Alex Barker stalked the first green at The Great Red Maples Golf Club under a setting sun and a similarly setting opportunity to win his first career McDonough Open. He was not supposed to be here. Barker was supposed to leave Lake Ariel earlier that week and was one of the final entrants into a record field of 92 golfers. Then came a family trip to Claws and Paws.

Somewhere behind the flimsy fencing of the Wayne County petting zoo, Barker found himself staring into the eyes of a tiger. Never before had Tiger Woods won The McDonough Open. Perhaps this tiger was trying to make sure Alex Barker did.

Several days later, Barker stood over one of the biggest putts of the tournament. He was surrounded by teammates who had won the Open multiple times before, yet it was Barker, still searching for his first jug, who had been called upon to keep their hopes alive. Resting softly in his hands was the oversized 415CR putter, a club discovered deep within the annals of a breezeway earlier that week. It had survived Northeast Pennsylvania’s most brutal winters, ghosts, wild animals, and overzealous children looking for something to swing. Now it had been summoned for something far more important.

Barker settled over the ball. The first green went quiet.

He pulled the 415CR back and sent the ball toward the cup. It tracked as if the tiger from Claws and Paws had finally escaped its cage, charging toward the hole with nowhere else to go.

It dropped.

Barker turned toward his teammates and unleashed a fist pump that zero-time McDonough Open Champion Tiger Woods himself would have envied. His team was still alive. The man who nearly never entered the tournament had just produced one of the most defining moments in its history.

Herein lies the story of the 2026 McDonough Open. One filled with tension, undercooked sausages, poorly allotted golf carts, and a hell of a lot of competitive golf.

August 5, 2025

368 Days Until the McDonough Open

In the long and storied history of The McDonough Open, only three men had ever repeated as champions, Chris Farrell, Matt Butler, and Kevin Weir. They were looking to do it again. Fresh off sinking the winning putt just days earlier, Chris Farrell already had only one thing on his mind: The 2026 McDonough Open.

Chris Farrell: We have to lock our schedules in pretty far in advance. I just didn’t want to miss out on a chance at history, so I texted Michael Brown.

Michael Brown Jr: It’s the kind of passion you love to see from players. You know who isn’t getting texts about scheduling 368 days in advance? Brian Rolapp, CEO of the PGA Tour. The McDonough Open just means more. To everyone. Myself included.

Jake Brown: Worth getting this out of the way now. I scheduled my wedding for August 1, 2026 at our house at the lake. Obviously that creates some scheduling questions for next year’s Open. But we’ll make it work. We always do.

Chris Farrell: I want to repeat. Plain and simple.

Matt Butler: We gave ourselves two days to celebrate the 2025 Open. After that, the focus shifted to 2026. I’ve won four of these. Want to know my favorite one? The next one.

August 7, 2026

The Night Before The McDonough Open

Michael Brown Jr: I don’t think there’s anything that signifies the beginning of McDonough Open weekend quite like the smell of Staples. Walking through those doors. Purchasing the tri-fold poster board. That’s when it becomes real.

Kevin Cullen: Michael had been very short with me all week. Which was concerning. This is our Christmas. We basically spend the entire year communicating exclusively in McDonough Open-isms. I wanted updates. Team thoughts. Rumors. Anything. He gave me nothing.

Jake Brown: I got out of work early in Philly. A nice little treat to start the weekend. Headed up the turnpike, met my dad for the Schiff’s and Sam’s Club run, then straight to the lake for the pre-tournament prep. A very normal Friday for an event we all treat with an extremely abnormal level of seriousness.

Liam Roe: I had planned on getting up to Red Maples all week for nine holes. Finally, on Friday night, I was able to get over there.

Aidan Cullen: I’m at the point now where I think I’m on a team where we can win and I can contribute. It’s like right before an exam in college… never hurts to cram a little at the end. Sometimes you even convince yourself it worked.

Tate Cullen: I’m in the same boat as Aidan. This is my last weekend before I leave for college. Going in as a McDonough Open champion will give me real credibility. I don’t know my roommate, but I’m sure he knows about the McDonough Jug. Just want to win this… seeing the pin placements the night before is key. You can’t show up to college as just another freshman.

Almost all of the drama the night before The Open can be found directly inside The Big House. Teams are picked. Fates are seemingly decided. Men stare at poster boards and Michael’s small laptop screen. But on his way to the selection show, Jake Brown added an entirely new sense of concern to the evening.

Jake Brown: A deer hopped in front of my car just as I was pulling onto the Elmhurst exit. Startled me. Totaled the car.

Bryan Cullen: I would not have made this joke had he not been okay, but I could tell he needed a laugh.

Mike Brown Sr: He said Jake should have that deer mounted in the dining room.

Jake Brown: Bry had the whole room laughing.

Cullen Roe: I was obviously thrilled that Jake was okay, but it was hard not to laugh at the idea of mounting that deer’s head in the dining room. Only if he wins though. Otherwise, it feels like glorifying the wrong result.

Once the room recovered from the deer discussion, several items of business remained. The field was the largest in tournament history. Ninety-two players. A milestone for The Open, but one that presented a very real operational challenge for the tournament committee.

Michael Brown Jr: Pace of play is very important to me. I want to make sure guys make it around in six hours.

Kevin Cullen: Yeah, this probably wasn’t the best time to float this idea, but I am in favor of moving this to a 27-hole tournament.

Cullen Roe: We always say, “We wouldn’t care if it took longer.” Well, here’s our chance to put our money where our mouth is. Let’s play 27.

Mike Brown Sr: If I have learned one thing from being a member of the Board at The Country Club of Scranton, it’s that you can table the hard decisions until a later date. I motioned to table the move to 27 holes.

Jake Brown: I seconded the motion.

In a stunning display of institutional efficiency, the matter was immediately pushed to another year.

With the decision made to ensure every team had at least five players, and multiple teams carrying six, the committee deemed this to be the deepest and most competitive field in tournament history. Which, naturally, meant nearly everyone in the room found a way to convince themselves they could win.

Kevin Conto: It’s going to be very, very hard to win tomorrow. Michael said he thinks sixteen teams have a legitimate shot at making the playoff. That’s unprecedented.

Chris Farrell: I walked into that room confident enough that I joked, “Is it okay if we repeat… again?” I walked out knowing this would be a much more difficult repeat than the last one.

Bryan Cullen: There was a lot of talk about how competitive the tournament would be this year, but my concern was more about my place in the tournament itself. I’m the beer guy. But with so much beer left over from the wedding, I suddenly felt like Arnold Palmer hitting the ceremonial tee shot at The Masters. Was I just going to limp over to a cooler, slowly crack it open, and officially get the 2026 McDonough Open underway?

Vince Munley: I stressed to Brian Swift and Mike the importance of icing down the coolers and kegs overnight. Noon shotgun. August heat. You want that beer cold.

Brian Swift: We did not heed that advice.

Anna Swift: Kelly and I talked again all year long about debuting in this year’s McDonough Open. We were very excited for the chance to play.

Kelly Cullen: We would be the first girls in over a decade to compete. We were ready.

Michael Brown Jr: After the deer accident, I kind of just asked them both if they thought it was the right time to make their debut. With everything going on, should we table this until next year? Jake’s car is totaled, what if someone needed one of their cars at the house during the day.

Kelly Cullen: It is the right decision to wait until 2027. Gives us both more time to practice.

Anna Swift: Flights are already booked for next year’s McDonough Open.

Michael Brown Jr: Yeah depends on the field size, but it’s nice to see that they remain interested.

McDonough Open Saturday

The Morning of August 8, 2026

Jamie Dempsey: Sad to be missing it this year, but I have always said there are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and sun on McDonough Open Saturday.

Jake Brown: Michael had a prior commitment this year, so I had to take over poster-board responsibilities. Thank God he bought two because it is very easy to mess it up the first time… and I did. There is a reason there has never been a succession plan for this job.

Ryan Brown: This is my first McDonough Open as a father. A lot has changed this year, but my focus has not. I hate that my brother Michael has more titles than I do. It’s partially why I asked that we play on separate teams this year. I want to catch him. I want my daughter to grow up knowing that her father is a champion, an equal champion to her uncle. There are certain conversations you simply do not want to have with your children, and explaining why Uncle Michael has more McDonough Opens than you is one of them.

Quinn Cullen: Conto did his annual breakfast run, and when he got back, I told him I thought we had a team that could win it all this year. I made the mistake of adding how nice it would be to finally get Barker on the Jug. I could tell pretty quickly that I had misread the room.

Kevin Conto: I have never won this! I dream about this thing. The Caps won the Stanley Cup back in 2018, and since then… this is the one thing in my life that I have been chasing. Yeah, it would be great for Barker to win. Obviously. Wonderful story. Very happy for him. But damn, I want it badly for myself.

Chris Weir: There’s something special about coming back as a defending champion. You get a parking spot just steps from the first tee. You hone your golf game all year leading up to this day. Then, when it finally gets here, the nerves are different. There’s a different type of pressure.

Kevin Weir: I told Sean, Chris, and Tyler that you get a different level of respect here as a defending champion. You have a target on your back, but it’s one that you want. Nobody feels bad for you, nor should they.

Thom Bynum: There’s a level of excitement that comes with seeing the board for the first time each year. You spend all morning convincing yourself you don’t care who you’re playing with, then immediately study every name on it.

Connor McCarren: Just knowing I’m in the running for Rookie of the Year is helpful. You hear a lot about this tournament, both online and throughout the winter. To finally be able to play in it is awesome. It’s also nice to learn that most of the stories were not exaggerated.

Jake Bynum: It’s fun to be in the mix. I really like our group, like our chances. Just need to avoid bogies.

Ben Rothwell: This is very exciting. First time playing, first time seeing the board. I’ve obviously spent a ton of time at the lake this summer so I recognize a lot of the names now. I know the history of this tournament so glad to be a part of it.

Tom Walsh: First of all, I show up wearing pants for my debut. It’s 90 degrees, humid, and I don’t have a cart. If this is some kind of rookie hazing, I do not appreciate it.

Chris Cobley: I have not played in a few years. No other way to rejoin the fray than hitching on with James and his hamburglar pants and matching Jordans.

Jimmy Casey: I try to convey to people back in New York that when you get to the McDonough Open for the first time, it’s like what it must feel like to step onto a major league baseball field for the first time in your career. Sure, you see all these guys throughout the year. But seeing them here is just different. Guys that have won multiple jugs have a different aura about them. It’s not necessarily jealousy or envy when you see them, more just a sincere appreciation of what they have accomplished.

Christopher Cullen: Two things are key to the start of the McDonough Open. Michael yelling at everyone and reminding them that this is not a golf tournament, this is a picnic. The next is Ned setting off a completely unnecessary amount of fireworks to let us know we are good to go. It’s a very subtle opening ceremony.

Aidan Cullen: Michael threw in another piece this year: don’t complain about the beer. It felt targeted before anyone had even had one.

Chris Cullen: I take good notice of who is here for the first time and who I think will complain about how long it takes. If I sense some uneasiness about jumping into a tournament like this, I make a point to let them know that this day is special. If they still seem uneasy, I usually know they will not be back next year. The McDonough Open has a pretty effective natural selection process.

The Front Nine

The Great Red Maples Golf Club presents a unique opportunity for competitors as they play the front nine twice in The McDonough Open. While some teams look to get off to a hot start, others use the opening stretch to get a feel for the course, knowing they will eventually get another crack at every hole. It is either a second chance or a chance to make the exact same mistake twice.

Will Cullen: I call it the redemption arc. If you screw up the first time you play a hole, you get a chance for redemption the next time around. Whether you actually redeem yourself is a completely different question.

Eric Collins: Screw redemption. I am playing to win. We started out hot. Very, very hot.

Michael Cosgrove: Hard to imagine there’s been a better start in McDonough Open history than ours. I heard roars blasting from all over the course, but I knew for sure nobody was playing better than us. At a certain point, you stop wondering what everyone else is doing.

Eric Collins: Lots of talk about super teams in sports these days. I’m a Sixers fan, so I guess you could say I’m familiar with the concept, if not the results. But when we got to eight under through seven holes, I looked at Liam and said to him, “We may just be a super team.”

Michael Cosgrove: I hit a perfect tee shot on four. Liam drained the putt. At that point, we all kind of looked at each other and smiled. Greens were smoother this year. Not bushy at all.

Mac Cullen: I initially did not understand the logic of starting on the sixth hole. Having the first shot you hit all day be a 173-yard, uphill par-3 into the wind is not exactly an easy handshake to start the round. But the chance to have 4 and 5 to finish the round gives you a nice opportunity to score late. We made an opening par. No harm, no foul. Mostly just relief.

Kevin Conto: One of the big challenges with this tournament is constantly keeping your head on a swivel. We learned that the hard way standing on the tee box on the par-3 eighth. Music was blaring from dueling speakers, and we did not hear the group behind us yell fore. Did they? Nearly killed us.

Michael Brown Jr: I yelled fore about eight times.

Neilson Cullen: I don’t golf much, but I practice certain shots all winter long. The tee shot on two, the tee shot on 8, and the tee shot on 1. Andres almost made me not have to hit the tee shot on 1.

Andres McAlister: The shot I hit on one was absolutely perfect. I legitimately thought it had a chance for a hole in one.

Neil Cullen: It ended up in the water.

Andres McAlister: It hit a sprinkler head and bounced 65 yards.

The overnight predictions of a competitive field were proving true. Tournament rules dictated that the top four teams would advance to the playoff, but the ten-under-par auto-qualifier gave every team something tangible to chase throughout the day. No matter how poorly things started, there was always the comforting thought that ten under was still technically possible.

Jordan Dempsey: We started pretty slowly. Three under through seven. Fortunately, having that ten-under target to chase gives you hope all day long. Just get to ten. You can convince yourself of a lot when there are still enough holes left.

Pete Santry: Something has been off with my game recently. I feel like I have the yips with my driver. This is not the golf course to try and find your swing. It will expose all of your flaws and maximize your misses. Fortunately, I had heard all day that the back nine was for redemption. I was going to need quite a bit of it.

Neddo Clarke: We were vibing early. I thought our team had a great shot at the playoff. Connor made a great eagle to get us into contention.

Connor Mullaney: I didn’t have Rookie of the Year on my mind until I made the eagle and got us within sight of ten under. Then, naturally, I started thinking about Rookie of the Year.

Tom Sabaitis: It’s been a few years since I’ve had those playoff jitters. Starting out well is exciting. It gets you wanting it. I’ve won this before, years ago. To win it with this team would be special. Once you’ve been on the Jug, you spend a lot of time figuring out how to get back on it.

Bobby Casey: We were one of the few teams that came in without the highest expectations. We knew our ceiling, and that was fine. Somebody has to be emotionally realistic about this tournament.

Pat Casey: Last year I walked away with Rookie of the Year honors. This year I was rewarded by having to walk the whole course.

Will (Casey) McGrath: I played last year for the first time in forever. It’s such a unique day, a unique crew. So many cousins I don’t get a chance to see at the lake, but they’re all here. All happy.

Jake Brown: The cart situation is a disaster. If there’s one takeaway for next year, we will be in charge of who gets carts. Nobody should have to walk.

Jack Walsh: No big deal. I enjoyed the walk.

Michael Brown Jr: It’s the one imperfect part of an otherwise perfect day. Operationally, we know we need to make a change, and we will. Two carts per team. There’s no reason some teams should have to walk while other teams have three carts. That will change next year. It’s the beauty of having this power as commissioner. I can unilaterally make this change.

Jake Brown: It’s not a unilateral change. It’s common sense. And I thought of it first.

Ryan Brown: Always improving.

The Back Nine

Ed Cosgrove: The McDonough Open truly does not begin until the back nine on Saturday.

Mike Brown Sr: One of the truest certainties in golf is that if you play with Cullen, he will chip in at some point during the round. You do not know when it is coming, but it is coming.

Michael Brown Jr: I’m doing math all day long. Watching scores. Observing the body language of teams throughout the course. As I’m standing on the second tee, I can see Cullen’s group celebrating from across the way. I know him better than anyone. He just chipped in.

Sam Cullen: It was a little bit of a cocky celebration. I don’t want to say classless because this is Cullen we’re talking about, but he definitely hammed it up a little bit.

Cullen Roe: That got us into the playoff. I will not apologize. I will never apologize for celebrating getting into the playoff. I missed last year for the first time ever. You chase that high all year long. You dream about getting back into the playoff. You make eagle on two to do it? Hell yes, I’m going to celebrate. If people didn’t like it, that’s fine. But to them I would say, Tom Brady would celebrate the exact same way. Who are you to go against the GOAT?

While some teams had already secured their spot in the alternate-shot playoff with elite early play, others were still chasing their chance at immortality.

Jordan Dempsey: We had five holes left and needed to go four under in four of them. Chris made it easy for us. Hit a perfect shot on one.

Tucker Jones: I won this back in 2015. I know how important one long putt can be. On number one, I drained a 17-footer for birdie. It opened us up. Gave us a chance. The beauty of this tournament is there are truly so many opportunities to contribute, regardless of how good you are at golf. I made that putt and it kept us right in it. For one hole, nobody cared what the rest of my round looked like.

Will Cullen: Tucker has a lifetime exemption as a past champion, but more so because he has the biggest putter in the field. The thing is massive. We kept calling it the shark. It was bigger than Jaws.

Jack Harding: You hear everything on this course. I guess maybe you do on other courses, but this is my one round a year, so it’s more noticeable here. Roars carry. Rumors carry. By that point, I knew that if we wanted any chance at the Jug, we needed to get to ten under.

Mark McHale: Robby Brown is an elite McDonough Open player. Also an elite McDonough Open character. Those are two very different skill sets, and somehow he has both.

Glenn Harding: Mark and I got very deep in the weeds last week at the wedding on talent disparities between Massachusetts high school football and NEPA high school football. When I saw that we were together on the big board, I was very excited.

Mark McHale: The conversation continued all round, except when he would disappear into the woods and come out with 25 golf balls.

Robby Brown: I have a lot of golf phrases and euphemisms that I save for this day.

Aidan Brown: We got very hot on the back nine. I knew we had a great team going into it, but to actually see the chemistry click was a thing of beauty.

Will Brown: I went last on most of the shots, but I was consulted on what to hit on every single one. I like to think I provided both distance and advisory services.

Aidan Brown: I think once everyone in our foursome realized that Will hits the ball a lot farther and straighter than most people, we started to really play well and, basically, chase history. It turns out having someone who is very good at golf is a useful strategy.

Andy Lynch: Will Brown hits the ball a long way. His seven iron goes like 170 yards.

Ned Cullen: We started out HOT. Two under through three. Here I am thinking, we’re right in it. My shoes were already off, and I thought A Scan was gonna lead us to the playoff.

Alex Scanlan: I’m not much of an awards guy, but Mr. Cullen has to be the Most Improved Player. He was awesome for us. When I started playing a couple years ago, he was not good at all. Like, noticeably not good. Now he’s one of our main guys. That’s growth.

Andrew Kettel III: I feel like I coached half of the kids I played with, or at least watched these kids grow up. Then to get out there and play with them and Ned, I honestly didn’t care that we missed the playoff. At some point, you look around and realize the score is almost secondary. Almost.

Aidan Cullen: The beauty of this thing is you can just throw side action on everything. We were both out of playoff contention, but we didn’t care. I’ll bet them on every single hole. There is always something left to lose.

Donovan Seher: Aidan and I talked about playing together all summer long. Not much else to talk about when you’re standing on the roof of the Big House painting the eaves, so we discussed Open strategy quite extensively.

Andrew Kettel IV: I am officially requesting to play with this team every year. Nonstop laughing. Who knows, a couple more putts go down and we are right there. If they don’t, who cares? There are worse ways to spend six hours.

Tate Cullen: I will not be going to college as a defending McDonough Open champion.

Matt Butler: We were pressing all day long. I know we can find a birdie at the end if we need it, but defending the Jug is so difficult. Everybody wants to beat you, and eventually you realize there is a reason only one team has ever repeated.

Tyler Weir: It’s an entirely different set of nerves when you’re defending. I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting it. You spend the year thinking the hard part was winning it the first time.

Sean Weir: If the worst thing that happens today is that we miss the playoff, it’s a damn good day. Eighteen holes with my brother, Butler, Farrell, my dad, and my son? That is, by definition, a beautiful day. Not every title defense needs to end with a jug.

Mac Cullen: Remember when I questioned why anyone would start on six? Yeah, well, when you and the other team in your group both need one birdie to get into the playoff, having number five to finish suddenly seems pretty smart. I would like to formally withdraw my earlier criticism.

Will Cullen: Michael knew exactly what he was doing. I hit a great tee shot on five. A “simple” up and down and we are in. Of course, there is nothing simple about an up and down when ten under is staring you in the face.

Jordan Dempsey: We were just short. They were just long. Santry chipped it to a foot. Sam chipped it to a foot. Playoff time. That’s what it’s all about. Six hours of golf coming down to about ninety seconds around one green.

Matt Jenkins: We chased it all day. Thought we had a chance at the end but ended up coming up just short. But you give me the theater of ten teams in the playoff? I’ll take that every single time. At that point, you stop being disappointed and start looking for a good place to watch.

Collin Jenkins: It hurts to miss, but it’s been said so many times by so many guys here: if you don’t have fun today, there is something seriously wrong with you. And I’m not sure this tournament is equipped to provide the help you need.

Tom Walsh: Just wish I wore shorts.

Odds and Ends Throughout the Day

The logistical challenge presented to the golf committee every year is to ensure both a fair golf course and, ideally, a safe one. With 92 golfers of varying skill levels swinging on a very small property, the word “fore” is heard dozens of times throughout the day. Sometimes in time. Sometimes not.

Joe Hennessey: This is probably why Will didn’t come over when I called him and said I was on the seventh hole.

Will Cullen: I was on the second hole when Joe called. Literally across the course. Golf does not work that way.

Jake Brown: We made the decision not to have people try and drive the short par fours this year while the group ahead is still putting. The last thing we need is someone getting killed while standing over a six-footer.

Michael Brown Jr: Or getting killed on an adjacent green, which apparently is also very much in play.

Bert McGilivary: Yeah, that’s on me. I smoked a drive on seven directly left and somehow it snuck right between Michael and Mac. Yelling fore didn’t even matter. By the time they saw it, it was basically there.

Will Cullen: I still cannot believe that ball snuck through the two of them. There was not a lot of room for error there.

Michael Brown Jr: I joked afterward that if it did hit one of us, at least the group had three doctors in it. Surely Edward, Gene, or Cullen could have done something.

Edward Cullen: If that ball hit one of them, nothing could have been done. That was close.

Bert McGilivary: I wasn’t ready to laugh about it immediately. They were good sports. Happy nobody got hurt.

Matt Butler: I wasn’t nearly as lucky.

James Pettinato: Yeah, I hit a screaming line drive from three’s tee over toward six’s tee. Nailed Matt Butler directly in the calf.

Brian Walsh: We had Ned and Aidan in our group. They were yelling fore. If you don’t hear those two screaming, that’s kind of on you. They are not subtle people.

Chris Weir: The Butler injury may have cost us a real chance at getting to ten under. We only missed by one.

Ryan Brown: No humans were killed but a finch was. Hit what I thought was a perfect tee shot on seven, until it clipped and killed a bird in the middle of the air. I felt bad, I’m a bird guy.

Mike Cosgrove: I was excited with who was in our group at the start of the day, but I am also very aware that the Browns can kill each other at any moment… both intentionally or unintentionally. I’m grateful that the only victim on the day was this poor bird.

Jake Brown: Everyone is always in some level of danger on the course. It’s part of the allure of the tournament. One thing we do need to improve next year, though, is beverage allotment.

Brian Swift: If only we had iced the kegs overnight.

Eric Collins: The drink situation this year wasn’t the best. But it’s all about iterative improvement year over year. If only we had iced the kegs, they probably would have been cold. Tough lesson.

Richard Conaboy III: Well, there were plenty of black cherry Surfsides and some tasty sausages. I don’t golf, but I like the day. Would be nice if the food were ready when we arrive, though. I also learned last year not to talk about fantasy football at this thing because Junior yelled at me when I brought up draft positioning. So now I just compliment the food, compliment the drinks, and enjoy the boys. I know my role, and I shut my mouth.

Leo Clarke: I like the inclusion of a hot dog roller. You don’t see those everywhere. Certainly not for home use.

Mike Brown Sr: I only use it on the two most important holidays of the year: Masters Sunday and McDonough Open Saturday.

Robby Brown: He also occasionally brings it to work.

The Playoff

The 2019 McDonough Open had long been considered the most balanced field in tournament history. Seven teams made the playoff that year before a champion was finally decided on the second playoff hole. The 2026 McDonough Open did not merely challenge that record. It rendered it obsolete. Eleven teams reached the ten-under auto-qualifying score, creating an alternate-shot playoff that bordered on a logistical emergency.

Chris Erhard: The course was gettable today. Doesn’t mean it was easy, but definitely gettable. Eleven teams getting to ten under probably proves that. Either that, or they need to make the course harder next year.

Chris Rothwell: I didn’t play this year but I had to be here for the playoff. It’s a sight to behold.

Andrew Brown: The most frustrating part about golf is that no matter how well you play, the next shot is always hard. We finished at fifteen under, but there are certainly no guarantees now. It’s like baseball. You can have a great regular season, but if the offense stops hitting in the playoffs, guys are swinging at the first pitch, or you don’t have a single reliable reliever to close out a game, suddenly your record means nothing. That’s kind of how I think about the McDonough Open playoff. Don’t swing at the first pitch. Stay patient. Take advantage when your chance is there.

Michael Brown Jr: He’s not so subtly talking about the current eight-game Dodgers losing streak. Andrew has an impressive ability to work his personal sports grievances into almost any situation.

Jerry Dempsey: When I saw the board for the first time, I said to Michael that we may need to start drug testing in this tournament. I know a guy that could arrange that.

Jake Brown: With eleven teams in the playoff, you need to have a little sense of urgency. This thing could take a while, so I did my best to get teams ready and moving quickly. I explained the play-it-down rule, the five-guys-per-team rule, and then we were off to the races. Eleven teams, the greatest stadium hole in golf, very little room for delay.

Gene Roe: I’m on the Jug twice, so I know what it takes to win this tournament. I also know when it’s time to take a step back. We had six guys on our team and one guy had to sit. I volunteered. I’m smart enough to know my limits. Veteran leadership comes in many forms.

On the tee, with a score of ten-under par: Sal Verrastro

Jeff Poplawsky: We were one of the teams to sneak in at ten under. I’ll tell ya what, there is some serious strategy involved in deciding who should hit each shot. You spend six hours trying to get into the playoff, then immediately start debating who you trust once you’re there.

Michael McGrath Jr: We decided to have Sal hit the tee shot. Unfortunately, we had not considered the grave error he would make when deciding what ball he was going to use.

Sal Verrastro: I chose a ball with a picture of my cat on it. Obviously, that’s something I’m comfortable looking at, but if you’re not used to seeing that when you’re standing over the ball, it can be a bit of a shock. I left my tee shot about ten yards short of the green. I don’t blame the cat, I blame myself.

Michael McGrath Sr: I didn’t even know you could get a cat printed on a golf ball.

On the tee, with a score of ten-under par: four-time Open Champion, Michael Brown Jr.

Michael Brown Jr: With eleven teams in, I actually thought going second was an advantage for me. All I wanted to do was put it on the green and force the teams behind us to start thinking about getting it close. In a playoff that crowded, boring golf suddenly becomes very attractive.

Will Cullen: We felt comfortable with our approach. Michael off the tee, my dad to hit the putt. He had been so solid on the greens all day. At that point, you stop overthinking it and go with the guy you trust. Michael put it to 20 feet behind the hole. Stategy executed perfectly.

On the tee, with a score of ten-under par: one-time Open Champion, Ben Boyanoski

Ben Boyanoski: The nerves are the same every time you tee it up in this playoff. I tugged it just a little bit and missed the green, but gave us a chance to get up and down for par. You’re never thrilled to miss the green, but in alternate shot, it could be far far worse.

On the tee, with a score of ten-under par: Pete Santry

Pete Santry: I think the choice came down to me and Gordo. Ultimately, I hit it. That front-middle pin is so tough. You want to stick it close and convince yourself you can get aggressive, but if you’re even a little too aggressive, you go long and you’re dead. I went short right. Not a terrible miss. In a ten-team playoff, “not terrible” can keep you alive.

On the tee, with a score of ten-under par: two-time Open Champion, Kevin Cullen.

Kevin Cullen: I was chasing the feeling I had two years ago. Was it the greatest shot in playoff history? Many people have said that. I have truly been thinking about this shot for two years. Probably too often, if we’re being honest.

Andres McAlister: Kinda think I should have hit the shot.

Kevin Cullen: I tugged it ten yards left. I was pin high, but you can’t tug it that far left. You spend two years thinking about one shot and then miss the green by ten yards. Golf is humbling like that.

On the tee, with a score of eleven-under par: one-time Open Champion, James McGrail.

James McGrail: I came to this tournament ready. Last Saturday, I put in a twenty-hour practice session in preparation for this shot and the pressure that comes with the playoff. Some people think they want to hit this shot, but until you truly prepare your body for the feeling of it, you are not thinking about it the right way. If we went with anyone else, it would have felt like I was getting stabbed in the back. And damn, I hit a good shot… just went a little long. Twenty hours of preparation will get you close.

Chris Cobley: Yup, he put in a full day’s worth of preparation getting ready for today. Who were we to question his confidence?

Charlie McGrail: He even made his tee time the next morning. True dedication.

On the tee, with a score of eleven-under par: Chris Erhard.

Chris Erhard: I saw a great opportunity here. I hit two good shots on this hole throughout the day, so I felt good that they trusted me with this one.

Mark McHale: I was still arguing with Glenn over high-school football when Erhard stepped up to the tee. I would have gladly hit it.

Glenn Harding: Not a single point. Twelve games. Not a single point.

Chris Erhard: Left it short right. Not exactly what they trusted me to do.

On the tee, with a score of twelve-under par: three-time Open Champion, Ryan Brown.

Michael Brown Jr: I think Ryan has hit this playoff tee shot more than anyone in tournament history. My jaw dropped when I saw the club he pulled.

Ryan Brown: He thought I hit a lob wedge. It was a 56.

Michael Brown Jr: He swung very, very hard. Not the shot I was expecting out of him. He’s dangerous with a gap wedge.

Ryan Brown: I know what I’m doing. I just hit it a little fat.

On the tee, with a score of twelve-under par: two-time Open Champion, Jake Brown.

Jake Brown: It’s a pretty chaotic environment. Getting everyone up to the tee, ready to hit. Quieting the crowd down. You’re trying to organize eleven teams and then suddenly you have to remember that you’re also one of the people trying to win the thing. You have to calm yourself down when it’s your turn.

Patrick Cosgrove: With everything that happened that week, we thought we had fate on our side. The guy just got married, he just killed a deer. He needed something good to happen.

Liam Roe: Jake hit a great shot. It just rolled a little over the green.

Eric Collins: I should have hit the shot.

On the tee, with a score of thirteen-under par: three-time Open Champion, Cullen Roe.

Cullen Roe: This was a rather rare situation for me. I’m usually the short-game guy. That’s what I do best. But we felt that with Quinn waiting to hit either a chip or a putt, we’d be in good shape. At some point you have to trust the depth chart.

On the tee, with a score of fifteen-under par: two-time Open Champion, Will Brown.

Will Brown: There was a little bit of back and forth over who should hit the shot.

Aidan Brown: Didn’t think questioning the club he was going to hit at that exact moment was one hundred percent necessary, but that was how we operated most of the day. Had to roll with it.

Will Brown: Eleventh team to go, there had to be a weird wind somewhere up there. That was tough. Short left. Did I pick the right club?

The chaos surrounding the descent down the hill can completely upend even the best-laid plans for teams. Though only a 143-yard walk, it is one of the more dangerous stretches of the entire tournament. Players know the history waiting for them at the bottom. Teammates begin walking alongside competitors, strategy is inadvertently shared, someone starts second-guessing who should hit the next shot, and another player can lose focus entirely while trying to figure out where his beer went. It is amazing how much damage can be done to six hours of good golf in less than two minutes of walking.

By the time the first playoff hole was complete, five teams had made bogey and eliminated themselves. Just like that, an eleven-team playoff had been cut by more than half. Five teams remained, six were left wondering how it had unraveled so quickly, and the walk back up the hill suddenly became considerably less exciting.

Will (Barrett) McGrath: I don’t necessarily think our strategy changed, but looking down at a golf ball and seeing a cat staring back up at you… that’s not easy. I hit a decent shot, but I think if we had used a normal golf ball, it probably would have been a little bit better. Hard to fully commit when you feel like the ball is judging you.

Mike Brown Sr: I think in hindsight we should have saved Eddie for the putt. If you think about some of the most historic putts in this tournament, half of them have come off of his putter. Sure, he’s known for the Fred Couples like swing, but it’s the putter that has turned him into an Open legend.

Declan Lynch: Our strategy was really to have Robby hit the putt for par, but it was not an easy putt. I put a good stroke on it, just didn’t get it to fall. You can’t make bogey in that situation and expect to advance. Eleven teams started the playoff. There was not much room for charity.

Patrick McGrail: Uphill lie on the back of the first green. I hit a good chip, but it landed so soft and barely rolled out. Left us with a little bit longer putt than we wanted. In alternate shot, “a little bit longer than we wanted” can become a major problem very quickly.

Jody McGrail: I wore my money shirt because I planned on being money on the greens all day long. The putt I had for par looked money basically the entire way. Then, on the final roll, it just stayed out. Cannot believe it didn’t drop. Tough moment for both me and the shirt.

Neil Cullen: I got a little too handsy on my chip. It was straightforward, but a little too much wrist action.

Andres McAlister: Just hard not to think about that near hole in one I had earlier in the day.

Kevin Cullen: The near hole-in-one that hit a sprinkler head and ended up in the lake.

Andy Lynch: Andrew hit a great chip, but the greens here are so challenging. A three foot putt under that pressure is much more difficult than your standard three foot putt. I’m a soccer guy, a penalty kick to win the game has more pressure than one in the first half. I pushed it wide right. Stinks.

As more than half the playoff field played their way out of contention, five teams were still fighting for the pars they needed to advance to the second playoff hole. Three teams handled the task rather routinely. Two needed something bordering on a miracle. And the beauty of the McDonough Open is that miracles tend to arrive from the people, clubs, and places you would least expect.

Quinn Cullen: Certainly not the chip we were expecting out of me. It came off softer than I wanted and just hung up on the collar. At that point, though, Barker had been hitting some awesome shots all day. There are worse people to leave with a twenty-five-footer to save your tournament.

Cullen Roe: I figured that if Barker somehow made this putt, we’d actually have a little bit of an advantage with Conto waiting on the next tee. Was I expecting him to make it? You can never expect someone to make a twenty-five-footer from off these greens. But if anyone could do it… Barker could. At least that’s what I told myself while standing there completely helpless.

Alex Barker: I chipped in for eagle earlier in the round, and that kind of gave us momentum. So somehow, someway, standing over that putt, I really thought there was a good chance I could make it. I’m not sure there was any statistical basis for that confidence, but it was there.

Patrick Kettel: I’m working as the photographer for the first time at this tournament. I was lined up across the green from Alex, and I could see it in his eyes. There was a level of intensity there that I had not seen from anyone else all day. For a guy standing over a twenty-five-footer with what I later learned was a breezeway putter, he looked remarkably certain.

Alex Barker: The putter I found in the breezeway of number twelve that week might actually have been broken. Andres and I spent a fair amount of time trying to figure that out. It’s a monstrosity of a putter. Rather ugly, if I’m being truthful. But when I stood over that ball, I had my read, looked down at the CR15 made by MG Golf, and suddenly it was the most beautiful piece of equipment I had ever seen. I don’t know who originally brought it to the lake. I like to think everyone who had ever walked past it in the breezeway of twelve had no idea the kind of magic they were ignoring.

Gene Roe: When that ball left the putter, it was not going anywhere else but the pin. You could tell almost immediately. It had one destination.

Quinn Cullen: I’d like to think it was an absolutely perfect lag chip that I left Barker. Some people might say I left him twenty-five feet from off the green. I prefer to focus on the angle.

Cullen Roe: It hit the pin and dropped in so softly. I kind of blacked out after that, but I know there were roars. A lot of roars. Barker turned around and completely lost his mind. We all did. Six hours of golf, twenty-five feet from elimination, and somehow the damn breezeway putter kept us alive.

Michael Brown Jr: I say this without a hint of hyperbole, it was the best putt in the history of this tournament. Shocking that he made it. What’s hard now is regrouping as one of those teams that still has a chance for par.

Jerry Dempsey: It’s not easy to follow a putt like that. The place is going wild, adrenaline is flowing, everyone is still trying to figure out what they just saw. I was also off the green. Just missed the birdie putt, but gave Tucker a good look for par. At that point, boring was perfectly acceptable.

Tucker Jones: Credit to Buddha. That’s a tough position to be in. He had to follow perhaps the most shocking putt any of us had ever seen, and he nearly made his himself. I was glad to be able to clean up the par. Nobody remembers a two-footer when it goes in, which is exactly how you want it.

Max McGrath: Nate left me a two-footer for par to advance. That’s not an easy putt. A lot of people were chirping us that Glenn missed a shorter putt years before. That is a difficult historical reference to hear while you’re walking in to help your team advance. Fortunately, I drained it.

Tim Cullen: We had a very similar length putt during our redemption nine. It was shockingly slow, and as the day gets older, these greens somehow get even slower. I hit a good putt. Left Sam a makeable three-footer, and he cleaned it up nicely. Not dramatic, but advancing rarely requires style points.

Eric Collins: I tried to give us a good look at par, but the green just grabbed it. Michael Cosgrove had his work cut out for him.

Jake Brown: You can talk about the focus and unlikeliness of Alex’s putt, but Michael had a fifteen-footer to drag us to the second hole. We decided to go with him over Liam. Not exactly an easy decision.

Liam Roe: I liked the idea of hitting the tee shot on the second hole. I also use a putter that is like 100 years old. I think it was my grandfather’s. Between Barker and me, there was apparently a real market inefficiency in old putters nobody wanted.

Michael Cosgrove: I’ve said that these greens can be a little bushy at times, and this late in the day, you see it even more. I knew I needed to give the putt a little more than I would have earlier in the round. I was confident. I wanted the putt. Like Ryan, I’m a father now too. Someday my son will play in this tournament. I want him to see his dad’s name on the Jug and know that I made an impact. All of those things were going through my head standing over the ball. At some point, you just have to quiet all of it and make a good stroke.

Jake Brown: The second it left the putter, I knew it was in the hole.

Eric Collins: He’s a bad man. A stone-cold killer.

With five teams advancing to the second playoff hole, the requirement that each team use five different players in the playoff immediately came into play. There was no longer anywhere to hide. Every decision mattered, every remaining player had a role, and the margin for error was disappearing quickly. While the five surviving teams huddled to plan their strategy for the second hole, a downhill dogleg left with water guarding the entire left side, one of the freshly eliminated players had already begun thinking ahead. If there was going to be a third playoff hole, where would they play it?

Ryan Brown: Every single year we debate whether or not we should use the alternate tee on the second hole. Then it hit me: if this goes to a third hole, that is the perfect spot for it. Nobody ever really plays it. So much strategy. So many options. But with that water staring you directly in the face from that tee… wow, what a sight that would be. I had been eliminated for maybe three minutes and was already redesigning the playoff. You have to stay useful somehow.

Kevin Conto: I overheard Ryan discussing the potential third playoff hole. I remember thinking that I could have a pretty big hand in making sure we never got there. At that point, I wanted this thing over.

Off the tee on the second playoff hole, all five players somehow remained in play. No small feat considering the history of tee shots on this difficult par four. The hole had swallowed playoff hopes before. Water left. Trees right. Five teams still alive and now, for the first time all day, every shot seemed to carry the weight of the entire tournament.

Will Cullen: You would think that with the tee moved up a little bit, it would be easier to reach the green, but it actually puts you between clubs. This was the first playoff shot I had ever hit in my life. No easy task. I wasn’t trying to be a hero. I kept us alive. At that point, alive was enough.

Jeff Boyanoski: I tugged my shot a little more than I wanted. It cleared the water and was findable. Alive matters here.

Chris Kane: Jeff left me in a spot where it wasn’t necessarily an easy second shot, but I could certainly get it there. I knew what I needed to do. Just didn’t execute it exactly how I had hoped. In a playoff, “almost what I wanted” starts to feel a lot worse when you look around and realize four other teams are still standing there.

Patrick Cosgrove: With Liam hitting the tee shot, I knew I had to get one down near the green to give us a chance for Jake to potentially chip one in. Unfortunately, I just got under it. And, funny enough, the ball landed directly in the back of the utility golf cart they break out specifically for this tournament. There are hundreds of places to miss a golf shot on that hole. I found the one place that required a rules official.

Jake Brown: I had to get an official ruling on it. It had never happened before. We took a drop, but I wasn’t able to get it close enough to give us a realistic chance at par. I’ve dealt with a lot of rules questions in this tournament. “What happens if the ball lands inside the utility cart?” was a new one. Not exactly the type of history we were hoping to make.

Mac Cullen: Michael told me that if I gave him a shot, he thought he could make it from anywhere. I thought that sounded a little aggressive, even for him. Then he hit it and, for about five seconds, I thought he was actually going to prove himself right.

Michael Brown Jr: I had hit a couple really good shots from right around 60 to 70 yards during the day, and I genuinely thought I could make it. The lie was perfect. I knew exactly where I wanted to land it. I hit it onto the front of the green, and it took the exact bounce I was expecting. Once it started tracking, everything got quiet for me.

Cullen Roe: I thought he made it. There was a point where the ball was moving toward the hole and I just assumed we were about to see something ridiculous happen again.

Edward Cullen: I’m trying to get myself ready for the birdie chip I might have to hit, and suddenly I see Michael’s ball tracking directly toward the cup. It peeked in. I genuinely thought it was going to drop. For a second, I thought my job had just gotten a lot harder.

Michael Brown Jr: It would have been crazy. From my vantage point, when it got about ten feet away, I thought it was in. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind. Someone up near the green absolutely said got it.

Will Brown: Richard said “got it” about five feet from the pin.

Jordan Dempsey: We kind of just ran out of steam. Once you get onto the second hole, you need to get a little lucky, but you also need to hit good shots. We had been chasing it all day and just didn’t have enough left. We made bogey. At that point, all you can do is step aside and watch.

Ryan Brown: My dream of the third playoff hole was shrinking. I had already mentally built the entire thing out. The alternate tee. The water. The drama. I was ready for it. Unfortunately, the five teams still playing seemed determined to ruin this for me.

Edward Cullen: Any chip around these greens is tricky. You have to be incredibly precise because there’s no real margin for error. Kevin hit the best shot for us on that hole. He hit his tee shot just over the green and gave me a chance. I knew I didn’t have to do anything spectacular. Just couldn’t screw it up.

Alex Barker: Edward’s chip really was the underrated shot of the tournament for us. That was such a difficult spot and he cozies it up there to about three feet. After what happened on the first playoff hole, you would think three feet would feel like nothing. It absolutely did not feel like nothing.

Nate Boyanoski: I had about four feet for par to force Cullen to make his putt. At that point, you know exactly what’s at stake. Miss it and you’re done. Make it and suddenly all the pressure moves across the green. I hit a great putt and it dropped. We did our job. Now Cullen had to do his.

Sam Cullen: Nerves of steel from the young kid. Four feet doesn’t sound like much until ninety people get quiet and start staring at you.

Cullen Roe: This was my third chance to close out this tournament. In 2015, I drained a twelve-footer to win it. In 2022, I missed almost the exact same twelve-footer, but we ended up winning anyway. So, yes, I knew the history standing there. I also knew what was waiting if I missed. We were going across the water. I did not want to go across the water.

Ryan Brown: I desperately wanted to go across the water. I was probably the only person rooting against Cullen at that point purely for logistical reasons.

Alex Barker: I was nervous. Very, very nervous. There was no left-handed CR15 available for him, which obviously created a concern after what had just happened on the first hole. But Cullen is as cool as they get in these moments. He wanted the putt. We wanted him taking it. Nobody needed to say much.

For the first time all day, there was nowhere else to look. The other teams had either been eliminated or had done everything they could. The second green went quiet. One putt separated Cullen Roe from his fourth McDonough Open championship. One miss would send everyone across the water and into a third playoff hole that had never before been played.

Cullen Roe: I stood over it and tried not to think about 2022. Tried not to think about the water. Tried not to think about Ryan somewhere behind me actively hoping I missed so he could debut his new playoff hole. There was nothing else to do. Make the putt.

He did.

Bottom of the cup.

Cullen Roe: My fourth. My dad, Quinn, and Ed’s third. Conto and Barker’s first.

Alex Barker: It’s emotional. We joke about this being Christmas Day for all of us, but when that putt dropped and everyone started coming toward us, it hit me.

Cullen Roe: I am absolutely not joking when I say this is my Christmas.

Alex Barker: I was not supposed to be here. Literally. We were supposed to stay until Tuesday. But there’s something magical about the lake that pulls you in, keeps you making that four hour drive on a hot summer weekend, and grips you in a way that makes it very hard to leave. That happened to us this week. My kids were happy. My wife was happy. So we stayed. A few days later, I’m standing there holding the Jug. It’s hard not to believe there was something bigger at work. Maybe it was that tiger at the zoo. Maybe it is even bigger than that.

Quinn Cullen: Barker very clearly was not supposed to be here. He didn’t bring clubs. He’s wearing my golf shoes. Not that the shoes really matter here.

Kevin Conto: I think this is the eighth McDonough I’ve played in. I’ve come close before, but actually being here and tasting it for the first time, it’s different. You don’t always want to admit how badly you want to win this thing, because at the end of the day we all joke about what it is. But you do. You want the bragging rights. You want to walk back to the house with the Jug and have everyone excited for you. You want to know that, for one year at least, your name is attached to the day.

Bryan Cullen: I think that’s part of the beauty of it. We’ve been doing this since 2003. For as happy as we are out on this course, everyone back at the house having their own version of a McDonough Open day are every bit as happy. The kids are running around. Everyone is together. There aren’t many days in the year that bring almost universal joy to everyone in your life. Today is one of them. Somehow, a golf tournament that takes seven plus hours has become one of the best days of the year.

As the winning team made its way back up the hill, the sun began to set on another impeccable McDonough Open day. The noise from the second green started to fade behind them. Alex Barker and Kevin Conto slowed for a moment and took one last look back at the course.

Kevin Conto: Everywhere you look today, people are smiling. It’s crazy. The first time I came here ten years ago, I laughed at the idea that there was something special about this place. Now, like the rest of us, I’ve completely fallen in love with Red Maples. Is it the nicest course in the world? God no. We’ve all played better. Is it the best golf course in the world? It just might be. It’s hard. It’s firm. It’s unpredictable. It’s the quirks about it, knowing every inch of the lace that makes it special. It is somehow perfectly built for this family and for this tournament. Ten years after playing for the first time, I finally get to walk back up this hill as a champion.

Alex Barker: Conto and I are the in-laws in this group. Well, Gene is too, but he’s been around long enough that nobody really remembers that anymore. I’ve played in The Open a dozen times now, almost all of them with Dennis. Standing there, looking back at the course, I couldn’t help but think about the absolute busting he’s going to give me the second I call him. He’ll find a way to make fun of the putter. He’ll probably tell me I got lucky. But he’ll be happy. I know he will be. And that makes this that much sweeter.

For a moment, neither man said much. The course behind them was beginning to empty. The sun was dropping behind the trees. Seven hours of golf, an eleven-team playoff, and a twenty-five-foot putt had finally settled into something quieter. For two men who had chased this tournament for years, the walk back to the clubhouse was finally different.

Just as tears appeared dangerously close to falling down each man’s cheek, a sweaty, still-shoeless Ned Cullen came charging up the hill and pulled them both into a hug.

Ned Cullen: Best tournament we’ve ever had. What’s the date next year?

Michael Brown Jr: August 7, 2027.

Chris Farrell: Preparation starts now.