On Thursday the 24th of February, at precisely 7 am, the second pre-season vote on @buffalogolfer opened for your consideration. The plan? 16 unforgettable tee shots on private courses, vying to be recognized by you as the best.
How does it all work? In the past, we’ve taken the top two vote-earners from each of four brackets, and ushered them into the semifinals. For 2022, we’re mixing it up a bit. The top eight OVERALL will advance. That means that you don’t have to place top-two in your bracket to move on. If one bracket is stacked with votes, three or four could advance to the next round.
With that written, here are the 16 quarterfinalists, in alphabetical order:
Brookfield, 10th hole: Drop off the ridge to the back nine bowl on this mighty par four.
Cherry Hill, 10th hole: Road right, sand left, bounding fairway add up to fun tee ball in Canada.
Cloverbank, 2nd hole: Strategy comes early at Cloverbank. Just find the fairway to have a chance.
Country Club of Buffalo, 5th hole: CCB has stellar short fours, and five just edges ten for this vote.
Crag Burn, 11th hole: Forget the bunkers and do what Lonnie did: aim at the golf shop.
East Aurora, 18th hole: Gut-check time at Junior Masters on this downhill drive at the last.
Gowanda, 15th hole: Scott Witter’s re-do makes this down then up par five a delight.
Lancaster, 16th hole: On a course filled with great tee balls, this one must be in play to think par.
Moonbrook, 5th hole: Jamestown’s pride offers a darned tough tee ball on a darned tough par five.
Niagara Falls, 17th hole: Hopes and dreams dashed annually on the penultimate at the Porter Cup.
Niagara Frotier, 17th hole: How close to water’s edge can you drive it on this short par four?
Orchard Park, 18th hole: Walter Travis knew how to take advantage of a downhill chute.
Park Club, 18th hole: Wendehack’s glory is the backdrop to this hole, taking you down to Ellicott Creek.
River Oaks, 12th hole: Muirhead gives you all kinds of room, and you need it on this three-shot hole.
Springville, 12th hole: The drop-shot par three with death by gorge on the right, and sand on the left.
Wanakah, 15th hole: The do-or-die tee shot on this par three, with Lake Erie in the background.
Did we forget any courses? Bartlett, Pendleton Creek, Lockport, and Transit Valley didn’t make our list. Let us know if we missed any at those four clubs.
Head over to Twitter via the links below, and vote early, late, but often. Tell your friends to vote, and for their friends to vote.
