Well, I'm very sleepy right now. It's almost 2am my time, and Ben and I finished a little while ago.
A full Inigo-style report from me will have to wait till tomorrow, but here's our card and pics. I will say I made the most annoying, amateurish error on #14, having put a 3H to 12 feet but then did one last check of the putt line with chip view, only to realize to my horror when I struck the putt that it had defaulted back to the 30-scale, instead of the 60 I had previously set it for. That left a nasty 5.6 footer which curled by, for the most idiotic bogey ever. Thankfully, I wasn't still in the running for a no-3-putt tourney!
I do feel responsible for a stupid time penalty Ben suffered on #17, when I chose a very inappropriate time to ask if he'd gotten screenshots... so his score is pending a possible waive of that penalty shot (if he'll accept my effort to remove the penalty... he's being very magnanimous about it).
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Edit (Mon 6am):
bhoese:The timer should be enforced except in unusual circumstances, like for players who are new to the screenshot process. It's part of TIO. In addition to the starters and unevens, there's a time clock and rounds that might last over two hours without a break, even with said clock. All of those things make it more difficult than single-play.
Well, Ben has made a very clear case for why his penalty should stand, and yes, dealing with the challenges of a 90-second timer (which is too much for most shots, but not enough for some... and is long enough to make you think you can chat away idly at some points, until the sudden realization that you'd better hit, lol!) is yet another reason why TIO is the toughest tourney out there.
BTW: Including a disco on the 10th, we took an astonishing 3 hrs for this round, a test of endurance... especially as it was the middle of the night for both of us.
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Here's the Inigo-style tale of the tape:
#1 :: front pin :: I was very nervous setting out, despite the shots in hand… and started poorly, pulling my approach, ending up 19 ft away, and missed the putt. Ben stuck his to 6 feet long, but the downhill curler slipped by.
#2 :: Nerves still there… and I missed ding slightly late on tee shot, which combined with a l-r wind, meant I was too far right not to be concerned about the trees on my 2nd. Worried about whether a 3W punch would even stay under them, I hit Driver punch, which sure looks weird but gains some decent yardage, but not quite enough… as my next perfect 3W still came up short. Flop from rough led to very relieved 7 ft save from right of back pin. Ben left himself a 20ft birdie attempt which slid by.
#3 :: We got a great 4:30 wind with front pin here but neither of us made the most of it (never having had it in practice). Ben went 29 ft long and then put another putt just by… I pulled again and was 25ft short left, and not even close on the putt. 2 more pars.
#4 :: This is just a great hole with this setup IMO. Every shot counts, and I took the risk on the tee shot to go as far right as I dared for the high level (bounces forward more and is flatter). That left easy clearance of middle fairway bunker and a 137 distance on approach, which I safely got on to 5 yards past. Ben's 3rd, from much further back, stopped just short in the rough past the creek, and we joked that he was trying to help me out when his pitch went just past mine. He drained the 17 footer for par, and the huge amount of break on his helped me decide to give mine a little bit more, and my 15 ft birdie fell right in perfectly.
#5 :: Helping wind and front pin here, but we both misjudged (again, not a wind/pin combo I'd had in practice at all), Ben going 34 feet long, and me 53. I pulled the lag putt (opting for the 150 scale) to leave nasty 6 foot downhill l-r, while Ben went 7 feet long. Our subsequent par saving putts felt great!
#6 :: A r-l wind here with front pin meant my tee shot went too far over, but then I saw a nice trick from Ben, who used deliberate 'members bounce' out of the right rough to find 'position A' on the fairway. He then dropped in a beautiful approach to 17 feet but again had a putt that just shaved the hole. My 3W 2nd came up inexplicably short (must have missed ding by just too much and gotten more distance loss than anticipated), and I rolled back to front fringe. Deliberated too long on whether I could safely pitch and ended up with a rushed long putt (I was guessing about how much fringe there was): distance turned out great, but was 5 foot offline, and very relieved again to sink the putt. Very shaky start from me, but was somehow -1 through some very tough holes. Ben @ E.
#7 :: We got back pin and l-r wind. Ben played great punch shot pin-high left to 13 ft… I was far enough forward to think I could hit full bs approach (even though punches had been most successful for me in practice). I slightly underhit and hit into one of the banks in the green stopping it well short, and then missed my 24 ft birdie try… but Ben nailed his for a much-deserved birdie.
#8 :: I choked down a little on drive, trying to avoid being mid-club on this tricky approach to back pin with slight l-r wind. Worked pretty well, as I ended up with 110 full bs distance with only slight choke-down needed and despite slight late click got mine to stop 9 feet long and right. Ben went 13 ft long. He overborrowed on his, but I nailed mine. -2
#9 :: Dismayed to get back pin (had always had front one in practice!), and even though we had what should have been perfect 12 mph 6:00 headwind, neither of us knew what to hit! I guessed 190 1/2 bs but it came up well short, Ben tried 3W full bs choke-down but ended up right. We both missed our 14-16 foot putts; although a dinged putt might have gone in for me.
At the turn: C -2 | B -1
#10 :: A l-r headwind here led me to play safer off tee with 3W leaving 75 yards approx to pin, and I hit a very nice PW in to 4 ft left. Ben's approach caught the nasty ridge front right, and left him 9 feet away but he sunk a beauty. Birdie for each of us.
#11 :: Back pin and big tailwind, so much so I even feared we could reach the creek. My 2nd took a strange veer off to the right, and I thought for a scary moment I was heading for water, but it landed pin high 16 feet right. Ben's came up 17 feet short, and he missed his birdie try. I sunk mine to go to -4.
#12 :: Another 3W lay-up off the tee for me, seeking the flatter ground since it was the front pin. We both then totally misjudged our approaches: for mine I hit same shot I'd gotten in practice where it had been perfect for a bounce-on, but this time didn't do the same thing. I left myself an awkward 12 yard pitch, that came up 5 feet short; Ben's pitch from 9 yards short of the green cleared the ridge instead and went 4 feet long, but left the harder putt, which curled viciously past for a frustrating bogey. I buried my easier uphiller.
#13 :: Front pin with r-l wind. I pulled my tee shot a little, and ended up pin-high 9 feet left. Ben dropped his beautifully to 5 ft past. I had one of those awful camera positions where neither view allowed for much of a read, and chatting away about how 'unlucky I was' lol, I let the timer go way too long and rushed the putt, missing the ding fractionally but just enough to have the putt miss. Ironic that a surer putt would have gone down! Serves me right for complaining! Ben dropped his birdie right in to go back to -2.
#14 :: Ben pulled his 2nd to 22 ft left of the right pin and made a solid par. I hit a beauty of a 3H bouncing on to 4 yards right of the pin. Then I had my 'senior moment' of forgetting to switch back the meter scale and leaving a 12 foot birdie putt 5.5 feet short, and compounding the error by not hitting the next putt hard enough to take out some of the break. 3 putts from 12 feet for my only bogey of the round: aarggghh!
#15 :: My mishit drive was lucky to find the fairway, and lacking distance I played safe to middle of the green. Ben felt that the pin/wind combo was just right to try and get close to the right pin, and he just bounced through rough to end up pin-high 28 feet left. I lagged nicely from 40 ft for a safe par, but Ben was too aggressive on his tricky putt and left a 7 footer that didn't drop. His first 3 putt of the tourney, on the 69th hole. He then wound me up totally by pretending that he was quitting, since that was all he was really playing for...
#16 :: We got back pin with r-l wind, which took birdie out of the picture. Ben warned me of the Quarry, the only way I could lose the tourney at this point, and the stuff of nightmares for me, lol! (I did actually go in there in practice, just to see if there was any way to limit the damage if I did find myself in there… and ended up none the wiser!). I played safe for high middle of the green, and wasn't too far off with my 40 foot lag putt, but Ben ignored his own great advice and ended up in trouble on the right. In fact, he told me later he should have taken screenshot of his nasty downhill orange lie in 40-50 pin-high right, as it turned into a great par save from 17ft, the closest he could possibly get coming out of that rough and landing on the green.
#17 :: Perfect r-l sidewind for a 205 full bs tee shot. I nailed mine but it went surprisingly longer than usual, leaving 15 footer from just over nasty ridge. My huge curling putt slid by. Ben forgot to change down from Driver and his tee shot clattered into the ridge and rolled on 47 feet past. Then came the penalty shot for the timeout (although he was apparently on the downswing when it struck). He'd spent too much time trying to get the replay of his tee shot, suspecting that the odd result was from not having the right club. Sad bogey for Ben here took him back to E.
#18 :: We got tailwind here (but right pin, boo!) and Ben caught the helping slope just right to get a 240-odd drive. I made fairway but with just a little bounce forward. I had just enough to get close to the top of the big hill 80-odd yards out, and had good slopes and yardage for a wedge that I thought was perfect but rolled 9 feet by and left. Ben managed what will be a rare feat: a GIR on 18, with a cracking 3W second that stopped awful close to where the other pin would have been. He teased me again by waiting till the last second to hit his 74 ft lag but got his desserts by going 8.5 ft past. With huge relief I sunk my fairly straight uphiller, and was delighted to see Ben get his too for 2 rare pars on the last.
Corwyn: 67 | bhoese: 70
Oh, and by the way, we wear the same snazzy outfit, which is a large reason why Ben keeps getting confused about whose turn it is!