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Re: 'Tough-It-Out III': The Trans-Atlantic Starter Clubs Uneven Open THIRD EDITION!

Mon, Oct 28 2013 3:55 PM (614 replies)
  • Kurtsbuford
    7,592 Posts
    Wed, Oct 2 2013 9:59 AM

    Corwyn:
    Rats... I am sorry to hear that John. Mac was confident that she could make it work, and it looked to me like a wide evening overlap for her with your morning window.

    Just spoke with Duffage(Mari).........shes been visiting one of her best friends out in California the past week........while doing a backpack hiking trip monday afternoon in the high sierras she chanced along one of the many valleys and was struck in the foot by a Mohave Desert Sidewinder Rattler..............she was given anti-venom, and hauled to safety by the National park rescue service.   The duffer is resting comfortably today and should be able to resume play very shortly, possible even tomorrow.........She cant wait to get back to Boston..........LOLOL.   Go Bruins!

  • Corwyn
    2,410 Posts
    Wed, Oct 2 2013 10:06 AM

    This is a fabulous idea, Mati... and they'd go so well with my plus fours outfit too, lol!!!

    Right now, starters is the closest we'll get... although part of me hates to imagine how bad the precision and forgiveness ratings might be for a WGT hickory set. Perhaps WGT would have to pay players to buy one!

    Once again, Tough-It-Out has proved its mettle. I suspected that Royal St. George's without serious wind would be vulnerable, and looking at the stats from everyone's rounds, it seemed that many players found greens at a reasonable rate... but the subtleties of the putting surfaces on a true links course, and the difficulties with our starter putter really hit home. On a truly lucky day, I reckon several players might have gone very low, but any round that got close to par was a superb achievement. Congratulations to Mati, and also to OneEyedJohn, and Inigo for shooting so well there.

    If it's any consolation, I looked up the RSG entry in the World Atlas of Golf (a fun book, with overhead layouts of all the world's best courses, and descriptions of how to play them. Highly recommended: seek it out in your library). I learned that the winning score for the 1894 Open Championship, the first held there, was by J.H. Taylor who shot a four-round ... wait for it... 326!

  • Corwyn
    2,410 Posts
    Wed, Oct 2 2013 10:13 AM

    Kurtsbuford:
    Just spoke with Duffage(Mari).........shes been visiting one of her best friends out in California the past week........while doing a backpack hiking trip monday afternoon in the high sierras she chanced along one of the many valleys and was struck in the foot by a Mohave Desert Sidewinder Rattler..............she was given anti-venom, and hauled to safety by the National park rescue service.

    OMG! Well, that certainly explains a lot. Thanks Kurt, for sharing that, and best wishes from all of us to Mac for a speedy recovery.

    And, she has PM'd me to say her availability is not what she hoped (a bit of an understatement, really!)... and may be best to find a marker (probably ljbast) when she returns.

    John (OeJ): Mac will play with a marker instead... and at this point we now can assume that Gary (gsprink) really is WDing... So, I'd like you to see if you can pair up with fredsf instead. His 6-9pm weekdays (and 5-9pm weekends) seem to be a good match for your 7-10am weekdays (and 6-10am weekends).

  • Corwyn
    2,410 Posts
    Wed, Oct 2 2013 11:14 AM

    So, with a little bit of a late wrap-up to the 2nd Round, here at last is a check-in about where we stand in the tourney at the halfway stage. (It's hard to believe we're only halfway through... feels like this has been going on for months, lol!).

    Here is the Overall Leaderboard, and below it, standings for all the special prizes.

    Everything can be perused at this link, or by right-clicking the image below, open in new tab & enlarge.

    I'm a little shocked to find myself with a 5-shot lead going 'into the weekend'. Never been in that position before, lol! But with the potential for disaster lurking in these courses, no lead is safe...

    This may be the mostly tightly bunched field we've ever had, with only 6 shots between 2nd and 9th position, and same again between 10th-20th.

    It looks as if lj and BogieZed might be battling it out for Gary's high-score 'consolation' prize too... Which could make for some interesting holes!!!

     

    STANDINGS FOR SPECIAL PRIZES:

    Most Greens in Regulation

    I'm leading in this category currently, but Olympic will surely find me out! By my count, Oly has 2 greens you can't reach at all (#1, #6), and another 8 that are impossible to hold, and require just the right bounce-on.

    I think people's results in this stat for Oly will be fascinating: hence our special prizes (sponsored by bhoese) for GIR for this course, and for closest GIR (the calculated result).

    Overall, it's stunning to see that about the field is at 50% or better at this point: very impressive given the challenges of many of the holes we're facing.

    (Note that any player finishing in the top 3 in the tourney, is only eligible for 50% of this prize)

    ----------------------------------

    Closest Ave. Distance to the Pin

    This stat is fascinating, with none of the leaders anywhere high in the rankings. It's a good category for players who fancy a strategic challenge to aim for a prize. Provided you record a legitimate score each round (i.e. by hitting at least one non-par-3 green: see this post for clarification), you could even play to deliberately miss most greens, and be very selective about the ones you do go for the pin on (i.e. only those you're pretty sure you can get close with).

    This stat does not count par 3s, so it's only your shots that get on in regulation for par 4s and par 5s.

    Expect some interesting tactical play come the last round, as the competition hots up for this prize! (and note that any player finishing in the top 3 in the tourney, is only eligible for 50% of this prize)

    Also, note that hyena's leading score right now is an estimate based on my assumptions of which par 3s he hit in his first round. I'm awaiting confirmation of that... and to know whether or not he's continuing (which I hope he will, especially as he leads this category)!

    ----------------------------------

    "No-3-putt" throughout all 72 holes of the tourney

    Out of 27 of us still in it, only 3 players: Cerino, Ben, and Micke, are still in the running for this prize...

    ... and they have the fiendishly difficult tourney speed greens at Olympic to contend with next!

    Good luck, fellas!

    ----------------------------------

    Most Birdies

    Not much in it here... and please note, anyone finishing in the top 3 in the tourney is not eligible for this prize!

    ----------------------------------

    Least Bogies or Worse

     

     

    Cerino and myself heading the list here, but JayO92 doing very nicely too. Lots to play for here as well with the top 3 ineligible (and Jay having opted out of the running for prizes).

    ----------------------------------

    Longest total distance of putts made across whole tourney

    Russ has a big lead here, courtesy of his stunning 148.32 total at RSG... and he's right on track for the all-time TIO record (worth an extra sleeve). 

    Can anyone sink a few bombs and catch him up?!!!

    ----------------------------------

    More prize-tracking to come... next post will have RSG special prize wrap-up (when I next have some time!)

    Thank you everyone, for your continued commitment to getting your rounds in, and especially to all of you who have helped out others as markers.

    And thanks everyone for supplying all these great statistics, and lots of luck to you all for the rest of the tourney!

  • Corwyn
    2,410 Posts
    Wed, Oct 2 2013 11:31 AM

    <RSG Special Prizes to follow here ...>

    Here is the special stats page for RSG prizes:

    These were the prizes on offer specific to Royal St. George's, courtesy of sponsor bhoese:

    Please note to receive your prize, you must complete the whole tourney.

    -------------

    Longest putt made at RSG (1 sleeve of balls of players choice. sponsor: bhoese)

    Russ (ColumbusStorm) is the runaway winner in this category, with his 58.7 foot bomb!

     

    Greatest improvement relative to par from R1 to R2 (1 sleeve of balls of players choice. sponsor: bhoese)

    BogieZed sneaked this one away from oneeyedjohn by a single stroke...

     

    CTTH competition at #12: Post screenshot showing closest-to-the-hole location after your 2nd shot on this hole, and replay links would be great too. (1 sleeve of balls of players choice. sponsor: bhoese)

    ... but John hung on to win this category with a superb approach to 6.6 ft on #12.

     

    Longest drive hit at RSG(1 sleeve of balls of players choice. sponsor: bhoese) Driving stats tab will prove longest drive, but do tell us which hole you got it on, and share the replay if you can grab it!

    Longest drive was by JayO92 with 257.21, with Jlucky3333 just behind with 255.53, and Inigo with 254.28.

     

    Any Eagle at RSG: (1 sleeve of balls of players choice. sponsor: bhoese)

    And nobody made an eagle!

  • CerinoDevoti
    3,232 Posts
    Wed, Oct 2 2013 12:39 PM
    Ian and I took our beating today on Olympic. CD=73. Legaci=78
     I have to put my hand up and admit the green speed (that I picked for this round) is brutal and demoralizing with the starter putter. Once again my total distance of putts made is very low. I missed most everything that was important but avoided a 3 putt thoughout. I did practice enough to know what speeds I needed to "miss close". After mentioning that playing even par through the first 6 holes is gaining shots on the field, I couldn't do any better than +4 through 6 and felt like I had thrown my round in the trash right from the start. I was able to pitch one In for a lone birdie on the 11th.. Playing level par from there on the back side felt ok I suppose but I was looking for more. Had my chances but the "missing close" is all I could muster.
     
    Ian had some bad breaks and on one green had some terrible luck. His aim and grasp of UL is very good. I could see that from the first hole. I really don't think his score reflects his ability. Look at his putts. He putted 1 less time than me but his score doesn't show it.
    We both couldn't wait to get to 18 and off the course. It's really hard folks so try to remain calm and look for the upcoming opportunity.
     
    Below are the pics I took. Somehow my green shot wasn't saved. I really have no idea why that is other than trying to do it in a hurry.
    ~CD~

  • filmslayer
    2,340 Posts
    Wed, Oct 2 2013 12:54 PM

    great work Corwyn ! looks like i need some birds on Oly ... surprising my putter has been working well in practice ...

     

    me and Dale (?) have been in contact (practice back 9 last night) , no time set but we're both east coast and play every day so no problems ...

  • oneeyedjohn
    9,581 Posts
    Wed, Oct 2 2013 3:42 PM

    Yeah, that improvement from BogeyZed was a shock, I expected ljbast  to be the danger, he only had to break 80.

  • CerinoDevoti
    3,232 Posts
    Wed, Oct 2 2013 4:06 PM

    oneeyedjohn:

    Yeah, that improvement from BogeyZed was a shock, I expected ljbast  to be the danger, he only had to break 80.

     

    OEJ,

    Are you still looking for a marker to get your Oly round played?

  • oneeyedjohn
    9,581 Posts
    Wed, Oct 2 2013 4:26 PM

    Not sure CD, fredsf is supposed to be my new partner, but he ain't accepted my friend request sent eary yesterday.

    tbh I'd like to get it done and dusted asap.

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