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

• oneeyedjohn 9,581 Posts

  Fri, Oct 11 2013 9:47 AM

  deedles77:

  oneeyedjohn:

  hit high right on fairway

  i dinged it high and right and was still short by a few feet   :)

  That's comforting

• JayO92 172 Posts

  Fri, Oct 11 2013 9:52 AM

  I was so pissed off at the end of the round that I forgot to grab the round stats... once again the problem was shots doing things they shouldn't be doing on the final hole.  The idea was to hit to the front tee box since we got a headwind.  Except despite choking down on my Pitching Wedge, it still flew long into the rough.  Then I get 40-50% rough because wtf it's merion and can only hit into the quarry, where I would've been had I just hit driver anyway.  Problems continued greenside as a SW chip shot gets stuck in the first cut rough for some reason, leaving me a tough putt for double bogey that claimed to be breaking a long way but didn't do much at all.

  

  

  Bad lie contest:

  

  

  

  

  

  

  +21 when I was hoping to go +15 or better when the tournament began... I vow to return for Tough It Out IV to get my revenge and reclaim my dignity.  Scores and space-bar chat problems aside, this was actually a pretty fun tournament.  Having to tough-it-out in pairs eases the pain, and it times it actually felt like a proper real-life amateur event.

• GolfingJMan 71 Posts

  Fri, Oct 11 2013 12:31 PM

  Good playing with bhoese, hyena, and JayO; thanks guys.  Thanks for this event.  I wanted to play UELs a few months ago, but didn't know if I wanted to get started on it. This helped me do that.

  Atrocious putting round.  Lowest total distance putts made.  I played with bhoese and his low amount of total distance putts made is because he putts his first putt so close to the hole, I saw numerous putts finish within single-digit-inches of the hole.  Me? This was low distance of putts made because I missed so many short putts.

  #1 Par.  Missed ding, missed birdie, +/-28ft front pin.

  #2 Bogey.  Front pin.  Unacceptable lazy 2nd shot and 3rd shot easy shots.  Missed the par putt, I think it was like 6ft above and to the right [Edit @12:35PM: It was left]of front pin.

  #3 Par.  3 Iron onto the green - front pin.

  #4 Par.  2nd shot finds the rough on the right.  3rd shot is a short lay up. 40yd 4th shot hits the front pin gaining my 3rd instant replay of the tournament.

  #5 Par. Decent 2nd shot.  Missed the ding and missed the birdie.  Jay's 2nd shot was also very decent. 

  [Edit @9:30 PM PST 10/14/2013: My #5 distance to pin screen shot.]

  

  #6 Bogey. Front pin that looked like a good birdie chance with a strong tailwind, but I got lackadaisical and pulled my 2nd shot into the bunker. Lobbed out, miss 11 or 12-footer.  Jay finds the green and barely misses birdie.  I think it was this hole Jay said he was turning on some hype music to get us out of the slump.  Performance enhancing music, no rule against that right!?.  He went on a streak of 4 holes in a row where he was inches from birdie, and then birdied the 10th hole.  That should be 5 in a row!

  #7 Bogey. Back pin, miss 2-footer for par!

  #8 Bogey Chunked the chip. Missed par, I think 5-footer.  Jay almost chips in, gaining an instant replay. 

  #9 Par. My tee shot came up way short, I asked Jay if he punched his shot and he came up with a line that gave me a good laugh.  Miss ding, miss birdie from about 18ft.

  #10 Par.Back pin. Miss ding, miss birdie from about 30t.

  #11 Par. Back pin.  Miss ding on purpose (going back to the way I used to putt before TIO started since I wasn't dinging anything anyway)…still miss +/-15ft birdie putt.  Jay's tee shot finds 40-50% right hand rough real close to the fairway, 2nd shot takes a bad bounce and goes in the water. His drop doesn't go into the rough in near the green, it goes back to the edge of the fairway...he wedges close to the pin for bogey.  I think if he'd birdied this hole it would be a really low back 9.

  #12 Par. Front pin.  2nd shot comes up short.  Up and down par.

  #13 Birdie.  8 Iron to 2½ ft.  My best shot of the day.  I got the wind I had seen in practice and just quick-hit it without zooming in or aiming.  

  #14 Bogey.  Back pin.  Headwind and couldn't get the green in two. Jay's second shot creeps on to the very front left of the green.  I miss 3 foot par putt again!

  #15 Par. Back pin.  Basic 2-putt par.

  #16 Bogey.  I guess I misjudged the approach distance, came up short of the green, and miss the par putt.  

  #17 Double Bogey.  Front right pin. After putting my bridie putt up the huge ridge off of the green, I chip to 3ft. and miss it...I think it rimmed out...

  #18 Bogey. Lay-up to the front tee.  Looks like Jay's ball is on the tee box.  I guess there is not a completely accurate mapping of that area. Perhaps that is what caused Jay's ball to go farther than expected. Maybe WGT has the photos but didn't think the zoom shots on those locations were necessary but the camera angles are pretty bad for tee box layups (same with RSG#9).  Mine went farther too…oh well.  Driver to the fairway. 3rd shot stops about 30 ft away, 2-putt bogey. 

  I played far below my potential.  Not even close to my goal of even par, or at least single digits over par.  During my first round I knew I could score real good.  Disappointing finish to say the least.  It is hard to continue and not be lackluster after feeling like you won't accomplish your goal that you set out to do.

  This felt like college mid terms and the final.  Learning the material then flushing the short-term memory and moving on to the next mid term.

  It has taught me a lot about short wedge shots and I used to never ever use pitching, I was only a flopping chipper.  Now I feel confident with my pitches.  Isn't that what tests are for, to teach you new things about yourself?

  I don't know how I can go back to Even Lies.  It seems so unrealistic now.  I played a few practice multi-player practice matches before my 4th round and I was aiming my shots way off of the green because I know the fairway's slope.  But I don't know who wants to play practice UEL matches with their premium ball.  So, it might be hard to find a game, lol.

  Thanks!

  JMan

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

   

   

• seemorehair 228 Posts

  Fri, Oct 11 2013 12:58 PM

  Me and Geagle are scheduled for Sat afternoon.

• Corwyn 2,410 Posts

  Sat, Oct 12 2013 5:24 AM

  Now that we are into the final weekend, here's another update of where player pairings stand for the 4th and final round. Thanks to everyone who has indicated their plans. Just 2 pairings left to hear from...

  4th Round Pairings: Merion

  All details are on this new sheet of Time Availability

  played

  deedles77 & BogieZed 

  fredsf & Wesdogg75 

  oneeyedjohn & togemag   

  ColumbusStorm  & Legaci 

  JayO92 & GolfingJMan

  still to play

  Corwyn & bhoese   (set for the weekend, almost certainly Saturday night)

  unclenewy & CerinoDevoti (no firm date/time yet, perhaps this weekend; Neil travelling)

  BigInigoMontoya &  jlucky3333 (James sick... Inigo perhaps needing marker)

  Macduff10  & filmslayer  (set to play Sunday afternoon)

  Geagle1 & seemorehair  (set to play Saturday afternoon)

  hyena64 & ljbast  (set to play Saturday)

  DAZZA501 & MatildaIgaly

  hobbe95  & Kurtsbuford  

  Please let us know your scheduling plans. Thanks!

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

  And don't forget the special prizes on offer at Merion:

  Score under par in Round 4 (player(s) win a sleeve of balls of their choice if they can end up under par @ Merion in Round 4; sponsor Hanswurst72)

  CTTH competition at #5: 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)

  and, for fun... 2 prizes to be judged by the organizers based on screenshots provided in the thread (organizers decision is final):

  Worst Lie  factoring in upslope vs. downslope, severity of sideslope, burial % and rough/sand/fescue/brush. Screenshots should be taken with the aimer at the default position. (1 sleeve of balls of players choice. sponsor: bhoese)

  Best Save: to be judged similarly - the difficulty of the worst situation on the way to a par. Screenshots should be taken with the aimer at the default position, and replays of the resulting shot will be needed too.(1 sleeve of balls of players choice. sponsor: bhoese)

  Other prize standings are reviewed in this post from a few days ago.

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

  Good luck to everyone still to play!                 [Overall Leaderboard here]

• Corwyn 2,410 Posts

  Sat, Oct 12 2013 5:46 AM

  FUTURE TOURNEY IDEAS ...

  As we reach the end of these tourneys, my thoughts tend towards the future... and even though part of me thinks 'never do one of these again' lol, I like to dream of what other formats might make for a fun tourney.

  So, here are a couple of ideas I've been kicking around, and while I have your attention, I'd love to get some feedback.

  Obviously, we're not going to do another one right away. I suspect everyone is dying to put away their starters and get back to 'fancy clubs' asap. (Actually, I'd be curious to hear how many of you have focussed exclusively on starters during this tourney, and how many are going back-and-forth all the time: I've played nothing else for a month, and I suspect it's the only way to really get used to the meter speed).

   

  A RyderCup/Presidents Cup with uneven starters:

  I believe the club set lends itself well to the risk/reward involved in matchplay. Although I loved watching Hans' official WGT Ryder Cup at Oly earlier in the year, the quality of play was so high that it seemed to come down to which player didn't birdie one out of the holes (obviously, that's an exaggeration but I think matchplay with uneven starters would really make for many more possibilities on each hole).

  The big difficulty with such an event is scheduling. With Hans' Ryder Cups, the players involved were such 'legends' of the game, and played so often it made it easier, but even then they had troublees. For a tourney limited to players willing to use starters and unevens, matches would have to be paired based on time chart, rather than captain's picks... but nonetheless, I think it could still be fun.

  I'm thinking it would be 9 hole matches for the fourball, and 18 for the foursomes and singles. And I think I'd try and make it a small number of people (e.g. teams of 8), have it take place in a shorter timeframe, e.g. over 2 weeks if possible.

  Any thoughts or interest in this idea?

   

  Tough-It-Out from the Tips: the 600-Shot Challenge:

  This idea is for a better-ball pairs tourney with uneven starters from champ tees on all 8 of the proper courses (i.e. excluding the Best of's). Pairs would aim to shoot a best-ball total better than 600 shots (which is something like +35, I think...)... or 700 shots (+135)!!!

  My plan is that we'd play the courses in chronological order of recent majors either with a range of setups appropriate to each course, or to make it easier, perhaps Low wind everywhere. The challenge becomes one of getting the least # of bogies, lol!

  One big advantage of best ball tourneys is that it's up to the pairs to sort out their schedule: no cajoling, no markers needed. And, since there would be no way to enforce single-play, I'd probably turn that into a positive, and allow pairs to have unlimited attempts which wouldn't be so bad with such a tough format. We could even do it where the whole event had a one-month deadline, and each pair could play at their own pace, and perhaps even only count their best 6 courses. That would make for a floating leaderboard, and if pairs had time they could go back and try and improve their result on a particular course.

  Having tried it for several rounds, what I love about the concept is that it presents us with an alternative way of playing the courses, a whole new challenge, one where you need to plot a route from tee to green on every hole… and where, because par is not expected, there really isn't much to lose. There'll be two players together having a laugh, and seeing if they can achieve a par or bogey on a given hole, either of which might be a great achievement.

  Would anyone be up for such a challenge!?

• DAZZA501 5,972 Posts

  Sat, Oct 12 2013 5:52 AM

  I think Unevens with starters but then you can select some fancy clubs and it's the players choice. Would you choose driver or putter, which 1 of your wedges would you like to keep are just a few examples.

• Corwyn 2,410 Posts

  Sat, Oct 12 2013 6:27 AM

  Ah... but with driver of choice you wouldn't have the fun of "how to reach that fairway off the tee!" ...

  ... though I do like the idea of flexible club choices, and the strategy that might bring. Would one partner choose driver, and the other putter, perhaps putting all the pressure on one player to make the key score on the toughest holes?

  -------

  BTW Dazza: Are you scheduled with Mati yet?

• oneeyedjohn 9,581 Posts

  Sat, Oct 12 2013 7:01 AM

  The  600 idea Corwyn is good, and I also like the choose one club idea from dazza, as that gives two players the choice, one chooses driver and one chooses putter.

  I have the perfect partner for that setup, lol.

  Any arrangement that doesn't lean heavily on making games with strangers, but just urr partner, has to be a plus.

  I can find a partner who I can rely upon to play a match once a week, but hooking up with people who are not friends is just too much trouble, and it clutters up ur friends list.