And so goodbye to Olympic, which posed its own unique and hellish challenges...
Sad to say, we also seem to be saying goodbye to Tim (TeeWade) and Reese (BRHtheCarpenter), as well as Stu (Spino1). And then there were 26...
So here is the 3rd Round Leaderboard, and below it, Overall Standings in the Tournament and for all the special prizes.
Everything can be perused at this link, or by right-clicking the image below, open in new tab & enlarge.
Hans was the only player able to break par at Oly, and how! He recorded what might be the best Starter Unevens round ever seen: a 5 birdie 66 (that even included a 3-putt), and opened up what must surely be an unassailable 7 stroke lead on the field.
Barring a monumental collapse of Greg Norman proportions, the Tough-It-Out title seems certain to be Hans' again!
Corwyn is now in sole 2nd, with Neil (unclenewy) and Cerino just 2 shots back tied for 3rd. The three of them now seem set to battle it out for the 2nd and 3rd places, but James (jimbean346) and Mizzy within reach if they can shoot a great round.
Hans' great round pushed him up to the top in a number of the special prizes standings:
GIR: although Hans is currently top here, any player finishing in the top 3 can only win 50% of the prize, so there's still plenty to play for here. And indeed, Mizzy is less than a couple of % points behind, so even just 1 extra green hit could give him the win in this standing. Russ, bfghd, Jorg and several others are also close enough behind to really challenge for this prize.
Ave. Distance to the Pin: Phil (Phaxda) still leads the pack here by approx 2 ft from Hans, and another 2ft from James and FairwayRuepel. This prize offers up all sorts of opportunity for unusual tactics, and presents Phil, and anyone else not otherwise in contention for other prizes, with the intriguing option of deliberately missing greens except when certain (or at least confident) of getting close. Trouble is, at RSG in these conditions, which holes meet that criteria!!!? Perhaps #2, #7, #14 ... but not too many others, I'd say. (Remember, par 3s do not count towards Ave. Distance to the Pin)
Most Birdies...: As this is another prize for which anyone finishing in the top 3 is not eligible, Gary (Woodoworkery) is in great shape here, but all 3 of those currently placed 2nd-4th are level, and James is just one birdie behind. This one could be very close! (Note that the tie-breaker will Most Birdies on non-par3 holes: don't delete any scorecard pics from hosting site accounts yet, we may need to consult them again!)
Least Bogies...: With the same eligibility criteria as above, the current standings here give Mizzy, Mati, Ben, Jure and James a decent shot at catching up with the four leaders. (Note, tie-breaker criteria here will be fewest double-bogies or worse)
Total Distance Made Putts: Hans has a huge lead here, and seems unlikely to be caught, after his amazing 141.73 ft at Olympic. Woodo, myself, and MB are close, but it will probably take a long bomb or two to have any chance of closing Hans' 60+ ft lead in this category.
The Longest Drive prize isn't closed, but it will take something very special at RSG to overhaul Ben's 310.52 from the 2nd round. With the right wind, and a particular springy bit of rough, rock... perhaps... ?
Hans already won Shiner's Most birdies @ Olympic prize, with 5 during the last round; Don't forget too that Shiner is offering a sleeve of balls [EDIT: correction: 2 sleeves of balls of player's choice] for anyone making an Eagle at Royal St. George's (make sure and save a replay if that happens!).
Also, don't forget about the Greatest Improvement (relative to par) prize. Current front-runners in this category appear to be Phaxda and Shiner, and Mati and James. More details to follow...
EDIT: And, of course, there is also Hans' Coaching Prize, awarded to one lucky random winner who finishes all 4 rounds and does not win one of the other prizes.
So, still lots to play for in our fourth, and final, round at Royal St. George's. Good luck!!!
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4th Round is open at Royal St. George's: PLAYER PAIRINGS are listed here, and on the first page of the thread.
Conditions as follows: Royal St George's: 18 holes, Default hole locations, White (Medium) tees, Very Fast greens, Moderate wind, Uneven Lies.
4th Round Score Submission link (Royal St. George's)