When it comes to picking winners in golf tournament pools, Kevin Clunis claims he does not know what he is doing. The results, at least the recent ones, say differently.
A regular participant in major pools for several year, Clunis, superintendent at Luck Golf Course in Luck, Wisconsin, won the past two TurfNet pools, presented by sponsor Standard Golf. He won the U.S. Open pool outright with the team "Not Sure" and his "Not Sure Again" finished in a three-way tie for first with Jeff Smelser and Chris Colton in The Open Championship pool.
"I've been entering those for I don't know how many years, and I don't think I've ever finished in the top 50 in all those years," Clunis (right) said. "I literally had no clue about any of the golfers."
That's not exactly true.
Clunis has picked up a trick or two in all that time. When he picks golfers now, he looks across the pond.
Except for winner Brian Harman, who is from Savannah, Georgia, the rest of Clunis' Open Championship "team" comprised Jason Day of New Zealand, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Tommy Fleetwod of England, Scotland's Robert McIntyre and Si Woo Kim of South Korea.
"If there is anything I've done, it is pick foreign golfers in majors. They always seem to play well," Clunis said. "Tommy Fleetwood, I had him on the roster. He doesn't win majors, but he plays well in them. I do like to stick with foreign golfers."
The TurfNet U.S. Open pool had 196 total participants, while 164 took part in The Open Championship pool.
No one we asked was sure what the odds are of winning two consecutive pools. But one thing those involved agree on is the chances of it happening are not very good.
"That is very rare. One other pool admin reached out this year wondering about the same thing, but you and him are the only admins tat have ever mentioned it," said Sean Hogan of Easy Office Pools, which supplies the software for hundreds of office pools. "I haven't done the analysis to get the exact stats regarding the rarity of back to backs.
"With over 100,000 golf pools run on our platform, only twice have we heard of back to back winners in larger pools like TurfNet's."
For his efforts, Clunis won swag from TurfNet and pool sponsor Standard Golf.
"I got a hat and a flag that shows I won, but that's not why I do it," Clunis said. "I have enough hats."
"Congratulations to Kevin on winning TurfNet's The Open pool, and collecting back to back victories," said Matt Pauli, VP and Director of Marketing for standard Golf. "This is certainly one way to collect Standard Golf swag. The excitement of Major golf and seeing the camaraderie and banter between the participants is one reason we enjoy sponsoring TurfNet’s Major Pools."
Participating in pools with other superintendents is one more way for the ever-busy Clunis to stay in touch with his colleagues and the game, and he enjoyed keeping up with some of the good-natured banter that took place on social media during the Open.
"I'm not a gambler; I just like to do this and see what happens. I know there are a few guys who really keep up with it. I saw Kevin Ross shooting his mouth off on Twitter because he was in first place on Saturday," Clunis said with a laugh. "It's fun, and I like to see that. I just don't have time to spend on social media doing that."
Ross enjoyed the online banter, as well.
"I tweeted out I had a two shot lead and he commented back that it would come down to two players," Ross said. "We had the same picks with only one difference. I had Cam Young and he had Jason Day. Cam Young went out on Sunday and stunk up the place, while Jason Day played well giving Kevin the victory. My hat's off to Kevin, these are not easy to win. Winning two in a row is impressive.
"I’ll be gunning for him in the next pool, you can guarantee that. Might have to have a little side wager even."
There also is a professional component to such pools for Clunis.
"It helps me keep in tune to the golf season, and it's just fun to stay somewhat active, because you get caught up with the day-to-day duties," Clunis said. "Golfers look at TV, and they want to be like what they see on TV, and they want their course to look like what they see. Staying up with the golf season helps communicate to them and speak their language."
