2022

The Tony’s

Ah, the mythical Tony’s. The long-talked about, not-sure-what-this-thing-is-Tony’s. Then, it finally happened. Despite not having a corresponding Tony’s for the first two Danza’s, it was better late than never to start. The inaugural Tony’s commenced on Master’s Sunday at the nine-hole course, Fairmont Field Club, AKA West’s backyard. The format would be a 2v2 stroke-play scramble, bracket tournament. The teams were broken up into pairings of the A/D and B/C players of their respective Red and Blue squads, with each pairing playing their Danza teammates in the opening round, and the winners squaring off in a Red vs. Blue Championship match. The losers would also compete in a consolation match, in which the last place finishers would have to purchase hot dogs for the whole crew, a Master’s Sunday lunch tradition.

When it comes to the weather for all things Danza related, as protocol, it is always expected to pour down rain, but for the inaugural Tony’s, it was even expected to hail. The day prior, it was raining, sleeting, snowing, and hailing at different points throughout the day, and the course became a bit of a swampland. In this regard, sometimes we get lucky, sometimes we don’t, and on the day of the big event, the boys didn’t know what would get thrown at them, so the only thing to do was show up and play. Once everyone arrived that very cold, Sunday morning, we headed to the course with our fingers crossed, as the skies didn’t indicate it would be a rainy day. The opening group to take the tee box were the Red Team participants, with Trey Zambito and Eric Storm taking on Jordan West and Johnny Belancic.

West and Johnny had a strong start, opening the tourney with a birdie, while things started a little rocky for Trey and Storm, as they double bogeyed the first hole and found themselves with a three-shot deficit. They rebounded well with a par on a very difficult par-3, as West and Johnny shot themselves in the foot, having their turn with a double bogey and reducing their lead to one. Another birdie on hole three would get them back on track, and after a third birdie on the fifth hole, West and Johnny were in the driver’s seat with a comfortable five-stroke lead. They may have gotten too comfortable however, as they bogeyed holes six and seven and posted another ugly double bogey on eight. Regardless, West and Johnny maintained a three-stroke lead heading into the ninth hole, and would need to simply not collapse to punch their ticket to the championship round. It wasn’t Trey and Storm’s best showing, but they weren’t going to go down without a fight. Both pairings finished strong, each birdieing the 600-yard par-5 monster of a hole. West and Johnny would represent the Red Team in the Tony’s Final, but Trey and Storm were determined to carry that ninth-hole momentum into the consolation round and avoid the dreaded last place finish and subsequent hot dog purchase.

The group to follow was the Blue Team members, with James McFadden and Jared Blatt battling it out with Michael Felton and Jeremy Hardy. James and Blatt took an early lead as Felton and Jeremy opened with a bogey, but the lead wouldn’t last for long. Felton/Jeremy birdied the par-4 third hole to square things off, and would take a one-shot lead after James/Blatt bogeyed the fourth. From there each pairing would be in a stalemate, going shot for shot over the next four holes. The intense matchup came down to the ninth hole. James and Blatt actually had the better drive and were looking like they could be in position to make something happen. However, they both flubbed their second shot (and there was a controversial blaming of West and Johnny for being in their line of sight as they were watching from their parked cart, although they would disagree) and were once again behind the eight ball. The cards just weren’t in James and Blatt’s favor, as they bogeyed the last hole and would finish two strokes behind. They were headed to the hot dog bowl, while Felton and Jeremy were on their way to the Tony’s Final.

Obviously it is never ideal as a competitor to have to play for the consolation prize instead of the championship, but there was still some Red vs. Blue pride at stake here. Not to mention the hot dogs deal… It was the Red Team boys to take the early lead after James and Blatt bogeyed the difficult par-3 second hole. Seriously don’t sleep on the hot dogs… The pairings would halve the next three holes in what was a tight matchup, right up until the sixth hole. The long dogleg right – with a water hazard to the left, high grass to the right, and an inconveniently placed tree at the bend that has what feels like a thousand branches – requires as much accuracy off the tee as virtually any hole on the course. James and Blatt threw their tee shot into the water, and the struggling continued from there. They would finish the hole with a crowd-pleasing triple bogey, while Trey and Storm managed to pull off a birdie and blow the gates wide open, expanding their lead to five strokes. They even gained another stroke on seven. With the match all but over at this point, they had the luxury of finishing bogey, double bogey to close out the round with a three-stroke victory. James and Blatt would be the last place finishers and more importantly, the hot dog buyers for the day. No one writes home about a third place finish, but as for the Red Team, there’s always pride in beating your rivals in the lead up to the Danza.

While everyone was acutely aware that the Tony’s wasn’t the Danza, we also understood it wasn’t tiddlywinks either, and this matchup was the big one. These pairings were representing their Danza team colors with pride, and each wanted to be the first ever Tony’s Champions. The first hole was met with a pair of routine pars, before each team would head to the long, uphill, and narrow par-3. West and Johnny were trying their best not to blow up like they did in the first round, but just like their previous attempt, they failed to land the green and botched their chip shot, this time at least leading to a bogey. Finishing the hole with a stress-free par, Felton and Jeremy took the first lead. Red would bounce back with a clutch up-and-down birdie on the exceptionally short par-4 thanks to course construction pushing the tees ~forty-yards forward. With pars on the fourth and the match tied, the intensity increased as the teams were heading into the final stretch. Felton and Jeremy mashed their drive down the middle on five, while West and Johnny were teetering with out-of-bounds territory with their tee shot. Fortunately for Red, their ball just stayed in bounds on the far right side. They followed up with a dart of a shot by West, landing the green in regulation from a difficult approach. Felton and Jeremy however, both chunked their approach, leaving themselves with about fifty-yards to the green. They would end up settling for bogey after landing the green and two-putting. West and Johnny had a three-foot putt for par after their lag putt, but that three-feet was trickier than it looked. Johnny missed the hole entirely, putting all the pressure on West, but he was able to clutch up and just barely lip it in, giving Red a one-stroke lead. Each team parred six and seven and it was off to arguably the two most difficult holes on the course.

 The tee shot on eight is the scariest tee shot on the course. You essentially have to clear 220-yards on the fly, down a hallway, as there is significantly more out of bounds territory than there is actual fairway. Both teams showed they had ice in their veins, as they knocked one out there into the fairway, each having about 100-115 yards to the flag. Matching each other’s approach shots, they both would have about fifteen to twenty feet for birdie. Again, going shot for shot, the pairings would leave themselves with a very difficult, downhill, breaking four-foot putt. It was Red to go first, and both Johnny and West would miss the putt by inches, tapping in for bogey. Jeremy was up first for the Blue squad, and following Johnny and West’s suit, he too would miss by a few inches. This left Felton with one of the most crucial putts of the match. With nerves of steel, Felton buried the putt dead center of the cup, never leaving any doubt that it was going in. With the match now a stalemate, off to the ninth they went.

 Following their drives into the fairway, the Red Team would hit their second shot to roughly 125-yards out. The Blue squad hit theirs a bit farther, but they pulled it left and were under the tree line. West and Johnny were up first, and they hit their shot over the green and to the left. The window was open for Felton and Jeremy to land the green and really put the pressure on, but neither of them made flush contact, and they came up short, still having about ten yards to the dance floor. Despite their mishit, they still had the advantage as they had a short chip with plenty of green to work with, while West and Johnny were short sided on a straight downhill chip. Blue Team was up first, but they couldn’t quite execute their chip shot, with the best ball between the two of them still a good twenty-feet to the cup for par. The momentum had shifted back to the Red Team, and they were able to come up clutch, as West had an epic flop shot that ended up about six inches from the cup, giving themselves a tap in par and shifting all the pressure back towards the Blue squad. Putting first was Jeremy, and he gave it his best attempt, but it wasn’t in the cards. The Blue Team’s hopes to keep the Tony’s alive all came down to one putt, from twenty-feet no less. All the pressure now rested on Felton’s shoulders. As the seven other Tony’s participants watched on, Felton gave it a pure strike, and once again with brass balls and nerves of steel, he buried the putt to force a sudden death playoff.

Parallel to the Inaugural Danza, the Inaugural Tony’s couldn’t be decided in regulation. With how even all these matchups were, it just seemed fitting that it would require a playoff finish to determine the first ever Tony’s Champions. The teams were off to the first hole once more, and with the four other participants following along and rooting for their respective team colors, the tension was palpable. It was Johnny to take the tee first, and he got the Red Team started off on the right foot, placing his tee shot right down the middle, and it was his they would play. As for the Blue Team, they both hit their tee shots way right, getting themselves in a bit of a jam as they were directly behind a sea of trees. Jeremy, seemingly unfazed by the wall of trees directly in his face, may have hit the best shot of the tournament. A perfectly flushed strike with his 5-wood, he was able to not only get the distance needed to land the green, but also somehow elevate his ball high enough to clear every tree in its path. The pressure was now back on Red to put one on the green. Johnny was up first and he caught it thick, leaving it way short and adding some extra pressure on West. But West responded when they needed him most, and was able to stick it to about fifteen feet. Despite Jeremy’s heroic efforts to land the green from a near impossible lie, they still had a very long putt for birdie. After a decent run at it by Jeremy, the Red Team was praying Felton was fresh out of rabbits to pull out of his hat. He sure gave it a hell of a run, rolling it just by the cup to about four-feet, and causing Johnny and West’s hearts to skip a beat in the process. It was now the Red Team’s moment to go in for the killshot, and they certainly were hoping they could end it now and avoid having to go to the second hole, of which they’ve played at a collective +3 in their two previous attempts. Johnny was up first, and he and West spent a little extra time reading the line together – a left to right breaker requiring an aim of about three to four cup lengths to the left. He took a deep breath, lined up his putt, and gave it a clean strike. Everyone watched in what felt like slow motion as the ball stayed perfectly on track, breaking just as Johnny and West had read, and fell directly into the cup. The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, and just like that the Inaugural Tony’s was finished. Ending in epic fashion as one could expect from a sister event of the Danza, Jordan West and Johnny Belancic representing the Red Team, were the first ever Tony’s Champions.

P.S. Leave it to us to not take a single picture at the first ever Tony’s. We certainly don’t regret that decision!