn. They are in Mexico.” Mitch: “I thought Ted is out on bail. He cannot leave Texas” Danny: “The Mexicans do not care about letting a criminal into the country.” Mitch: “But Ted and Junk going into New Mexico — there had to be questions” Danny: “Not New Mexico—Mexico” Mitch: (Silence) Danny: Oh yeah—Big G got married. So Big G, LaQeiefa (the new bride), Ted, Junk and TMac are driving the Winnebago to Cabo for Big G’s honeymoon!” Mitch: “Wait — Cabo is in New Mexico?” Shunney: “Me, Belichick and Hoyer have on hoodies. Do you know the story of the penis park in South Korea and Bill Belichick? A fisherman got washed away at sea many years ago. They could not catch fish in the sea for a decade. Belichick went to South Korea and jacked off in the sea. It is full of fish now and he saved the village. They built a penis park in his honor. Seriously google Penis Park South Korea ” The phone went dead and this is the entire record of this call. Point of the story —- bring a Passport. Until next time, keep your head down and sperm hard! Love, Danny
4-28-20
From DJ, Walden PGA Pro and Director of Walden Daily Lollapoolza
Hi again from quarantine in Texas! We are only 12 weeks away from the duel and flights have never been cheaper!!!
Congratulations again to last year’s winners — Jeremie Griffin in the first flight and Bill Shea in the second flight. No one has ever held the trophies for as long as these two.
Our first flight defending champion is making the best of the quarantine. He has been creative in his attempt to fulfill the missing emotion from the delay of the Duel. Gentlemen from Walden convinced Big Bertha’s to give them the Golden Tee from the bar located down the road. Our defending champion has jumped at the opportunity and is defending his championship virtually in quarantine. Currently, he is up roughly $7K by drinking beer in a garage that the machine is located and destroying unnamed trip participants in Golden Tee (Varnum). Our second flight winner (Bill Shea) reportedly went to get tested for Corona and passed but tested positive for Viagra and female birth control so he moved to Connecticut or England. He has denied these drugs impacted his performance but video does exist with sounds of someone banging on garbage cans before many of his shots. If anyone has more information please forward.
This has been a challenging time for all. Mostly Your Pro. It was with sadness Your Pro cancelled the Walden Member/Guest for the first time since the course opened in 1976. Your Pro apologizes as the “Pros Prose” has also been delayed. Your Pro has been attending a series of intensive counseling sessions and has been struggling. Please do note it is NOT from COVID 19 — school was cancelled and the kids of Walden have no activities. Somehow the 13th hole has turned into a daily pseudo Lollapoolza / Psychic festival where young kids show up every evening and yell obscenities at people including Your Pro. It is like a real life combination of Jeopardy and a Ouija board. The puzzling part to Your Pro is how Covid 19 has given these kids so much knowledge about Your Pro. They have screamed at Your Pro “Hey you probably get no hoochie when you get home because you’re are such a dick”. Your Pro understands this paragraph is all in the third person and Your Pro’s counselor is hopeful this will stop in the next Pro’s Prose.
Until next time, head down, hands washed, mask on, and swing hard!
Your friend, Danny “the dick” Jones….Your Pro
5-29-19
From: Danny Jones, Duel Pro Hello from Texas. The field for this year’s Duel is set, the partners have been drawn, the pairings set and the hole assignments posted. We are 5 days from Tee off! The weather in Primm will be in the high 60’s for lows at night and low 90’s for highs during the days. Perfect! There is exactly a 0% chance of showers every day! Gonna be a great time being with all the guys especially congregating around that island in the pool we call Big George. It’s always a little warmer around the island! Beer will be ice cold, new custom koozies will be supplied and brand new water proof footballs for your pool catch enjoyment will be on hand! If anyone has any questions or concerns, now is the time to email me or Mitch and get your answers. More to come before we go. Until next time keep Danny Smith in your thoughts, he is still going through some tests, let’s all hope and pray for some good news! Keep your head down and swing hard. DJ, PGA Pro
5-20-19
From: Danny Jones, Head Duel Pro and Assistant to Mitch Hello from Montgomery, TX. It was a great weekend here getting to see a bunch of the guys that will be participating in this years Duel. Big G and T-Mac won the second fight after overtaking Mitch and Shunsta who led by a slim 1 shot heading into the final day. Tommy and George caught fire and and fired a 69 Gross in a 6-6-6 tournament for a Net of 58 and low score of the day among 40 teams! Well done to Big G and T-Mac. As you will see on the Daily Round Pairings on this website, we blind drew the partners Friday night and then mixed things up on the pairings and starting holes best we can. There are some interesting pairings for sure. Mitch and Goldie getting 16 pops in a scramble could go either way! Big G and Steeder in the 1st round, how many beers can George drink in one day? Jimmy Frye and Danny Smith in round 1, does anyone else wanna see Jimmy high, c’mon man….that would be a riot! Round 3, Stan and Danny S., the Duel’s version of Cheech and Chong, look for the cloud that will follow those 2. It’s really hard to predict how this year’s Duel will turn out. It’s nice to have a partner to lean on, but it’s really nice to have a partner come out and play well. We will ramp up the Pro’s Prose updates as we approach the Duel, only 2 weeks away! Keep checking here for more updates. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard! Love, Danny
5-15-19
From DJ, Walden PGA Pro Hi again from beautiful Texas, where the rain has finally stopped! What does it mean when Ted’s wife Beth has a dream about Ted and Big George? It probably means they are spending too much time together or Beth secretly likes big men! Last weekend Beth woke up looked at TED and said “I’m pissed at you”. Ted thinking maybe he was going to get some suddenly realized that wasn’t in the cards, and immediately inquired with “we were sleeping, what did I do”? Beth proceeded to explain that in her dream the 3 of them (yes, Ted, George and Beth….you get the picture) were all at a resort and Ted and G rented a pool Cabana and got Beth all comfy in the cabana then proceeded to a different cabana to hang out with a bunch of young chicks! All a dream, remember, this would NEVER happen in reality. It took a couple days but all is well now. Back to the Duel…..remember we have a 6 pm Sunday cocktail and heavy snack reception in the conference center. Meatballs, chicken wings etc will be served. Our mandatory group dinner is at 6:30 pm on Tuesday ….probably in the same room. Buffet with carved beef and plenty of Horseradish for Brian to wash down his Merlot. For Golf, we shotgun every day at 7:30 am, we will meet at the front door with all the cars ready to go at 6:30 am for the short 10 minute ride to the course. Don’t be late there is NOT a shuttle! Again this year KP will be running his day money game. Everyone needs to give KP $100 cash at the reception Sunday night and definitely before round 1. There will be cash paid out of $300, $200 and $100 for the top 3 teams each day and top 3 individuals on day 4, all day money is NET SCORE! In the meantime, if anyone has any questions or concerns, other than handicap, give Mitch or I a call or email and we will help you out. Looking forward to seeing all my Duleing friends in VEGAS/PRIMM for another exciting Duel 2019! Until next time, head down and swing hard. Your friend, Danny Jones….the PRO
5-2-19
From Danny Jones, Professional Golfer Hello all from beautiful Texas! Hope everyone is doing well and starting to work on their games for this years Duel. A couple things to note….we will be doing a shotgun start on holes 17, 18 and 1, same as last year. This allows us to finish all around the same time, except for the group T-Mac is in. He says he’s not slow, he’s deliberate. Someone please tell me the difference when applied to a round of golf. We have now established that Bill and Phil are not gay. Time to move on! So, Mitch and Big G went to Vegas last weekend and got the coolers ready for this year’s Duel. The Boom Box has a new battery and is all charged up and operational! Pictures were sent of this process to Ted and his lovely wife Beth to show them what Ted was missing out on. He should have been there to help. It took away hours of social time for Mitch and G. This year at the pool, we will be buying 8-10 30 packs of Michelob Ultra….FYI that is Big G’s beer of choice and he drinks the majority of it so we will all enjoy Ultra with Big G! Come everyday after golf, gather around G and listen to some tales of golf and past Duels. While in Vegas the boys visited Primm and played a round of golf on the Desert (not Dessert, David) course and the reports are the course is in great shape. A slight change in course rotation has been announced, we will play the Lakes days 1 and 2 and the Desert (not Dessert, David) on days 3 and 4. We are doing this because they are punching the Lakes Course that Thursday. Thanks to the pros at Primm for re-arranging this for Jimmy Frye. As Jimmy says, the better players struggle on punched greens…..and he thinks he falls into that category! Don’t forget we have a prepaid welcome reception with open bar (beer and wine) on Sunday at 6 pm and our group dinner on Tuesday at 6:30 PM also open bar and buffet …already paid for! Until next time boys, keep your head down and swing hard! Love, DJ
4-23-19
From DJ, The Pro
Alright so we found out and need to report that Bill Shea is not gay and he wore a T-Shirt to prove it! See PHOTO! It appears though that he is a businessman and for a small fee……..he is willing to try. Let’s set the record straight for Mr. Varnum……BILL AND PHIL are NOT GAY! David was very concerned that maybe yours truly was being insensitive to the LGBTQ community. Trust me, that would never happen. After all doesn’t LGBTQ stand for Liberty, Guns, Beer, Trump and Que! Just kidding to all my liberal Duelers, it’s just a joke so don’t send me any nasty messages! Having a little fun is all. FYI, Brian got his phone replaced if anyone feels the need to congratulate him on his ACE last week. I’m guessing he doesn’t remember it after buying all the drinks and downing 3 bottles of Merlot. That’s our boy! Don’t forget, welcome reception at 6 pm Sunday June 2 in the convention center area at Primm. Just walk through the casino towards the shopping mall and look to your left, that is where we will be! Big G and Mitch are heading out this weekend to check out the courses and “get the coolers ready”. Ted was going to go with until Beth found out about the coolers from Big G. Getting coolers ready is not an excuse for a 3 day visit to Vegas I guess. Much more to follow as we are inside 40 days to the Duel 2019. Until next time, Grip it and Rip it. Love, Danny
4-18-19
From Danny Jones, Duel Pro
Well well well, the Drunk Bastard (AKA Brian Buffone) made a Hole-in-One while on vacation with his lovely wife and several other couples somewhere on the East Coast. At the time of this publishing we don’t know which golf course or which hole this Ace was made on! Brian broke his phone….probably falling down is my guess. This reminds me to let all the Duelers know that anyone that makes a hole in one will receive $100 from everyone on the trip and then start buying drinks for anyone in the bar after that round ….. and beyond. Congratulations to BRIAN!!! Now for the Gay Lover update, better known as The Adventures of Bill and Phil. As hard as they try to keep this in the closet, it has become painfully obvious that they truly are a couple. This will be a first on the Duel, but being in Nevada all will be well in the home of anything goes. We found this website gayvegas.com for those two to visit and maybe find some fun things to do. Boys, we are only 45 days until we tee it up in Primm. KP has the new playlist for music at the pool, opening with some Norman Greenbaum. We will have plenty of Michelob Ultra for everyone along with some new Duel Koozies designed especially for Ultra cans! The new Duel hats look great and some extra surprises will be given to everyone at the opening cocktail reception SUNDAY NIGHT! More details to come as we get closer to the 2019 DUEL, stay tuned right here. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard. Danny, The Pro
4-6-19
From Danny Jones, PGA PROFESSIONAL
The jury is still out on a few things regarding this years trip! We have some potential handicap issues and also some, how do I say this delicately, gay issues. Let’s tackle this gay thing first. Bill Shea got invited to this years Duel and basically told us “I don’t really want to go unless Phil can go to.” Evidence or Coincidence? You be the judge! Now, handicaps…Mr Drunk Bastard, Brian Buffone, a Duel handicap of 18, shot an 80 last Saturday…in a tournament. The question is can he hold that together under the influence of Modelo for 4 days. Once again, you be the judge! Then Tommy McBride, there is conflicting data on his round last Saturday, we have heard numbers from 78-82. We will probably cut T-Mac some slack since he is coming off his heart issues of 2018. We have a full field of 24 great guys and look forward to a great event in less than 2 months! Keep your eyes on this page for lots more info as we approach June. Until Next Time, head down and swing hard! DJ, The Pro
3-25-19
From: DJ, Duel Pro
Hello from Sunny and Warm Montgomery, TX. Spring is here for sure, winter appears to be over and that means we are closing in on the Duel in the Desert 2019! We have another rookie to introduce, Phil Harrington….Walden member and secret lover to Bill Shea…..not that there’s anything wrong with that! But seriously, we love to have the new guys on the trip and look forward to Phil and Bill participating for year’s to come. We hope all you snowbirds in MA and IL and KY are starting to thaw out so you all can get out and get some golf in so we don’t have to listen to the whining about how you didn’t get to play much before June. Too f’ing bad! We didn’t make you live in Siberia, you chose it! A couple reminders, we will have a cocktail and snack reception on Sunday night around 6 pm for a couple hours and a buffet dinner (private) on Tuesday night …..both will be in a room somewhere in the convention area at Primm Valley Resort. Much more to come in the days and weeks ahead so stay tuned for more right here on the Pro’s Prose! Until next time, head down, eye on the ball and swing hard! Love, Danny….the Pro
3-15-19
From: Danny Jones, PGA PRO
Here we go, the 2019 Duel is upon us! So far we have ONE newbie, Bill Shea. Since he works for me I can’t say anything too bad, mostly because there isn’t a lot bad to say about this fine gentleman! Bill is an 8 handicap, works at Walden on the weekends and is looking forward to a great time meeting all the long time Duelers in Nevada. The field looks strong, 15 golfers 12 handicap or better. Who will you draw this year as your partners for the 1st 3 rounds? We will find out Friday night May 17th at Ted K’s house during the Walden Round Up Member Guest Tournament. Congratulations are in order for the 2018 Champions, Max Dugan in the 2nd flight and Jay Knoblauh in the 1st flight! Good job boys! Welcome to the Club! Max survived his 1 day partnership with Jimmy Frye to come out victorious while Jay had his best Duel ever….or was it he had the right partners? We may never know. Everyone needs to get Mitch their flight arrival info as soon as possible, the logistics are always a little tougher when we go to Primm. Quick course update, a bunch of played there Super Bowl weekend and we were pleasantly surprised at the nice condition of the course for February. It should be primo by June. Until next time, keep your eye on the ball and swing hard! Love, DJ
5-30-18
From: DJ, Pro
Hello from the Houston Amtrak Station! You may ask, wtf are you doing at the Amtrak station Danny? Ok, I’ll tell you. Ted and yes you guessed it, Billy Glazier had a bet today (no clue why). The bet was “is there an Amtrak station in Houston” ? Ted says yes, Billy says no. If Billy wins Ted pays $1,000 if Ted wins Billy has to take the train to Vegas. We suggest that Billy hurry up and get to the station because it is a 21 hour ride to LV via Amtrak from the HOUSTON STATION! Stay tuned for the outcome and to find if the loser of the bet weasels out! We are just 3 days from being in Vegas and 4 days from Tee Time! I hope everyone is ready to go, has all their best golf attire picked out and packed. Don’t forget the swimsuit and flip flops. Sliders for guys with less than 10 toes! The weather looks great, no rain in site, a tad warm, 104 on Monday afternoon! All in all though, this trip looks like it is shaping up to be a blast! See y’all soon! Love, Danny…….The Pro
5-29-18
From: Danny Jones PGA PRO
Hope this Prose finds everyone well after a nice 3 day weekend. I saw that the boys in Chicago (Elgin) had some nice warm temps to get out on the course and tune up their games. No excuses Dennis! More good news, Billy Glazier is healing up nice after he lost a battle with a golf shaft getting caught in a slammed car door and striking him across the nose. That’s right, we can’t make this shit up! He does however have a new shaft that yours truly highly recommended. Watch out for Billy, our latest newcomer….he has a real chance to win the Pink! We are less than a week to the 2018 Duel. I cannot wait to see all the guys ….. as we get older this event becomes more special all the time. Let’s all get to Vegas safely and have a great time! KP will be sending out his day money reminder soon, watch for that. The weather report has not changed and probably won’t! In the meantime, if anyone has any questions or concerns, please let Mitch or I know. Remember keep your head down and swing hard. DJ
5-25-18
From: DJ
A few reminders as we approach the 2018 Duel in 10 short days!
- Tee times every day at 8 am, we should leave the hotel at around 6:45 am, morning traffic could be a slight issue. Consult your assigned driver for your departure times !
- $100 players pool day money run by KP, give him cash as soon as you see him Sunday or Monday.
- For those in early enough Sunday, let’s meet at The Baliwick Restaurant and Bar at 6:30 pm Sunday for a welcome cocktail.
- Mandatory Dinner Tuesday at 6:30 at The Blind Pig, leave hotel a little after 6, again, consult your assigned driver or grab an Uber, it’s a 5-7 minute ride from Hotel
- Make sure you check out the pairings page and get to know your partner. We are shot gun starting every day so we should all in theory finish within 20 minutes of each other….Keep up T-Mac and The Dugans!
- All score cards for days 1-3 will be pre filled out with Handicaps.
- Weather report, Highs right around 100 and lows in the mid 70’s, 0% chance of clouds and rain
- Know the format, check out the rules page on this website!
If anyone has any questions between now and then, please email Mitch or I and we will help you out. Until next time, head down and swing hard! Danny, The Pro
5-21-18
From: Danny Jones Jr., Duel Pro
Here we go boys, 2 weeks from today the 1st round will be in the books and from the looks of things at the Walden Member Guest, smart money is on Big G. He and T-Mac joined forces to win the coveted Walden Round Up this past weekend! Congratulations to G and Mac! As for the other Duelers in the field, play was not quite up to the championship standards set by Big G and Mac. Shunney and Mitchy tied for 8th, steady golf for 2 guys on 3 legs and 17 toes. Mitch did win the stampede shootout on Saturday afternoon, probably because he was paired with the Walden Club Champ…..a guy that can hit a 7 iron 188 yards pin high is always a good padno! The Dugan Duo played well until day 3, then kinda pooped the bed and finished mid pack. Stan and KP had fun, end of their story! Jimmy Frye and Brian did not have the best weekend, you always know when Jimmy plays poorly, he leaves right after golf….not very social! We all thought Hightower and Jay Knob would have been one of the favorites, but that was not to be this weekend…but it is always good to see Jay at the club! I got a message from Mitch today that Danny Smith and Dennis have petitioned the committee for higher handicaps. They claim bad weather in Illinois has hampered their preparation for the 2018 Duel. Last I checked we didn’t force them to live in the great white north. The Boston guys aren’t asking. Not to mention Danny is a 4 time winner……some nerve!!! The request was denied! More from me later this week. Until then keep your head down and swing hard! Love, DJ
5-15-18
From; Your Pro and Friend Danny Jones
Less than 3 weeks to the 2018 Duel in the Desert! It has already hit over 100 degrees in Vegas a couple days last week. Maybe we catch a break and keep it under triple digits. A bunch of the Duelers are descending on Walden this weekend for the annual member guest tournament, so I will have a 1st hand look at what most of the boys are bringing to Vegas as far as their golf games go. Stay tuned for next weeks Prose with some inside info on that! On a sad note, as you saw on Mitch’s email earlier today, Paul J lost his dad yesterday after a battle with cancer. Keep Paul’s family in your prayers. We look forward to giving the big guy a hug in Vegas. I have nothing new on Billy Glazier to report in this writing of the Prose. Trust me though, by the end of the member guest he will give me lots to talk about! He is sure to create some sort of stir……….. Some reminders…….all tee times are 8 am Monday to Thursday. Dinner is Tuesday Night at 6 pm at The Blind Pig (mandatory TED!!!!). Mitch will send on an email soon on where we will try and get together Sunday night for a drink/snacks and get your 2018 Duel memorabilia. In the meantime if you have any questions or concerns, just ask! Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard DJ, PRO Golfer
5-7-18
From, Danny Jones, PGA Professional Golfer
Hello Boys from Hot and Sunny Southeast Texas! I feel like I need an IV its so hot down here. Maybe there’s a story behind that IV comment….ya think! Once again my boy Billy Glazier never disappoints for Pro’s Prose material. After the 1st round of the Walden Club Championship this past weekend, sitting around in the bar discussing early Tee Times and Billy’s ability to show up on time all 4 days, he informed us that he has hired a mobile nurse to come to his room at 4:30 am every morning and administer him an IV to re-hydrate after a night of drinking. He says this will help him avoid hangovers and have more energy. He also has a bet with Big G and Mitch that he will win a pink jacket this year. All I have to say to that is NFW!!!!! If anyone feels they need the same IV service (if that really is what service he has ordered) feel free to email me and I will get you Billy’s phone number! As for the Club Championship…….Mark Hightower shit the bed! Big G finished 3rd in the 1st flight. Brian Buffone shot 79 on Sunday to win the 2nd flight (net 63). Bill Glazier obviously didn’t get his weekend IV and finished near the bottom of flight 2! Mitchy shot 79 (net 66) and came from 4 shots back after day 1 to Win the 1st flight! Some of the boys games are rounding into form. Oh ya, Mitch, George and Brian all shot 91 on day 1! Lot’s going on and 4 weeks from today we start the DUEL 2018. We do have a change in the lineup of players. 2017 champion Wayne Michels slipped and cracked his knee cap and is on the disabled list for this years Duel (doctors orders, Wayne would probably gut it out), he is however going to fly out and join us for some fun and the awards dinner on Tuesday Night! Taking Wayne’s place is a Dueler from way back, Kevin O’Donnell (AKA Billy Mayfair when he had hair). Kevin got permission to go to Vegas for work that week…….shhhhhhh, no one tell Miss Liz! Keep checking back here for more information on golf stuff, medical reports and just plain stupidity! Until next time keep your head down and swing hard! Love, Danny
4-30-18
From: DJ, Duel in the Desert Pro
Good day from beautiful conservative Texas! That was for Steeder!!! We are one month from today going to be on the 1st tee at LV National in Vegas! It’s coming up fast. I hope everyone has their travel plans made and has a safe journey to Vegas. One favor to ask, If you are renting a vehicle could you please send Mitch an email and let him know, if we have enough rentals we may try and coordinate ride shares if possible. If we don’t Uber is the best bet! Now, for those of you who like a little wager, I am setting the over/under on Bill Glazier making all 4 rounds of golf at 2.5. This guy is wound up, and coupling that with Vegas, Varnum and Ted……you never know! Place your bets!!! KP will again be hosting a day money cash game. $25 per day per player paying 3 places every day. Please give $100 to KP before round 1 please. We have never NOT had full participation, so don’t be that guy! You don’t wanna be in the poem as the Cheeseburger guy for the next 5 years! Don’t forget, we will be drawing partners for the 1st three rounds of this years Duel at Big G’s house on MAY 18th. So check on Monday the 2oth on the website for that information. Until next time, keep your eye on the ball and swing hard! Danny, Pro
4-18-2018
From: Danny Jones, PGA PRO
Good Morning from beautiful Montgomery, Texas! The sun is shining, the grass is growing and everyone is ready for some golf! As I said in my last prose, I would spend some time thinking about this year’s Duel field and who has the best chance to be near the top and who will probably be sitting near the basement. So here we go……… Let’s start with the bottom feeders, the new guy, Bill Glazier….I just do not think he will be able to hold it together for 4 days of golf. The allure of everything “Vegas” will be his demise! Sorry Mitchy, but you to, too many tournaments in a row near the top will finally come to an end for our host and lefty, but I’m guessing he could care less where he finishes….he already has a pink sport coat! Then there is Mark Goldie, we all know why! Now for the top 3 guys that will be in the hunt for the coveted championship this year. The most likely winner in my opinion is Big G, he has a special caddie sitting on his shoulder this year making a good tourney for George almost a certainty! Then there is Mr. Runner Up, Paul Junkersfeld….he is OVER DUE, and with a little luck in the pairings drawing he will be near or at the top. Last in my top 3 is a dark horse, he finished dead ass last in 2017, Christian Steed. For some reason I just have a feeling about the lawyer’s chances this year. The feeling could be gas and I may be wrong, but watch out for the Steeder! For the rest of you 18 guys, remember to always trust your pro and play hard! I have been wrong in the past although not very often! Until next time, eye on the ball and swing hard!! DJ, Your Pro
4-9-2018
From: Danny, Duel Pro
As we inch closer to this year’s Duel I thought it is a good time to do some basic housekeeping. Here are a few things to remember:
The group dinner is Tuesday night at The Blind Pig at 6:30 PM. This is the one thing we kind of view as mandatory, even for TED! So please be there. The plan this year is to have everyone with a vehicle meet at the main entrance about 6:00 pm and all head over to the restaurant. The other option is taxi or uber. Comp Practice Rounds on Sunday are full, we have 8 players. They are Ted Kraulis, George Heines, Jimmy Frye, Mike Shunney, David Varnum, Bill Glazier, Greg Coscia and Paul Junkerssfeld. If we have that wrong please let Mitch know. The hotel reservations are in and Mitch will send out your hotel confirmation numbers next week. Double check everything for accuracy. If you need to change your arrival date and add a day, you may contact Jasmin Shaw at jasminshaw@boydgaming.com with your confirmation number and she will assist you in making the change. Please do not change your departure date. Everyone has their room available until Friday, even if you are flying out Thursday late, you can use your room to store your bags and take a shower before departing. Some guys are doing a little whining about their handicap……STOP IT!!!! That is all we will say on that subject! Stay tuned for more updates from me, your resident pro, on this page. They get more frequent as we get closer to June! In my next edition I will do some handicapping of the field and tell you who the odds on favorite is to win this years Duel and why.
Until Next time boys, keep your head down, eye on the ball and swing hard! DJ, Golf Professional
4-3-2018
From: Danny Jones, PGA Golf Professional
Good morning from Houston, TX. Hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for this years Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas! We are 60 days from teeing it up at LV National. Tee times are every morning at 8 AM, a small reprieve for guys like Paul that struggle in the morning. A few reminders…….>we do not have group transportation booked this year, we are on our own to get the course. So I recommend you get with a buddy or two and share a rental car or even cheaper would be Uber back and forth daily. We can leave our clubs at the course since we are playing all 4 days at the same golf course. >Our group dinner will again be at the Blind Pig on Tuesday night at 6:30 PM. This will be $100 per person all inclusive! If you remember last year, we got our money’s worth that night! >On May 18th, during the Walden Member Guest we will be having a get together at Big G’s house for drinks and dinner and at that time we will draw the pairings for the 1st three rounds of this years Duel. About 15 of the Duel attendees are playing in the Walden Member Guest tournament, so there will be plenty of witnesses and no shenanigans! Feel free to visit all the tournament information pages for a list of all the players and handicaps, tee times and tournament format/scoring system. Even Glazier should be able to follow along! Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard!!! Love, DJ
6-2-17
From Danny, Your PRO
Well this is it, the final Prose before this years Duel. I will keep it short and simple. I hope everyone has the safest of travels this weekend and all bring their A game to Vegas! Remember our Sunday evening get together at Bailiwicks in the Orleans Hotel! 7PM!!!! Also, the shuttle leaves Monday morning at 6:20 AM be there or we leave without you! See y’all in Vegas, looking forward to seeing all my Duel brothers. DJ, PRO
5-22-17
From: DJ, PGA Pro
The Duel is 2 weeks away. The pairings are set and will be posted here on the website soon. We are in the final stages of preparation for this years DUEL. We hope everyone is ready to go. We have had a couple losses in the DUEL family, T-Mac lost his dad a few weeks ago at the age of 102 and Brian lost his mom this past Friday at the age of 98…please keep those two and their families in your thoughts and prayers! THANKS!!! David Walsh has had to back out of this years golf to some bad knees…..Doug Barth (BARTY) will be back to fill in and take his place. More to come as we inch closer to this years DUEL, until then keep your head down and swing hard! Your Pro, Danny
5-16-17 From: Danny Jones, Your Pro Good morning from TEXAS!! Hope everyone is doing well and tuning up their games for this years Duel! Thanks to everyone who sent me their flight info, let’s plan on getting together Sunday evening at 7 PM ….time and place in The Orleans TBA. This Friday we will be drawing the pairings for rounds 1 through 3 of the Duel. There will be about 12 witnesses so no hanky panky will happen! Mitch will then post all the pairings on Monday on this website. If you just can’t wait, feel free to text or email me or Mitch and we will try and hook you up with partners. Tuesday Dinner will be at The Blind Pig at 6 pm. This will be a “Family Style” feast with appetizers, Pasta, Steak, Chicken etc etc and open bar with Beer, Wine and Cocktails. The cost will be $100 per person tax and tip included. Come hungry and thirsty and bring $100 cash please! Remember we have 7:30 am tee times everyday and we will shuttle to and from the golf course on Bell Transportation buses. They will leave the main entrance door at 6:20 AM each morning…please be on time! This means you Paul!!! Remember, this year we will do a shotgun start on 3 holes, 2 groups on each hole, probably 17, 18 and 1. This will help us all finish around the same time! Royal Links will pick up all our clubs after round 2 at LV National and transport to Royal so we don’t have to bring clubs back to hotel until round 4 is complete! I will continue more updates as we get closer to the 2017 Duel. Look forward to seeing you all in less than 3 weeks. Until then, remember to keep your head down and swing hard! Love, DJ, Pro
4-18-17 From DJ, PGA PRO Good day from Texas! We just received a Vegas golf course report and hear that both courses are in excellent tournament ready condition! In just 7 weeks from today we will be finishing up round 2 of the 2107 Duel! Hopefully by now everyone has their flights booked and arrives in time for a few get together cocktails! Big G update…..BC has started her treatments and will be doing those for 12 weeks. Obviously there have been ups and downs in the process, but BC still goes to work for a few hours every day before going in to get zapped in the afternoons. Everyone is optimistic for a great outcome and we need to continue to keep Big G, BC and the family in our thoughts and prayers. He has expressed how much he appreciates all the prayers! Back to golf…..make sure you check out the rules and regs page so you can see that we rearranged the format a little bit from last year. One big difference is we will tee off in a shotgun format on holes 1, 18 and 17, thus in theory all finishing around the same time. This will allow us to have lunch together, score the tournament and get the bus back to hotel earlier for some pool time! Also, check out the handicap page, make sure it looks good to you. Be careful not to bitch and moan too much, that could cause an adjustment in the wrong direction. You will notice that last year’s champ, Billy Seidl, has had a drastic adjustment after we checked the GHIN system to find out he has been playing at Champions Golf Club quite a bit and establishing himself with a proper handicap. Last thing for this prose, our Tuesday Night dinner promises to be one of the best ever! Bring $100 cash for that event, we think that the food should run about $50, then add tip and cocktails and $100 a man should cover it. You couldn’t find better value for your entertainment dollar anywhere on the strip….well unless you are Pual! Until next time boys, keep your head down and swing hard!!! Love Danny, The Pro 3-29-17 From Danny Jones, Dueling Professional I’m Baaaaack. The field is set at 24. The pairings will be drawn for rounds 1, 2 and 3 on May 19th and emailed out on Monday the 22nd, so you can start planning your strategy! Quick update, BC Heines, Big G’s wife, has started her cancer treatments this week and will be doing so for the next 12 weeks, please keep the Heines family in you thoughts and prayers as they kick some ass and get back to good health! Big G is not listed as a tournament participant but he is planning on making the trip to play as a 5th in some groups and hang by the pool….BC already wants him out of the house. Our dinner for 6 pm Tuesday night is set, as previously noted it will be at The Blind Pig restaurant and will be quite a feast! Everyone should bring $100 bucks for this dinner and drinks! Yes Brian, Merlot will be served. Obviously transportation isn’t a huge issue this year since we are in Vegas and Mitch has already arranged to and from golf course transport….but I highly recommend using Uber to get around Vegas, make sure you set the app up on your phone, there are 40,000 Uber cars in Vegas…..cheap!!! In the meantime boys, I hope y’all are getting your practice in, it’s about time even the snowbirds can get out and hit some balls. Remember, keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, Pro 3-3-17 From: Danny, Your Pro and Friend Happy Friday from beautiful Sunny South Texas, where the pine tree pollen is so bad we are all sneezing on each other! Beats the snow! As I write to you today Jimmy Frye and Pual J have a little too much money in the bank accounts, why you ask, well…..because they still are the only 2 that have NOT paid their entry fee for the DUEL 2017! Maybe a public calling out will help! Update on Big G and his wife BC, we still all need to keep them in your prayers, BC tested positive on her biopsy, but the good news is that she has the less aggressive form of cancer and we all hope that she and Big G will have this whipped and behind them soon. Duel info……our dinner is booked for the Tuesday night at a Restaurant a mile or so away called the Blind Pig, you can check it out on google if you are bored. Great food feast style in our own private dining area! This year you need to bring cash to all pitch in for dinner, it is NOT included in the entry fee. That’s about all I have for now, keep on the lookout for more form me, your PRO as we get closer to this years DUEL. Until next time keep your head down and swing hard. DJ, Pro 2-24-17 From DJ, Duel Pro Just a quick note to update everyone on the status of the 2017 Duel. All systems go! We have the field all set at 24 players, check out the players and handicaps page on the website. The format is the same as last year except we have rearranged what order we are playing them in. As for pairings, since we are not having our welcome reception this year, the 1st three rounds pairings will be drawn on May 19th in Montgomery, TX. There will be at least 8 witnesses and more are invited. Mitch, Shunney, T-Mac, Big G, David Varnum, Brian, Jimmy Frye and Myself will be present so you can be sure no hanky panky happens! We will then post them on the website that following Monday. We may even video record it and post on website or facebook! Speaking of David Varnum, we have a Duel 1st this year, David is marrying his fiancee Neysa on Friday June 9th in Vegas after the Duel, followed probably by a wedding dinner at Battistas! He is following in DJ’s footsteps. Congratulations to David and condolences to Neysa…see you 2 in Vegas! Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard. Danny, Your Pro 2-13-17 From Danny Jones, Golf Pro Hope this writing of the 1st 2107 Prose finds everyone well! It looks like we have had the best response ever to this years Duel and will have our largest field ever at 28!! We currently have 27 verbally committed and hopefully all those checks are in the mail……money talks! The 2 unknowns at this point are Big G and Barty. We need everyone to keep Big G and his family in your prayers as George’s wife BC is battling some health issues. Same goes for Barty, his wife Jody continues to deal with some health issues that has kept Barty close to home. Hopefully good news is heading their way! In the meantime if you haven’t sent in your money and you told Mitch you are coming, I highly recommend getting that done! If you are wondering if you are on that list please check the players and handicaps page of this website…..all the current committed players are listed there. Aslo visit the tee times page and rules and regs page, we have moved formats around a little to adapt the scramble to the more difficult Royal Links course. If you have any questions let me or Mitch know and we will help you out. In the meantime, keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, Pro 6-15-16 From Danny Jones, Duel Pro The 2016 recap, Congrats to the winners this year Danny Smith (AGAIN) in the 2nd flight and Billy Seidl in the 1st Flight!! Things we learned on this trip:
IPA’s are twice as strong as regular beer! Big G’s limit in one day is 39 beers You can never make Jimmy Frye happy Goldie really is the great equalizer The shanks never come at a good time Bill Seidl is not an 18, he’s a 10 The language barrier is an issue A lawnmower battery lasts 3 pool session in a boom box Ken Melber looks good in Pink, like everyone else! When drinking IPA’s you start to bump into oompa loompa’s 110 degrees is HOT, even if it’s dry heat Dinner is more fun when Brian chews his food Paul finished 2nd again….can he play any better? Chris Steed loves the new format and lots of Blue Moon, hope he washed his pants! The AARP Playlist was the best one ever
I’m sure there is more and as I remember I will update y’all again. Thanks again for a great time and see ya next year or sooner I hope! DJ, Pro 6-3-16 From: Danny Jones, Pro Hello from SOGGY Houston, TX! This will be my last pre Duel writing. I will keep it short. Wishing everyone safe travels and good luck on the course next week. I look forward to seeing you all Sunday night for the drawing party/reception. Don’t forget, tee times are 7:30 AM every morning and the guys with cars will be by the front door of the hotel around 6:30, don’t be left at the hotel! If anyone has any questions, now would be a good time to ask! Actually it’s a little late, but we may accept 1 or 2. Until next week boys, keep your head down and swing hard! Danny, Duel Pro 5-31-16 From: Danny Jones, Duel Professional Is everyone ready? It’s gonna be a hot one when everyone arrives Sunday, 110 degrees! The good news it is going to cool way down to 103 for Monday and 100 even for Tuesday! I have a feeling ice cold beer and that swimming pool will be looking good about 1 pm every afternoon! Maybe we can even get Jimmy Frye to join us……anyone wanna put odds on that? As you saw in Mitch’s email this morning, the welcome party is all set for 7 PM Sunday night, be there, we only have an hour of free drinks and snacks (quesadillas, cheese and crackers, meatballs etc etc etc.) and we have to do the pairings for rounds 1 and 2. This should be interesting. Don’t forget to study up on the format and rules on the rules and regulations page of this website! As for partners, there will be NO trading, NO shucking and NO bartering for additional handicap! Just play hard if you get the Equalizer……who shall remain nameless! What is allowed is: Taunting, Bad mouthing of partners or opponents (especially in the pool) and Side Wagers! This is supposed to be FUN!!! It will be great to see all my friends next week, as always I look forward to my hug from Dennis. Maybe I even get a little reach around this time….he owes me that. Last but not least, who do we think will go to Vegas in the evening to party with Paul? Place your bets……….I’m thinking Varnum would be a logical choice, but hanging with a professional like PJ will come at a cost and I wouldn’t wanna be the guy to let my partner down especially if it’s someone that takes this pretty serious… say like Mr. Frye. Just some food for thought this year, you have a partner, you may not want to let him down, just saying! Until next time, keep your eye on the ball and swing hard. Yours Truly, DJ 5-24-16 From: Daniel Jones III, Duel Pro Here we are ….less than 2 weeks to the 2016 Duel. Goldie is back from the Honeymoon, a little worn out and low on vitamin E, but this will pass and he will recover. The plans are made and the fun is about to begin! For those of you who don’t usually join in the fun at the pool, we highly recommend that you spend an afternoon or two out there with Shunney and the Brand Protectuhs (sound it out, Boston accent) for more fun than we should be allowed to have. As noted yesterday in Mitchy’s email……we have an opening reception and a dinner all planned out in private rooms on Sunday and Tuesday nights at 7 pm. These are a blast and also the time you get to find out the pairings and if you have a chance or got stuck with David Walsh. Just kidding David, we upped your handicap to 24 this year, anyone would be happy to have you and all those pops! Don’r forget to bring $100 cash to KP at the reception on Sunday night for the day money players pool. KP will handle this and the music at the pool, the play list is almost complete, we eliminated the Carpenters and the Archies, so no one has to worry about ear bleeds! Hope y’all are getting some good practice in, I plan on a daily range session every day the next 10 days, that’s right I said TEEEENNNNN! I will be playing at my usual stellar level. You wanna draw me, good luck if you don’t. Until next time Duelers, keep your head down and swing hard! Love, DJ…..The Pro 5-16-16 From Danny Jones, PGA Professional Golfer Well boys it is official, Mark Goldie is married. Another one bites the dust! Congratulations to Mark and Allison Goldie, many happy years ahead!!! OK, now on to the more important matters of the day. Three weeks from right now we will be on the Primm gold course playing round 1 of the 2016 Duel in the Desert! It won’t be long now til I can kick all your asses! Although I could always draw the “equalizer”. No matter the outcome, it will be a blast as always! As discussed previously, we will have a players pool with a CASH ENTRY FEE of $100 which will be collected by KP and run by him daily. This has to be mandatory this year because we are playing team golf the 1st three days. So the plan is for KP to collect from everyone on Sunday night at the reception and get the couple stragglers Monday morning on the range. There will be $600 paid out daily, $300, $200 and $100 to the top three teams. So 6 guys a day for three days then 3 guys on day 4 get a little spending money. Any questions or objections, please make them known now! These updates will be more frequent as we get closer to this years event so stay tuned to this channel for everything you need to know about the 2016 Duel! Until next time gentlemen, keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, The Pro 5-10-16 From Danny Jones, Duel Pro Hope this writing of the prose finds all my Duel friends well and ready for this years version of what we call the Duel in the Desert. When we meet again this year in Primm, less than a month from now, Mark Goldie will officially be hitched. Let me tell you guys, he so out kicked his coverage with this lady he could be Ray f’ing Guy! Hall of Famer for sure. Once again this year KP will run a day money game everyday, $25 per day/$100 for the week….please bring him the cash before day 1 preferably at the welcome party Sunday night! Also, KP will be “mixmaster jam” at the pool, so send him your requests for the playlist, he may or may not put them on, but it’s worth a try. Remember boys that we will get together and draw the pairings for rounds 1 and 2 on Sunday at 6 pm in the convention center at Primm Valley Resort. Look on the directory to find out what room we are in. Same story for the Tuesday night dinner and the round 3 pairing drawing. Tuesday will be a buffet dinner, with a carving station etc., with any luck Brian will chew his food this year before trying to swallow something the size of his own head! For you new guys, Bill Lawson and Mark Hightower, your goal on this trip is only to get invited back, keep that in mind. Last year David Walsh made the cut and got the re-invite, if you have any doubts on the secret you may want to seek his guidance upon arrival at this years Duel! Just an idea….not mandatory! It looks like our boys up in Chicago are struggling with lots of nasty weather this spring so far making it tough to get any quality dry rounds of golf in. No mercy on the handicap situation, just something to note if you happen to get lucky and draw Dennis or Danny. Meanwhile it has finally dried out in Texas and warmed up to the 80’s, so there will be no excuses for the guys from down south. Boston on the other hand we aren’t quite sure. The Shunster travels so much there is a good chance he is on a southern swing “working” ……on his game! Everything is a go for June, I look forward to seeing everyone in less than a month for this years event! Until then keep your head down and swing hard! Love, DJ…PRO 5-5-16 From: DJ, Duel Pro, Si Por Que No Happy Cinco de Mayo from Texas, a beautiful American suburb of Mexico, soon to have a big wall built on our border!!! It is official…we are one month from this years Duel in the Desert. From everything I hear guys are ready to go NOW! It appears we are pretty well set on the field, 24 of my closest buddies for 5 days, what could be better! Please remember to keep the Dugan’s in your thoughts and prayers this week, their mom passed away after a long illness. Back to golf…..reports out of Primm are the courses are just in OK shape, but they have had a bunch of rain the last 2 weeks which they think will help out quite a bit. Either way, it’s the same for everyone. We plan on picking up about 8 cases of beer on the way down to Primm Saturday morning, the usual brands, Coors Light, Miller Light, and this year some Ultra for Medium George! If SATAN WELLS has a special request we can also arrange to have his esoteric taste satisfied…..send us an email Stanley, and we will have some cold Special Export or whatever that stuff you were drinking last year was! Don’t forget guys, we have a completely new format this year, 2 man team golf with a new partner each of the first 3 days then finishing with individual play on day 4. See the rules and regulations page of this website for all the latest info. I hope everyone has a great Mothers Day weekend and the weather is nice and you all get out to practice your golf game a little, you are going to need it to compete with me. Until next time boys, keep your eye on the ball and swing hard! And Happy Cinco de Mayo! Daniel III, PGA PRO 4-27-16 From Danny Jones, The Pro Hello from SOGGY TEXAS!! Hope all is well with my Duel brothers this week. The weather in Houston is making the Desert look oh so good! We are closing in on the one month warning, hope you all are practicing your game and better at golf that T-Bone is at poetry or songwriting! We have some bad news and good news. 1st the bad, Jeremie Griffin has had to pull out of this years duel for work related reasons. 2 bits of good news, his Siamese twin, David Varnum is not canceling and has detached himself from Jeremie’s hip. Please spend some time with David in Primm, he is worried about being lonely. As a replacement for J is T-Mac, Tommy originally was out due to some eye surgery, but he has re-scheduled and healed from the 1st go round so he is back in for the 2016 Duel. All is well!!! We have updated the players and handicaps page and the rules and regs page that had a few minor typos etc. Take a look and let us know if you have any questions or concerns understanding this years rules! Everyone don’t forget to wish Goldie a Happy Wedding Day soon , he is tying the knot on May 14th with the lovely Alison, trust me boys, he way out-kicked his coverage!!! Let the 30 day count down begin. Until next time boys, keep your head down and rip it! DJ, xoxo 4-22-16 From: Danny Jones, PGA Golf Professional Hello from soggy Houston/Montgomery, Texas! The sun is finally out today and the drying has begun. So T-Bone thinks he is a songwriter now….that’s a good thing unless you write the whole song about one guy. That makes it a man crush or a bromance…..I think. I will defer to our attorney Chris Steed for a clarification on this. Anyway, just sayin! Houston sure is making the Desert look good right now, some DRY/HOT weather would be nice! We are a little over 40 days to this years Duel, we have 24 great guys coming and a new format adding some new excitement and intrigue to this years event. For those new guys, here is how it goes, we tee off every morning at 7:30 am, so we meet at the front door of the hotel with all the vehicles at around 6:30 am to take the 10 minute drive to the courses. Don’t be late, taxi’s are hard to find in the middle of nowhere Primm Nevada. After golf we have some lunch at the course then for all those that enjoy some beer and sun we head to the pool with a boom box and large coolers of assorted beer! This will be the spot to unload on your partner for the day if he screwed the team……hopefully the equalizer (Goldie) plays well. The halfway point of the tournament is Tuesday, that night we have our group dinner in a banquet room in the hotel. We will have a similar menu to last year, carved beef and a other man food. Open beer and wine bar for 2 hours included. This night is a blast and Shunney promises to have a few new jokes. And don’t forget the arrival day party Sunday night at 6, also in a banquet room (room TBA) we have a 2 hour reception/pairings party with snacks and same open bar with beer and wine. This year the Duel in the Desert collectors edition cap is Neon Pink. They just arrived on my desk and look fantastic! In the meantime boys, if you have any questions or do not understand something let Mitch or I know, and remember to keep your head down and swing hard. Your Pro, DJ 4-15-16 From DJ, Walden Head Pro Hello from Montgomery Texas! Everyone remember to wish Mitchy a happy birthday tomorrow!! We are less than 50 days to the Duel 2016, who’s ready, I sure am. Not to sure about my golf game but I do know I will have fun and put a dent in some Miller Lite. I can tell you we don’t have much to worry about regarding a 1st flight repeat champion…..BIG G has a new driver and can’t hit it a lick! Looks like military golf, left right left right. On the other hand Shunney just took delivery of a whole new set of sticks, and if it is anything like his round at Primm during the Super Bowl week, we all may in trouble trying to catch him. Remember though, he could get stuck with Goldie a couple times as his partner. The great equalizer!!! Just wanted to drop you all a quick note to let you know I haven’t forgot about ya….and can’t wait to see all my Duel friends in 7 weeks! It is gonna be a blast in June at PRIMM. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard……….. Your Pro, Danny J 4-4-16 From: Danny Jones, Pro Two months from today we will be teeing it up in the desert for the 22nd version of the Duel in the Desert! Please visit the rules page to get familiar with this years rules and format. We have been talking and tweaking a few things that I will update you on now as it relates to drawing for pairings. On Sunday night at the cocktail party we will officially draw for the first two round partners. Big G will do the honors as last years 1st flight champion and draw out the first twosome! What an honor! After we have all day 1 Scramble teams paired up we will start over and repeat the process for day 2’s best ball. At that time I plan on having scorecards to fill out with handicaps and dots for strokes on the best ball. It is my goal to make this as easy as possible……especially for Dennis. Then obviously on Tuesday at the dinner, we will draw for round 3 and the toughest of the formats, the dreaded alternate shot. I pray for the guy that gets a hungover Goldie to play with on Wednesday or a drunk bastard could be just as bad! This new format promises to be entertaining, if not on the golf course then at the pool if someone screws the pooch and let’s his partner down that morning! I hope David Walsh is finding time to hit some balls in Panama….I know the weather is plenty warm. Does anyone really know this Bill Lawson guy except T-Bone? It would be nice to have some independent verification on this guys handicap….for now we will trust that Terry has not mis-lead the PRO!!! Hightower, the other newb, we know is a 10, he plays at Walden so there is no doubt about his ability…or lack of ability. LOFT! Update…..BIG G PAID!!!! Alert the media! All guys are in, paid and booked! Until next time, keep your eye on the ball and swing hard! Love, DJ….GOLF PROFESSIONAL 3-28-16 From: Mr. Danny Jones, Dueling Golf Professional It is official…we have our field complete at 24! Visit the “players and handicaps” page to see who your potential partners may be for this years event. Not that you have a say in it, but a guy can dream! We have come up with a plan on drawing partners. At our cocktail reception Sunday night pregame party we will draw both the first and second round partners in two separate drawings. This will avoid confusion on how we draw for the 2nd round. Then we will draw for 3rd round partners at the Tuesday night dinner. And finally, obviously the 4th round is individual….no help! If you have any questions or this is confusing, maybe you don’t pass the IQ test to attend this trip……but feel free to ask, we promise (fingers crossed) not to make fun of you in this column in future weeks. A little financial housekeeping……everyone has paid INCLUDING PAUL, with the exception of 2 guys. Brian DB Buffone and Not as Big as he used to be George Heines! Who will take Paul’s place as the last one to get their payment into Mitch? Every year KP runs a day money game, $100 per guy for the week cash ($25 per day). We plan on doing it again this year with $600 being paid out each day for that days lowest 3 teams……probably $300, $200 and $100 for the top 3 teams daily and top 3 individuals on day 4. The only way this works is every player participates, please don’t be the Billy in the group and not participate. More to come as we are almost at T minus 2 months to this years Duel in the Desert. Until next time, try and keep it in the short grass. Your Pro, DJ 3-24-16 From: DJ PGA PRO Gentlemen, we officially have a full 24 man field! Billy Seidl has officially committed after a short battle with vaginitis. Amazing what a tube of Vagisil and some coaxing from Kenny Melber can do. This year’s Duel is going to be a blast! New format, some new blood and the usual good stuff, beer and football in the pool, a great Tuesday night dinner (pending Brian’s esophagus) and of course 2 great golf courses and last but not least a bunch of great guys to hang out with! It is good to be us!!! It looks like we have everyone’s flight info and most guys seem to have transportation figured out. The only guys we don’t really know what their arrival and vehicle plan is Griffin and Varnum, no big surprise there! Varnum couldn’t even keep straight a golf tournament he committed to play in with me the past couple days and pulled a no show. For some guys that is reason to be voted off the island for the Duel, but we will give Mr. Varnum one more chance to get it right! You should be hearing a lot more from me in the coming weeks, there is a lot to go over and remind guys like Dennis of at least 7 times so he goes to the correct restaurant! Plus I need to handicap the field, which this year becomes even tougher with the new format! Now I have to determine who makes a good partner and who doesn’t……like a popularity contest. Anyway, keep checking back for more information from your Pro and we look forward to seeing y’all in Nevada again this year for the 22nd annual Duel in the Desert! Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard. Danny, The Duel Pro 3-18-16 From: Danny Jones, PGA Professional Golfer Hello form 85 degree Texas! At least for today. Hope y’all had a Happy St. Patrick’s Day and stayed reasonably sober. The Duel field is rounding into shape. It looks like we will have a field of 24 players for this years even, we currently have 22 in and a few on the fence. Obviously we need 24 with the new format for 2016. If you aren’t familiar with this years new format check it out on the Rules and Regulations Page. Update on the Primm courses, we played the Lakes course in February and it was in great shape for the middle of winter, so I expect excellent conditions for June’s event! Winter is coming to an end for the snowbirds up in Chicago and Boston, so hopefully you guys can get out and sharpen up your game. Stay tuned for more frequent updates now that we are only 77 days to this years Duel…….for those of you who have not booked airfare, it may be a good time to look, a couple of the Houston Boys just got flights for under $300. Until Next time, remember to keep your head down and swing hard! Your Pro, DJ 1-6-16 From: DJ, Head Pro DUEL in the DESERT Here we are again, only 5 short months to the Duel. It’s always an exciting time after the holidays to look forward to this years event, BUT even more so this year because we have a completely revamped format! Check out the Rules and Regs page on this website for details. This year looks to be more fun, less of a grind and makes the field wide open for anyone to win! Plus we get the added benefit of playing with different guys every day and partnering up and trying to beat Dennis! Nothing gives the pro more pleasure than that…….sorry Denny! You all should have your invites, if not let Mitch know. Get them in soon, the field is limited to 24 players and you don’t wanna be left out. Until next time boys, keep your head down shovel that snow!!!! While we play 18 in Texas. Danny, The Pro 6-15-15 From Danny Jones, Duel Pro Another Duel in the books, results are posted. It seemed as if everyone had a great time this year at Primm and look forward to a return visit. Congrats to Big G and Mitch on winning the 1st and 2nd flights respectively. I will do a more detailed recap later in the week, stay tuned. What we learned during the 2015 Duel…….1) Big Goerge’s handicap is way to high and David Varnum’s is way to low! 2) KP will get drunk one night, we just never know which one. 3) Paul J plays better after jumping the fence and breaking a finger. 4) Everyone loves David Walsh and invites him back. 5) Brian needs to chew his meat at least 16 times. 6) Jeremie Griffin is a chatty dude. 7) Jimmy Frye can be a baby if he doesn’t shoot 76 or better 8) Dennis is not as grumpy as he used to be 9) Danny Smith and Stan Wells…..enough said 10) If Wayne gets the proper rest he will be there and competitive on day four 11) The guys that went to the pool 3 times drank over 300 beers and never left to go to the restroom 12) T-Mac is getting old, but can still out drive almost everyone on the Duel. 13) T Mac is still retired! 14) Don’t pick on Shunney and only call him Shunney if you have known him 3 years or longer 15) It’s good to have Goldie back on the course, at least for comic relief. and lastly 16) we all really missed Chris Steed!! DJ, Pro 6-5-15 From: Danny Jones, Soon to be 2015 Duel Champ It’s National Donut Day, hope everyone had their Krispy Kreme’s today, not the kind you sit on when you have Roids! Everything is set and should lead us to a nice smooth Duel in the Desert 2015! A few reminders, tee times every day at 7:30 am, be at the front door with your clubs ready to go at 6:30 (I suggest earlier if you don’t wanna be left behind). If you have a vehicle pull it by 6:30 am in the main entrance/valet area to get everyone loaded up. We have a free cocktail and snack reception at 7 pm Sunday night, open bar beer and wine and get your tee gifts (hats and more). The reception is in the Primm Convention Center! Dinner Tuesday night from 7-9 pm in the same area, buffet dinner and open bar (beer and wine). Don’t be late and definitely don’t miss it, next years invite depends on attendance! We plan on spending afternoons out at the pool….music by KP, beer supplied by Mitch and laughs from Shunney and Stan! Hope y’all travel safe, have plenty of ammo (golf balls)! I can’t wait to see everyone, but we are gonna really miss Steeder and Kenny. Until Monday boys……keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, Like I said 2015 Duel Champ! 6-4-15 From Danny Jones, Professional Golfer Just a few more days until we convene in Primm for the 2015 Duel! Lot’s to talk about….. first order of business is we called the Primm gift shop and to our surprise and delight they do sell Vagisil for guys like Varnum! Apparently he hasn’t or isn’t able to read the updated regarding transportation to the resort from the airport. I believe Mitch has sent the spread sheet out no less than 3 times….MORON!!! Even Jeremie wonders what is up with his buddy and if he is worth the trouble. Next order of business, me and a couple fellow duelers are trying to come up with a new nick name for BIG G, we have narrowed it down to 4 choices and would like everyone’s input, so hit reply all to the email and cast your vote. The options are 1) Pork Chop 2) Pot Roast 3) Porterhouse or 4) BIG G? And no George, you don’t get a vote. Who will be first to this years Duel…..2 years ago it was KP. Last year it was Shunney and Paul. This year the odds on favorite to arrive 1st in Vegas is Jimmy Frye, he is leaving Friday morning and driving there with his buddy Billy Mac! This is my last or next to last (time permitting) Prose for the year, so I want to make sure to wish everyone safe travels and I look forward to seeing you all in Primm (I will be at the pool Sunday at 1 PM, come join me) … bring your “A” Game, because from what I hear Danny Smith and Grumpy are playing well! Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard….see y’all soon! DJ, PRO 6-1-15 From: DJ, PRO Boys, IT’S ON! One week from right now we will be heading to the range to loosen up fro round 1 of the 2105 Duel. The weather looks great, nid to high 90’s for highs. For those that were concerned about the punching of the greens, they did punch the greens on May 29th, so they will have had 10 days to heal and should be in great shape. I actually received an email offering special green fee rates due to the greens being punched that ends on June 5, so by June 8 they expect them to be as good as new! If you get a chance check out the new Duel song on the homepage “Putt So Good” to the tune of John Cougar Mellencamp’s Hurt So Good. www.duelinthedesert.org …… Well done by our rock star and former Dueler David Keys! One note, we may be back down to 21 players, Chris Steed is in trial that was supposed to end last week but now looks like it could go two more weeks. Our legal system at work! Chris says he will know for sure by Thursday what his status is, we will play it by ear. I am looking forward to seeing all my brothers Sunday fora great week of competition and more importantly friendship. Travel safe and remember to keep your head down and swing hard!!! Danny, 2007 Duel Champ 5-29-15 From: Danny Jones, Pro and Duel Champion Happy Birthday T-Bone, 49 again! Well boys, we are getting ever so close to the 2015 Duel, in 8+ days we will convene in Nevada for this years event. As it continues to rain here in Texas, I have checked the weather in Primm and the forecast is pretty simple…..100-103 for highs everday and 78 for a low every night. 0% chance of rain and bright sunshine daily. The highest wind day is 8 mph! so as usual perfect weather for the Duel. Don’t forget, we have a free cocktail (beer and wine) and snack reception on Sunday evening from 7-8. This will also be where you pick up your 2015 Duel cap and a special tee gift surprise. So please don’t miss it. We haven’t received any questions or concerns on transportation so I assume all is well. If not, it’s getting a little late in the game! Until next time boys, remember to keep your head down and swing hard. DJ, Duel Pro and Handicap Chairman 5-26-15 From: Danny Jones, Duel in the Desert 2015 Professional Golfer Hope everyone is doing well after the 3 day Memorial Weekend. As most of you know we are getting pounded by rain almost daily. They say it is the most rain we have had in May since 1907…even Wayne wasn’t around then! Some of you have asked us which tees we will be playing at this years Duel at the Primm Valley Golf Courses. The committee has met and has decided that we will play the White Tees on both golf courses, mostly due to Jimmy Frye’s reduced swing speed. So both courses will be played at a relatively short 6000 yards. See the scorecards here http://par4golfmanagement.com/primm-valley-scorecard/ …. We are less than 2 weeks from this years event. And before I forget I must announce that we have to take David Varnum off the Vagisil list since he has officially decided that he will join us this year! We now have 22 players, everything on the website like prize money etc. has been adjusted. Stay dry and work on your swing speed, the ball goes farther if you can swing faster. Until next time, keep your eye on the ball and swing hard! DJ, Pro 5-21-15 From: Mr. Daniel Jones, Head Golf Pro Walden on Lake Conroe Good day from rainy Texas, where it seems to flood almost every day now. Ahhhh, the desert really sounds nice right about now! Primm is already seeing some 90 degree days, perfect for some Dueling, and some afternoons at the pool with KP’s mix on the cooler boom box, ice cold cerveza and Stan Wells talking shit! Who will this years winner be? I am pretty sure I know who it won’t be. I don’t think after their member guest performances that Mitch, Shunney, Big G or Brian have a prayer….unless we develop a third flight for the impaired. On the other hand, Jimmy Frye and Wayne Michels look sharp and I would put them near the top of the field again this year. We hear Dennis is coming into the 2015 Duel beaming with confidence, we shall see if he can hold it together for ALL 4 rounds this year! I think his biggest concern is his good buddy, Danny Smith’s handicap…..bitch and moan sessions from grumpy are doing no good! Everyone has supplied their flight and car info, I think everyone is accounted for, if not let Mitch know. Y’all know the tee times etc….if you don’t maybe you should visit the websites other pages and not just read my scintillating diatribes! Until next time gents, keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, Pal and Pro 5-19-15 From Danny, You Buddy and Pro As you saw yesterday in Mitch’s email KP is going to run his usual day money game. I believe we had 7 different winners last year, so everyone has a shot to make a little extra casino cash. We usually get 100% participation, hopefully that holds true again this year! I know Dennis is in, he says he is anyway as long as he can manage to find his way to where he needs to be. Speaking of that, the plan is to get most of the day money for KP’s game collected Sunday night at the welcome reception, he will be ready with his checklist!. This is just a short note to keep you in the loop and fired up as we approach the 2015 Duel. Hopefully if we have a playoff this year and Jimmy is in it he doesn’t bone his chip shot across the green like he did in the shootout at Walden Saturday……we were all so embarrassed!! Until next time, pick the right club and as T-Mac says, swing it for all it’s worth! DJ, The Pro 5-18-15 From DJ, Duel Professional Golfer 3 weeks from right now we will be on the range, warming up for Round 1 of the 2015 Duel in the Desert! Hope y’all are ready to go, picking out your favorite shirt and short combos, or seersucker pants in the Lawyers case! We have a great group of men attending this year, it should be a great time as always! Remember we have a free cocktail and snack reception at 7 PM in the Convention Center at Primm on Sunday evening. Also we have adjusted the time of the Tuesday night dinner to 7-9 pm to accommodate a little more pool time and then primp time for the Shunsta and Brian. As always, we have the hole in one rule in effect, if anyone makes an ACE all the other Duel players pay him $100 cash, the ace maker then may have to spend a large portion of that buying drinks! If you want to opt out (NO ONE EVER HAS) please reply to everyone on the email and let them know! If not, we assume you are IN! I will update you more frequently now as we get closer to this years Duel, stay tuned and I also suggest you poke around the website for rules, handicaps, tee times and all kinds of other information that will keep your from asking stupid questions…….George! Just kidding big fella……until next time, keep your head down and swing hard. Danny, Your Friend and Pro 5-11-15 From Danny Jones, Head Pro The Man Card, as defined by the book of KP…. “a card you get to keep until you do something a group of your peers deems un-manlike”. Does anyone know of any potential 2015 Duelers or former Duelers that need to have their man cards revoked? Names have been named in previous writings by yours truly, you know who you are and your man cards are in serious peril! Now that we have that out of the way, for you remaining men of the DUEL (Dugan excluded) we are 26 days away from arrival and this years event. I for one am ready to roll. I have one event left at Walden then it’s game on! For those of you arriving early we will be at the POOL Sunday afternoon with Cold Beer and some tunes, please come join us. For the later arrivals don’t forget about the cocktail and snack reception from 7-8 pm in the convention center. Open Bar and all you can munch! If you are arriving later than that, we will see you in the casino or at the front door at 6:30 AM to head to the course. I believe everyone has figured out a ride from the airport, we will worry about getting back to the airport later in the week. If you don’t know or don’t have a ride, contact Mitch and he can re-send the spread sheet with all that information. We look forward to seeing all our Duel Brothers in Vegas and Primm in 3.5 short weeks. Until next time, remember its bros before hoes! Keep your head down and swing hard. Love, DJ 5-5-15 From: Danny Jones, Dueling Pro Hola, Happy Cinco de Mayo!! Hope you all are doing well and have a few Corona’s y Dos Equis today in honor of our neighbors to the south! Do not wait for manana. So finally I get to write a prose without reporting a cancellation and a subsequent visit to a gynecologist! All is well! This prose will serve as more of a reminder / schedule of events writing. Next time I will do some more handicapping because I will get to see Shunney, Wayne, Mitch, Jimmy Frye, Brian and possibly Big G and T-Mac play for 3 straight days in the Walden Member guest. More information always helps my handicapping the field. Here we go, Arrival Sunday, June 7th from 7-8 pm, we have cocktails and snacks in a private room in the convention area of Primm, check the boards for the room location. This is open bar, beer and wine….all you can consume in an hour! Come thirsty my friends. Then on Tuesday night the 9th we will have our annual group dinner and pink jacket presentation to the 2014 Champs. This will also be in a private room in the convention area from 6:30-8:30 pm. Open bar, beer and wine along with a Buffet Dinner. Tee times, we play every morning Monday through Thursday at 7:30 am. We generally will leave from the main entrance of the hotel at 6:30 am, maybe a few minutes later. It is a 10 minute drive to the golf courses. We have several guys with vehicles there so we are NOT going to try and organize and exact time we all go, just please make sure if you are not driving a car that you get with someone who has a vehicle and get a ride and don’t make them wait! If anyone has any questions on any of this please email Mitch at mitch@fourseasons-equip.com or Me at DJ@pga.com …. we will answer any concerns you have. Until next time, head down and swing hard. Adios, Danny Jones, Cinco de Mayo Pro 4-30-15 From DJ, PGA PRO April winds to a close, that signals we are just a little more than month from the 2015 Duel! I am ready! As a matter of fact for the 1st time ever I am picking myself to prevail as the 2015 Duel Champion….not saying which flight, you will have to wait and see! Who else has a chance? I know one guy that has no prayer, that’s David Varnum, that’s because he just bailed on us and is in line at Walgreens right now with Paul Sandlin, vagisil in hand! But who looks like the favorites this year, let me give you 3 or 4 names to look out for. First…T-Mac, his handicap is at a point that he may just grind his way to a victory this year. If he doesn’t over dose on Hershey’s kisses he should be in the hunt (I said HUNT). Next is this Rick Ervin guy, he’s a newbie but anyone who tries to slide in with a higher handicap than is on the GHIN system is obviously competitive and probably needs someone to keep an eye on him when he hits his ball in the desert. Jay Knoblauh, flying way under the radar this year but his handicap has gone form 8 to 10….if you analyze past duels and remove 8 shots from his net scores this sneaky ex Yankee will for sure be one to be reckoned with, Jay just needs to avoid that one bad round he usually posts in round 3! The jeweler, Wayne Michels, for some reason this 20 handicapper seems to play better when the bright lights and cameras are on. Tournament time! He was the 3 round leader last year after coming off a Walden Member Guest Championship. If Wayne can get one more nap in this year it could be his year, maybe one less cigar and beer at the pool Wayne-O. More to come in the days ahead, hope everyone is well and working on their short games, I certainly am! Until next time boys, keep your head down and swing hard! Danny Jones III, Duel in the Desert Professional 4-24-15 From Danny Jones, Walden and Duel Head Pro 42 was not just Jackie Robinson’s number……it’s how many days we have to go until Duel 2015….Game On! Hope everyone is doing well and tuning up their games. Rumor is that Mark Goldie will be back on the links as a competitor this year, and not just the social director. He did a fine job being social the last 2 years but it will be nice to have his ass back on the links for 4 days, the thing is will he make all 4? Time will tell. Good news on Brian Buffone’s legal issues in Louisiana….it appears we will be able to keep him out of prison for his vicious assault of a hostess at LauBerge Casino! Since when is it battery to ask for a table for 6? Good news B, we are going to Primm, not Lake Charles! We didn’t even need to get Steeder involved, so our full retainer remains intact. Mitch thanks everyone for their quick response with info on flights and vehicle rentals. He sent out a spreadsheet showing who can ride with who, be sure to share in the expense with the renter please. The only stragglers we have on this remain to be Jeremie, Varnum and Junkersfeld…..anyone surprised? I’m a little concerned about a couple of these new guys handicaps, David Walsh 18 and Rick Ervin 12…..the only good thing is that the handicap committee (Mark and Mitch) can adjust those anytime they choose…..even mid round! Never up, but down is easy. The field looks good for this years Duel, it is anyone’s ball game this year. The scores are usually pretty low at Primm, we will see if that holds up this year. I am predicting a -20 to win the 1st flight and maybe a -8 to win the 2nd. Keep working on your short game boys, that’s where the money is made. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard. DJ, Pro Golfer 4-15-15 From Danny Jones, Your Pal and Pro How’s everyone doing this fine beginning of Hockey Playoffs day? Ya, Chris Steed, Hockey….played on ice up north, you may have seen it once or twice while watching Curling during the Olympics. GO Hawks!!! I would say Bruins also but those sorry bastards didn’t even qualify this year, oh how the mighty have fallen. At least the Shunsta gets to enjoy a Super Bowl Victory!!! In case you all didn’t know, tomorrow would be a good day to wish Mitch a Happy 53rd Birthday!! Don’t be late! We have made a couple tweeks to the 1st and 2nd round pairings, nothing to radical mostly just times and order. Put Big G towards the end because he is soooooooo slow! Sorry G, facts are facts. 52 Days until the Duel begins, in my next couple issues of this illustrious column/blog we will begin to handicap the Duel field and give you an idea of who you may be looking up at on the leader board. We have most of everyone’s flight and transportation information. Mitch is compiling a ride list and will get that out to you soon. We have plenty of vehicles so now it’s just a matter of looking at all the timing of flight arrivals……stay tuned. The field looks pretty stable at 22 players this year, we have one guy riding the fence, so it could drop to 21 and cost me 15 more dollars at Walgreens on some Vagisil….AGAIN VARNUM!!! Until next time boys, keep your eye on the ball, grip it and rip it!!! Danny Jones III, Fellow Dueler 4-3-15 From DJ, Duel Pro Well boys we are 63 day away from the 2015 Duel and already Jeremie has to buy his buddy Paul Sandlin some Vagisil, for his itch! Paul has had to cancel and pull out of his very first invitation to the Duel. I hope he doesn’t expect a refund! This does not reflect well on the his two sponsors, Jeremie and David V., being that after one year they still have two more probationary years to get through themselves. I wonder who they will sponsor next? Next week Mitch has informed me he will start requesting flight information and who is renting cars and vans etc. .. be prepared to send him that info so we can help those guys that need a ride get that coordinated and share the costs. For you new guys, Primm is 30 miles south of Las Vegas right on I-15. You can visit google maps and check it out, it is all by itself in the middle of the desert. Hope you all are enjoying improving weather around the country, Vegas has already seen some 90 + degree days, so we are probably in store for some 100-110 degree weather…..Pool here we come! KP has the pool mix under control, the boom box is already in Vegas along with the new hats, pink jackets for 2014 Champs and coolers for beer! Looking forward as always to a great time with my friends at the Duel, until next time boys, keep your head down and swing hard! Danny Jones, Pro Golfer 4-1-15 From: Danny Jones, Duel in the Desert Professional Guys, I regret to inform you that this years Duel in the Desert has been cancelled. Primm has shut down the golf courses and there is no where we can re-book in time that would meet our needs properly. We hope no one is too inconvenienced by this unfortunate set of circumstances. It hurts to think after 23 straight years of Dueling that 2015 is the year that breaks the string. We promise to come back better than ever next year! Read on….for details. I know everyone has paid and we will hold your money for next years trip, if you choose not to go next year we will refund it to you then. As far as flights, if you cancel early the airlines will let you use those dollars against another flight usually within a year. As more information becomes available we will get that to you, until then my friends, keep your head down and swin hard!!! APRIL FOOLS, Danny J., PGA PRO 3-25-15 From Daniel Jones Jr., PGA Professional Golfer (means I’m better then you) Howdy from beautiful sunny and finally warm Texas! Hope this writing finds everyone well and making time to get on the golf course and start tuning up for what is your Masters! Four days of great golf and great friends in the desert heat, what could be better…. good thing Danny and Stan can’t respond! We know the answer….. As you saw last week we are having an opening reception with one hour of open bar on Sunday evening and then our group buffet dinner with a two hour open bar. The open bar is beer and wine only FYI. Let’s show up hungry and thirsty and get our monies worth! This year we are pre setting the pairings for the first two rounds to spread around the getting to know each other a little bit. The 3rd round will be the day to make your own groups then as usual the 4th round will be by where you stand! The Dugan rule is in effect and no scores will be posted until after round 2. As you can see we have 23 players so far, and we are limited to 24. Ken Melber, the 2014 champ is a maybe but has more important things going on right now to worry about the Duel. We continue to need to keep Ken and his family in our prayers. Assuming we get that 24th player, the prize money breakdown can be found on the rules and regulations page of this site. Check it out, don’t ask any questions, because if you don’t understand it, well then you just don’t get it! More to come from your PRO in the days and weeks ahead, as always I am counting down the days to the 2015 DUEL, 72 if you need to know. Until next time, keep it in the short grass! Love, Danny Jones, PRO 3-19-15 From DJ, Dueling Professional Golfer We are getting close to the 2015 edition of Dueling in the Desert! This winter has been pretty shitty for most of us, wet and cold! Vegas sounds pretty damn good right about now…..especially for our Boston buddy Mike Shunney who experienced over 8 feet of snow so far this year. YIKES!!! Right now if you look at through the website, we have 23 golfers (assuming Varnum gets to the gynecologist and solves his issues) with the possibility of getting to 24. The best field ever and more money for Danny Smith to swindle from the boys! We hear Primm is in very good shape and we all know the courses are fun to play! The boom box is already out in Vegas, the jumbo cooler has been purchased and stored in Vegas, all we need to do is make a liquor store run and grab 8 cases of beer and some vodka and we are good to go. A couple reminders…..the group dinner will be private and held in a room in the convention center area at PRIMM (note to Dennis) on Tuesday night at 6 pm. Hopefully between Danny and Dennis, one of them will get the message. Also, remember…Primm is 30-35 miles south of Vegas right on I-15, you are responsible to get there and back from airport, if you would like to send Mitch your plan (are you renting a car or minivan and want to share the cost with guys getting in at similar times and also supply your flight info….Mitch will try and get people hooked up). One more thing on a more serious note, please keep Ken Melber and his family in your prayers as his wife Ruthy is battling cancer, thanks! Until next time boys, keep your head down and swing hard! Danny Jones, PGA PRO 2-27-15 From: Danny Jones, Your Buddy and PRO Well boys, it’s that time of year again. The count down has begun from 99 days yesterday. Can I get a whoop whoop!!! We have 20 confirmed players with 3 or 4 still on the fence, I guess they are the vagina’s that need to ask their wives, sorry Dugan and Dugan!! Looks like Mitch has everything ready at Primm, a great venue for the Duel for you guys that haven’t been there before you will love it. We own the place while we are there. Our own music at the pool, great golf, good food…should be a great time! We have a couple newcomers this year, Bob Reeves is bringing his buddy Rick Ervin, as we learn more about him we will fill you in on all his flaws and also probably continually lower his handicap…..hopefully Bob has told him about whining??!! Then there is Paul Sandlin, good buddy of Jeremie Griffin, need I say more… I can envision an opening round pairing of those two with Jimmy Frye and Satan! We could get 2 or 3 WD’s from that group. Anyway guys, I just wanted to drop by and tell you that I am going to crank up the writing skills these next three months, so stay tuned in to this website for all updates as we work our way out of the winter and look forward to the Duel 2015. Until next time……keep your head down and swing hard. DJ, PRO 6-6-14 From: Danny Jones, Duel in the Desert PRO This is it, the last Prose before i head to Vegas to see all the guys at this years Duel! I saw Jeremie and David V yesterday and they have the footballs for the pool. They did a good job, now hopefully the ball makes it there safely! I am assuming everyone got the map for where the shuttle leaves from every morning. You should all also have my cell # along with Mitch’s in case you couldn’t read and require special assistance (see Dennis 2009 and Brian EVERY YEAR). Shuttle leave at 6:15 am. Dinner Tuesday at Battista’s 6 PM (meet by Valet drop off at 5:50 pm if you don’t know where to go). Sunday night 8 pm if you are in town meet at Bugsy’s Bar in the casino. Make sure you check the rules on the website, double bogey max for 3 and 1/2 rounds then the last 9 on Thursday finish every hole. All OB will be played like a lateral hazard, go to where it went out, drop add a shot and whack away! 14 club rule is waived. Etc etc etc. If you haven’t checked the weather, here is the forecast…..SUNNY, 76 in the morning 105 in the afternoon, no freaking chance of rain! The Scorpions will be out! Finally, I wish everyone safe and on time travels, good health and no injuries, lot’s of cold beer and maybe even a few good golf shots! Looking forward to seeing everyone Sunday, remember “Don’t fight it, it’s good to be US” Danny, The PRO [divider] 6-4-14 From: Danny Jones Jr, PGA Pro and Former Duel Champion Not that any of you care but I am going to handicap the field 1 through 21….as Hawk Harrelson would say, my picks to click at the top of the first flight are Jeremie Griffin, Brian Buffone and Bob Reeves. Just a hunch on this Reeves guy, I have no real evidence to back it up. Those are my top three. The next 6 look like this, KP, DJ (that’s me), Paul Junkersfeld, Dennis Pierce, T-Bone and David Varnum. Any of these guys could break through to the top 3 or 4 but could also lay an egg and end up near the bottom. The next group and middle of the pack would include….Big G, Mitch, Ken Melber, Mike Shunney, Wayne Michels and Bill Kubiak. One of these guys will probably win flight 2! The bottom of the Barrel (and I could be way off here) Jimmy Frye, Jay Knob, Chris Steed, Dugan, Danny Smith and T-Mac. Some guys just peaked to early and some just never peak! Sorry if I upset any of you or put any undue pressure on some guys (Griffin and Buffone) … but I have to call it like I see it! We are only a few days away from the drop of the puck on this years Duel (Hockey reference for my northern buddies) …the weather shows to be hot and sunny as usual. Hopefully Varnum and Griffin got the footballs and they are the right ones. HINT: ACADEMY!!! I should be back here one more time before we head to Vegas, I wish everyone safe travels and on time flights! I can’t wait to see all my Duel brothers this weekend, until then, keep your head and swing hard! DJ, The PRO [divider] 6-2-14 From: Danny Jones, Fired Up Pro of the Duel One week to tee off of the 2014 Duel in the Desert. And I have some things to tell y’all! What an EPIC Sunday for sports! I got to watch my adopted NHL team the Chicago Blackhawks play maybe the greatest playoff series in history, they lost but it was great hockey. This was only out done by our friend and fellow Dueler and champion motor boater, Big George Heines. The big man came out yesterday to Walden and fired an easy looking 38-37=75…his best career round. Now, the issue is what does this mean for this year’s Duel? Does one other worldly round of golf warrant a reduction in handicap? A special meeting of the committee may need to be called, we are waiting on Chris Steed’s ruling on this, we prefer to not have any legal problems from the big fella. To be discussed, does this bode well for George or the rest of the field? As KP so profoundly put it this morning when he posed the question, “how well did you play following your career round”? I think we all know the answer….the golf gods have a way of humbling you and bringing you back down to your rightful place and handicap. Not only that, where in the hell do you find a pink sport coat that size! Anyone seen Shunney? Things to remember…..mostly for Paul, Dennis and KP…..the bus leaves at 6:20 am every morning! Dinner is mandatory Tuesday night at Battista’s Italian Restaurant at 6 PM, read the rules page and make sure you understand them, the prize money has been adjusted to reflect 22 players, handicaps are set (big G’s not withstanding), meet Sunday at Bugsy’s at 8 pm it’s in the center of the casino, most of all have a blast. More to follow, Big G wore me out yesterday watching him get up and down from everywhere! He is a magician, but he peaked a week early. Until next time boys. don’t fight it!!! DJ, Pro [divider] 5-30-14 From: DJ, Pro 9 Days, the countdown to the 2014 Duel has reached single digits! To that end, the Duel handicap committee had their last meeting to make sure all handicaps were in order and correct. Chairman Mitch Nevins thought the meeting would take only a few minutes but there was some business to discuss. Yours Truly (The Pro), after much research and number crunching made an emotional plea on David Varnum’s behalf to raise him from an 8 to a 10. The evidence bears out this adjustment due to the fact that David has not shot a score that didn’t start with a 9 in 3+ months. After careful consideration and 3 votes of the committee, it was agreed that he will be a 10….but with the stipulation that a first round of 76 would cause him to be immediately lowered to a 6, skipping 8 altogether! I know that Dugan is reading this right now, wondering if he should make a plea to raise his 12, and my advice to him is to save the keystrokes, it was discussed and summarily dismissed. Lack of play is not evidence of bad play……end of story! I will send out a couple more updates as we get closer to next weekend, but a couple things to keep in mind, we will meet Sunday night at 8PM at Bugsy’s Bar in the Casino and the shuttle will pick us up between 6:15 and 6:20 every morning. There are a couple different entrances and we are trying to get confirmation of which door they will pick us up at, we will advise you as soon as we know. The weather is warming up in Vegas, looks like some 100 degree days by the pool after golf. Can’t wait to see all my buddies again this year! Until then, keep your eye on the ball, pick a club and swing it for all it’s worth. Danny, Duel in the Desert Pro [divider] 5-27-14 From Danny Jones Jr., Your Pro 13 days to tee time! I am ready. Guess what? So is Tim Dugan, after a new baby and months of back and forth he got the official ok to attend this years Duel. More money for everyone else! I got to spend 6 hours in the truck with our boy Mitch last Thursday driving up and back to Tyler TX to see his niece play in the NCAA Division 3 championships for Softball. During that time I think I was able to fix his game, which he has been struggling with for a couple weeks. We shall see at this years duel! Jeremie and David promise us they will have the proper pool playing footballs. If not it will be a $40 dollar round trip to Walmart! My top three picks to win this years duel in no certain order are (leaving yours truly out) Wayne Michels, Brian Buffone and Dennis Pierce (if he doesn’t get to cocky like 2013). Wayne is the only other Texas guy besides DB that seems to be playing to his handicap on a regular basis. The prize money is updated to reflect 22 players with 11 in each flight! This working out to be the best tournament with the best group of guys ever assembled for a Duel! I will send out some reminders later in the week and next week. Can’t wait to see everyone in Las Vegas. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard. Your Dueling Pro, DJ [divider] 5-19-14 From: Danny Jones, Your Pal and Pro Well boys, 3 weeks from today we will be on the beautiful Desert Pine Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. I only hope my fellow Walden Members can play a little better than they all played this past weekend at the Member Guest tournament. Here’s the recap, Wayne Michels and his son played well and won the 2nd Flight, so there is an exception to every rule. The rest of the guys in order of poor play to good with grades were Mitch (D), Jeremie (C-), David (C-), Brian (C+), Mike Shunney (B-), Jimmy Frye (B-), Big G (B) and T-Mac (B)……so the only one that brought something close to an “A” game was the Jeweler …Wayne Michels. Either that or he did a good job at picking a partner! All in all though it was a great tournament and a good tune up for the Duel. On to more important things. The 2014 Duel is upon us. We have assigned the all important job of pool footballs to the new guys, Jeremie and David, and they promise not to screw it up. Time will tell. We found Shunney and enjoyed our time with this International Man of Mystery, but he has now disappeared again only to be heard from when he arrives Vegas in 3 weeks. So we can only continue to ask, Where in the Hell is Mike Shunney!!!?? Handicapping the field is extremely difficult this year. I have no clue how Billy Seidl or Billy “late to the game” Kubiak are playing. I definitely don’t know how this character Bob Reeves is playing, I don’t even know if he really exists. But if he’s a friend of Paul’s, I think we have some idea how much sleep he requires. We will continue to update you through my Pro’s Prose column frequently as we get closer to this years event. Be sure to go to the home page and listen to this years theme song, titled “Tell Pro About It”….I must say it is one of the best ever. Until next time, always remember to not fight it, because it’s good to be us! Your Dueling Pro, DJ [divider] 5-14-14 From: Danny Jones, Your Friend and Pro Less than 4 weeks to the 2014 Duel in the Desert! Jimmy Frye says he is all in on the go kart racing if we can pull it together and pledges NO ONE can beat him. The new guys are fired up and ready to go, we are excited to have this new blood on the trip. A little hazing never killed anybody….a lot of hazing does. Bob and Paul were out practicing yesterday in Big D, not sure exactly what they were practicing though, drinking or golf….or maybe just drunk golf! We sent them an email asking them what time they arrive Sunday in Vegas and the reply they sent was “we’ll let you know when we sober up”. I guess Bob will fit right in. Maybe Brian can keep an eye on him. If anyone is scheduled to get in late Sunday night let Mitch know via email so we don’t wait at Bugsy’s for you. As a reminder we will meet at 8 pm at Bugsy’s Bar in the center of the Flamingo Casino then head up to suite for some beer and to organize the day money game. The weather in Vegas has been very windy lately, hopefully that dies down by June 9th, if not the Chicago boys have a decided advantage since they come from the windy city. Jeremie and David have worked out there issues regarding handicaps and have learned that whining about handicaps being to low only usually gets them lowered. See DUGAN 2006!! And if you whine too much about sharing a tab for cheeseburgers your fate can be even worse, see BROWN 2013!! Just saying!! This is an exclusive group of good friends that get together once a year to get away from STRESS, not create it….so always keep that in mind as you enjoy this years DUEL! Until next time boys, keep your head down and swing hard, because it’s good to be us. Love, DJ – PGA PRO [divider] From: The Pro 5-12-14
Anyone seen Shunney? Where in the hell is he?
We are exactly four weeks away from being in the pool at the Flamingo Las Vegas with round 1 in the books. Who will this years leaders be? Who has their “A” game. Is Jimmy Frye practicing? Are the snowbirds from Chicago getting any weather worth playing in? Will Dennis be Grumpy? Will Danny be….? Dumb question! Will the FNG’s get invited back? All these questions will be answered soon. All I know for sure are two things…..it will be a blast and I have no clue where Shunney is! We talked to Goldie (this years President of Social Activities at the Duel) and he has lots of activities planned. Just not sure for who! Whatever it is it promises to be a good time. One idea being floated is one night doing a little go kart racing. It took some time but we convinced Brian it would be fun by telling him the had “cup holders” in the Karts. As long as he can take his Coors or Merlot all is good. We may need to have Steed draw up some releases before we give this a whirl. The odds on favorite (if he shows up) to win the Kart races is Jimmy Frye, he comes from a racing background. And we all know Jimmy is the best at everything, just ask him! Just kidding James. We changed some first round pairings to accommodate some special gambling requests, you can visit that page on the website. I can’t wait to see all you guys in Vegas, even you Paul. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard. Danny, PGA PRO [divider] From: Danny Jones Jr., PGA PRO 5-8-14 Have y’all ever seen the Today Show on weekday mornings? They do a segment called “Where in the World is Matt Lauer”. In that vain, we are now starting our version called “Where in the Hell is Mike Shunney”? You would think this man of mystery would be easy to find and chat with since he retired a year ago, but nooooooooo, he is harder than ever to pin down and actually know his whereabouts! I tried calling him the other day, he answered, and said “getting on a plane, call you later” in that Boston raspy i’m hiding something from you voice. Before I could ask where the hell he was going …he was gone…poof. I do get to see him next week as he is playing in the Walden Member Guest with Mitch, so as he plants his soft spikes in Texas soil you know I have to ask, “hey Shun’s what ya been up to”….to which I already know his reply will be “hahahahahaha”. Where in the Hell is Mike Shunney!!!! We have had one handicap change, we regret to inform you Mr. Griffin that you have been lowered to an 8 form the 10 we originally posted you with. We have two reasons for this, Varnum said “no way am I better than Griffin” in his effort to be moved up to a 10, all the Pro (that’s me) heard was “lower Griffin leave me at an 8”. The second and more convincing was the 72 he shot at Walden last week! Bad timing…..you know what they say, timing is everything. More information to follow as we are now less than a month from the Duel 2014. As I leave you today I have a couple thoughts, first is Don’t fight it, it’s good to be us and finally Where in the Hell is Mike Shunney? Danny, Duel in the Desert Professional Golfer [divider] 5-5-14 From: DJ, Professional Golfer of Your Duel So much to say so little time….Happy Cinco De Mayo to all my Hispanic brothers! Hope this writing finds you all well. Down here in Texas at Walden we held our annual club championship this past weekend and we have two kinds of Duelers that are members here, those that gave it there all this weekend and those with an itch that need some vagisil! Although Big G, Mitch, Brian and Wayne came out and played, none played very well and all finished out of the money. Their rough outings will have me re-evaluating my handicapping of the field, it was a blood bath! I think for 36 holes each, the 4 of them combined for 16 triple bogeys. Once again Walden came out the winner. Now onto Jeremie and David’s treatment for whatever it is that is causing their itch, we suggest trying the over the counter products before going to the Dr with your embarrassing story. We hope you two recover by June. Not sure what is better, playing and playing as bad as those 4 did or just not showing up, you make the call! A few reminders for this years Duel since we are almost inside of a month to go. The shuttle bus will pick us up every morning at 6:20 am …don’t be late or grab a cab! We have our group dinner and awards ceremony at Battiista’s Hole in the Wall Italian Restaurant on Tuesday night at 6 pm…it’s about a 5 minute walk from the back of the hotel casino. On Sunday, arrival day, we are going to meet in the casino at Bugsy’s Bar in the center of the casino at 8 pm and then head up to hospitality suite for beer and day money (run by KP). Bring $200 cash to that and pay for all 4 days. We have decided if everyone participates, we will pay $400-300-200-100 each day to the top four with ties splitting money, no playoffs. We have talked to Walters Golf and the courses are in great shape, the weather is warming up fast and the pool serves cold beer! Check the website for the 1st round pairings, this looks like a great group of guys, the best ever! Looking forward as always to some good golf, fun time and great friends for a week in Vegas! Until next time boys, don’t fight it, because it’s good to be us! Danny Jones, Top Dawg [divider] 4-28-14 From: Danny Jones, Duel Professional Golfer It has been 10 days since my last post here, has anyone missed me? A couple questions have come up from some of the new guys. Remember the old saying, “there are no dumb questions”, well that apparently is not true. New guys do not get a pass, good thing Shunney isn’t around to hear some of these questions, there would be no mercy! Jeremie asked if we get our own rooms and what time the tee times were. No worries, I referred him to the website and also explained there is no male spooning. If anyone shares a room it will be the two guys on oxygen for sleep apnea, Big G and his mini Darth Vader, David Varnum! Dueling breathing machines, wish we could get a picture of that! So we are 39 days away and Mitch has everything set and paid for. Golf every morning at 7:30 am, transportation to and from hotel, rooms and dinner is booked at Battista’s for Tuesday night. All you guys have to do now is get their safe and sound! I know you all worry about Brian making it there on his own, but he won’t be on his own he will have 3 escorts this year….me, Mitch and Big G! He is in good hands as long as we can keep him out of the stair wells. Once we have him strapped in his seat and the we hear the ding for his tray table to come down it’s a piece of cake. More Beer! Looking forward as always to seeing my friends in Vegas. If y’all have time google “flamingo go pool” and read some reviews and check out pictures. It sounds like we will have a blast at the pool this year. Until next time fellas, keep your head down, swing hard and GO HAWKS!!! DJ, The Pro [divider] 4-18-14 From Daniel Jones Jr., PGA PRO So I forgot some Duelers from Texas in my last Prose….stuff happens. It’s hard to remember al the Texas boys when I’m in the zone writing my column. Obviously the first guy I missed was T-Mac…Mac is playing well, he is gearing up and trying to peak at the right time…I believe he said he is pacing himself. Something we know Paul isn’t good at! KP and Wayne will be flying out to Vegas together Sunday morning with their 20 handicaps, both have a good chance to win the 1st flight this year. Wayne is a new member here at Walden and that is proving to help his game quite a bit. KP on the other hand has been playing sparingly as he has taking on coaching duties with his 13 year old daughters soccer team. He may struggle to make the cut this year. A couple guys have asked where the group dinner is this year and when….it will be at 6 pm at Battista’s Italian Restaurant, which is located a 2 minute walk from the back of the Flamingo! The dinner is mandatory, besides the golf it is the only mandatory event. The weather in Vegas is already reaching the high 80’s and low 90’s, so it looks like a hot year is in store for us. Hence, early morning golf and a cool dip in the pool with some cold beer in the afternoons. It is a vacation!! I will continue to handicap the rest of the field as information flows in. Keep tuned to the Pro’s Prose for all the latest. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, Pro Golfer [divider] 4/14/14 From: Danny Jones, Dueler and PGA Pro Well boys we are 10 days closer to this years Duel. I believe 53 days to be exact! I can hardly wait to see all my buds in Sunny Las Vegas! A quick update on the guys from Texas. I watched Mitch dismantle Brian in the Walden match play tournament this past weekend. Beware of the lefty, he must have had some divine inspiration from Bubba. I even think he took a trip to the Waffle House to celebrate! Brian won his first two matches easily and then ran into the left handed buzz saw. Our newest Dueler Jeremie Griffin finished third sporting his one handed chipping. You do not want to see him chip with both hands on the club. As for Steed and Bryden I have not seen them this year yet to give you a fair analysis of their games. Yours truly though. I can tell you, is game on! Then there is always that old crafty Jimmy Frye, comes into this years Duel as a 6 not a 4….he is definitely someone to keep your eye on. Ken Melber will be back, and we know all you have to do to Kenny is place a large enough bet to get his attention! Rookie Varnum didn’t play this week, his wife wouldn’t let him, enough said! To round out the Texas boys we have Paul J and his buddy Bob Reeves, we don’t know much about Bob yet, but my guess is if he’s friend with Paul he doesn’t require much sleep. We shall see how that works out over a four day tournament with 7:30 am tee times. Lot’s more updates to follow as I will be getting a first hand look at Shunney in 4 weeks as he travels down to Walden for a member guest tournament. Also, Big George, who hasn’t been seen in almost a month…and he’s hard to miss! Nobody motorboats better. Less than 8 weeks until this years Duel, check out the pages on this website for all the info you need and follow the Pro’s Prose for all my witty updates, until next time boys, keep your head down and swing hard. It’s good to be us! DJ, Your Pro [divider] 4/4/14 From Daniel Jones Jr., PGA PRO Hello from sunny warm Texas! This weather and the fact that the PGA tour is playing right now in Houston has me thinking about GOLF!! And maybe just a little bit about Las Vegas and all my buddies from the Duel meeting up in two short months, I can’t wait!! Soon I will start my handicapping of this years field, but I want to let everyone know that the PRO is playing pretty darn well right now, so beware! One of our old dogs, Terry “T-Bone” Bryden, has stepped out and quit his secure job of many years in the auto parts business and bought a bar/tavern in the Houston Area. It’s located in Rosenberg, TX and is called The Bohemian Hill Tavern, make sure you drop in when in Houston and say hi to Terry, he says the drinks for Duelers are on the house! He didn’t really say that, I just assume it. I will keep up with some of the reminders so after about 10 times even Dennis will remember. So here it goes, the Bus will leave for the golf course every morning at 6:20 am from the main entrance of the Flamingo….please don’t be late! If for some reason the bus leaves without you grab a cab to the course of the day. Also, don’t forget about the Dinner Tuesday night at 6 pm at Battista’s Hole in the Wall Italian Restaurant which is a short 2-3 minute walk from the back of the Flamingo. Bring cash, we all pitch in equally to cover the tab! This years field for the Duel looks great, not to mention the quality beer drinkers, led by Brian “DB” Buffone, we will have at the pool after a hot day on the course. Hope everyone is as excited as I am and in good health. Look forward to seeing you all in June, stay tuned for more form your buddy, the pro! Yours Truly, DJ, Professional Golfer [divider] 3/23/14 From DJ, PGA PRO Hope everyone is well and enjoying some March Madness this weekend. I know you all will be in Vegas since no one is going to win the billion dollar challenge! Billy Kubiak has informed us he won’t be able to make this years Duel, one less guy to get food poisoning! Everyone else is in and paid except for one straggler (Paul u know who u are)! As you can see we have a newly designed website, more up to date and easier to navigate so check everything out and also be sure to go to the bottom of the home age and listen to some of the songs created for the duels gone by. We are coming up on 2 months to this years event, the time will fly by so keep looking for frequent updates right here. Until then boys, keep your eye on the ball and rip it. Danny Jones, Duel in the Desert Professional Golfer [divider] 3/18/14 From: Danny Jones, PGA Professional Quick update, with only 80 days to go until the 2014 edition of the Duel, things are rounding into shape. The field is at 19 solid with Billy Kubiak still on the bubble. We hope to have a positive response from him any day now! With that said we all need to welcome the 2014 rookies/newbies to the Duel, first we have Jeremie Griffin–a Walden member from Texas who can absolutely kill it off the tee. Sometimes he is a little directionally challanged, but can put a low score up at any time. Then we have David Varnum, also a member here at Walden and Jeremie’s partner in crime. A solid player who loves the game and may be able to stay up with Paul on those all night gambling binges. Lord knows Dennis can’t do it anymore, and if he tries he implodes and shoots 100. I personally witnessed it in the 4th round at last years Duel. Our group dinner is set for Tuesday night at Battista’s Hole in the Wall Italian Restaurant. It is a 2 minute walk from the back exit of the Flamingo. More info to follow on this as we get closer. Bottom line is, less than $50 a man will fill you up with great food and all the wine you can drink. Tee times this year are 7:30 am everyday (you’re welcome Paul), the 1st two days at Desert Pines (the tighter, shorter course) and the final two days at Royal Links (home of the par mates for Jeremie). The shuttle will leave at 6:20 am every morning from the main entrance of the Flamingo. Be there and ready or grab a cab!! Almost everything is updated here on the website, check it out, look around, if you see anything that looks wrong let Mitch know. Until the next edition of my Pro’s Prose, remember to keep your head down and swing hard. Danny, The Duel Pro [divider] 3/17/14 From: Danny Jones, PGA PRO Happy Saint Paddy’s Day!!! What’s up fellas? It’s been about 9 months since my last writing…I sure do miss all you guys. We are only 81 days until the 2014 edition of the DUEL!! The field is shaping up to be a great group of guys and should yield some competitive rounds of golf. If Paul gets any sleep my money is on him to make a run at the title this year. That is a big IF though. A couple new guys this year from our Walden family are joining us this year, David Varnum and Jeremy Griffin….these guys will fit right in and may rival Paul for the lack of sleep award. They also bomb it on the course…..we don’t like to see rookies win their first year but both these guys have a shot….with the proper rest. Jimmy Frye is nursing a bad back and getting on in age so his handicap is up to 6 from 4 last year, he needs it! We have lowered last years champ, Mitch back to an 8. A few other minor adjustments have been made to make sure we have a fair competition. Check back often between now and June, I will update this column a few times a week. Until next time, remember……don’t fight it, it’s good to be us! DJ, The DUEL PRO [divider] 6/7/13 From: Danny Jones, Your Duel Brother and Pro Let the games begin!! Looking forward to getting out to the Desert and having myself a Duel with all my buddies again this year. Safe travels to everyone….and always remember…. “Don’t Fight It, It’s Good to be Us”!!! DJ, PRO [divider] 6/4/13 From: Danny Jones, “The Greek” This is my Handicapping the whole field edition. I will break this down into four sections, First Flight Favorites….First Flight Contenders…..Second Flight Contenders…..and No Prayer. Here we go, First Flight Favorites this year are limited to 4 guys, and they are in no particular order….. ME, Jimmy Frye, Brian Buffone and Dennis Pierce. The First Flight Contenders would be the following group of 8 gentlemen……Paul Junkersfeld, Big George Heines, Mr Confidence Randy Wages, Wayne Michels, Kevin KP Phillips, Mitch Nevins, Bill Seidl and Jay Knoblauh. The next group are the Second Flight Contenders and that group includes….Tim Dugan, Chris Steed, Danny Smith, Toomy Mac, Stan Wells, Mike Shunney, Ken Melber, Terry Bryden and Bill Kubiak. The NO Prayer group includes……Mark Goldie, Billy Brown and Ed Oberthier. So there you have it…The Pro’s last and final handicapping. This is non scientific and only represents one mans opinion and is not necessarily the opinion of the purveyors of this website. Until Next time, always remember “Don’t Fight It, It’s Good to be Us” DJ the Greek [divider] 6/3/13 From: Danny Jones, Head Golf Pro for the DUEL One week from Today we will be teeing it up in beautiful Las Vegas Nevada for the 2013 Duel in the Desert! Is anyone as ready as I am? I have all my clothes laid out in the guestroom, it’s gonna be hard to compete with KP for style points, but I am gonna give it hell! We talked with Dennis this past weekend, he and Danny Smith are ready to roll….Dennis wants to meet Mr. Confidence (Randy Wages), he thinks they may be able to bond…we’ll see. I guess they both have lots of confidence…………..misplaced for sure but still confident. Jay Knoblauh, where oh where has Jay-Knob gone? He moved his ass to Pittsburgh, some company gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse, but we miss him down in Houston…hopefully after he makes a few million he comes back home. Jimmy Frye is ready for this years Duel, or so he says. It won’t be for lack of playing, if I count correctly, in the last three weeks he has played 11 rounds of golf. And from what I hear he is heading to Vegas this Thursday in his private plane “Air 5J” to get in a practice round or two. Watch out for NP!! In case y’all haven’t checked the weather, give it a look. Highs are gonna be 104-108 for the days we are there and lows in the 78 range. Drink lots of water (or Coors if you are BB). And plan on spending some time with us out by the NYNY pool. They do have pool volleyball set up and the Captains for the Duel Vollyball team will be Tim Dugan and Big George Heines, if you want to be on their team send them email with your qualifications. You need not have all 10 toes to play…(sorry Mike)!! More updates later in the week, remember “Don’t Fight It, It’s Good to be Us”!! DJ, Pro [divider] 5/31/13 From Danny Jones III, PGA PRO and Mitch’s Bitch We are just over one week from this years big event, can’t wait to see all my Dueling Brothers. Most of you arrive Sunday morning or mid day, let’s all plan on meeting by the pool for a beer or frozen drink at 3 pm. Look for BIG GEORGE on a lounge chair, you can’t miss him!! There is also a sing along dueling piano bar in the middle of the casino we should all get together Sunday night and have a few especially for those late arrivers. We probably have about 15 guys that have placed their bets for the pari-mutual. I know Shunney, Danny Smith, Tim Dugan and Bill Seidl are not in yet, just to name a few. New guys like Randy Wages is in (he bet on himself, we’ll see how that works out) but for some reason our new retiree Mike Shunney can’t seem to find the time. REALLY!! Chris Steed is ready to go, as a matter of fact he was ready last week. Goldie is all set for his role this year as social chairman (nobody does it better) and Duel photographer, if he wakes up early enough one day! KP has his outfits all laid out and matched up along with 4 putters with different colored grips to go with his shorts. Gay? I think so! We checked with the hotel to make sure they have a full supply of screw top Merlot for our man Brian Buffone….Don’t fight It!! Don’t forget our new motto, “Don’t Fight It, It’s Good to be Us”. A few reminders……The shuttle will leave at 6:15 am on Monday and Tuesday and 6:45 am Wednesday and Thursday. Dinner is Tuesday Night for everyone in the Sporting House (private room) at 6 pm, please bring $100 cash…Mitch has prepaid $2000 for the group already which includes $75 per person credit for food and drinks and $25 each for Tip and room rental. We will order from the menu. There are also several TV’s in the private room with all different Sports events, hopefully the Blackhawks vs. Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals…..That’s Hockey for Jimmy Frye and the rest of his redneck friends! All things are looking good, first round pairings are set, rules are in place, prize money is all collected….all systems are GO!! Until next time, remember, Don’t Fight It, It’s Good to be Us!!! Keep your head down and swing hard!! DJ, Duel Pro [divider] 5/20/2013 From: Yours Truly- -Danny Jones, PGA PRO Less than 3 weeks to the Duel. Get those betting slips in……here’s some helpful information. Mitch and Mike Shunney finished tied for 5th this weekend in the Walden Member Guest Tournament, but the big news is Jimmy Frye teamed up with member Brian Buffone and won in a one hole playoff. And FYI, Buffone carried Frye through several stretches of holes during the 54 hole tournament! Use that info however you see fit. The key is can Buffy hold it together for 4 rounds in a place as tempting as Las Vegas where the Merlot is free as long as youpush the “Deal” button every few minutes on the video poker machines! More golf score news from our Duel Brothers……Dennis fired a smooth 98 this weekend, but we hear that from Dennis every year then he shows up in Vegas and plays mid 80’s golf. KP went out for 27 holes with the Mrs., and shot 50-46-41….we have not confirmed yet if he played the MR. or MRS. tees. Paul posted pictures of a beautiful golf course on facebook this weekend, so it appears he is tuning up. We know our lawyer Chris Steed plays every weekend with his wife and gets his brains beat in. No one has heard much from Jay since he moved to Pittsburgh, but we know he wil be there and ready. Big G went out and played 18 with a very drunk Tommy Kramer (yes the former Vikings QB) and shot a career round, 100!! Way to go George. Jimmy NP Frye is playing 9 rounds between now and the Duel, will he be ready or worn out? Stan Wells and Danny Smith, the Cheech and Chong of the Duel are always ready, for what we don’t know. And me, the pro, PRO says it all doesn’t it? New subject, since we are all like a fraternity we came up with some ideas this past weekend. We already have a name, Duel in the Desert, and a website for marketing to our group so we thought we needed a motto. In honor of Brian’s famous line to me at 6 am at a bar at the airport when handing me two Miller Lites and Danny not wanting to drink YET, Brian stared me in the face and very seriously said “Don’t Fight It”….so I drank the beers. Follow that with Shunney’s famous line when enjoying the Duel “it’s Good to be Us”…the new Duel Motto is now “Don’t Fight It, It’s Good to be Us” . Starting in 2014 this will be embroidered on the caps. We are working on the secret handshake…..I can’t wait to see y’all in less than 20 days! Until next time my brothers, Don’t fight it, It’s Good to be Us!!!!! DJ, Pro to the Duel [divider] 5/14/13 From Danny Jones, PGA Professional and Walden Teaching Pro of the Decade Well Boys we are 25 days from this years Duel and my good friend Mitch has been struggling with his game and finally came to yours truly and asked for some advice from his PRO! That would be ME! It started with his whining about not being able to hit the irons straight anymore (usually his strong point in the past), he didn’t ask for help, he just whined. After last weekends Club Championship where he shot a smooth 87 and 93 he texted me from home. I believe he had tears running down his cheeks. all it said was “HELP, I Suck”!!! I sent him a text back with two pieces of advice to help his game. He has since been to the range 3 times to work on this electronic lesson and has called to tell me he Loves me 10 times. We will see soon if this new swing will transfer from the range to the course, I am pretty sure it will! I am now changing my bets to having absolutely no confidence in him to putting some of my own cash on Mitchy!! Look out Jimmy NP Frye, Mitch is gunning for ya. As a reminder, get those betting slips back to Mitch as soon as you can so Paul can build his spread sheet ahead of time. The weather is great in Vegas, the pool rehab is done at NYNY, beer is cold and the rooms are all set. Everyone should have got the confirmation list from the hotel. Keep this so you don’t have any problems checking in as a matter of fact in never hurts to call and confirm your reservation ahead of time. It’s time to be tuning up your games to peak in early June at the 2013 Duel in the Desert. Can’t wait to see all my friends there in a few short weeks…..until then keep your head down and swing hard!! DJ, The Pro [divider] 5/10/13 From Danny Jones, Senior Level PGA Pro Gentlemen, we a month away from the 2013 Duel in the Desert…is anyone as ready as I am to get to the Desert and enjoy some Vegas time with good friends, good golf and some Cold Beer! Let’s do this!! The first round pairings are set, check the link on this website for that information. Day 2 and 3 we all just make our own games and then the final round is paired based on your position in the tournament with the leaders in the 2 flights in the last two groups. Remember that the transportation bus will pick us and our clubs up at the main entrance of the NYNY Hotel about 1 hr and 15 minutes before each round each day. It’s about a 20 minute ride to the courses. Dinner is set for Tuesday night (mandatory attendance please) at 6 pm in the Sporting House Restaurant at NYNY. $100 per man, cash please. Hole in ones, 21 years and we have never had one, maybe lucky 2013 is the year! If someone makes one we all pay him $100 and he then spends most of that on alcohol for the group! We have about 7 guys so far that have turned in their betting slips, Mitch will send this out again so you guys can get this done in the next week or so. We have over $1000 already wagered. KP will also run a day money game like last year, it will probably be $25 per day cash to KP and he will pay it all out to the low net scores that day….Probably 2 places maybe 3. If y’all have any questions let Mitch or I know and we will give you the answers. Until next time keep your head down and swing hard… DJ, The Pro [divider] 4/30/13 From: DJ, Your Duel Pro It is official, we are less than 6 weeks until we begin this years version of the Duel in the Desert! This year we honor our 2012 Champions, Tommy McBride 1st Flight and Jimmy NP Frye 2nd flight. Do either of these guys have what ity takes to back up last years wins by repeating this year? Or is it time for a new unknown Champion in 2013? It won’t be long and all those questions will be answered. Everyone should have the “Duel Betting Slip” for this years para-mutual or pari-mutual wagering. If you don’t have it or lost it please email Mitch for a copy. Last year we had about $3,000 in this side wagering. Also, last year KP ran a day money game. I believe it was $25 per day and I think he paid 2 or 3 places everyday. 3 low nets splitting the money for ties. This is optional and done when we get out there. A few reminders…..the mandatory dinner that includes the Pink Jacket presentation to last years winner is Tuesday night at The Sporting House Restaurant in NYNY Hotel at 6 PM. This is a mandatory event and you need to bring $100 cash and give to Mitch, he has already prepaid for this event. This year Mitch will also email out a rules sheet and also supply these before round one. This way if you have any questions you can ask them before we have any issues on the course. Please get those betting slips turned in to Mitch asap, it makes life easier if we don’t do these things all at the last minute. Until next time, I am your pro instructing you to Keep your head down and swing Hard!! Danny, Golf Professional Extraordinaire [divider] 4/27/13 From: Danny Jones III, PGA Pro Golfer Hello for rainy Texas y’all. I have been watching the NFL draft all weekend and that has motivated me to do my own version of the 2013 Duel Mock Results…in other words my prediction for this years finish. I will start with the 2nd flight…..in order 1st to last, this years 2nd flight champ will be, drum roll please, Bill Seidl. He will be followed by Tim Dugan, Stan Wells, Ken Melber, Danny Smith, Kevin Phillips, Chris Steed, Wayne Michels, Billy Kubiak and T-Bone…Terry Bryden. In the 1st flight my champion for the 3rd time is going to be Jimmy Frye. He will be challanged closely by Mike Shunney and Yours Truely, the pro! In 4th place will be Jay Knoblauh with Mitch and Paul tied for 5th. The bottom half of the 1st flight will be Tommy McBride, Big George Heines, Brian Buffone and Dennis Pierce. I apologize to the guys I picked at the top if you think I jinxed you. And I apologize to the guys I didn’t give the credit to to finish at the top and maybe this will serve as motivation! Until next time keep your head down and swing hard, see you all in 6 short weeks. DJ, Walden on Lake Conroe Head Golf Professional [divider] 4/26/13 From: DJ, The Duel Professional It’s that time of year when I begin the process of handicapping the field. If you look back at last years edition of the handicapping I had T-Mac as one of the favorites to win the 2012 event…and I was bang on! In my last Prose I gave you the favorites…in this edition I will tell you some players to watch out for, they aren’t the favorites but they could pull off a victory in either flight. First, the unknowns, Billy Kubiak…analyzing his handicap and where he plays tells me that he could make a run at the 2nd flight championship, 1st flight…not a prayer! Mitch Nevins, he always has a chance if he gets hot at the right time of year, but I have been watching him shoot around 90 every week, his timing is just a alittle off but you never know when he is going to sync back up. Big George, He has the touch as soft as Brian’s butt. Don’t ask me how I know how soft Brian’s ass is. Anyway his putting skills and short game will serve him well at this years Duel. Tim Dugan, what can I say about Dugan…he is capable of 76 or 96 on any day. The key is can he play four good rounds? I doubt it! KP…..a former 2nd flight champ with more game than he has ever had, so expectations are high! The question is are they too high? Stay tuned! Jay Knob and Pauly J, the two long hitters on the Duel Tour….the only problem is can they keep those 300 yard drives on the golf course….if they do they will both be in the Hunt when round 4 begins. Last analysis for this issue is Randy Wages, he has a little bit of a cocky streak like his good buddy Jimmy NP Frye, in his first year on the Duel how will this serve him? Probably well unless Shunney get hold of him for some Boston ribbing! More analysis to come in the days ahead, keep an eye out here for regular updates on this years Duel. Also, check your email in the next couple days for the wagering slip. Hope my analysis helps y’all pick this years winners. Until next time my friends, keep your head down and swing hard….except you Wayne, we don’t need any hospital visits!!! Just kidding. Danny Jones III, PGA PRO [divider] 4/23/13 From: Danny Jones, PGA Golf Professional We are less than a month and a half from the 2013 Duel. All the money is in, the field is set, 1st round pairings are tentatively set, dinner Tuesday night is booked…all systems are go! For everyone’s information and to avoid some questions later, as we did last year the transpotation to and from the golf course is provided. We will meet 1 hour and 15 minutes prior to first tee time daily to catch the bus from the main doors of the hotel. If we have to we can pick Paul up on the way at Bill’s Gambling Hall! It’s time again for this PRO to handicap the field…..Smart money this year is on the PRO, Shunney, Dennis, Drunk Bastard and NP Jimmy Frye. There are some dark horses out there and I will talk more about those later. We will soon send out the pari-mutual betting slips for Paul’s pool……did I spell it right Steeder? Bet on whoever you like as much as you like, Paul will then supply that info to everyone once he gets it all entered. I am going to keep this edition of my Prose short, but keep an eye out here for frequesnt updates as we get closer to June, and remember until next time, keep your head down and swing hard. DJ, The Pro [divider] 4/5/13 From: DJ III, Pga Golf Professional What a day a few of you had yesterday on the information superhighway known as email! I see the new guys are finding out that maybe it’s best to not try and pre-negotiate a different handicap. We know what we are doing! And on a serious note…..remember that USGA rules are modified for this even that will definitely save you a shot or two a round. All OB is played as a lateral hazard and double bogey max score for the first 63 holes. Trust me, this makes a difference. And remember, a handicap is suppose to represent your potential not an average of ALL scores. Everyone please join me and your fellow Duelers in wishing Mike Shunney a congratulations on two fronts, first, Mike is being honored on April 25th by the Doug Flutie Foundation for his work in raising money to benefit Autism research, Mike has had Sunlife of Canada be the title sponsor of the Doug Flutie charity golf tournament that has rasied over $12 million. Next, as of April 26th Mike is retiring at the age of 55 from his 20+ year career at Sunlife. Congratulations to Mike and we wish him luck on his next adventure, we only hope he can get there on a Harley!! Tough economy to be unemployed, but he has lots of friends. Starting next week I will begin my annual ritual of handicapping the Duel field. You are welcome to put in your two cents, just keep in mind that is all it’s worth! Until next time keep your head down and swing hard, I remain…………… Daniel Jones III, Professional Golfer and Blogger [divider] 4/3/13 From: Danny Jones, Duel Professional Howdy y’all from 80 degree Texas! A couple changes have taken place since my last writing, Max Dugan came and went…it looks like his travel schedule won’t allow him to attend this years event, but with all bad news comes a little good news, Billy Seidl has thrown his weight around and is making his daughter have her baby in April just so he can attend the Duel! We know who wears the pants in the Seidl family. Mitch has informed me to inform you that he will have NYNY room confirmation numbers for everyone at the end of April. Your room, golf and transportation to and from golf courses will be prepaid, you will however need to supply a credit card at check in for incidental charges to your room. Everyone can’t wait to see Dennis this year who we heard has lost 50 lbs and still losing….my guess is this will make him one of the favorites to win the 2013 Duel. Imagine what he can do now that he can see the ball!!! Not only that, no more seat belt extenders on the airplane….life is good for Grumpy! We have a couple new guys this year on the Duel, we need to keep an eye on Billy Kubiak and Randy Wages, rumor has it that the 8 handicap Wages turned in a 71 somewhere last week, and yes Goldie that was for all 18 holes. The score hasn’t been substantiated yet, but you can bet that this PRO is checking into it and ready to convene a meeting of the 2 person handicap committee. Be careful guys what you shoot leading up to this years Duel…..it can only hurt you!!! Until next time, Head down, eye on the ball and swing hard! DJ, The Duel Pro [divider] 3/26/13 From: Danny Jones, PGA PRO Today’s message is mostly just some housekeeping that always needs to takeplace prior to the Duel. First, as at all previous Duels we play with a few modified rules. First all lost balls including OB will beplayed as lateral hazard, in other words there are no stroke and distance penalties. Next, for the first 3 rounds plus the front 9 of the last round double bogey is the max score you can make, the last 9 holes of round 4 you have to count them all! Last, we waive the 14 club rule so you can carry as many clubs as you can jam in your bag, trust me, two drivers will only screw you up. Also, please make sure one person is designated in your group to turn a score card in for the group to me or Mitch after the round. Also, please remember we have a mandatory dinner on Tuesday night at the halfway point of the tournament in the Sporting House Restaurant in NYNY at 6:30 pm. Mitch has prepaid $100 each which includes $75 each plus tip and tax =$100 each….bring cash to Mitch that night please and come hungry and thirsty….even Brian will be thirsty. We will order from the menu, not a pre ordered meal. The website is now pretty much up to date, prize money, players and handicaps and tentative first round pairings, so check it out. Looking forward to seeing all my Duel brothers (you to KP) in Vegas in a couple short months. Until then boys, keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, Your Friend and Duel Pro [divider] 3/22/13 FROM: Danny Jones, PGA PRO A last minute flurry of activity has us at 21 golfers with a couple invitees still on the fence. Big George Heines is in, Kenny Melber has signed up and Max Dugan makes his return after taking a few years off to plant his man seed and make a couple offspring. A full field + this year at the Duel! Mitch and I went out to Vegas last weekend for a site visit of the NYNY Hotel, it’s gonna be by far the best place this group has ever stayed. Great Casino, lots of restaurants, nice rooms, hot water and the private room for the dinner is very cool overlooking Las Vegas Blvd and Big Screen TV’s everywhere with all the latest sports events on. We are 76 days away from the opening tee shot of the 2013 Duel, and the quest for the next owner of a Pink Jacket. Prize money will be set as soon as the field is completely finalized. We hope to have this done within 2 weeks. We have posted tentative first round pairings on the website, you are welcome to take a peek, keep in mind these will change a little bit depending on what stragglers we get. I plan on updating my column a lot more now that we are getting closer to the Duel, so stay tuned. In the meantime, keep your head down and swing hard. Danny Jones, PGA PRO [divider] 3/12/13 FROM: Daniel Jones III, PGA PRO Less than 90 days to the Duel 2013, the official countdown has begun. Hope everyone is fired up for a great time, especially you new guys…Randy Wages, wages huh, something he will be a little lighter on when these bandits get done with him. Then there is Gary’s brother Bill Kubiak, I hear he is already trying to negotiate a higher handicap, not gonna happen. We have instructed Sergeant at Arms Mark Goldie to explain that negotiating handicaps usually causes a reduction. So just smile and take it like a man. We also welcome back T-Bone Terry Bryden after a 4-5 year absence, it will be good to have the T-Bone back in the group after some minor back surgery (if there is sucha thing). Goldie will be with us again, but in a social chairman only role (I think he was made for this position), Marky has had some lower back disk issues and will be unable to compete to his usually high level so he has chosen to come to Vegas and just make sure everyone has a great time. The Candy Making Fag, Tim Dugan, is our latest commitment and has us close to a full field of 20. We will post the field as we know it so far on this website with assigned Duel handicaps, so take a look at the players page and if you have any issues we suggest you keep them to yourself. HA!!!! The weather in Vegas is already warming up into the 80’s, so 100 degrees at the pool in June is in the cards. Frozen drinks and buckets of cold beer will be readily available at the NYNY pool. I was just looking at the list, we have 8 former Duel Champions on the list of this years attendees. Can you name them? Hit reply all to the email list and list them … the first correct answer will win a special prize from Walden on Lake Conroe. Make sure you reply to everyone so we know who was first. Updates will come more frequently from me now as we get closer to this years event. Look forward to seeing all my Duel Brothers in June. Until then remember to Grip it and Rip it! DJ, Duel PRO [divider] 3/2/13 FROM: DJ, Duel Pro OK, so we are now less than 100 days to this years Duel in the Desert. Upscale version at the NYNY Hotel and Casino, this may be way to nice for this bunch….especially Paul! Good News Paul, they do have Switch Blackjack for ya! The dinner is planned for Tuesday Night June 11th at The Sporting House Restaurant at NYNY in a private room. The one rub is there is a $75 minimum per person, so bring your appetite and come thirsty! I’m guessing Brian will drink some of your $75 if anyone needs some help. We will order form the menu, so if you are bored you can check that out online at the hotel website. This year we have 7:30 am tee times the first two days at Royal Links and 8 am the next two days at Desert Pines. This rotation should separate the men from the boys…..there’s an idea, re-name the flights “Men” and “Boys”……I fully expect to me a MAN! Maybe we should just leave them 1st and 2nd. Deadbeat alert……..need money form verbal comittments from Mike Shunney, T-Mac, Paul J, KP, and a couple others that shall remain unnamed. Other than that things are shaping up for a great Duel this year, look forward to June and seeing all my Duel brothers….until then keep your head down and swing hard! Danny, PGA Pro [divider] 2/19/13 From DJ, PGA Pro Good news!! We finally found a hotel for the Duel that Jimmy Frye approves of. He has decided the NYNY is worthy of his presence and will be happy to sit his large ass on the toilets in the rooms there! N@@@a please! Half the field is in and paid to date, assuming we have 24 players. There are still several regulars that haven’t got their info and payments in to Mitch….we will start naming deadbeats names soon! Soon is now, Mike Shunney, Greg Coscia, Big George Heines, Tim Dugan, Chris Steed, T-Mac, Paul Junkersfeld and Bill Seidl just to name a few. Get it together boys, you don’t wanna be left out of the fun. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, your Duel Pro [divider] 2/6/13 From: DJ, The Only Duel Pro It’s that time again, the planning has been done, the initial invites are out, 8 guys are already in and paid, let the Duel begin!!! This years Duel has a major upgrade in Venue, the NYNY Hotel and Casino, an MGM Property will host this years even for only a few more dollars than last years Duel at that Shithole called Hooters! Sorry Mitch, but it was a shithole!!! Even though it was a dump, Goldie didn’t get bit by any bedbugs, he was very concerned about the possibility. Also changed this year is the course rotation, the first two days will be at Royal Links where will separate the men from the boys. Then we will play the last two round on the exciting Desert Pines Course. T-Mac will be returning this year with his new “I don’t give a fuck” attitude, he has a Pink Jacket now and doesn’t need to grind. That gives Shunney a chance!! Hey Paul, they have a “Switch” table at NYNY so you don’t have to go to Bill’s this year to stay up all night. You can do it right at home then take a shower, change that shirt and head to the golf course! Rumor has it Terry T-Bone Bryden is coming back this year after a few years off to ride his Harley…..it will be good to take some of his money! Goldie may be on the DL with back issues, but has vowed to be in Vegas with the boys as acting social chairman. Nobody does it better. Guys, get your checks and reg forms back to Mitch asap, the Duel is limited to 24 players max, I can’t wait to see you all in June. Your Pro, Danny Jones [divider] 6-18-12 From: DJ, PGA PRO It’s in the books….the 2012 Duel was a big success. We have a new member of the Pink Jacket Champions club, Tommy McBride, Congratulations TMAC!!! We also have a 2 time winner with his 2nd flight (albeit unhappy) win, Jimmy Frye, congrats to Jimmy!! We learned how to “switch” this trip, thanks to Paul. We found out how much sleep Big G needs….the answer is……….drum roll please……………..MORE!! We found Dugan really is Jekyll and Hyde. We learned that I was just happy to be there. We found out that you don’t tell Wayne he should be playing shorter tees right before he knocks it 25 yards past you, we learned KP plays better with just the right amount of aiming fluid/calming fluid, we now know Steed is a true 18 handicapper, we saw that Dennis can swing around that belly and we also learned we deserve better than HOOTERS!!! Mitch is already working on pricing for a strip hotel like the MGM or Harrah’s…more info to follow soon. It was great seeing all my golfing buddies, can’t wait to do it again. Stay well and keep your head down and swing hard!! Danny Jones, Duel Pro [divider] 6-8-12 From: Danny Jones, PGA Duel Pro Well Boys, it’s time. The last Prose before we head to Vegas. Everything is all set, the weather report is perfect, the beer is on ice, Shunney know’s which Hotel we are at, Steed has contacted a local bail bondsman, Paul promises to get 2 hours sleep every night, KP is hitting his wedges solid, Jimmy is there early practicing, Dugan has hit 48,000 balls this month, Danny Smith is “ready”, Stan the phone man put everyone on hold, Brian is sober….for now, Dennis has his grump on, Bill Seidl has stopped the presses, Mitch is a lefty, Wayne is still a jeweler, Coscia…hell who knows about Coscia, Big George ain’t so big anymore, T-Mac is in the USA and Billy freakin Brown wants a big greasy cheeseburger that costs $25!!! Everyone, have a safe and on time trip to Vegas, we will see you Sunday or worst case Monday early. Until then, keep your head down and swing hard!! See y’all soon….. DJ, Your Duel Pro [divider] 6-7-12 From: Danny Jones, The Duel Pro How’s everyone doing? Ready to go? This is the final reminder list from your pro! Hotel: Hooter’s Casino Resort (5-10 minute cab ride from airport) Group Dinner: Tuesday Night in the hotel at the Mad Onion Restaurant in the VIP Room First round pairings, Tee times, Rules etc are all on this website, take a look around! Hole in One: Everyone pays the man who makes one $100 cash, no one has opted out! Shuttle: Leaves at 6:50 am SHARP every morning from the front door of the Hotel Scorecards: Make sure someone from your group gets a gross score card for the group to me or Mitch Fun: Make sure you have some!!! Swing: Head down and Hard! Pool: Beer and Football. Life: Is Good!!! See y’all soon Danny, Your friend and PGA Pro [divider] 6-5-2012 From Danny Jones, Duel Pro June 5, 2012…. In 5 days we will be in Las Vegas getting ready for the 2012 Duel. So in honor of that I will post my Top Ten Players for 2102, this is in order of who I believe is most likely to win the first flight of the Duel. Here it goes…..1) Big George Heines, 2) Paul Junkersfeld, 3) Tommy McBride, 4) Mike Shunney, 5)Kevin Phillips, 6) Jimmy Frye, 7) Dennis Pierce, 8) Randel Orr, 9) Jay Knoblauh and 10) Doug Barth. Sleepers…. Brian Buffone, Chris Steed and ya you know…ME!!! Sorry if I didn’t mention you, but feel good about it because I am usually never right when picking a horse race. Good Luck to everyone!!! We double checked the weather today and the 10 day outlook looks perfect, as usual the chance of rain is 0%!! I will send out a last minute reminders list before the end of the week, don’t forget sun screen and lip balm, it’s hot out there but it’s definitely dry. Until later in the week boys, keep your head down and swing hard!! DJ, PGA PRO [divider] 6-4-2012 From Danny, The Pro June 4th…less than 1 week to the Duel. 5 Days to get your game in shape, are you ready? Here’s the verdict on what Irons Mitch will bring to the Duel………it’s the OLD Pings. While he didn’t overly impress anyone this weekend, he did feel better than he did with the Titleist irons and has made the Pings his “final answer”. So look out, his bag has exactly the same clubs he had last year when he won. I also watched KP’s 20 absolutely carry the two 8 handicappers for about 6 holes yesterday in a 3 man scramble…he was a one man show! Watch out for KP, he is ready! He just hopes he didn’t peak a week early. I just checked weather.com and it looks like perfect weather for both golf and some football and beer drinking at the pool. Highs in the high 90’s to low 100’s, lows in the low 70’s with winds anywhere from 8-12 mph. Perfect desert golf weather. We will update you more this week, until then keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, PGA Pro [divider] 6-1-12 From: DJ, PGA PRO JUNE 2012, the Duel is upon us!! I have another Mitch update, we are playing in a 3 man scramble together this weekend up at Jimmy Frye’s club for a charity event. It’s a 2 day tournament to raise money for a scholarship fund. Anyway, Mitch is going to play with his Ping irons on Saturday and his Titleist irons on Sunday to determine which clubs get to make the trip to Vegas. Does that sound to you like someone that is Duel ready? He needs a shrink!!! I was looking at the 10 day forecast for Vegas and it looks like the highs will be right around 100 and the lows in the low 70’s. So, morning golf should be perfect, in the 80’s on average. We talked with the golf course yesterday, and they say the courses are in perfect condition. More updates to follow, look forward to seeing you all in Vegas. Until next time keep your head down and swing hard! Danny Jones, PGA PRO 5-30-12 From: DJ, The Duel Pro 11 days to tee off. I hear Mitch is going to the range today with two sets of irons, his old Pings and his 5 month old Titleist AP-2’s. If we’re only a week and a half from the Duel and he doesn’t know which clubs he’s bringing, then he is screwed!!! One down, 20 to go. Then a little bird told me KP was on fire the last few weeks but all of a sudden he has lost his mojo, I think he’s attending the practice range session with Mitch. I am working on the important part of the game, PUTTING! Trust me, on these greens you better bring your “A” game and your favorite putter, as Gary McCord might say, bikini waxed greens and lot’s of humps and bumps! Hope everyone has seen the 1st round pairings, they are posted on this website, check them out. And in case you haven’t been reading the reminders, the shuttle bus will leave at 6:50 am sharp everyday from the front door of the hotel. Dinner is at 6 PM Tuesday night in The Mad Onion, private room. KP is running a day money game, 25 per day, just pay 100 first day to make it easy on him, it will pay 70% for 1st and 30% for 2nd each day in cash for the two low net scores, in case of a tie he will split the $$$. About 15 of you have turned in your pari mutuel bets, thanks for that, don’t forgrt to pay Paul in cash for that on Monday. Last for now, make sure someone turns in one complete score card for your group to me or Mitch with just the gross score based on DUEL Rules (you can find those on this website also). More information will be coming at you at a fast pace this next few days. We look forward to seeing you all in Vegas at Hooters Hotel. If you are getting in Sunday early, look for us at the pool….we hope to be there by NOON. Until next time, Keep your head down, eye on the ball and swing hard. Danny, Duel Pro [divider] 5-29-12 From: Danny Jones, PGA PRO Gentlemen, and I use that term very loosely, we are 11 days from our arrival in Las Vegas and the 2012 Duel!! Let’s do this!! As of today we have 10 of the players wagers in and over $2000 already in. With this kind of participation the Pari Mutuel will be our largest ever. Get those betting sheets back to Mitch asap please. Wagers must be placed before the 1st round begins. Speaking of betting on this years players, I have a few more nuggets of wisdom I like to call PRO Handicapping. T-Mac, his handicap is now high enough where his talent could come together and win this years Duel….it all depends if he can keep his blood sugar right with just the right amount of chocolate. Then we have 3 time champion Danny Smith, yes 3 times, this guy seems to have a knack to position himself just right every year to be in the top of the 2nd flight. You definitely want to keep an eye on and maybe bet some money on him. Jay Knob….if he can keep it the fairway he will be a force this year, on Saturday this past weekend he had an eagle and 2 birdies in an 8 hole stretch, lookout! The Boston boys, Mike Shunney and Greg Coscia, we have inside information that they have been playing a lot of golf and tuning up their games at the TPC Boston, both claim to be in Duel Shape….not to be mistaken with Good Shape. I’ll do a little more handicapping later this week as I study the group. I look forward to seeing you all in Vegas after safe travel. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard!!! DJ, The Duel Pro [divider] 5-25-12 From; DJ, Duel Pro Well guys, here we are 15 days from the Duel and our arrival in Las Vegas, Nevada. Another quick reminder, since I think this is the year it will come into play…..if anyone makes a “hole in one” (on the golf course) everyone on the trip will pay him $100 cash! If anyone wants to not participate and be a puss speak now via email to Danny at dj@pga.com . Reminder…..please get your pari mutuel bets in to Mitch at mitch@fourseasons-equip.com soon, we have over $1000 in the pot so far and only 8 people have wagered. Mitch will send out the sheet again soon. I’ve been checking the weather in Vegas and it has already started hitting the triple digits, so the pool will be a refreshing afternoon treat after golf. And the 8 am tee times are looking good also…except for maybe Paul. Hope everyone is fine tuning their games, it looks like these new courses are going to be quite a challange this year. I expect the scores to be quite a bit higher this year than the last few. I look for even par to -5 net to win the overall this year. Just my prediction, probably not worth much, but I am usually right!! Look forward to seeing all my Duel brothers in a couple weeks, until then have a safe holiday weekend and remember to keep your head down and swing hard!!! Danny, PGA PRO [divider] 5-21-12 From: Danny Jones Jr., PGA PRO Gentlemen….we are less than 3 weeks from the 2012 Duel. My bets are in, are yours? We have 7 of the 22 players bets in and already have $1000 + in the pari mutuel….did we spell that right Mr. Steed? Mitch and I have both been spelling it para mutual because as young kids we were hooked on phonics. Just sayin! A few scheduling reminders, the shuttle bus will leave promptly at 6:50 am every morning for golf from the front door of the hotel. It will return us after the last group finishes. So probably not everyone will have time for lunch every day at the clubs. Eat some Hooter’s wings when you get back! Next, dinner is Tuesday night at the Mad Onion in the hotel at 6PM…be there. We will order from the menu and split up the bill evenly (Goldie will handle this as the Duel Treasurer). Bring CASH please. We will have a scoreboard to post at dinner showing who is in what flight. Due to the Dugan rule, no one shall be able to see the standings until then. Remember we play double bogey max until the last 9 holes on day 4. We also play all OB as lateral, there are no stroke and distance penalties. Everyone make sure you see me before round one to get your new custom Duel in the Desert pink gimme tape label for your putter installed. Dennis, I apologize if this is too much information to take in all at once, maybe read it two or three times and it will all sink in. If anyone is getting in earlier Sunday some of us have thought about doing a Sunday night par 3 tournament under the lights at the Callaway Par 3 course by the airport. The plan now is to just play it by ear and see how we feel, although we have a pretty good idea how Brian will feel. More to follow this week, until then keep your head down and swing hard. DJ, The Pro [divider] 5-15-12 From: Danny Jones AKA The Pro Well boys it’s just a little over 3 weeks until we all meet up in Las Vegas for the 2012 edition of the Duel. AS promised I will continue my handicapping of the field. Goldie…..no chance….but who has more fun than the big man, this guy will be living large!! Bill Seidl, hmmmmm, a potential sleeper with one year at the Duel under his belt and all new courses, this should bring the field back to guys like this. BREAKING NEWS: Dugan’s handicap has been adjusted to 14, change your betting slips accordingly. He’s currently an 18 but his Duel history screams 12 so the committee settled at 14. Billy Brown, past champiion, I don’t see Billy repeating his victory of a few years ago, mostly because the Burgers at the golf clubs are $12. That will have a negative effect on his game for sure. Chris “Democrat” Steed, watch out for this guy, he has steadily improved his game and climbed the results board at the Duel. With 20 pops he could be a force this year. Doug Barth, sweet swinging Dougy, he comes in at an 8, he has the talent to shoot even par every day, but will his fragile back hold up for 4 days….time will tell. More handicapping the field in my next edition. Start grooving your swings boys, and until next time keep your head down and swing hard!! DJ, Duel Pro [divider] 5-10-12 From Danny Jones, PGA PRO Its official, we are under a month to this years DUEL! I’ve been looking over the handicaps and pairings and everything looks pretty good. The only handicap that concerns me is KP at a 20. He’s been looking sharp this year from what I have seen and heard…..you may want to consider him a favorite when placing your para mutual bets. Some other players to watch (besides me at an 8) would be Brian Buffone and Dennis Pierce, they both seemed primed to step up and get their first pink jacket! I guess this is my handicapping the field Prose. Don’t be surprised either if one of the Boston Boys come out of the pack this year. We haven’t seen Coscia for a couple years so you never know what he’s gonna bring to the Desert. Then there’s the Shunsta, he seems to play 3 really good rounds then just shits the bed on day 4, maybe this will be the year he holds it together. And lastly, do not count out the Candy making Fag, Tim Dugan…..He’s back to a 12 handicap, which seems a tad high for such a fine athletic specimen. Problem is he has gone through more than just a swing change in the last couple years….so I look for a middle of the pack finish form the Candyman! I will handicap more of the field in my next Pro’s Prose edition….keep checking back for that important information. Until then you know the drill, keep your head down and swing hard!!! DJ, The Duel Pro [divider] 5-7-12 From DJ, The Duel PRO The weeks are flying by as we prepare for the Duel 2012. Everything seems to be set for a great tournament and a great time with friends form around the country! I can’t wait!!! Goldie and Bill Seidl are trying to put together a night out at a show (maybe Penn and Teller) … so if you are interested in something like that one night shoot them an email. Handicaps are set, no one really bitched except Paul, but we’re used to that. Paul is now a 9! He was a 10 last year and finished in 2nd place overall. Once again Paul would like to organize paramutual betting on the tournament. Mitch will send out a betting sheet as always in a few days, just fill it out and email back to him as soon as possible. Bet as much and as often as you like, the more that’s wagered the more you can win! Keep in mind these bets need to be placed prior to flying out to Vegas so Paul can build a spreadsheet at home. So, keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, if you have any questions please let us know and remember, keep your head down and swing hard. DJ, The Duel Pro [divider] 4-30-12 From: DJ, PGA PRO 40 Days to the DUEL 2012!! Reminders again, Group dinner Tuesday night at 6 pm at the Mad Onion Restaurant in the Hooters Hotel………..Shuttle bus will leave every morning at 6:50 am from the main door of the hotel, don’t be late or you will need a cab……..Hole in One, if anyone makes one we all pay that guy $100 cash, we have never had a cheapskate opt out so let’s not start that tradition now Billy!!! If you do want to opt out please send Mitch an email. Prize money is updated on the rules page based on the 22 players signed up and ready to go. We will play both courses from approximately 6,400 yards. Links to the scorecards, http://www.waltersgolf.com/desert-pines-scorecard.asp and http://www.waltersgolf.com/royal-links-scorecard.asp check them out! Hope everyone is doing well and tuning up their games for the Duel this year. I look forward to seeing all my buddies again in 40 short days. Until then, keep your head down and swing hard. DJ, The PRO [divider] 4-25-12 From: DJ, The Duel Pro Well Boys, we are about 6 weeks to the 2012 Duel. I have some updates for you so pay attention, that means you DENNIS!!! The group dinner will be Tuesday night June 12th in the Mad Onion Restaurant in the Hooters Hotel….. we have a private room from 6-?. We will order form the menu and just divide up the bill evenly, note to BILLY BROWN, come thirsty so you get your share!!! And no cheeseburgers. We will have thge flights divided out that night for everyone to see where they stand. We have 22 palyers this year so we will have 11 in each flight. Prize money will be updated on the website by Mitch soon. Because we have 22 players, we will play 3 foursomes and 2 fivesomes. This could make for a fun wolf game or two. So far we haven’t heard any bitching about handicaps, I guess you all have learned that only gets you lowered, right DUGAN!! Yea you heard right the candy making fag is back after a two year legal battle. He won by the way!!! One more thing, transportation to the golf course, I think Brian and Paul need to pay close attention here, Bell transportation will pick us up at 6:50 am every morning at the main hotel door for the 20-25 minute ride to the golf courses. I suggest you be there on time or a little early because it is hard to take attendance every morning. This will give us about 40 minutes to warm up etc before tee off. 8 am are the tee times every morning. If you have any questions let Mitch know. Until next time, keep your head down and swing hard!!! Danny, PGA PRO [divider] 4-10-12 From: DJ, PGA Pro April 10 means we are 60 days from tee off of the 2012 DUEL!! I think we are locked in with 22 players this year, so Mitch will update the payouts of prize money on this website soon. As always this trip promises to be new and exciting with new golf courses and of course Hooter Girls every day at the pool! We are in the process of planning our halfway dinner, we are trying to get a private area in the restaurant near the front of the casino and will keep you advised when that is set in stone. What is set is that we will have our group dinner Tuesday night. Handicaps are pretty well set, Mitch has been lowered to an 8, trust me no one has anything to worry about there. Can you say HOOKS! My picks this year to contend for the Pink Jacket are Brian Buffone and Dennis Pierce, two long time members much in need of some Pink. Hope everyone is excited to be in Vegas and your games are getting tuned up over the next 60 days, especially you snow birds. Remember, keep your head down and swing hard, until next time I am….. The Pro [divider] 4-2-12 From DJ, PGA Pro Well guys here we are again, 2 months from the beginning of the 2012 Duel!! I’m fired up and ready to go. We have 8 am tee times every morning for this years tournament, a little later than last year but still plenty of time for R&R at the pool at Hooters. Being in Vegas should be fun but also have some new challenges for a few of the guys, other than Paul I won’t name names!! As of now we have 21 golfers in and paid and still 1 (PAUL) that I am waiting on. So if we have 22, we will update the prize money accordingly. All in all it looks like things are shaping up for a great trip with a great group of guys!! If you haven’t visited the golf course websites, do so, there is a ton of good information and a tour of the courses. Desert Pines and Royal Links in Las Vegas, google them! More info to follow after the Masters, GO TIGER!!!! DJ, Your Duel Pro [divider] 3-13-12 From DJ, The Duel PGA Pro Gentlemen, it is that time of year again, we are less than 3 months to the Duel in the Desert 2012!! I hope this Pro’s Prose finds everyone doing well. Things in Texas are great, the economy is picking up, we have been getting caught up on rainfall and I have been spending some time tuning up my short game. It looks pretty good so far for this year attendance, hopefully a full 24 man field. New courses should produce some interesting scoring this year. My guess is HIGHER! Not to mention a little more nightlife for guys like Paul, KP and Shunney….although Cali is a little further down the road this year. Keep an eye out for frequent updates to this column and be sure to check out the other pages of the website for tee time, player and handicaps etc etc etc. Look forward to seeing all my Duel Brothers in June. Until then, keep your head down and swing hard!! DJ, PRO [divider] 6-7-11 From DJ, The Duel Pro Hey guys, I’m at the airport in Houston waiting on my flight. To add some pressure to everyone’s round this year we are talking about having a “Champions Dinner” the first night every year. You must have a Champions Pink Jacket to enter. Play Hard. The weather looks incredible for this years event, you may even need a windshirt if you’re a pussy. Don’t forget to see KP on Thursday, it’s not KJ to all douche bags, to enter in the DAY MONEY POOL. Many ways to make some money at the DUEL2011!!! Getting ready to board, see y’all in Nevada, and I’m pretty sure I know my tee time foe Sunday, do you? Play Hard!! See ya in Nevada Be safe DJ, PGA PRO [divider] 6-5-2011 From: Danny Jones, PGA PRO First, I must offer my deepest and heartfelt apology to Dennis Grumpy Pierce….I have picked on him relentlessly all spring. There ya go Denny, are we cool? As always it is done with the utmost respect and love! Well boys, here we are, the Duel in the Desert 2011 version. We have a great field with a great group of men. Paul tells me in addition to the prize money, we have over $2700 in the para mutual pot. So we definitely have something to grind for. For you guys arriving mid day Wednesday, we will probably out by the pool in the afternoon, for the evening arrivals we will see you in the casino and maybe grab some dinner. The weather is going to be perfect for morning golf and afternoon pool activities…..and don’t forget, dinner Thursday night at GP’s Steakhouse. This is the only planned event….besides the golf. We have designated babysitters for the potential problems we foresee with too much Jack Daniels or Merlot. You know who you are and so do we!!! I wish everyone safe and on time travel and can’t wait to see y’all in Nevada in a few days. Keep your head down and swing hard. DJ, PGA PRO [divider] 6-2-11 FROM: DJ, PGA PRO Well boys….less than a week until the 2011 Duel. Is anyone ready? I was ready a month ago!! This time next week we will be wrapping up round 1 and see who has brought their “A” game to the Desert besides yours truly. I can’t wait to get a little piece of Dennis!! He’s mine, I own him like a bitch! As for the rest of you, play hard or you will be looking at my back. It’s a pretty back, so you may enjoy it in my wake. ………..all kidding aside, I wish all of you safe and on time travels and can’t wait to give y’all a big Texas bear hug. Report from the golf courses, they punched and sanded the greens on Tuesday May 31st, so 9 days later when we play they should be absolutely perfect. Timing is everything, thanks Mitch. The weather looks incredible, highs in the low 90’s, light breeze, 70’s in the morning, we could not ask for anything better. Follow all that with some cold beer at the pool, some thick juicy red meat and winning roullette numbers and it’s all good. I will try and update this column one more time on Monday next week, until then remember …. fairways and greens!! Your Pro, Danny Jones [divider] 5-29-11 From: Danny Jones, PGA Pro Sunday night and I spent some time with Mitch and Brian this weekend and watched them play a few holes. I must say I was quite impressed….they are both Tournament ready!! In case you haven’t noticed this year, I dropped my handicap from 8 to 6……does that tell you anything? Ummmmmm, it should, but you guys bet on whoever you like, all my $$$ is on ME!! 10 days boys!!! Just 10 more days until we kick off the 2011 Duel. I get in a day early with KP, Mitch and Brian so we can get all the alcoholic supplies for the suite and pool. I look forward every year to a great Duel, this year will be no exception. More reminders this week….remember, keep your head down and swing hard! DJ, Pro [divider] 5-23-11 From: Danny Jones, Pro Happy Monday morning to everyone! We are coming up on 2 weeks from teeing it up in Primm for the 2011 Duel. Everyone should be working on their games with the hope of peaking at the right time. JUNE 9th is the right time!! If you haven’t placed your wagers yet on the para mutual, please do it as soon as you can, we like to give Paul some time to build his spreadsheet. So please don’t be like Big George and put it off any longer. George will be filling his sheet out on the 9th as Goldie hits his tee shot. It’s just how he is, Big G from Parking Lot, Texas. We have a perfect size field of 20 players…..we have updated the 1st round pairings and prize money distribution accordingly. You can check all that out on this website. Don’t forget, we will all get together at 6 am at the main hotel entrance each morning for the ride over to the course, if you have a car or van pull it up the doors and fill it up. The weather in Vegas so far this year has been unusally cool. Very few days above 80. I will update you on the long range forecast in future Prose. Keep an eye out here for more updates, and remember to keep your head down and swing hard. DJ, PGA PRO [divider] 5-16-11 From: Danny Jones, PGA Pro Hello from beautiful Montgomery, Texas!! We are on the downhill side of the countdown to the 2011 Duel. 23 days until we meet up again in the Desert for another chapter in the long history of the Duel and things we can’t talk about once we get back home. It was great to see about 8 of my fellow duelers that participated in the Walden Member Guest this past weekend. The highlight was watching Brian and Mitch come down 18 in the Shootout after the othe 8 teams were eliminated hole by hole. Both hit perfect tee shots only to see their alternate shot partners dump the approaches in the pond. They both proceeded to hit their approaches to the back of the green 30 feet from the pin. Their partners then put the next shots within 6 and 3 feet……we will tell you the outcome in PRIMM!!! With around 60 people surrounding the 18th green the tension was thick. My two boys performed like champs under pressure. A couple reminders since some of the guys haven’t paid attention to what I say here (T MAC)…. this years dinner will be Thursday night at 6:30 pm at GPs, after the first round. First round pairings are posted on this website, find the link and check it out. There is also a rules page in case you have any need to follow the rules. Lastly, no one has opted out of the Hole in One $100 deal (even frugal Billy) ….so if anyone makes an ace, we all pay that person $100 cash. Guys, get ready for a great time in just a little over three short weeks. Golf tip of the week, if you aren’t good out of the bunkers, stay out of them. Until next time, DJ [divider] 5-9-11 From: Danny Jones, PGA PRO May 9th, that means we are exactly 1 month from teeing it up in the Desert for the 2011 DUEL! A few reminders everyone needs to keep in mind……1st, we have our annual dinner on Thursday night after the 1st round at GP’s Steakhouse at 6:30 PM. We will meet in the bar for a cocktail at 6. You don’t want to miss this mandatory event. 2nd, all tee times begin at 7 AM, we will meet at 6 am at the front door of the hotel for the 10 minute drive over to the courses. Don’t be late, we will leave without you….ED!! Next, remember, if anyone makes a hole in one, all the other players owe him $100 cash. I plan on making one this year, so make sure you have a few large bills in your wallet. It looks like everyone is booked to get in Wednesday and has figured out how they are going to get to the Hotel from the airport. If not, let Mitch know and he may be able to hook you up with someone with some room. The hotel has received the final room list with your credit card information so you should be seeing a charge soon for the room and golf. Check it out and if you see anythng abnormal let Mitch know. As we get closer to the date I will continue to keep you posted right here. And remember, if you don’t get the putt to the hole it probably won’t go in!! DJ [divider] 5-2-11 From Danny Jones, Duel in the Desert Pro It’s MAY!!! Everyone knows what that means. Soon to be less than a month to the 2011 Duel. That means it is time to remember the 2010 champs. First KP, he won the second flight while leaking oil all the way down the 18th fairway. It was so bad (the 10) that Primm had to shut down the Desert course after we left to re-sod some of the 18th fairway. When KP came in, all tuckered out by the way, he had thought he lost……but he didn’t, he won the pink. His attitude was so bad that Shane had to threaten to tackle him. A big smile and whooop whoooop followed along with a check for over $1200. Then we have our first flight champ. After a dead ass last finish in 2009, Stan rebounded in 2010 … shaving 40 some shots off the previous year. See Goldie, there is hope!!! Stan proclaimed that all the stars were lined up in his world and he was at complete peace in his life. We all know things don’t stay that way, so I look for a more pedestrian effort from Satan this year at the Duel 2011. Ahhhh, it’s all in good fun and Duel brotherhood. I can’t wait to see y’all. This years tournament looks like the best ever. I will keep you updated more often as we get closer to June. Don’t forget, all your CC’s will be charged soon, so don’t panic, they always do this approximately 30 days out. Remember, keep your head down and take a rip. DJ [divider] 4-29-11 From: Danny Jones Jr. PGA PRO I think it’s time to crank up a little trash talk and as much as I hate to pick on people, I do love to go after my favorite target first. It’s becoming an annual tradition for me to go after Dennis (aka Grumpy). Really Dennis, you were thinking about missing your first Duel in 20 years because you had to drive the school bus one more day? Seriously, you were scared? All I can say to you is always remember …… “The wheels on the bus go round and round”….. whether you are driving it or not. I’m guessing they will be able to find someone from the Andretti family to take your place for one day in June. Holy shit!!! But seriously Dennis, what would a Duel be without you (complaining about something)? If you weren’t there we would have to have cheeseburgeres twice so Billy could make up for you missing. Then there’s our 2nd flight champ from two years ago, Gerald. He has backed out of this years Duel again, stating that he is “not tournament ready”. Ummmmmm, ok!! News Flash, it’s the Duel not the PGA Tour. We will muddle through. Hope everyone is getting their games in shape. I recommend the Medicus for you Goldie! Keep your head down and swing hard. Until next time………. DJ [divider] 4-26-11 From: Danny Jones, PGA PRO It’s official, we are less than a month and a half away from this years Duel in the Desert!! I know I am…..I’ve working my ass off on the short game, which as you veterans of the Duel know is pretty important at Primm. Mitch and I have been working hard on the shopping list for supplies (cocktails and beer) at the pool and in the suite. I doubt there will be a shortage of liquids. Last years Champs are both working hard on their games to try and defend their crown. No one has ever gone back to back at the Duel, so I look for a new winner to come out of the pack this year. Drunk Bastard has predicted a good showing, he seems to get a little closer every year. Paul J made a big jump last year, so look out for him. Don’t be surprised if we have a rookie win in 2011, Bill Seidl, Gary Alford and Austin Pearce all look like formiddable opponents ….. the field looks strong. Put some of the regulars in there like Tmac, Chris Steed and Goldie and we have a pretty wide open tournament. Then there is Shunney, Dennis and Danny Smith from the snowy northland…..they will have to get busy to catch to us boys from the warm south. Mitch will be sending out the betting slip for the para mutual betting that will be handled by Paul J again this year in a few days. Last year Stan was the only person to bet on Stan, so he cleaned up with a relatively small wager. Make your bets and email it to Paul or Mitch, Paul will then build a spreadsheet of who bet on who for everyone to see. You will have to pay Paul for your bets in cash when you get to Primm. More updates to follow right here as we get closer to this years Duel. See you in 44 days. DJ [divider] 4-19-11 From Danny Jones, PGA Professional The days are clicking off and we are 50 days from the Duel 2011. The bitching about handicaps has subsided, the plans are made, the liquor store shopping list is in my wallet and we hear the courses are in PERFECT condition. Thursday’s mandatory dinner for everyone is scheduled at GP’s again this year…..for you new guys, we order off the menu and just split the bill up at the end of the night….yes Billy this means you also. I hope Shunney has some new material prepared to go along with his old classics! I look forward to seeing all my old Duel friends and meeting a few new ones this year. It is definitely going to be a great tournament with the men we have playing this year. Remember to keep your head down and swing hard!! DJ [divider] 4-11-11 From: Danny Jones, Duel Pro Less than 2 months until we tee it up in the Desert for the 2011 Duel in the Desert!! I hope everyone has implemented their 60 day plan to get ready, last years two champs have. I certainly have been on the range. Hopefully the snowbirds from Chicago, Boston and Kentucky have been able to get out and start tuning it up. We have 7 am tee times every morning (sorry Paul)…..it’s a beautiful time to play golf in the Desert, we don’t get to hot or windy and still have plenty of time at the pool. 110 in June…. but it’s a dry oven like heat!! Paul has volunteered to set up the para mutual betting again, everyone seemed to enjoy that extra bit of action last year. I will send out a “betting slip” sometime in mid May for you to make your picks and email to me or Paul, so all you will need to do is pay Paul when you get there. Bet as much as you like on as many players as you like. Both Flights pay!! Handicaps are adjusted and posted on the players and handicaps page of this website. Any questions let us know please. Yes Gerald, we only use EVEN Numbers. Remember the rules when bitching and moaning about your handicap. Double bogey max for 3.5 rounds and all OB is played as lateral. I can’t wait to see all my Duel friends in less than 60 days!!! Until then boys, keep it in the short grass…………. “THE PRO” [divider] 4-4-11 From: Danny Jones, PGA Golf Proessional As the weather heats up here in Texas, I can’t not think about some quality pool time with my boys. Ya, I know the Primm pool water can be pretty chilly and create some shrinkage. Some of us don’t need that, do we? But the refreshing feel of diving into a cool pool when it’s 107 out is sweet!! As always music will be supplied by KP with his patented “Duel pool mix”, my guess is there will be lots of Kenny Chesney. Also, we will have cold beer on ice all afternoon with a special emphasis on Corona! Koozies will be supplied by Four Seasons Equipment. Also, keep in mind we have a few select beverages like Bloody Marys and Jim Beam in Mitch’s suite along with some fine California Merlot. You’re Welcome Brian………. Don’t forget, the group dinner is Thursday night at 6:30 at GP’s Steakhouse at Primm. Trust me, this is a dinner and event you do not want to miss a minute of. As always the pink Jackets will be presented to last years Champions at this dinner. There won’t be a dry eye in the house. HA!! Keep checking back for frequent updates to this column, I promise to be more on top of it. Hope all is well with everyone and I can’t wait to see y’all in Nevada in 65 days!!! Until then, keep it in the short grass, I DO!!! DJ, PGA Pro [divider] 3-29-11 From: Danny Jones, The Duel Pro I apologize for not getting to everyone sooner with another in my series of Prose. The 2010 Champ wants everyone to know he is starting his 2011 60 day pre Duel training in an effort to defend his Title. Good Luck Stan, you will need it!! Field update, we have 23 in and paid, a couple new guys this year include Goldie’s buddy Bill Seidl (plays at Champions) and T-Mac’s good friend Gary Alford a 6 handicap from Hearthstone. We have one spot open and right now we have Tim Dugan’s name on it. Maybe if everyone fired off a little email to Tim we can convince him to make it this year. You can email him at timdugan@me.com. We are coming in to April, meaning we have only two months to this years event. I think Stan has the right idea, crank up the practice because this years field will be the biggest and toughest ever. A couple changes to keep in mind this year, we are playing Thursday – Sunday (7am every morning). The group dinner will be Thursday night at 6:30 pm at GP’s Steakhouse after round one. Everything looks like we are heading towards the best Duel ever, even Goldie isn’t complaining, he gets to go have a mani-pedi-massage every afternoon in the new Primm Spa. Gotta keep Goldie Happy!! Until the next update, keep your head down and swing hard. DJ [divider] 3-7-11 From: Danny Jones, PGA PRO Fellow Duelers, things are coming together for this years Duel in the Desert. Looks like we will have close to 24 participants. More money for Danny Smith!!! We have a few verbal commitments with no $$$ in yet to lock them in, but it’s in the mail. Right Shunney? Hey, check this out, Billy Brown is renting a car with T-Mac and Big George….of course he told Tommy “I ain’t paying no $100 bucks for no rental car”…. so Tommy let him off for $97.50!!! Some announcements, this years mandatory group dinner is Friday Night in the Steakhouse (GP’s), also any hole in one gets $100 from each player in cash unless you opt out prior to arriving in Nevada. Don’t be a pussy!!! You may be the one to make the 1st ever Duel Ace!! If you haven’t registered and paid by now, I suggest you get that done because once we hit 24 it’s a full boat, we can’t get any more tee times together. Until next time, keep your head and swing hard. “The Pro” [divider] 1-19-11 From: DJ – PGA Pro By now everyone should have received your 2011 invite to the DUEL. Get them back to Mitch as soon as you can to guarantee your spot at this years event. No checks will be cashed until April, so you guys that watch your cash flow, date your checks April 1 and get them in. Do Not Delay!! Chris Steed is already in and paid, first again, thanks Chris. Don’t forget, this year we are playing Thursday – Sunday each morning at 7 am. Also, I would welcome anyone who would like to write an article for the Pro’s Prose…just write it and send to Mitch for posting right here for everyone to read. Get your entry form in asap, and remember to keep your head down and swing hard!!! Your Pro, DJ [divider] 1-12-11 From: Your PGA Pro! Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season. Now that it is behind us, it is time again to look forward to another Duel. Believe it or not we are less than 5 months away from this years event. I don’t know about you but I look forward to this years Duel as much as any in the past. A couple changes we have made this year due to a full golf course on Wdnesday of the week we want to play is …. we will start our tournament on Thursday and conclude on Sunday. This means you don’t have to arrive until sometime Wednesday….fyi, I will be waiting by the pool for you!! Our group dinner will be Friday night after round 2 instead of Thursday. Other than that, everything looks good and we expect a group of 24 this year. I’d like to try something different with the Pro’s Prose this year. Anyone who would like to submit something to publish on this prestigous column is welcome to. Just write it up, in Word if you can, and submit it to Mitch at his eamil address for upload. This should be interesting!! Get your entry forms in early, you do not want to be left out of this years DUEL!! Head down and rip it!!! The PRO [divider] 6-14-2010 From: DJ, PGA PRO The Wrap Up!! Congratulations to the 2010 Champs, Stan Wells and Kevin Phillips. They are deserving champions and will definitely look good in PINK!! Stan played steady all week, with all rounds in the mid 80’s. KP was a little more adventurous, but posted a very good final round despite a mind blowing 10 on the 72nd hole. Great job guys!! We had great weather, cold beer, good friends…. another great trip to the Desert. I am already looking forward to Duel 2011!! Maybe when things settle down we can do a fall or winter get together in Texas for a long weekend. We’ll keep you posted. Results are posted on the 2010 results page, check them out. Until next time, keep your head down and rip it!! DJ [divider] 6-4-2010 From Danny Jones, Your PGA Pro One day closer……….jeeez the clock is moving slow! One week from today is round 3, moving day, the day the creme starts to rise to the top. My middle name this year is CREME!!!! Let the games begin……. I just dropped by to write a quickie to wish everyone safe travels and to let you know how ready everyone in Texas is to get to Vegas and play some golf and just hang out with good friends. We hope you northerners are ready for the heat (it’s a dry heat) that you are about to fly into. My guess is Barty will love it! Don’t forget we have three newbies this year, Shane, Les and John, let’s make them feel like lifelong members of the Duel! I will…… Until I see y’all in Nevada next week, Tee it high and let it Fly!!! Danny [divider] 6-3-2010 From Danny Jones Jr, Pro Getting ever so close to this years Duel in the Desert!! I have all my outfits laid out in the extra bedroom ready to pack. We have Wayne getting in early Monday, he has been supplied with a couple shopping lists for beer, alcohol, wine and supplies. THANK YOU Wayne!!! Once again we have a Corona and Lime theme at the pool daily, make sure you donate some cash to Wayne or Mitch (I am not sure who paid for all the beer and coolers etc) if you are going to participate in pool beer drinking activities. The Para Mutual betting is pushing $2500 and we still have about 7 or 8 guys that have not bet. So it looks like $3000 will be the number in that side wagering pot. The weather looks great, my game is in tip top shape (maybe), Shunney is going to show up, everything is set for a great Duel this year!! I will probably only write to you guys one more time before we head out next week, so I wanted to say to everyone travel safely and as always let’s go out and have a great time in the spirit of Brotherhood. Just like a brother from another mother!!! Be safe, see y’all next week. Remember on your putts, when in doubt on the break, hit em straight!! DJ, pro [divider] 5-31-2010 From: Danny Jones, PGA Pro Happy Memorial Day guys!! Hope everyone had a great day and remembered what the day is all about. A week from today I will be in Las Vegas relaxing and waiting for the arrival of the rest of the Duel gang!! I can’t wait! There has been a little last minute whining about handicaps here and there. We have carefully gone over them and also had them posted for several weeks, so bottom line is, IT’s TOO LATE!!! Bets are being made based on what they are, and honestly they get more fair every year. OK, enough scolding. Don’t forget when you check in the hotel front desk to get the package there waiting for you, you may need to ask, we’re not staying at The Venetian! Just Saying……… Remember the mandatory dinner at GP’s at 6pm Thursday night, plenty of fun surprises and we need to honor last years champions!! A week away from the 2010 quest for pink. Are you ready? More to follow soon, remember head down and swing hard!! DJ [divider] 5-24-2010 From: Danny Jones, PRO Hope everyone had a nice weekend and is working hard to get their game in shape for this years Duel. I understand we are approaching $2000 bet in the para mutual and that is with only about half the guys having their bets in. Paul would like to give everyone a printout before the first round of who bet on who and how much, this is why we keep pushing you to get your wagers in before June 3. He needs a little time to do the spreadsheet. Two weeks from today me, Brian, Mitch, Wayne, Shane and Paul will be heading in to Vegas for some early preperations and supply shopping. I really look forward to seeing everyone Tuesday either by the pool or at least for some cocktails and dinner. Hopefully we can keep Brian from getting any scars. It’s a dirty job, but we can do it!! In case you all wondering, this years hat color is Orange with some sweet custom embroidery. I look hot in Orange, FYI. Until my next update, which will be soon, remember to keep your head down and swing from the heals!!! Yours Truly, DJ [divider] 5-21-2010 From: Danny Jones, PGA Professional Ahhhhhh, 3 weeks from today will be moving day, the 3rd round of the Duel. Which way will you be moving, that is the question of the day? You will know then exactly where you stand in your flight, how many guys you need to pass to be in the big money. Will you play conservative or aggressive? This pro advises playing these golf courses fairly conservatively. My many years of experience say that in the fairway and on or around the green is all you need to score well at Primm. There are a few holes that you can be more aggressive on, but not very many. Just a little free advice from your travelling PGA Pro!! Once we get there I charge $80 an hour for this kind of information. $100 if you are from Elgon, IL!!! Beware of the NEW GUYS this year, Shane Pearce (2 Handicap), John Duewel (18 and a friend of Danny and Dennis), Les Stanbery (18, a friend of Satan). You may want to put some money on these guys, just as a little insurance. Don’t forget to get your betting slips in to Mitch or Paul as soon as you can, they will be emailed a couple more times to you as a reminder. Until next time, practice those 3 footer, because they aren’t gimme’s at the Duel. DJ, The Pro [divider] 5-19-2010 From: DJ Well, before I get started I have to apologize to my extreme elder, Mr. Dennis Pierce for the percieved attack on him in Monday’s column. Sorry Denny!!! I only pick on you because I love ya man!! Someone was asking me the other day about the origin of golf etc etc etc. He then asked me how and why they came up with the name golf. I gave him the obvious answer, I said “well Joe, it’s because FUCK was already taken”. exactly 3 weeks from today the 2010 Duel in the Desert will be under way with some great golf competition. The weather will be great as always, and it will be a great get away and nice to see all my buddies. A couple reminders, mandatory dinner at GP’s Steakhouse on Thursday Night at 6:00 PM. Also, when you check in there will be a welcome packet for each of you at the front desk, make sure they give you yours, if they don’t, please remind them. Keep checking back here often for more frequent updates and reminders…..there will be plenty. Until next time, keep it in the short grass!! The Pro [divider] 5-17-2010 From: Your Pro 3 weeks baby!!! 3 weeks to sunny Las Vegas and this years Duel in the Desert!! 3 weeks and I open up a special can of whoop Dennis!! And Jimmy Frye……not this year buddy, you are playing for 2nd. KP’s been working with Shane on his swing so he’s F’d. Paul has a bad elbow, Barty has a bad back…..hell I’m buying stock in Advil. And who the hell knows what ailment Dennis is fighting this year…..maybe drinkers elbow or grumpy knees. I got this all figured out. It’s a war of attrition, all I need to do is behave myself and everyone else will either fall apart or be hungover enough to shoot 100. It worked a few years ago and I am due again in 2010. Mitch feel free to use that in your poem. Then there is Brian, enough said. On the good news front….Mr. Mike Shunney has finally officially decided to bless us with his attendance at the 2010 Duel. What Duel would be complete without him? Hope everyone is ready to, it looks like we are all set for a great time with good friends and sunny weather. See y’all soon. Remember, head down and swing hard!!! DJ [divider] 5-10-10 By: DJ, The Pro We are less than a month from getting together in Nevada for this years version of the Duel in the Desert!! Is everyone ready? Reminders to follow, but for now I want to tell you that we have several Duel Virgins this year, let’s make sure we show them a good time as new Duelers. Welcome Shane Pearce, Les Stanberry and John Duewel… I promise you will have a good time as I whip up on you guys around the course!! It’s what I do! Reminders, first, don’t forget about the mandatory dinner on Thursday night at GP’s Steakhouse at 6:00pm. Next, make sure you are ready to go an hour before tee times at the front door if you need a ride to the course, I am not your wake up call!! Don’t forget some of the special Duel Rules, all OB is played lateral, double Bogey Max for the first 3.5 rounds, we play the ball as it lies and gimme’s are anything that is inside or touches the pink tape. Lastly, don’t forget to get your betting slip back to Mitch or Paul, it looks like from early signs there will be $2500.00 plus in the para mutual. Pick a dark horse and you could win some serious money!! I will try and update this more often as we get closer to this years event. In the meantime if you have any questions or need anything answered let me or Mitch know. Remember, if you don’t get the putt to the hole it can’t go in!! Sound Familiar? Yours in the PGA, DJ, Pro [divider] 5-5-10 By; The Pro, Mr. Danny Jones Well Boys, we are just a little over a month from the Duel 2010. I am so ready to go, I bet we all need a vacation. What could be better than being with your buddies in warm and dry Nevada drinking some beer, playing golf and lounging by the pool? Looks like we are going to have exactly 20 players. Mitch has re-done the rules and regs page with the corrected payouts. Don’t forget, if anyone makes an ACE we all pay that guy $100 cash. I hope no one has an issue with that, and we assume that guy will at least pick up the lunch tab. $20 cheeseburgers for everyone!!! A few of us are going in to Vegas Monday night and staying at the Southpoint if anyone wants to come out a day early! If not you can find us by the Primm Pool Tuesday afternoon when you arrive. Oh, almost forgot, also posted are the first round parings and tee times, this saves us time that first day getting organized. Lastly, don’t forget to place your wagers on the paramutual betting. Mitch emailed out the betting slip and a sample of the spreadsheet. If you need it again let Mitch or Paul know. Just another way to maybe make a few bucks. Keep checking back here for more updates, and remember if you don’t get it to the hole it won’t go in!! See you soon, DJ, Pro [divider] 4-27-2010 By: Danny Jones, PRO Good Morning from Montgomery (Houston) Texas!!! Only 40 short days until we tee it up again in sunny Primm Nevada. I can’t wait, I need a vacation. First, let me thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all your wishes during this past several days after my dad passed away. I really appreciate all you guys and your friendship. Most of all thanks for donating in his name to Golfers Against Cancer!!! As I try and get back to a normal schedule, the Duel is what i look forward to most. Being with friends, golfing, swimming and drinking some beer…..what could be a better elixer. Of course, kicking everones ass wouldn’t be bad either. I will continue to update this column often as we get closer to the Duel 2010. I can’t wait to see all you guys again in June. Until then, keep your head down and swing hard!!! DJ, Your Pro [divider] 4-14-10 By: Danny Jones, PGA Pro 52 days until we meet again in Nevada. I just want you all to know how hard I have been working on the range since I disappointed at last year Duel. Maybe I should be a little less cocky this year……right!!! I have a PINK Jacket already. Do you? I didn’t think so….but 2010 may be your year. I was looking good on Easter, I wore the PINK all day in the shop. That’s right, for me it is not just a once a year in June kind of thing….I am a proud past Duel Champion. This year we crown two more deserving champions while at the same time lowering their handicaps. Congratulations to Gerald and Jimmy. We have 22 solidly comitted to attend this years Duel….with a couple stragglers on the fence, yes it’s Shunney again. If you guys can, send him an email and give him a little extra push. Mike is missed when he can’t attend. On top of that he has been knocking on the door for the last 2 years, finishing near the top. And we all know Mike would look sweet in some PINK. That’s all I got for now………..remember to keep it in the short grass, keep your head down and swing hard!!!! Your Pro, Danny [divider] 4-12-10 By Danny Jones, PRO Hope everyone had a great Easter! Of course every year when Easter is over we begin the home stretch of preparations for the DUEL!! This year is no different. The pink jackets are ready to award, the courses are in great condition, they have their liquor license back (good news for DB) and the pool water will be warmer. Looks like we are going to have a full field again this year…..24 golfers. We are waiting on 3 last minute commitments, you know who you are! As usual we will have our group dinner on Thursday after round 2. Mandatory, especially if you need to be there to collect a prestigious pink jacket…..ok Jimmy! Last year we had a paramutual betting pool after round 2. This year we are going to send out the player and handicap list in about a week and have everyone place their wagers prior to June 3rd. Paul will then email out the spreadsheet of who bet on who. Both flights will pay…..win, place and show. All you need to do is pay Paul in cash before you tee off the first round for the bets you placed. I look forward to seeing everyone this year in Primm, only 2 mnths away!!! DJ, Your Pro [divider] 3-24-10 By: Danny Jones, Head Pro Exactly 9 months since I wrote you last after the 2009 Duel. Does anyone miss me? If you do you sure don’t show it very well! Feel free to send me any well wishes anytime, you have my email. Just do it. As the Olympics wind down this weekend it is time to start thinking about this years Duel on the Desert 2010. It looks like we are going to have a full field of 24 guys and maybe a couple on the wait list. The economy must be turning around or everyone just needs a get away. Either way, this years event promises to be the best ever. Pink Jackets will be awarded to two new Champions, Gerald and Jimmy, at the awards dinner on Thursday night. A recorded song by David Keys (can’t attend due to prior obligations) will be played as a tribute to the Duel. Words by Mitch, music by Keys. KP says the morning beverage will be spicey bloody marys followed by the usual afternoon Corona and Lime at the pool. Handicaps will be sent out for your review in a few weeks, argue and negotiate if you want, Goldie will be the ultimate enforcer. So object at your own risk! Keep your eye out hear for more information and updates as we get closer to the big event, I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t wait!!! DJ “The PRO” [divider] 6-24-09 By; Danny Jones, PRO I miss you guys!!!! I’ve been siting around thinking this morning that I miss you guys, and honestly getting together once a year just doesn’t cut it. So, I have an idea. Mid September let’s try and put a short trip together to LauBerge Casino and Golf in Lake Charles, LA. I’m thinking arrive Thursday, Golf Friday and Saturday……and leave Saturday night or Sunday. Does this interest anyone? If it does, shoot me a quick email with your level of interest or alternative ideas. Until we meet again, swing hard you never know when you may make good contact. “The PRO” [divider] 6-16-09 By: Danny Jones, Duel Golf Pro The 2009 DUEL is in the books. Hope this note finds everyone well and home safely. Congratulations to Jimmy and Gerald, they did what you have to do to win the Duel, put 4 good rounds together!!! It seems like everyone had a great time, I sure did. Can’t wait for the next one and maybe even a mid year reunion. We’re talking about something in November right now and will keep you all informed. This years results are now posted on the “2009 Results” page, go take a look, it was damn close!!! In the meantime, hit ’em straight. “The Pro” [divider] 6-5-09 PM BY: Danny Jones, Your Humble Servant OK Guys, I just want you to know that this Pro’s Prose thing was not my idea, and anything said here was just for fun with no malice intended whatsoever. I really just want to keep everyone excited and fired up for the fun time next week. I guarantee it will be a great time. The weather report is outstanding, the beer promises to be cold and the company great as always. If the golf is half as good as the guys on this trip it’s a huge success!! A couple housekeeping things Mitch wanted me to cover, first, don’t forget to get your putter marked with the pink tape for the gimme line before the first round. Second, everyone will pay the maker of an “ACE” $100. Then that guy will buy the cocktails. Lastly, have a great time, there’s no reason to stress anything while at the DUEL. Travel safe and see you at the POOL!!!! “THE PRO” [divider] 6-5-09 BY: Danny Jones, PRO Who are these new guys? Or as I like to call them FNG’s (f***ing new guys). Do we really know how they may perform, are their handicaps right, are we being fleeced? Who is this Wayne Michels guy, he can’t even spell Michaels correctly, do we even know if that’s his real name? He could be a former senior tour player named Trevino. And Jay Knobloch, didn’t he play 2nd base for the Yankees? A pro athlete, come on!!!! Who invited these people? Gerlad Hargrave, I do know him and I am worried. Or maybe I’m not, I can’t decide. Stan Wells, he is a newbie in my book, although I have been informed he was a Dueler back in the days. When exactly were those days? And wtf was his handicap back “in the days”? Mitch, what are you doing to us……. bringing in more money for us to win, or……..? I’m not really complaining, just saying …. as KP would say. And speaking of KP, it looks like a two horse race in the poll between him and I…so vote often for the Pro, it’s a smart thing to do. Just a few days until we all meet up in Primm, I seriously can’t wait to see y’all out there. Until later, keep it in the short grass. The PRO [divider] 6-4-09 BY: Danny Jones, Head Golf Professional Another day has passed, this time next week it will be the 2nd round of the Duel, the day that determines which flight you play in. My suggestion is to always play your best and let fate determine which flight you end up in. Trying to “mismanage” your game to get into the 2nd flight is never a good idea, it could possibly put you in the bottom of flight 1. I hope everyone doesn’t really think I am being a cocky asshole, this column is all in good fun. After all, when you’re good, you’re good, nothing i can do about that. HAHAHA. So I got my suitcase out last night, laid all my shirts out that I want to take (my wife thinks I’m nuts)….and of course I carefully laid out the coveted Pink Jacket along with a nice plaid pair of shorts to wear with it. It’s a HOT outfit!! I guess what I am trying to tell you is, I AM READY. Are you? More later, until then fairways and greens!! The PRO [divider] 6-3-09 PM Edition BY: Danny Jones, The Only Duel PRO Ahhhhhhhhhh, Another day has passed, and that means we are one day closer to the annual Duel in the Desert, this is better than Christmas!! The voting continues for “who will win this years duel”, obviously KP has more computers to access than I have family and friends. But it is getting closer, KP has 23, I have 19 and Drunk Bastard has 15. Keep the votes coming. I am almost over the top. I was on the range today, working on my tempo. In case anyone cares I seem to have it dialed in!!! Just sayin, don’t be a hater. I have a question, does everyone want a Cheeseburger after the first round? I know Billy will. That’s funny shit right there. I crack myself up. Until tomorrow my fellow duelers, keep ’em in the short grass. The PRO [divider] 6-3-09 BY: Danny Jones, Your Head Golf Professional Hi Again from Beautiful Texas, I hope I didn’t offend anyone yesterday with my plan to kick some ass!! But like I say, you better have a plan if you wanna kick mine. Ahhhhhh, 5 more days until we tee it up together in hot, sunny and dry Primm, NV. I can’t wait to see all you guys and have a great time. Have you all been watching the polls on the homepage of this website? KP and DB in the lead? They are either campaigning or practicing…….a lot!!! Their history at the Duel tells me they don’t have a prayer. But who knows. Make sure you cast your vote (for the pro) everyday. Well, it’s off to the range this morning to hit some wedges. It’s easy for me to practice because I live here at the course. Hope you all aren’t jealous, it is what it is. I will be ready this year, but enough about me. I really wanna know who thinks they are gonna beat me, email me and tell me how at dj@pga.com . I’ll be waiting. Take care and hit ’em straight, I do. The “PRO” [divider] 6-2-09 BY: Danny Jones, Your Head Golf Professional Good Morning, Grip it and Rip it, Trust it and Bust it, Tee it High and Let it Fly…………You guys can do all that. I prefer to go with the Fairways and Greens plan. And of course make some putts!!! A week from now we will be in or on our way to Sunny Las Vegas. It’s time to formulate your game plan. Aggressive or Conservative, fire at the pins or middle of the greens, in Goldie’s case go around the water or over it?? These are all things you need to consider now if you plan to beat me. My plan this year is to show you why they call me the PRO. Yes, I know, you think it’s because I drink red wine with Brian like a pro. Or I can fix Shunney’s swing in 10 minutes on the driving range. Nope, not this year….this is the year I showcase my talents on the green grass. Watch out!!! And if for some reason I don’t live up to this plan, there is still beer and football at the pool and Merlot in the evenings to fall back on. So it’s all good either way. Check back again tomorrow for another stardate update. See you in Primm!!! The “PRO” [divider] 6-1-09 BY: Danny Jones, Head Golf Professional Fellow Duel Participants, As the excitement builds towards the begining on the Duel 2009, it is important to remember the basic fundamentals of the golf swing. Tempo, tempo and tempo. And if that fails, keep your head down and swing really hard!!! And of course, there is always the last resort of following in the footsteps of the great Brian Buffone, and packing 8 beers and a bottle of ZING ZANG (look it up at your nearest liquor store), mix those two together and enjoy your day. I head out to Las Vegas on Monday to make sure everything is ready for our arrival. The plan is to do some shopping for an extra large cooler, on wheels, for our afternoon pool time refreshments. Then, to the liquor store to purchase 10-12 cases of beer (mostly Corona), buy some limes and cut those up (can’t have a Corona without lime), and make sure we have the proper water proof footballs to bombard Brian with. After all that is finished we will settle in for a week of fun and games. What I look forward to the most is the dinner with all the guys on Thursday night (GP’s at 6 PM Dennis), from what I understand, this should be more entertaining than ever. Great food, good drinks, poetry and song…just to mention a few. Once again Gentlemen, travel safely and check back here later in the week for more insightful news and golf tips. The “PRO” [divider] 5-29-09 BY: Danny Jones, Head Golf Professional I have been coming to the Duel for several years now and every year I look forward to it more than the last. The guys that have been invited and find a reason why they can’t attend have no idea what they are missing!!! Their loss. I start my countdown at 100 days out. Everyday I send a text to Mitch with the number of days until the duel with a famous sports celebrity past or present who wore that number. It keeps US motivated. Not that we really need motivation to go hang out by the pool and play golf with 24 friends. But it is fun!! This year looks like it is going to be the best Duel yet. A great group of guys, a chance to win back your entry fee and more, Corona and Lime at the pool, Nerf football, Dinner with everyone Thursday night including a song by Mitch and David Keys (a newbie with talent), the usual Poem and stand up by the other Dugan. And maybe a deaf joke from Shunney!!! As I write this we are only 10 days from teeing it up in the desert again, I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday the 9th and wish everyone safe travels to Las Vegas. Check here frequently for another update before we go and when we return from the Duel 2009. The Pro